Close-Knit Alpacas started breeding alpacas in the spring of 2005. C-K utilizes regular (for some periods of time, daily) BEHAVIOR TESTING as our primary means of determining the readiness of any female on the farm for breeding, as well as for determining whether or not a female has "caught," ovulated, and become pregnant.
I have bred my dams to C-K's own males, or males we've brought here on lease. We have bred other people's dams to our males, as well, and with a large degree of success. Sometimes we've had a female come to us with reproductive problems such as a "retained C.L." or hormonal imbalance, or simply due to age and having been kept open (meaning, "not bred") for a long while before being sent to Close-Knit for breeding. In that sort of situation, if the owner is not willing to take the dam to a competent hospital for a full geriatric and/or reproductive exam and possibly treatment, it is likely the female will have to be considered retired, and unable to breed or birth a cria again. Owning and caring for alpacas is a responsibility Close-Knit takes seriously.
We are pleased with the crias born in '06, '07, '08 and '09 that are the result of C-K's first four years of breeding these incredible animals. They have been healthy, robust crias of good size...and plenty of GIRLS! I conduct controlled breeding wherein a male is introduced to a female on halter and in a controlled environment, like a clean paddock or large stall. I don't want to have any confusion about who the sire of the growing cria in utero is, nor do I want any chance for any arbitrary or "accidental" breedings between the various bloodlines on the farm.
Below are Close-Knit's primary (or "foundation") production dams. As you will see, they are a colorful group! Check out our "Crias and Weanlings" page to see the offspring they produced in Close-Knit's latest year of breeding on the farm (not crias resulting from breeding prior to the dams coming to this farm). The Juniors and Maiden's page displays the older offspring still on the farm.
Quintero's Butterfly Ballet - Nov. 2010
Ballet
Quintero's Butterfly Ballet is
one of the first "bred by Close-Knit" alpacas. Her dam is the beloved Madame Butterfly (medium rose grey Macusani's Majesty daughter) and her sire is the incomparable Kiva's Quintero (light silver grey show winner at Empire 2005).
Ballet's coloration is mesmerizing, but her density, conformation and presence are INTENSE! Wow, this girl has charisma! She could not have a more appropriate name. She is theatrical, elegant, enchanting to look at and commanding "on stage" at all times. She is a true star in every sense of the word.
Ballet has been bred to Guellermo's Peruvian Checkmate for her first cria. He is an outstanding solid bay black full Peruvian son of the famous Guellermo, most noted for his outrageously long staple and crazy density to his crimpy, ideal fleece. It will be very interesting to see what this pairing produces Summer of 2010! Stay tuned!
Color: Med. Rose Grey
ARI
# 31045551
Gender: Female
DOB: 09/26/2007
Type: Huacaya
Dam: Madame Butterfly (MRG)
Sire: Kiva's Quintero
(LSG)
Due: October 15, 2011
Service Sire: Nyala's Perucoyo Powerhouse
Crias (with C-K Alpacas):
2010/MSG - (Male) - Beaux Reve D'Argent
Price: $14,000
2010 Cria (MSG) - "Beaux Reve"
Clare
Close-Knit Princess Clare was the first female alpaca born to the farm, in late May of 2006. She is the daughter of one of our foundation dams, the full Bolivian Acero Marka's Hannah, and of Close-Knit's top, super-finely fleeced true black stud, Enchantment's Chaparral.
So far, Clare has been displaying excellent traits as a very nice production girl. She has nice conformation, beautiful density, huge engaging eyes and a pleasant disposition.
Clare delivered her first cria in summer of 2009 (Close-Knit Captain's Journey), a fawn "look-a-like-mom" son of Fleecy Dale Captain Courageous! Journey has dark toe nails, gums, dental pad, etc., and will surely throw lots of color if he becomes a stud someday.
For her second cria, due June 14th of 2010, Clare has been bred to Close-Knit Mastermind...grandson of Hemingway, son of NWA's Ltd. Einstein (1st Place winner at MAPACA '04 in white huacaya males). Mastermind has maintained a Royal Baby Fine fleece since his first histogram at the age of two revealed fineness UNDER 18 microns. Since Mastermind's dam is a true black, and Clare's sire is a true black, it's half-expected some decent color will be produced from this pairing, and with beautiful density and added fineness!
Color: Med. Fawn
ARI
# 1275315
Gender: Female
DOB: 06/23/2006
Type: Huacaya
Dam: Acero Marka's Hannah (DRG)
Sire: Enchantment's Chaparral (TB)
Due: June 14, 2010
Service Sire: Close-Knit Mastermind
Crias (with C-K Alpacas): 1
2009/male - Captain's Journey (MF)
2010/____- (tba)
Price: $14,000
Clare's 1st Cria (2009)
Close-Knit's "Dallas"
Dallas
SH Dallas came to us in the summer of 2005, with her one month old son, Clue, at her side. He has been "adopted" by Diana and John Bryden of New Jersey and is the lifetime companion and side-kick to Cougar's Masterpiece.
