In Honor of a Reproductive Metronome: CCNF Marguerite
The arrival of November has meant that we are now officially commencing our 24th year of breeding alpacas and being in the alpaca business, arguably the last 10 years or so spent at our current size and rate of production (200-300 total animals at any given time, approximately 70 crias born each year). As one would expect over such a length of time, we’ve seen some stuff. Most of it good — as otherwise the incentive to stick around, work hard, and reinvest in new genetics would be lacking — but obviously some of it quite challenging and emotionally taxing. There is one thing in particular that never gets easy: watching a dam, whether a first-timer or an experienced, wily old vet, mourn the loss of a newborn or stillborn cria over several days, was just as hard for all of us here when we witnessed it in 2020, as it was some 22 years ago when we first experienced such an episode.
The reality though, is that even with all that we have learned, our experience, and timely interventions — and at the risk of embarrassing her, I will put the level of expertise and day to day care that my wife and our Herd Manager, Kim Duprey, provide the animals on this farm up against that of any university veterinary hospital when push comes to shove — we have found that in the lifetime of any of our long-lived production females, that the average number of babies we can realistically expect over the course of their reproductive lifetimes, seems to be about 6 live, healthy crias. That is assuming that the average lifespan of most production females on this farm, usually falls into that 12 to 15 year range, with our management practices. Which is what makes the amazing Ms. Marguerite stand out.
Born here in 2007, Marguerite was a daughter of Ring Ridge Daisy (ARI/AOA #181093), a female who joined our breeding program in 2002, as part of the female component of our then 50% acquisition of the North American Alpaca Stud, and CCNF Royal Ring of Fire (ARI/AOA #851781). As I write this and look at her pedigree, the first phrase that enters into my mind is “hybrid vigor!” Born in an era of the US alpaca business when “full-Peruvian” was still a tagline being routinely hyped throughout the industry (some of it justifiably, much of it just utter hogwash), it may very well have been her partial Chileanness — we’re channeling Hank Azaria in The Bird Cage here — that has ultimately led to her durability. Though a prominent member of our show teams as a young female, it is in point of fact Marguerite’s performance as a valued member of our production herd that has made her a stand out over time.
Jennifer, who had been busy lately filling out blood cards and registering our latest 2020 birth class with AOA, came down from her office at the Main Barn one day last week and pointed out that Marguerite — who blessed us with a gorgeous little Privateer daughter this year — is the only still-working production female of her vintage in our program that was, 1. born here herself, 2. since her first initial breeding and pregnancy just a few months shy of her second birthday in the summer of 2009, has always gotten successfully re-bred the following year, and 3. the very reason for this post (besides being stuck on the farm in the middle of a pandemic, without a fall halter show season, and thus desperately needing content) – that she has had 11 live crias in a row, and raised all of them herself! Granted, not all of those offspring have been ringers — she’s even had a few genuine duds by our admittedly snooty standards — but those that have been for real (Margaux, Dominique, Geraldine, and now little Marielle) have been vital to helping us move the ball down the proverbial field on the colored side of our breeding program. Marguerite is a female that obviously owes this farm and this family absolutely nothing at this point in her life and we recognize that, especially at the age of 13, we are well into bonus territory. The next generation stands ready to pick up the torch though in the years ahead and if we have a spring show season next year, it’s highly likely that Marguerite’s maternal line will have no fewer than 3 (coincidentally all female – and the novelty of that on this farm after this past summer, is extra, full-cream rich) representatives on our team, all from the 2020 birth class: her aforementioned daughter Marielle, her granddaughter Amelie (CCNF Margaux x CCNF Bataclan), and her great-granddaughter, Cosette (CCNF Nikita x CCNF Reign Maker). In the meantime, the Matriarch of the family, while still suckling her youngest daughter, is of course bred back to Privateer and due again, all things being equal, in mid-July 2021 – just 2 months shy of her 14th birthday. Like a reproductive metronome. 🙂
Follow me on Twitter at @CCNFAlpacas on Instagram at ccnfalpacas. You can find also find and follow CCNF on Facebook here.
