Latest News

Hawkesbury Show 2013

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 05:27:00 +0100

Our best show yet for Walkley Fields with 28 ribbons in total. Perfection Excellence narrowly missed out on Supreme Alpaca. Moonshine progeny excelled, and we were over the moon to take out our second Sire's Progeny for the season.

1st Sire's Progeny - Belbourie Moonshine

1st Dam's Progeny - Coricancha Cajamarca

Walkley Field Evelyne - 2nd 6-12 months female white

Walkley Field Juniseus - 2nd 12-18 months male medium/dark fawn

Walkley Field Julius - 3rd 12-18 months male white

Walkley Field Cajasun - 1st 12-18 months male white, Reserve Champion

Shanbrooke Perfection Excellence - 1st 12 - 18 months male medium/dark fawn, Champion, Colour Champion

Walkley Field Guinetta - 1st 12-18 months, white

Walkley Field Emelody - 1st 12-18 months light fawn, Reserve Champion, Colour Champion

Timbertop Infatuation - 2nd 12-18 months medium/dark fawn

Shanbrooke Society Cavier - 1st 12-18 months medium/dark fawn, Champion

Walkley Field Incarnia - 2nd 18-30 months white male

Walkley Field Moonlight Rose - 2nd 18-30 month white female, Reserve Champion

Coricancha Ampara - 1st 30-48 month white female, Reserve Champion

Coricancha Cajamarca - 1st 48+ month white female, Champion

Walkley Field Volare - 1st 48+ month med/dark fawn male, Champion

New arrivals at Walkley....

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:52:00 +0100

Moonshine progeny are hitting the ground all over the place, two little boys and a little girl with more due to drop.

Come along and meet them all at the farm open day click here

Volare's little cracker...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 23:54:00 +0100

A beautiful dark fawn boy, Walkley Field Valentino, out of our new stud male Walkley Field Volare. 8kg at birth and up and about in under 2 minutes !!!!!

Sydney Royal 2013

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 19:31:00 +0100

Our best Sydney Royal ever. We took 6 animals and walked away with five ribbons.

See all the pictures on our facebook site click here

Walkley Field Emelody - 3rd 6-12 months female light fawn

Walkley Field Juniseus - 3rd 12-18 months male med/dark fawn

Shanbrooke Perfection Excellence - 4th 12-18 months male med/dark fawn

Shanbrooke Society Cavier - Highly Commended - 12-18 months female med/dark fawn

Walkley Field Moonlight Rose - 4th 18-30 months female white

Camden Show 2013

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 02:13:00 +0000

Another great show for our fawns.....

Shanbrooke Perfection Excellence - 1st 12-18 months med/dark fawn male, Champion Med/Dark Fawn

Walkley Field Lillyana - 1st 12-18 months med/dark fawn female

Shanbrooke Society Cavier - 1st 12-18 months light fawn female, Reserve Champion Intermediate Female

Castle Hill Show 2013

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:27:00 +0000

Walkley Fields takes out Supreme Champion. It was our most successful show ever with 20 ribbons from 8 animals. We were proud to have 5 animals in the final line up. Moonshine progeny picked up 3 firsts, a Champion, Reserve Champion, a 3rd, and to top it off 1st in Sire's Progeny.

Results included:

Shanbrooke Sir Perfection Excellence - Supreme Champion, Colour Champion

Walkley Field Cajasun - Champion 6-12 months Male, White Colour Champion

Walkley Field Moonlight Rose - Champion 18-30 months female

Walkley Field Guinitta - Reserve Champion, 1st 12-18 month white female

Walkley Field Juniseus - Reserve Champion, 2nd 12-18 month medium fawn (behind Sir Perfection Excellence)

Shanbrooke Society Cavier - Champion 12-18 months female

Walkley Field Incarnia - Champion 18-30 month male

Walkley Field Lillyana - 3rd 12-18 month female medium fawn

Belbourie Moonshine - 1st Sires Progeny

Moonshine off to stud......

