We don't just breed pedigree alpacas at Toft...

We do a fantastic line in Lord's and Komodo dragons too!

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!

Oh, oh, there goes my wardrobe...

The fleece fairy is at it again. Kerrry is busy sorting alpaca fleece for the mill again. Unfortunately for me it looks like my ski jacket went west at the same time. Will it ever recover? I doubt it. Will. I ever ski again? Unlikely. Looks like I've made another wardrobe donation to the Toft Alpaca Shop.

Young alpaca stud males eager for a partner...

These young boys are doing some serious fence time on the off chance that a young maiden or a 'cougar' may come knocking on the door.

 At just over two years of age they are not that fussy as long as she is willing. 'Twas ever thus! Pretty clear they are obviously maturing fast and taking an interest. These elite prizewinning stud males will soon be appearing on the for sales pages of our website now their fleece stats are back from the laboratories. And they make great reading, watch this space!

Will you look at what's in our back garden, the day!!!!!!

Tanks Trucks and firepower enthusiasts are camping out on my neighbours property in their hundreds this weekend. Some are dug into the ground and living like its WW 2. Others are driving round, stroking old metal and talking tanks and trucks forever. Disco last night, fireworks and rock band tonight. All in all a joyous weekend of whizz bangs and celebration for the fans of camouflage. This is what made this country great, methinks.

No, not the firepower fetishists but the great English eccentrics. All this kit has got a home to go to. Somewhere  there is shed of love for all this old army kit and in it a wee Englishman who's life is dedicated to tinkering and polishing to restore and renovate. The skills ...the skills we must have locked away in unassuming dedicated engineers with shed fulls of old machinery just covered in love. Get these people together and they could no doubt make a spaceship from an old Massey tractor and some sticky backed plastic.

I might not share your obsession with your military avatar boys but I admire your eccentricity! Some might find it bizarre, and it is a little, but it's not a lot less weird than sitting by a river all day and sometimes half the night with stick and a hook on a bit of string chasing £6 worth of fish! Whatever drives your tank!

Have a great weekend one and all and keep the noise down, the chosen men quiver in their kennel everytime a shell goes off.

Mated maidens all grown up...

As we approach Autumn we are busy scanning all the mated girls for an estimate of next years crop of elite cria. These former show girls have now given up winning rosettes in the glamour of the ring for maternal duties back on farm. 

These are all first timers daughters of Barrabinda Flinders Star, Toft Jaina and Lavender Park Tulley and form the elite  centrepiece of the  Toft Herd. They are now all pregnant for the first time and will settle down for the winter, chomping hay and grass and nurturing future Champions. Well one can only hope at this time of the year, next season will reveal whether our choices bear fruition. 

Hey, ho. It's a long old job but a gud un!

The old fella surveys the stud males for sale...

Had company this week in the form of me Dad, up for a week with me Mam to see their great grandchild and generally catch up. 

Here he is admiring the potential stud males for sale and giving of his expertise - ' Eeeeh , son well they all look well!' 

At 83 he can be excused. When we first started breeding alpacas in 1997 he thought they were a breed of dog. 

He's learnt a bit since then but mostly they just make him grin!