TOFT class of 2015

All the TOFT Weaners have been moved onto fresh pasture in the last couple of weeks. These paddocks consist of un harrowed winter growth which has been left for six months to settle giving them enough new grass growth to get him through to shearing without their fleeces collecting any surplus vegetable matter. 

At TOFT these days all our cria are under 20 microns AFD in their first fleece, which is a fantastic achievement and a credit to their pedigree but it comes with the additional problem -these superfine fleeces will, if not looked after and managed properly, collect every but of dry matter out of their paddocks and make them unusable it we are not careful. We do our best adn hope that we can remove any excess that has gathered in these wonderful fleeces at shearing. We shear the second week of May so we have a bit to go yet.

TOFT - Class of 2015

Weaner paddocks at TOFT -home to the next generation.

Happy dry day.....phew! BAS National only a week away.

The National show is only a week away and as luck would have it we have hit a dry cold spell this week at TOFT. The alpacas love every single minute of it. These are some of our TOFT Intermediate boys who were practicing their 'strut' in the cold walking up and down the fence line showing off their masculine presence trying to impress the wee weaner females who were feeding at the time on the hard standing.

Their fleeces dry real quick in this weather and the cold makes their follicles 'ping' and they truly look magnificent in these kind of conditions. We shall be penning the show team up in the shed as soon as the weather looks like turning. Our elite boys and girls deserve to look their best next weekend at the showcase of the year. The British Alpaca Society National Show 2016 at the Internatinal Centre Telford. Friday and Saturday 8 am onwards. Let's hope TOFT do well, certainly the show team have a look and feel about them- we shall see.

The TOFT T TEAM...

Caught the TOFT T Team in the sun this weekend and couldn't resist sharing this picture of these stunning sons of Lavender Park Tulley. 

T Team? TOFT Toranaga, TOFT Tamburlaine  and TOFT Tambo.  All sons of Lavender Park Tulley- get it? All these boys should start working this year and are now looking for discerning alpaca owners who want to add some superior coloured genetics to their alpaca breeding program. 

The TOFT T Team are all for sale so if you want to take a closer look at these beautiful Lavender Park Tulley boys, then please remember we shear in the second week of May so there's only a couple of months to see fleece and alpaca together. The TOFT Studio and TOFT Coffee Shop is open Wednesday through Sundays. So if you'd like to combine your visit with some coffee and cake then please get in touch. See you soon Rob & Shirl.

And this afternoon it will be Assembly

10 small Hayracks rocked up today to take their place in the new TOFT quarantine area. Every alpaca family staying for mating will have their own little hay bar!

Surprise surprise !!!

One of our clients who has three alpacas in our quarantine facility for mating was pleasantly surprised last week when her grey female gave both to a lovely little grey girl... These things can happen. Apparently she had discovered an abortion in her herd over winter and now realises that she had attributed it to the wrong female...'Twas ever thus. An unexpected grey girl enabled her to get over any embarrassment very quickly- congratulations!

Finally we get to the finish..

Finally we have knocked in the last staple fixed the last gate latch and crimped the last wire joint on the new TOFT quarantine paddocks. The new area is self contained, consists of 17 small paddocks enabling the visiting females to live as their own family group separated by a paddock either side from the other families in quarantine. They can all see each other but the only contact they make with another alpaca during their stay at TOFT is whilst mating with their chosen male. 

No system is ever perfect but this is pretty robust. Coupled with the existing 15 other quarantine paddocks at TOFT it gives us a minimum of 32 options to maintain strict  bio security for our visitors females during mating.  

Floodlights on for extra time at TOFT

Our Champion girl TOFT Nashira  had a sticky time yesterday evening  finally giving birth at 7.45pm producing a stunning fawn LAVENDER PARK TULLEY  boy TOFT TYPHOON. All well in the end but the trauma required a few stitches so the vet was called off the bench in Towcester floodlights erected and extra time was played until 10pm.  All well this morn and the boyo looking very impressive blissfully unaware of the effort his Mum put in to get him here. 'Twas ever thus.

Doing what you must to thwart the bad boys...

Putting the final touches on the new TOFT quarantine paddocks and doing what I must to keep the bad boys from stealing the kit. We mark all the moveable kit with the TOFT herd prefix. Does it work? Maybe...The upside of sharing the farm with the public is the way the people have adopted our alpacas and take a keen interest in the alpacas and the general well being of TOFT. The downside is occasionally a bad un turns up and walks off with some kit...'twas ever thus. 

