Fiber/Scientific Data
06/02/2023 | AFD: 20.1 | SD: 4.9 | CV: 24.4 | CF: 95.8 | Curve: 41.9 deg/mm | Staple: 100.0mm | Total Clip Weight: 8.8lbs (Art of Fibre) |
05/27/2022 | AFD: 22.3 | SD: 5.5 | CV: 24.7 | %>30: 7.4 | Curve: 50.7 deg/mm | Total Clip Weight: 10.20lbs (SGS) |
2019-10-17 | AFD: 20 | SD: 4.7 | CV: 23.6 | CF: 96.7 | Curve: 46 Dg/mm | Staple: 80 mm (Along Length) |
2018-10-17 | AFD: 19.6 | SD: 4.7 | CV: 23.9 | CF: 97.42 | Curve: 46.8 Dg/mm (Along Length) |
2017-06-13 | AFD: 17.6 | SD: 4.2 | CV: 23.8 | %>30: 1.3 |
2016-07-14 | AFD: 15.3 | SD: 3.6 | CV: 23.6 | %>30: 0.6 |
20.1µ & 100mm MSL at 8yo!
Northern Mystery's Heracles
Huacaya, Herdsire (Male), Proven | Light Brown, True Black
ARI# , D.O.B. 7/17/2015,
Sire: Vida Loca Nero ARI#
30993143 Medium Fawn Nero is a handsome Macho, with a regal presence, full coverage and a beautiful disposition.
Nero is really, almost everything we could ask for in a herdsire. Although we have never shown him, he had enjoyed a successful show career before his retirement into the stud barn. Nero placed 3rd at the Alpaca Odyssey in 2007, 3rd at Northlands Spring Show 2008, 1st out of 12 at the Keystone Classic in Brandon in 2008 under David Barboza, and a 2nd at the Lloydminister Alpaca Showcase under Dawn Brooker (who noted his exquisite handle, heavy bone structure and head style), showing that he had the capacity to impress the judges as much as he has impressed us.
Quality runs in the family when it comes to this boy. Nero's sire is Peruvian Captain Nemo, who is one of only 3 Peruvian Auzengate offspring in Canada; and his dam Shala Ben. His full sister, Sharona Ben and his half brother Bay Leif were both the high selling animals at the Canadian Nationals in 2004. Sharona Ben has gone on to produce champions such as PGA Hummer, PGA H2 and PGA Sawamara.
He has all the traits we look for in a breeding male-- density, fineness, colour, crimp, matchstick bundling, a soft handle and staple length (Really, our list could go on). He is maintaining these qualities well into his golden years. At 16 years old, he is still impressing us with a micron of only 22.6, and a fleece that is still exceedingly soft and retains its character.
We just love his phenotype which he passes onto his offspring. His cria are starting to hit the show ring, and are all doing their sire proud, winning ribbons and banners consistently. His 2011 son Tiger Loca Merdock, won Grand Champion Fawn at the 2012 Lloydminister Alpaca Showcase. We are very impressed with his 2015 cria, with his sons displaying just stunning fleeces already. Fineness, and longevity of fineness, is a trait that we are beginning to see in many of his cria as they mature into adults themselves. His son Heracles tested at 16 microns in 2016, and 20 microns in 2023 at 8yrs, while Apollo, at 4 years old tested at 16 microns, and at 6yrs is 21.7 microns. Merdock, at nearly 3 years was just over 21 microns. His daughters are sharing the fineness, with many of them maintaining sub-20 micron fleeces into maturity as well.
Update: It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Nero.It was love at first sight when Connie laid eyes on him, and his time with us has been nothing but treasured. Nero significantly influenced the direction of our breeding program, and he reinforced our love for these animals, setting the bar high. Always enthusiastic for walks, and easy to handle for any and all tasks, his chats with us while working were always appreciated. Somehow, the herd feels smaller without his presence, though we know his legacy lives on in his progeny, he will be missed.
Dam: Northern Mystery's Eos ARI#
White, Light Brown Eos has loads of personality to say the least. An easy to handle girl, she has been everywhere from the show ring to the classroom, always leaving a positive impression on everyone who has the pleasure of meeting her.
Eos has placed in every class she has competed in, displaying a fine, crimpy fleece with a long staple length and a bright, soft handle. Her fleece has pleased more than one hand-spinner, with quite a few requests for it. Most recently, she was included in the Northlands Spring Show's Shearing demonstration (2012) and the spinners commented not only on its beautiful handle, but its cleanliness and ease of spinning.
Eos is a good sized female, with good conformation and a great bite. She has a beautiful head and great coverage.
A Rockamundo great-granddaughter, we are more than pleasantly surprised to see what her genetics are adding to our program.
Description
Heracles absolutely floored us all when he was born. Solid medium brown— the same shade as his Dam Eos's spots— with a single dark steel grey spot on his lower hind leg, black freckles throughout his fleece, and tight popcorn curls absolutely everywhere. We couldn't have expected a better result out of our Eos and Nero pairing.
Heracles is easily one of the nicest males we have ever produced. He is robust, compact and upright, with his sire's noble carriage and flashy movement style. He has the strong bone structure we enjoy seeing in our animals— he has mass without being bulky.
We just love Heracles' fibre. He has an extremely bright, nicely organized fleece with a lovely amount of density, especially given how fine he is. He has a high frequency, medium amplitude crimp style with coverage to spare. His fibre feels like silk, no matter where on his body you handle him, with areas such as his legs and apron feeling just as nice as his blanket. The crimp in his fleece extends up his neck, into his cheeks and topknot— and down onto his legs and over his lower belly.
As he has matured, he continues to produce a long-stapled, organized, and highly fine fleece, sharing his sire's propensity for lingering fineness. With his first fleece measuring in at 15.3 microns, 4 years later he has only just hit 20 microns with a 96% Comfort factor.
We started putting Heracles to females in the summer of 2020, with his first cria hitting the ground in 2021. Nemios is a carbon copy of his sire in phenotype, displaying the same uniformity of colour, extreme coverage with a deep, true to type head style, soft, fine handle, textbook conformation and excellent temperament. The two are nearly indistinguishable in the pasture, and we are very excited to give Heracles more work now that he is proven out.
Awards
Fourth Place, Yearling Male Fawn, 2017 Western Canadian Alpaca Championship Fleece Show