Right on the heels of our busy show schedule we are anticipating a whole bunch of babies here on the farm. I guess our big summer vacation is off the books!

May 29th

Due on this busy day is Pacific Moon’s Brooklyn (below, right), her service sire, the beautiful Midnight Magic Houdini (below, left) is from Krystal Acres Alpaca Farm on San Juan Island. We are sure that by pairing these two ribbon winners together we will produce a winning cria. Brooklyn is a first time mother.

Our sweet Pacific Moon’s Minnie (below, right) is also due that same day with a cria from our very own NWA, Ltd Chaucer (below, left). We expect this combination to produce a very dense, blindingly white cria. Minnie and Chaucer both sheered more than any other animal last spring, an amazing feat considering neither one is by any measure the largest animal on the farm. Minnie is a first time mother


Wait there is more, May 29th is going to be a busy day. Our watchful Trina (below, right) is due also on the same day with a cria out of our boy Pacific Moon’s Phoebus (below, left). Phoebus is himself an Alpacapalooza ribbon winner and a real handsome boy with a gorgeous helmet head topknot. This will be Phoebus’ first cria and we look forward to seeing what he will do for us. Trina is the experienced mother of Tinkerbelle, and Carmen.


June 11th

Due on this day is Pacific Moon’s Manhattan (left). Mattie, as we call her, is also due with a cria from Krystal Acres’ Midnight Magic Houdini. We have confident hopes for a dense and crimpy cria. This is Manhattan’s first cria.

Pacific Moon's Tinkerbelle, (left) another first time mom, is due on June 11th with a cria from the handsome Krystal Acres Kryptonite’s Triton (see below, left). This should be a dynamite combination. We think that this cria will be a beautiful fawn color.

July 5th

We are expecting a Yankee Doodle baby for Crescent Moon’s Ember (left) with our very own Chaucer. This combination has worked for us in the past giving us our delightful Channel who will show this spring. We are crossing our fingers for another crimpy, conformationally balanced cria.



August 19th

Pacific Moon’s Minnie’s mother, NWA Ltd Mickey (below) is due with a cria from the dashing Krystal Acres Kryptonite’s Triton (way below, left). This will be a cria to watch. Mickey and Triton should combine to give us a super dense fawn cria with great conformation.

September 3rd

Our last cria of the year will be from our girl Wanda (below, right). Sensitive Wanda was also bred to Krystal Acres Kryptonite’s Triton (below, left). Their highly anticipated cria should be lean and leggy with a great head just like it’s parents.

Busy, busy, busy here on the farm. We are really looking forward to 2009. I will outline a few dates we are anticipating. On with the show this is it! Orcas Moon Alpacas will be attending 3 shows in the spring. You will be able to meet and greet Pacific Moon’s Valentino, Orcas Moon’s Channel, and our newest arrival Orcas Moon’s Autumn Diva.

A few notes on alpaca show terminology follow.

Halter

There are two types of shows, halter and fleece. A halter show judges the conformation and fleece of the individual animal. There are two comparative judging criteria options for the individual halter show. The judging options for comparative judging are 50/50 basis fleece and conformation -or- 60/40 basis fleece and conformation.

Fleece

Fleece show procedures are different. The AOBA (Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association) Fleece Judging System is an absolute system judged anonymously. The shorn fleeces are judged by comparing them to an ideal fleece, which is expressed by a perfect score of 100 on the AOBA Suri or Huacaya Fleece scorecard. The scorecard is divided into sections, with each section describing a particular fleece characteristic and the maximum number of points allocated for the ideal of that characteristic. A fleece is evaluated for each characteristic and the maximum number of points assigned according to how close it comes to the ideal. The scores from all sections are added and the highest absolute score is the winner in the class.

Level

In addition to an alpaca show type, shows are assigned levels depending on how many animals or fleeces will be shown. The greater the number of animals the higher the shows level number.


Now with the terms out of the way here Orcas Moon’s spring show schedule to date. We will only be showing in the halter division.

o Alpacapalooza (Level 5) April 3-5 Puyallup, Washington

This was a great level five show last year, a little cold and rainy but we walked away with a ribbon.

o Northwest Alpaca Showcase (Level 4) April 25-26 Pasco, Washington

o Columbia Alpaca Breeders Association (Level 4) May 9-10 Portland, Oregon

We truly hope to see you at any and all of our shows. Stop by and say hello. Meet the animals and enjoy the lifestyle. If you feel like scooping a little poop, I’ll even let you do that too! ;-)