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:58:00 +0000

Our stud male, Belbourie Moonshine, is off for matings at Glenhope Alpacas in Armidale. Moonshine has consistently proven pre-potency for softness, length, and super-fine primaries. We have seen this in a number of progeny already, and are confident he will produce the same results up with David and Bronwyn at Glenhope.

Canberra Royal 2013

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 22:42:00 +0000

Another impressive show for our fawn animals.....

Shanbrooke Society Cavier - 1st 12-18 months light fawn female

Walkley Field Juniseus - 1st 12-18 months dark fawn male

Shanbrooke Perfection Excellence - 2nd 12-18 months dark fawn male

Moonlight Rose was touch and go for 3rd in the 18-30 month white female.

Juniseus was down to the last 2 in Best Colour.

Gunning Show 2013

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:07:00 +0000

A great start to 2013. Moonshine progeny excelled in the ring with 2 Firsts, 1 Third, a Champion, and Best of Colour. The highlight had to be Walkley Field Lillyana who was Champion and Best of Colour (med/dark fawn). Also Walkley Field Junisius was a Blue ribbon winner and Reserve Champion and our 2 new fawn Shanbrooke alpacas were also in the ribbons. Canberra next weekend.......

New Timbertop genetics

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 03:36:00 +0000

Walkley Fields has aquired three lovely fawn females from the recent Timbertop auction. Timbertop CT Louisianna was the highlight (fleece pictured), holding 16.4 micron at an SD of 2.8 at over 4 years of age. All three females out of Celtic Triumph (SRS Male) with genetics back to elite Timbertop stud females.

Walkley aquires Shanbrooke SRS genetics

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:43:00 +0000

Walkley Fields have purchasd a lovely light fawn girl and medium fawn boy from Shanbrooke Alpacas. A full brother and sister, they are out of Shanbrooke Gold Perfection and Shanbrooke Society Shere Predictable (SRS density over 60).

Both animals are exhibiting extremely high density and lack of guard hair - exciting prospects !!!!

Exciting Shearing Results

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 11:43:00 +0100

Every year the most important event in terms of data collection is shearing. It is the one time of year we get to have a very close inspection of all the fleeces, weigh them, and send off individual samples for analysis. Â This year we are very excited about the results achieved.

Our Breeding Females on average cut 3.12kg of 20.92 micron fleece at a Comfort Factor of 95.5%.
Our Wool Wethers on average cut 3.42kg of 20.13 micron fleece at a Comfort Factor of 97.5%.
Our Yearlings on average cut 3.62kg of 18.6 micron fleece at a Comfort Factor of 99%.

The Yearlings are really showing the effect Moonshine is having on the herd. The 3.63kg is annualised (6 months fleece) and this was their second shearing (cria coats were taken off after 5 months).

Comfort Factor is obviously a critical measure as we reduce the diameter of the Primary Fibres using the SRSÂ breeding methods. Comfort Factor is measured as the number of Primary Fibres < 30 micron, taking away that prickly feeling.

Early signs are that the SRS Males we are using (Belbourie Moonshine, Regal House Drummer, Benleigh Legend) are really bringing the Primary Fibre diameter down, and at the same time adding density, length and consequently weight.Â Visit the SRS Alpacas website to see all recommended SRS Sires (Belbourie Moonshine's and Walkley Fields Isandro's full results are there).Â

We had two stand out females that are showing huge promise:

Walkley Field Moonlight Rose (18 months old) (Sire :Belbourie Moonshine Dam: Coricancha Cajamarca) Micron 16.9, SD 3.3Â Fleece weight 2.9kg, 100% Comfort Factor click to Moonlight Rose
Walkley Fields Lucienne (23 months old) (Sire: Benleigh Legend Dam: Windsong Valley Layla) Micron 16.0, SD 3.2, Fleece weight 3.34 kg, 100% Comfort Factor

It is also worth mentioning a couple of other stand-out results.

