All tucked up for the Nationals

With the weather report threatening Snow and all sorts over the next couple of days we though it best to shed up the TOFT show team ready for the Nationals on Saturday. With over 500 entries at the National Show this coming weekend competition will be fierce. So we had better look our best. Alpacas don't show well in the wet. There is no lanolin in their fleece, when they get wet they get wet and dry themselves in the wind the minute the rain stops. Their fleeces have the ability to absorb over 30% of their weight in water so it's a bit like rubbing you hands over a wet dishcloth judging them when damp. Impossible. Anyway that's not a problem for TOFT we have them in the fed shed all tucked up against the elements for the next few days. Friday they go off to the International Centre Telford for the British Alpaca Society National Show. If you fancy seeing the very best the Uk has to offer you need to be in Telford 8am -5pm Sat and Sunday this weekend. Don't forget to come and see us if you get there. We wish the best of luck to our livery alpacas from Snapdragon and Arre alpacas who each have an entry in their weekend. They will be travelling with the TOFT team to Telford and we hope retiring with a rosette. 

Toft Alpaca fleece stats for 2014 make happy reading.

All good news on the return of the 2014 fleece stats which cheer me up no end as the summer fades on another fantastic season and autumn makes its presence felt.

Every year we test every breeding alpaca, and all thejunior and intermediates both male and female at Yocom McColl testing labaratories in the USA.We have done so for almost ten years now and although it takes a month or two for the results to arrive it provides a vital benchmark to monitor our progress.

The finest Toft alpaca on the farm actually belongs to one of our clients Snapdragon Alpacas. Congratulations to Liz and. Terry Davies whose Toft Bootes, a champion light female in the BAS Nationals in 2014, returned an amazing result of 13.4 microns.

The coarsest of the breeding  Toft Alpacas male and female was only 31.6 Microns

The average micron for the whole breeding herd is 23.3 Microns.

The average micron for the breeding herd minus the junior breeding stock is 24.8.

The average micron for the 2013 offspring is 18.58 with only one of them over 20.

The average micron for the 2012 breeders is 19.3.

Always room for improvement but in reality we will be happy if we can maintain these results year on year whilst developing  the improved stock to maintain their fineness for as long as possible.

It's good to know as we reach the third and fourth generation of selection that the. Toft Herd is improving in quality throughout year on year with the young elite alpaca stock taking us to places we could only dream of when we set out in 1997.

Congratulations to all the Toft Team for a great set of stats! If next year we can improve the handwriting so we get the alpacas names spelt correctly it would be appreciated...slexos rule ok!

Toft triumph at the Heart Of England Spring Alpaca Fiesta

Another busy weekend and another great show for Toft Alpacas at the Heart of England Alpaca Fiesta.

 We took eleven Toft alpacas to the show and every one of our entries achieved a rosette including three firsts and a Reserve Champion. 

TOFT MATILDA- 1st, Huacaya Junior Female Brown and Reserve female Champion Brown

TOFT ADELE- 2nd, Huacaya Intermediate Female Brown

TOFT TIMOGEN- 1st, Huacaya Junior Male Brown

TOFT TAIPAN- 2nd, Huacaya Junior Male Brown

TOFT LEANDER- 6th, Huacaya Junior Male Brown

TOFT IKRIT - 1st, Haucaya Adult Male Brown

TOFT RASTABAN -3rd, Huacaya Adult Male Brown

TOFT TITUS- 5th, Huacaya Junior Male Fawn

TOFT STALA- 4th, Huacaya Junior Female White

TOFT MARY QUANT- 3rd, Suri Junior Female Light

In addition we took 2 clients animals and they both got rosettes with one of them achieving a Championship Ribbon.

Terry and Liz Davis of Snapdragon Alpacas got 4th in the Huacaya Junior Female Light with Toft Bootes

Ben Harford of Ashcroft Alpacas achieved First in the Huacaya Junior Female Fawn and Champion Female Fawn with a Lavender Park Tulley girl- Ashcroft Tulley's Zephyrine.

And to top the lot we entered Timogen and Matilda in the Sires Progeny alongside Zephyrine on behalf of Lavender Park Tulley of Ashcroft alpacas and won the cup. Epic!

A great day for Team Toft and a big thanks to our herdswoman Linda Newport and our new trainee herdswoman Freya Shuttleworth for preparing and handling our alpacas throughout the show. It was Freya's first alpaca show and she took to it like a seasoned Alpaquero. Well done Freya!

British Alpaca Society Alpaca Judge Cathy Lloyd of EP Cambridge judged the show with great skill, clarity and professionalism at a pace that was very impressive. We may have had early starts but on both days we were done and dusted by 3pm. Thanks Cathy a great job well done!

The Supreme Champion Huacaya Alpaca was won by Houghton Bentley a beautiful fawn male owned by Liz and Mick George of Houghton Hall Alpacas.

A big Toft thanks to Lulu Oliver of Lusi Alpacas and Paul Stead of Saphire Alpacas for organising and running the show on behalf of the Heart of England Alpaca Group. Your efforts were much appreciated -thankyou. We are already looking forward to next year when we shall all meet up and do it all again. 

Well that's us done showing for 2014. We shall start shearing the herd on May12th and saying goodbye to the 'Teddy Bears' and welcoming the 'Pink Panthers' as we start preparing for the birthing season where we are expecting almost 60 cria before the end of July. It never stops at Toft Alpacas- Perfick!