Alpaca stars emerging...

The new borns are starting to fill out as their secondary fibre comes through and it was such a magnificent evening last night that a few summer photies are a must at this special time

All done and dusted - jobs done for 2015

That's it a huge thanks to everyone who helped and of course not forgetting B D Wheeler and his helper Benny, my son Grant for catering, and Whoopy Daisy for ferrying, sorting childminding and being a friend of all the world and my talented daughter Kerry Lord who now has the job of turning the best of what we have to offer into magnificent luxury yarn for the TOFT Alpaca Studio. Give it the old TOFT magic young lady. Thanks everyone for a very enjoyable shearing from a TOFT Alpacas. 

I am now off to see my mate Jules for a skinny Latte in the TOFT tea room.

Bang bang bang... Those gate posts take a while

26 in and 8 to go... It's a long old job banging in the fence posts on this new quarantine facility at TOFT. This is my view for hours on end. Stiff neck- tell me about it!

TOFT Clovis looking very tidy on his first evening out...Boys 2 Girls 1

TOFT Clovis joined us today around lunchtime and his pedigree is evident from the outset. He is out of TOFT Catena a first time Mum from Barrabinda Flinders Star and his Father is TOFT Jaina son of Skywalker and all one can ever say on the first day is he shows a lot of promise. TOFT Catena is a 3rd generation first time Mum and if TOFT Clovis is the sign of what we can expect from the other elite maidens then It is going to get very exciting here in the next few months.

Thank you one and all for a great show...British Alpaca Futuruty 2015

A huge TOFT thanks to the organisers of the British Alpaca. Futurity 2015 at the Ricoh Arena Coventry. Great room, well organised, fab judging and a lovely atmosphere throughout. A huge thanks to Chas and Rachel of Classical Mile End for what is a colossal undertaking. Big thanks to Mary Jo of Bozedown alpacas for organising the showing and the other sponsors and organisers in the form of Houghton Hall and the Alpaca Stud for giving us a impressive promotional event of this nature.  Much appreciation to all the stewards and secretaries for tirelessly keeping the wheels moving? The Futurity is a wonderful showcase for our industry and much appreciated by all the exhibitors.

 A big hug for Belinda and her merry band of Yarnies who added a great deal of colour and class through the P-Lush event. 

Thanks to Jean Field for organising the fleece show a hugely important feature which always gets a little overshadowed by the moving exhibits but is so vitally important to the future of our industry. 

And finally of a massive thanks to Wade Gease and Peter Kennedy the two international judges who shared of their wisdom and expertise with great charm throughout. However Mr Gease I am still trying to work out how to 'Schnuzzle'  my alpaca. I think that might be illegal in the UK. Thanks to you both I enjoyed your input immensely. Have a great stay in our country and a safe trip home. 

Thanks again to all the organisers and participants for a thoroughly enjoyable alpaca weekend, congratulations to all the winners commiserations to the rest. Let's have a bit rest today and we'll see you all again soon.

Me kids done great....British Alpaca Futurity 2015

Well didn't they all do well ? Not only the TOFT Tulley clan but also the extended Tulley rellies from the client herds. We personally took 13 alpacas, 12 of which were LAVENDER PARK TULLEY offspring and one Barrabinda Flinders Star of TOFT entered by Arre alpacas. 12 of the Tulley babes got rosettes and one magnificent broad ribbon Championship to add to the one they achieved at the National Show.

He may not have won but his kids did him proud and gave it a good go..

The TULLEY gang's elite results...

TOFT Timogen excelled with first in Intermediate Brown Huacaya and Brown Huacaya Champion in both fleece and halter.

TOFT Taipan achieved second in the Huacaya Intermediate Male Brown

TOFT Tamburlaine achieved third in the  Huacaya Junior Male Fawn class

TOFT Toranaga achieved fourth in the  Huacaya Junior Male Fawn class.

TOFT Matilda achieved third in the Huacaya Intermediate female Brown class

TOFT Manilla achieved third in the Huacaya Junior Female fawn class.

Inca alpacas Instrumental achieved third in the Huacaya Junior Male Brown class.

Ashwood alpacas Inferno achieved sixth in the Huacaya  Junior Male Fawn class.

Top Alpacas Daisy achieved sixth in the Huacaya Junior Female Light class.