Walkley Field Incarnia (15 months old) (Sire :Regal House Drummer Dam: Banksia Park Incan Silk) Micron 17.1, SD 3.2Â Fleece weight 3.4kg, 100% Comfort Factor. Incarnia is half-brother to our Emerging Stud Male, Walkley Field Isandro click to Incarnia
Belbourie Jurilique (4.5 Years old) (Sire: Belbourie Sorrento Dam: Belbourie Jessamine) Micron 22.0, SD 4.5, Fleece weight 4 kg, 95% Comfort Factor. Our first female shearing more than 4kg of fleece. Just produced a stunning cria with Moonshine.

If you would like to see the individual shearing results for any animal â please visit the Alpaca Genetics page.

For more pictures of the day click here

Walkley Field Jurrinto

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 11:40:00 +0100

Our latest arrival from Jurilique and Moonshine, Walkley Field Jurrinto.

A beautiful solid white male, weighing in at 8.1kg (what a monster). Poor Jurilique had a few problems. Firstly he was upside down in her womb and secondly his head was so big that she had trouble pushing it through her relatively small birth canal. To top it off she went into labour at midnight !!!!Â

As you can imagine Jurilique is a little tender in her nether regions, but she is now doing fine. Jurrinto is a very exciting prospect, Moonshine and Jurilique are our heaviest cutters in fleece weight - hopefully he will get the best of both....fingers crossed.

For more pictures see our facebook site click here

Charles Ledger Show 2012

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:15:00 +0100

Our last show for 2012. A nice way to end the year with 6 more ribbons....2 highly commended (Julius & Guinitta - both Belbourie Moonshine progeny), 2 third places (Lillyana & Junisius - both Dark Fawn) and a fourth place in Sire's Progeny (Sire - Belbourie Moonshine).

Most of the animals shown were Moonshine off-spring, so it is pleasing to see they are being recognised...Moonshine building very good credentials.

A huge show with over 400 animals. A great achievement given our ribbon winners were Juniors (6-12 months), over 170 animals in the Junior classes alone.

Spinning Demo - 30th June

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:24:00 +0100

Learn how to spin alpaca fleece into exquisite yarn

Walkley Fields is again proud to have Pat Gledhill from SpunOut at the farm on the 30th June. Starting at 10am and running all day until 4pm.....

SpunOut is a supplier of spinning, weaving, and felting equipment. Pat will be on hand to demonstrate how to spin, talk about other techniques, and discuss the equipment required.

SpunOut's web site http://spunoutfibres.com.au/

Spinning - how to spin fleece and fibres

Carding â how to prepare your fleeces and fibres for spinning and felting

Dyeing â variety of colour and styles.

Felting â very easy and fun, create your own masterpieces.

Weaving sticks â how to weave a scarf in a very short and easy way.

Last day of Alpaca Week

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:08:00 +0100

What a great last day to end National Alpaca Week. Meeting the alpacas, spinning demonstrations, over 20 visitors enjoyed the sunshine. Hopefully a fantastic day for all....

Pictured above, Pat Gledhill from SpunOut (http://spunoutfibres.com.au/) passing on her expertise to some eager students.

More pictures on our facebook site.....

facebook pictures

National Alpaca Week

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:41:00 +0100

Walkley Fields is celebrating National Alpaca Week from the 12th to 19th of May. Closed 13th May for Mother's Day.

Come along and meet the animals, feel the exquisite fleece, and see husbandry demonstrations.

Live Spinning demonstration - Saturday 19th MayÂ Â click here for more details

There are new babies (crias) for the kids to admire, a great day out for the whole family.

Click here for more details Alpaca Week Schedule

Bathurst Royal Show 2012 Results

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:08:00 +0100

Final show of the season and another good result. Moonlight Rose again in the largest class didn't quite make the final 3, but was in the top 5 that the judge was choosing between.

