Evaluation of fiber diameter and correlated fleece characteristics of an extreme fine alpaca strain farmed in Missouri

Data recordings of animal breeding, fleece production, and fiber characteristics in an alpaca herd were analyzed and presented. A selective mating strategy was applied while establishing an extremely fine fiber alpaca strain at Victory Farm over 10 years. The herd was expanded from ten females and five males to 200 head. All animals were recorded for sires, dams, and registered pedigree, birth weight, weaning weight, shearing weight, and fleece weight. Mid-side flank fleece samples were harvested for Optical-based Fibre Diameter Analyser (OFDA) fiber characteristics, including mean fiber diameter, length, and curvature. Live weight, fleece weights, and fiber characteristics were analyzed using SAS® GLM procedures. Mean birth weight, weaning weight, mixed age shearing weight, fleece weight, fiber diameter, coefficient of fiber diameter variation, fiber length, and fiber curvature were 6.82 kg, 25.27 kg, 48.84 kg, 0.85 kg, 16.67 µm, 25.2%, 64.6 mm, and 56.9 deg/mm, respectively. In addition, the finest 25 percent of the herd’s fleeces were tested and found to have an average fiber diameter of 14.17 µm, which was within vicuna fiber diameter ranges. These characteristics did not significantly increase with age. Heritability estimates for the fleece weight and fiber diameter, length, and curvature were 0.40, 0.65, 0.29, and 0.50, respectively. The average fiber diameter measurements of the herd at Victory Farm were significantly (p < 0.001) finer than the comparison herds. This study found that strict selective breeding is effective for genetic gains in ultralow fiber diameter and fleece quality in an extremely fine fiber alpaca strain