Dallas is a conformationally correct female who easily becomes pregnant, and births quite independently! She has lots of milk for her crias and is an attentive, loving mother.
Dallas' fleece is nicely dense, with good crimp and fair staple length. She has a pretty head and large soulful eyes. She also has a pleasant personality and gets along well with the other dams in the herd.
With her lovely solid medium brown/red-like coloring, and her light silver grey sire, we are excited about the opportunity to pair her with the various Close-Knit herdsires over the years.
Our first choice for her was Fleecy Dale Captain Courageous, and that pairing produced an incredible cria (Sorcerer King)! Close-Knit Sorcerer King was sold to a new farm in Arkansas where he regularly wows visitors to the farm and impresses fiber artists and mills with his awesome fleece! Congratulations to Deborah and Darrell Hardman of My Mountain Home Alpacas!
Close-Knit's latest choice for her was a repeat breeding to Captain and WOW...we got a repeat cria, too, except that this time the baby turned out female! Close-Knit Captain's Masquerade was born, literally, in the back of the tall-capped pickup truck while en route to Cornell and only 5 minutes from the destination. She was so big, the labor was longer than usual and I had decided to go ahead and take Dallas on up to the hospital "just in case." Well, it was all Hallow's Eve and the energy was just right (okay...maybe the constant steady vibration of the truck helped things along?). Suddenly Dallas stood up and there in my rear view mirror was a cria's front legs and head already out! What a riot! I "coached" Dallas from my driver's seat and pulled into a parking lot so I could check on the cria. All was well...so we went on up to Cornell so the vet students could meet her and see a healthy, vivacious newborn cria.
Color: Med. Brown
ARI # 819515
Gender: Female
DOB: 07/13/99
Type: Huacaya
Dam: Dewey Meadows Hillary (MB)
Sire: Dewey Meadows Jazz (LSG)
Due: June 2010
Service Sire: Close-Knit Mastermind
Crias (with C-K Alpacas): 3
2005/male - Clue (DB)
2006/male - C-K Sorcerer King (MRG)
2008/female - C-K Captain's Masquerade (MRG)
Price: $8500
Close-Knit Mastermind's Pop-Quiz - 2010
2006 cria, sired by Fleecy Dale Captain Courageous - MRG
2008 Cria sired by Fleecy Dale Captain Courageous - MRG
Lady
When we found Lady Irene, we had been searching for a female alpaca that would add fineness, luster, crimp, and basically the highest degree of fleece quality we could find in a female huacaya we could afford. This young lady has the fleece we've been looking for, and so much more! Her full Peruvian ancestry adds qualities too numerous to list here, too.
Lady Irene's conformation is excellent. Her bones are substantial, without being bulky or compromising her grace and elegance. Our Lady's lines are straight (gorgeous topline!) and her color...it's magnificent and luminous. Touch her and you'll gasp at the soft, "buttery," silky handle.
It has been said, "Her lineage reads like a 'Who's Who' of Peruvian alpaca royalty with such legends as PPeruvian Fidel and PPPeruvian Cordero."
Lady Irene's dam is the lovely, luxuriously fleeced RRA Fidel's Jessica, an elegant white dam with ideal mothering qualities, lots of milk, easy birthing abilities, a loving disposition and a propensity for becoming pregnant on the "1st-take."
Lady's sire is the well-known INCA DANSEUR (CA Cordero's Inca Danseur)...a medium fawn son of PPPeruvian Cordero 6002 (white) and PPPeruvian Prosperity 4966 (Med. Fawn). Many established breeders believe Danseur is one of the top 10 herd sires in North America. To date, all his offspring shown are award winners!
We are very excited to have Lady Irene as part of the Close-Knit Alpacas' foundation herd. She has been bred to Enchantment's Chaparral for her 2009 cria...her fourth, and a repeat of her first breeding. Paired with this 1/4 Accoyo Dom Lucilio true black son with the finest fleece we've been able to find in a true black, we expect an unbelievable, beautiful cria from these two! And maybe she'll have a GIRL this time!
2009/male - Close-Knit Royal Incan Grisaille (Modern DSG)
2010/male - Close-Knit Muhammad Ali (DF)
Price: $30,000
2006 cria, sired by Enchantment's Chaparral - Dark Rose Grey
2008 Cria sired by Nyala's Peruvian Prince Ranier - Beige
2007 cria, sired by Nova's Gold - Light Fawn
Royal Incan Grisaille - 2009 - suspecting Modern Dark Silver (early expression)
Close-Knit Muhammad Ali - 2010 - Dark Fawn, sired by Peruvian Checkmate (BB)
Close-Knit's "Madame"
Madame Butterfly
Madame Butterfly (we call her, simply, "Madame"), has not only a fleece color fit for royalty, but she was born out of royalty. Madame's fleece looks purple as she walks across the field!
Her sire is Macusani's Majesty and, of course, this means that her powerful genetics come from her grandsire, Peruvian Macusani. She carries that presence of grace and strength, and displays the conformation one expects from Macusani progeny.