The rest of the show team also did very well....

Junior White Male - 3rd Walkley Fields Incarnia

Senior Male Light Fawn - 3rd Walkley Field Isandro

Adult Dark Fawn Male - 2nd Walkley Field Volare (quote from judge Bill Robbins about Volare - "a fleece to die for")

Senior White Female - 2nd and Reserve Champion Walkley Field Georgiana

Hawkesbury Show 2012 Results

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:26:00 +0100

A great show for both animals and fleeces. 14 ribbons with the animals and 6 in the fleeces.

Fleeces

1st for WF Georgiana, 2nd for WF Isandro & WF Leo & WF Moonlight Rose.

3rd for Coricancha Ampara, Belbourie Juniper. 4th for Belbourie Lolita.

Animals

Junior Male White - Walkley Fields Incarnia (2nd and Reserve Champion)

Senior Female Light Fawn - Walkley Field Tikkita (1st)

Senior Male Light Fawn - Walkley Fields Isandro (2nd)

Adult Male Dark Fawn - Walkley Field Volare (1st and Reserve Champion)

Adult Female White - Coricancha Ampara (2nd and Reserve Champion)

Mature Female White - Windsong Valley Layla (1st and Reserve Champion)

Dam's Progeny - 1st (Banksia Park Incan Silk - Walkley Fields Isandro & Incarnia)

Best Wether - Walkley Field Leo (1st)

Sydney Royal 2012 Results

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:27:00 +0100

Another exciting show result for Walkley Fields. The highlight had to be Moonlight Rose being awarded 5th in the Intermediate Female Class. Up against 16 animals across 4 States of Australia, and to quote the judge "the best huacaya Alpaca class so far", it took over an hour to judge. We are very excited that we are mixing it up with the "big guns". Volare picked up a 3rd place (3 Shows - 5 Ribbons for Volare)....and Isandro and Incarnia picked up 3rd for Dam's Progeny....next stop Hawkesbury.

Exciting News.......

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:04:00 +0100

We have just had one of our emerging males skin tested - Walkley Field Isandro. We will put the full results up on the web site over the next few weeks, but just as a quick summary:

High density with a follicle result of 54.1 per sq mm. His secondaries were measured at 18.7 micron and his primaries at 24.4 micron - an exceptional result. What was hugely pleasing was the Standard Deviation (SD) at 2.6 for the secondaries and 2.8 for the primaries.

Walkley Field Isandro is sired by Tennyson Park Azkaban (out of Tulaco) and Banksia Park Incan Silk. Azkaban was exported to New Zealand - himself a high density SRS animal.

Exciting new genetics for our breeding program. More information soon......

Walkley Field Isandro full profile...click here

SRS Report

Camden Show 2012 Results

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:38:00 +0100

Another great show for Walkley Fields...

Volare continues on his successful run with another 1st in Senior Brown Male. Incarnia picked up a second and Tabias a third in Junior White Male. Georgiana was placed 2nd in the Intermediate Female Class whilst Moonlight Rose narrowly missed out on a ribbon in the largest class of the day, Junior White Female.

Next stop Sydney Royal Easter Show.....

SRS Workshop - Presentations

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:19:00 +0000

Just click on the link to download the presentation........

SRS Presentation - Jim Watts

Commercial Fibre Industry - Julienne Gelber

AGE Presentation - Allan Casey

Castle Hill Show 2012 Results

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:25:00 +0000

Castle Hill Show was a great start to the year. It also marks the first show team bred by Walkley Fields - our first generation of animals - exciting times !!!!!

Junior Male Champion (Walkley Field Incarnia), Senior Male Champion (Walkley Field Volare), Reserve Adult Male (Walkley Field Isandro), 2nd Junior White Female (Walkley Field Moonlight Rose), Best Colour - Brown, 1st Intermediate White Female (Walkley Field Georgiana) - 10 ribbons in all with 6 animals.....

