Black Onyx, is such a georgeous male, although he now knows how to work, he is starting to be a bit of a macho.

One of the finest Black working males icurrently in Australia, Black onyx is now on his way to being another top stud male for the Alpacalandoged in Belgium.

One of the leading Alpaca studs in Belgium, run by Yvonne and Olivier .

Just before he was shorn and has gone into Quarantine for New Zealand first, we took him down to a lake just near our home. He really loves posing for photos, and has the most georgeous personality. He has started working young, and we do have a number of females now pregnant to him, so although he is on his way to Europe, we hope that we will be able to still have a part of him in his future offspring. as i am writing this blog, i have the rainbow lorikeet dancing on my arm, tickling my finger, and smooching up to me, it is a bit difficult to type and have a loriket balanced on your hand.

You can see him in a previous post

SUNDANCE KID

SUNDANCE kID HAS ENTERED QUARANTINE. HE IS NOW ON HIS WAY TO BELGIUM, AS ONE OF THE FUTURE STUD MALES OF ALPAKAGOED.

CONGRATULATIONS TO

OLIVIER AND YVONNE WHO ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO RECEIVING THIS BOY APPROX JUNE 2009.

YVONNE HAS BEEN BREEDING ALPACAS NOW FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, AND NOW FARMS APPROX 20 ALPACAS. SHE IS ALSO AN APPRENTICE JUDGE.

What is involved in the screening process to meet the British (UK) (BAS) screening for Alpacas

The purpose of screening alpacas for the UK marketplace for alpacas, is firstly, to make sure only the best Improved stock is imported into Britain.

There is no use going through the importing process to bring alpacas of the same quality into the country.

Although i live in AUstralia, i am a member of many country's Alpaca associations.

And as a member, i am also very aware of my devotion to the industry be it here in Australia or over in England, France, germany, Canada, or where ever.

As an exporter of Camelids, ALpaca in particular, and as a breeder, i am here to promote our iundustry of the very best.

I am also given the task, of trust, and with this trust i take very seriously, hold high, and will not sacrifice. As a third party in the screening process, when presenting the alpacas for screening, gives the screeners great confidence.

The screeners although they have worked in the industry and still are consultants to the industry, are not part of the industry, and so do not know individual Australian Breeders, or known alpacas.

So when the alpacas are presented to the screeners they are given a brass tag no, dob and that is all they want to know about the alpaca.

They then look at the alpaca objectively, and are not influenced at all by the accolades an alpaca has gained, or the stud name of the breeder.

This is a very important componant to the screening process.

Once a British importer has selected an alpaca they would like to purchase, they then fill out an agreement with the BAS (British Alpaca Society), which nominates where the alpaca is to be screened.

The british importer also then contacts myself, as the quarantine facility they are to go through to start the export chain, and also as i am the Exporter, i give instructions first of all, and most of this information can be seen on our export /quarantine website http://mariahhillalpacaexport.homestead.com/pre_export_quarantin_alpaca.html

this gives you a lot of information, especially the requirements of EU, BAS Screening.

The same screening requirements have also been taken up by other alpaca societies aroud the world.

On this website is also the rejection criteria.

As an exporter i can only accept healthy alpacas to go into quarantine for export, this page will give you a list of my requirements when i accept alpacas for export.

The screeners take their reconition seriously, and as i said before, they are not given any identification of the alpaca other than DOB and Brass tag no.

Not every alpaca that has been screened will pass, % of the ones that do not pass, i could not tell you, maybe 1/3rd of alpacas presented will pass.

Why do they fail, when these alpacas have won sometimes championships of the class.

because the alpacas are tested for things that are not checked at shows.

laxating patellas, for one.

Tails are always checked, teeth, legs, and testicle size are often things alpacas fail on.

But the most common thing they fail on is fleece.

The fleece sample is taken by one of the screeners, and then sent to Yocum Mccoll in USA.

They test on the butt end of the fleece, at the point of growth.

So when alpacas are presented for screening, please be aware that not all pass, and it is an expensive venture if an alpaca failed.

I hope this has helped people understand a little bit more about the BAS screening regime.

The bottom picture we are checking legs and weighing the alpaca

Remeber screening has been devloped to protect the purchaser, to ensure the alpaca being exported is of a high standard, and carrying no known genetic faults.

It is also a protection for the British alpaca Industry, so ensure again, that they will not compromise for anything else but quality.

New Zealand alpacas are off tomorrow night

Another shipment is about to be delivered to the airport.

THe alpacas have been vet checked, they have passed all their tests.

It is time now for them to be prepared tomorrow, and have the final go ahead from AQIS, who is expected to visit tomorrow.

AQIS will come and once they have checked the facility and the alpacas, then we are given permission to load.

We have to be at the airport at 7 pm on sunday night, and then we meet the AQIS inspector again, whilst we also meet the freight forwarder.

We have had a copy of the health certificates that accompany the crates, and check that all is in order.

We check the crate, first, and prepare it for loading the alpacas.

These crates are very roomy, and we have a stocking rate we have to keep to, which gives each alpaca room to walk around, and stretch out if they need to.

Once loaded we are given the all clear, and we wathc the crate move to its loading dock.

Quite often the alpacas are half way to New Zealand before we even get home.

We like to visit New Zealand at least once a year, usually at their Nationals, (which we could not make it this year), and it is often fun to see the alpacas that we sent over, in their shows, or their offspring, winning the ribbons and accolades of New Zealand alpaca industry.