Terms

Alpaca Terms

Agist - To board your alpacas at someone else's farm.

Beans - A euphemism for alpaca manure! A healthy alpaca's droppings resemble pellets, or beans, and reportedly make superior garden fertilizer.

Berserk Male - A male who was afforded too much affection by humans as a cria and shows no fear of them as an adult.

Blanket - The highest quality fleece which begins at the shoulder, runs the full length of the back and down each side until it meets the more medulated fiber on the belly. Excludes neck, leg, chest, belly, and britch. The term originated from the image of a horse's saddle blanket.

Bred Female - A pregnant alpaca.

Camelid (or Camelidae) - The systemic classification of the species to which alpacas and llamas belong (along with camels, vicunas, and guanacos).

Carding - The final cleaning process, accomplished by either hand or machine, through which alpaca fiber goes before spinning.

Cria - A camelid (or “baby” alpaca or llama) less than one year old.

Crimp - The regular undulation along the length of an individual fiber or lock of fiber. A higher number of crimps per inch can indicate a finer fiber.

Cush - Resting posture wherein the alpacas legs are folded in thirds under it. The alpaca may assume this posture to avoid moving, and the female sits this way when receptive to breeding.

Dam - A female parent.

Density - The closeness of the individual fibers in an alpaca’s fleece. The more, the better; really dense fleece resists parting and even obscures the animal's skin.

Fleece Weight - The weight of an entire fleece measured at the same time each season. Fiber: Term used somewhat interchangeably with "fleece". Typically used when speaking of the quality and characteristics of the alpaca's fleece, or the processing of it.

Fiber Quality Male - A male alpaca whose genetic characteristics are not worthy of breeding.

Gelding - A male whose testicles have been removed, rendering him incapable of reproduction.

Herdsire - A male whose superior fleece, conformation, and presence qualify him to sire cria in a herd. "Proven" herdsires have demonstrated their ability to reproduce.

Hembra - Female alpaca or animal.

Huacaya - A breed of alpaca characterized by a well-crimped fleece that grows perpendicular to the skin; fine fiber with wooly appearance.

Junior Herdsire - A young male with the characteristics and potential to be a herdsire.

Juvenile - Between six months and twelve months of age.

Kemp - Guard hair or medulated fiber.

Macho - Male alpaca used in a breeding program.

Maiden - A female who has not yet given birth.

Medulla - The hollow core found in coarse guard hair or kemp fibers, often found in the chest and underbelly portions of the fleece.

Micron - A measurement of fiber diameter, equal to 1/25,000 of an inch, or 1/1000th of a millimeter. Used to refer to the fineness of a fiber: a smaller micron equals a finer fiber.

Orgle - Characteristic rapid grunting sound made by breeding males during copulation.

Peruvian, Chilean, Bolivian - Most alpacas in North American were either imported from Peru, Chile, or Bolivia; or, are descended from animals in those countries.

Seedstock - Breeding stock; animals whose role is to be a parent or, in other words, to contribute genes to the next generation.

Shear - Remove an animal's fleece with electric shears (similar to dog clippers) or scissor-like hand shears.

Sire - A male parent.

Staple Length - The length of a lock or length of shorn alpaca fleece.

Staple - An organized independent group or cluster of individual fibers. A large number of staples constitute a fleece.

Suri - A breed of alpaca characterized by lustrous locks of fleece that lay close to the body, twisting vertically toward the ground.

Tops - A continuous, untwisted strand of combed alpaca fibers from which the shorter fibers have been removed by combing.

Tui - An eighteen-month-old alpaca.

Weanling - A weaned alpaca, younger than 1 year.

Woolen - Yarn made from fibers that are one to three inches in length and that have been carded only. Fabrics of woolen yarn are characterized as being fuzzy, thick, and bulky.

Worsted - Yarn spun from fibers three inches in length or longer that have been carded, combed, and drawn. Combing machines straighten alpaca slivers, making the individual fibers lie parallel.

Yearling - Between first birthday and twenty-four months of age.

My Sweet Alpaca