Belbourie Moonshine and Regal House Drummer progeny excelled in the ring. Especially pleasing was Walkley Fields Volare who took out Senior Male Champion as well as Best Colour (Brown).

Casey Munyard (our youngest team member) took out a blue ribbon for Junior Handler to complete what was a great day.

Congratulations to Cathi & Ian for picking up Supreme Huacaya Alpaca. Also thanks to Sue Maynard, Elke Small, Graeme Dickson, and Ken Willes for organising a great show.

For more great piccies of the day check out our Facebook site....

Facebook page

Walkley Fields Blog up and running...

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 05:25:00 +0000

We've established a journal to highlight alpaca breeding, farm and husbandry tips. There are many sites on the web that contain information on alpacas, some accurate, some not so. We wanted to publish information that we have experienced first hand, hoping to share valuable learnings with other studs.

http://walkleyfieldsalpacas.blogspot.com/

Walkley Fields on Facebook

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:06:00 +0000

We've just launched our new Facebook page. Click through and like us to get all the updates.....

click to Walkley Fields on Facebook

Reducing the diameter of Guard Hair in Alpacas using SRS Breeding techniques

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 09:59:00 +0000

So firstly what is Guard Hair? Guard Hair (or primary fibres) are the coarse hairs that form an outer coat on the alpaca, and in fact most mammals. In alpacas the primary fibres tend to be much higher in diameter than the rest of the fibres (called secondary fibres), and can be as high as 15% or more of total fibres. They are there for a very good evolutionary reason, a coat to protect the alpaca from the elements. However, one of the downsides of these coarser fibres for the Alpaca breeder is that they have a âpricklyâ feel that will take away from the smoothness and handle of the fleece.Â In an attempt to counter this, the manufacturers remove the Guard Hair during processing of the fleece (known as dehairing). Only problem is that this is a time consuming and expensive exercise and reduces fleece weights.

When we set up Walkley Fields in 2007 we had bit of good fortune: Glenda and Daryl Salmon, owners of the renowned Belbourie Alpaca Stud, decided to retire. As a result we were given the opportunity to buy their elite stock.Â We knew they had something special the minute we ran our hands through the fleeces. We noticed a real difference,Â a silky soft feel (or handle) that simply slipped across your finger tips.Â Glenda explained that she had achieved this by focusing on reducing the diameter of the primary fibres using techniques championed by Jim Watts at SRS Alpaca.

The theory is pretty simple really. By selecting alpacas in your breeding program that have a reduced primary fibre diameter in comparison to the secondary fibres we can gradually bring the overall primary diameter down, eventually to less than that of the secondary fibres. SRS has already proven this can be done with fine merino sheep.

Not only do we test the diameter of the primary and secondary fibres, we also test the density of the wool follicles (the follicles in the skin which produce the fibre). The greater the density of the follicles, the more fibre and thus heavier fleece weights. By reducing the size of these nasty primary fibres we allow more room on the animal for those finer, silkier fibres. The other significant advantage of getting the primary fibres as fine as the secondaries is that it removes the need for dehairing (or removal of the coarse fibres) by the fibre processors.

We look for various fleece markers (or fleece attributes such as lustre, handle & length) on each animal, and in some cases an actual sample of the animals skin is assessed. This helps us determine the follicle density of the animal, and the diameter of primary and secondary fibres.

Our stud male, Belbourie Moonshine (pictured above) is an example of an SRS male where the primary fibres are getting very close to the secondary fibre diameter. We had a sample of Moonshineâs skin tested to get an accurate measure.Â Below is a sample of the type of report you get back from the SRS skin test.