Du Prem alpacas Lavender Adonis achieved sixth in the Huacaya Intermediate Male Fawn class.

Du Prem alpacas Lavender Autumn Beauty achieved first in the Huacaya Junior Female Brown class

Ashcroft alpacas Zahia achieved fourth in the Huacaya Junior Female Brown class.

Ashcroft alpacas Zinnia achieved second in year Huacaya Intermediate female white class.

Ashcroft alpacas Zoraida achieved fourth in the Huacaya Junior Female Light Class

Only one of the kids entered in the show didn't get a rosette but the consolation is they did at the Nationals. Hey oh, that's show business! Didn't stop them joining in the celebrations with the winners on the way home.

Congratulations to all the Tulley gang and their rellies for a magnificent showing in the British Alpaca Futurity 2015. If anyone wants to join the Gang for next year then please book in for services with TOFT as soon as you have decided because he already has a busy schedule ahead of him.

'I'm real proud of every single one of my boys and girls... I loves em to bits...'  -Lavender Park Tulley

And a very special mention for Keith and Yvonne Lovering of Arre alpacas who with their young white Barrabinda Flinders Star male Alfredo achieved a competitive sixth in the junior male white class.. congratulations!

And ... What's more here is Mr Ben Harford of Ashcroft Alpacas actually smiling.

And here is Daimen of Du Prem glowing in the limelight without singing..

Here we go again for day two of the British Alpaca Futurity ...

What else would you do a wet Saturday...? but get along to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry to watch the British Alpaca Futurity and sample the delights of Fibre and Fashion at the P-Lush exhibition where you can buys all manner of yarns, materials and designs by some of the best in the UK. If you are at a loose end today why not pop along and see us there. 

The two International Judges Peter Kennedy of the Australian Alpaca Association and AOBA and Wade Gease of AOBA are busy wading their way through over 400 alpacas representing some of the best young alpaca stock in the UK, Europe and probably the World. They are also doing a fantastic job entertaining the crowd and informing the breeders as they progress towards the big Championships this afternoon.

That's better Linda...what a lovely smile.

A smiling herds woman is a sight for sore eyes... First alpaca show for TOFT Manilla who took a third in the junior fawn female but really it's the smile on the handler which is the real prize... Well done Linda.

What about us? Don't we get to go to the Ricoh?

Sorry dudes, we can't take you all. You may have won rosettes at the British Alpaca Society National but this is a different ball game and entries aren't cheap.

In a Futurity it's the nominated sires who are actually competing through their offspring. The sire with the the most winning points achieved through the competition of his progeny  wins the Futurity. Technically if you have a sire with a stack of offspring and your sire happens to pick up the dams colour, and produces elite alpacas and they do well in every class and achieve champions in something you are In with a chance. Not a big ask, huh?  At least I think that's how it works ...

LAVENDER PARK TULLEY who is standing at TOFT is one of the sires and all our entries for the Futurity are his offspring in as many colours and age groups as we can muster. Does he have a chance? It all depends on who is standing next to his kids...hey, that's show business!

TOFT Showteam all shedded up and ready for the Ricoh....

Shedded all the TOFT Alpaca Showteam yesterday ready to go to the Ricih arena tonight for the British Alpaca Futurity on Friday and Saturday. These Elite boys and girls were all taken out of their quarantine paddocks and settled in the dry.  After the last few weeks of dry weather we thought it best not to take any chances with these elite boys and girls of the TOFT Showteam. We want these elite alpacas to look their best in the spotlight over the next two days.

Alpaca fibre is a dry fibre and cannot be judged wet. As it is a dry fibre without lanolin it also can absorb over 20% of its weight in water if left in damp conditions ruining the handle and making the fleece appear coarser thn it truly is. The finer and more Elite the alpaca and it's fibre the more it react to the damp. 

Given our UK weather this probably means that UK alpacas are very rarely judged at ther driest and hence finest, but each year we try. These lot won't be totally dry for the judges at the British Alpaca Futurity but they will be close thanks to a little foresight and a nice dry shed. Hey ho and a showing we will go!

Be nice to my kids at the British Alpaca Futurity on Friday at the Ricoh Arena Coventry

Sorry I can't  make it to the Ricoh  for the Futurity I'm just too busy bonking the girlies but I'm sending my kids along to see you all on Friday...

Give them a good time will you? xxx

Yours sincerely ...

Lavender Park Tulley...standing at TOFT