Madame's 1st cria was born in spring of 2004 (Springtime in Paris), rich medium brown with black points and without a hitch.
Madame has been an excellent mother, with plenty of milk for her crias.
Madame delivered a handsome, maroon '05 son, "Cougar's Master Peace," right on her due date, and completely unassisted. He is now a herd sire serving Power Paca Line Farm in New Jersey!
She birthed her '06 daughter, "Close-Knit Queen Rowan," the same way she did Master Peace and displayed her ability to consistently produce intense color, conformation and presence in her crias.
Madame Butterfly's 2007 cria was no exception...In fact, this daughter is even more colorful! "Quintero's Butterfly Ballet" is a lovely medium rose grey and absolutely electric! We expect her to carry on all of the best qualities of both of her parents when she is bred spring of '09 to Enchantment's Chaparral.
In 2008, Madame delivered ANOTHER GIRL! Close-Knit Shaquille's Opera was born a large and lustrous, pale pink in color. What a beauty...and what a sweet personality she has, too. Best of all, her fiber and conformation are excellent, proving Madame is a consistent producer of excellence. Since Opera was born early November, we decided to hold off on breeding Madame again until late spring of '09 to get her back onto a warmer season for deliveries.
Now that Madame has provided Close-Knit Alpacas with three gorgeous daughters, she can be shared with another farm who will appreciate her grace and exquisite beauty as much C-K has. If the right new home is presented for her, great! If not...Close--Knit will be thrilled to announce the birth of her next cria when the time comes!
Color: MRG ARI # 833887
Gender: Female
DOB: 10/16/01
Type: Huacaya
Dam: Savannah (MB)
Sire: Macusani's Majesty (MSG, son of Peruvian Macusani)
2005 cria, sired by Peruvian Cougar - Medium Brown
2007 cria, sired by Kiva's Quintero - "Butterfly Ballet"
2006 cria, sired by Enchantment's Chaparral - "Queen Rowan"
2008 Cria sired by Shaquille - Super Light Silver (platinum!)
Close-Knit Madame's Symphony - 2010 MRG
Morgan
Morgan is a full Chilean, solid True Black reliable production dam. She has a pretty solid production record, breeds easily, births ALWAYS incident free and text-book, on her own, and she's a wonderful mother to her cria.
Morgan came to Close-Knit via a boarding client who first bought her and had her transported from Ohio to live on Moon Ivy Hill with the Close-Knit Alpacas. Once her owner left Iraq upon completion of government contract work, she was originally going to start her farm and move her alpacas to her own place. Well, she fell in love instead and she and her new fiance opted on a different plan for their lives together. SO, Morgan, along with a few others, were donated to a public charity that boards animals with the Close-Knit herd. After awhile, the charity could not afford to cover the board costs and, so, transferred the ARI certificates for Morgan and the others to Close-Knit. That is how Morgan became a member of the C-K foundation herd!
To date, since arriving in New York and living on this farm, she has delivered: a bay black female, a true black male, a dark brown male, and a bay black male. She has been bred to Enchantment's Chaparral for her 2011 cria, and I'm expecting a true black GIRL! Oh, let us pray....(she's due for another girl, don't you think?)!
Belliza's Morgan
Color: True Black
ARI #846776
Gender: Female
DOB: 05/26/03
Type: Huacaya
Dam: Belliza de Reposa (TB)
Sire: Kingsford (MSG)
Due: October 09, 2011
Service Sire: Enchantment's Chaparral (TB)
Crias (in total): 4
2006/female - Courvoisier's Crown Royale (BB)
2007/male - Terra Cognita's Cairo (TB)
2009/male - Close-Knit Sly Brut (DB)
2010/male - Close-Knit Sly Shadow (BB)
Price: Not For Sale
2006 Cria (BB) - "Royale"
2007 cria (TB) - "Cairo"
2009 Cria (DB) - "Sly Brut"
2010 Cria (BB) - "Shadow"
Sugar - a Hemingway granddaughter
Sugar
Honig's Sugar first crossed my path as a young maiden. I was hired to market and sell her for her original owner in PA, and I did so. Sugar was purchased by a young woman with a plan to finish out her work on government projects overseas in Iraq while boarding her alpacas, and then move them onto her own farm when she was all set for that. Well, she ended up falling in love, and she and her fiance decided on different plans for their future, other than alpaca farming. Sugar was donated to a charity that boards animals here on Moon Ivy Hill, so with the donation to the charity, Sugar did not have to move. After a year or so the charity's funds were a bit low so paying for board was tough; therefore, the charity signed ownership over to Close-Knit Alpacas, and THAT is how Sugar came to be one of my foundation dams!
Sugar is a very sweet alpaca, but she is also absolutely beautiful physically, too. Her fiber is dense, crimpy, fine and soft. She is a fabulous, extremely attentive mother, too. So far, she has delivered two girls ("Mon Cherie" and "Holiday Truffles") and one boy ("Miracle").