His primaries are getting closer to the diameter of his secondaries â only 7.2 micron difference (27.6 vs 20.4). In an average alpaca this difference can be up to 12 micron or more. He also has fine secondary fibres, good density, measured at 52.8 follicles per square mm, and impressive fleece length. You can feel the difference in the fleece, a silky smooth handle. The crucial next task is to prove that genetically Moonshine is pre-potent at passing on these traits (i.e. he passes on the same attributes with improvement to his off-spring, or progeny as we call them). We now have a number of his progeny that are exhibiting Moonshineâs traits. Moonshine himself shears over 4kg of 21 micron fleece at 4 years of age, and his half-sister Belbourie Ragamuffin is still shearing 3kg of 18 micron fleece at 3.5 years of age, at a comfort factor of over 99% (only 1% ofÂ fibres on the animal above 30 micron).

If anyone is interested in learning more about SRS , the Breeding techniques we use, or simply getting a âhands-onâ feel of the animals, we are holding a full-day workshop on the 19th of February, 2012.Â Jim Watts (SRS Founder) will be hosting the workshop, and we will have a number of other interesting speakers. To register for the event simply visit hit the register button at the top of the page.

Belbourie Juniper produces a ripper !!!!

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:52:00 +0000

After 386 days (a mammoth effort with gestation period usually 345 days), the much awaited Belbourie Juniper cria has arrived. Belbourie Juniper a multiple Champion Female has combined with Encantador Ring Master, himself a National blue ribbon winner (out of Blue Grass Centurion and owned by Regal House), to produce a stunning light brown cria. Early days, but very exciting !!!!

SRS Alpaca tilt at Chinese wool market

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:53:00 +0000

At the wool primaries this week in Fremantle, 17 bales of Alpaca fleece were auctioned.

Looks like the Chinese are falling in love with SRS Alpaca fleece.....now if we could only get them another 100 bales :-)

Click through to the news article:

ABC Rural Article

Chinese would take 100 bales.....

Second generation SRS crias hit the ground

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:52:00 +0000

We are very excitied about three white crias from Belbourie Moonbeam (Moonray - Female), Belbourie Juliette (Julius - Male) & Walkley Fields Genavieve (Genoa - Male). Moonbeam mated to Regal House Drummer and the others to Belbourie Moonshine, this is really starting to show that the focus on density and fine primaries is taking hold. Crimping from head to toe, with sparse and fine primaries, and density unlike anything we have seen at this early stage, it will be very interesting to watch how these crias develop and test.

Walkley Fields contributes to SRS Bale

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:17:00 +0000

Another first for SRS over the weekend of the 19th & 20th of November; a number of SRS studs submitted their fleeces to be classed by Jim Watts and sold at the open wool market. In total over 700kgs of fleeces were classed and a number of 110kgs bales were pressed and branded ready for sale.Â It was encouraging to see that many of the fleeces were advanced SRS, exhibiting very little guard hair. On those fleeces that did have guard hair it was clear that they were finer and softer, really illustrating that our breeding programs are working. SRS members in NSW, Victoria, and WA are all collecting and producing bales for 2011.Â Many thanks to the Gelbers for their hospitality, as usual it was fantastic.Â

Walkley Fields receives 2010 AGE results

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:57:00 +0000

Every year Walkley Fields submits all the genetic traits of each of our individual alpacas to the Alpaca Association. Genetic factors are very important in determining breeding improvement, and different alpacas vary in their ability to deliver genetic improvement to their offpring. This years results have been exceptional with Belbourie Moonshine receiving a Breeding Score of 136 - placing him in the top 5% of over 7,000 Alpacas submitted. The AGE result for each animal is part of each alpaca description on our site.

Beautiful Dark Fawn cria arrives at Walkley Fields

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:03:00 +0000

A combination of Belbourie Moonshine & Loose Beare Linea de Lugger has produced a beautiful cria. Linea de Lugger has a shorter but quite stylish fleece and is beginning to exhibit primary fibres on her brisket. Moonshine has excellent length and also a silky feel with very soft primaries. Although early days, the cria looks promising. Mother and cria pictured.