Oak Grove Alpacas in Candelo, New South Wales, Australia | Farm

Oak Grove Alpacas

Locality: Candelo, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 2 6493 2036

Address: PO Box 4059 2550 Candelo, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.oakgrove.com.au

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24.01.2022 Stunning edition today. Male cria from one of our older stay fine girls. Dam: Argyle Glen Tovah - 13 years old & just hit 23 micron Sire: Windsong Valley Amadeus - 23 micron at 15 years old. This young man has the genetics behind him with both parents being stay fine, dense fleeced animals. Looking forward to seeing him develop.

24.01.2022 First cria of the season - a text book birth resulting in a lovely very active white female sired by Elsendale Patric. This one is very coordinated and was running & jumping like a 3 week old just 2 hours old.

23.01.2022 Some lovely cria from our stay fine stud males Patric & Nemisis this Autumn, these little fellows may well go on to be a stud males themselves!

22.01.2022 Captured this cria standing in the dewy grass as the sun rose this morning. I thought this saying really described the moment.

21.01.2022 WOW - Independant Grid Test shows an incredibly even 6th fleece! Our stud male Elsendale Patric recently won a first place ribbon at the VER Spectacular Fleece show. BUT what was more exciting for us was that being a tested show all fleeces entered get grid tested & his results were fantastic. Its not that he is still holding a fine micron & low SD with amazing style as he ages that impressed us, but that he holds this quality throughout the fleece. Patrics 6th fleece ha...d a midside test of: 21.5 micron, 3.8SD, 17.6CV, 97.8%CF The VER grid tested fleece average result came in at: 21.7 micron, 3.6SD, 16.5CV, 97.8%CF They are almost identical!! Why is this important? Most grid tests see a variation of around 1.5 - 2 micron - I have seen some that have 5 micron variation whilst testing fleeces for the first Ultrafine Bale done by the original Alpaca Ultimate! So two tenths of a micron variation is amazing. Anyone interested in commercial quality fleece will understand that a fleece that is even throughout is more valuable than one that varies - plus this is his 6th fleece - what a great fleece male he has turned out to be. We have females available pregnant to this wonderful male for sale & since we have finished our matings for the season, we are offering a total of 5 half price matings (drive through only) to Patric until 15 September 2016. An opportunity to access these fine fibre genetics at a very affordbale price of only $325 per mating! Check him out here http://www.oakgrove.com.au/Stud_Males.html

19.01.2022 Looking for a truly stay fine male with elite fibre traits to go over your coloured girls? Then Elsendale Patric may be a good choice, 8th Fleece 2017 - 20.5 micron, 3.2SD, 15.7CV, 99.2%CF - although he is a brilliant bright white with a ton of lustre & style in his fleece he is so far consistently throwing to the dams colour when put over white & fawn females. https://www.oakgrove.com.au/Stud_Males.html

19.01.2022 AMAZING ULTRAFINE ALPACAS! (Read full post for stats) ..................................................................................................................... Over the last 15+ years we have always had an interest in breeding for the finer end of the fibre spectrum. We naturally found ourselves seeking out the finer fibre due to its amazing softness, rarity & value. Over the last few years we have achieved some ground breaking results, all done with alpacas that... are well nourished & hand fed a protein supplement daily, if you dont know why that is significant then please take time to read the article referenced in the post below. These are just some of our best results over the last few years in pushing the alpaca envelope back towards its hey day 500 odd years ago under the Incan Empire. 2015 - 2 year old fleece - fawn female - 11.7 micron, SD 2.8 !!!! (finest ever recorded fleece test of any age alpaca in Australia known to date & worldwide for a second fleece this may also be a record?) 2013- 2 year old fleece - white male - 13.4 micron, SD 2.7 2014- 3 year old fleece - white male - 14.6 micron, SD 3.3 2015 - 3 year old fleece - white female - 16.7 micron, SD 3.6 2015 - Cria fleece - white female - 13.8 micron, SD 3.5

18.01.2022 Our stud male Windsong Valley Amadeus graces the cover of the latest Camelid Connections magazine. Now at 13 years of age he is still growing a stylish, lustrous fleece exhibiting exceptional density, but even more importantly for us he is still holding his micron and SD well for age. Fleece 2018 - 23.5 m, 4.7SD, 20.1CV, 91.7%CF He has only moved up 3.5 micron in 9 years!... He looks like a male half his age and has great presence. Amadeus is known to many in the industry for his success as a sire of show winning progeny and for being one of the males from the famous Windsong Valley Auction in 2010 - son of the highly regarded WV Kenjiro, and grandson of one of the best known stud males in Australian alpaca history WV Iceman, who himself was sired by Purrumbete Highlander - arguably the most famous stud male of them all. Amadeus has his first drop of cria for Oak Grove arriving this Autumn out of females that have already produced outstanding progeny, so this could be an exciting season! See more about WV Amadeus on our website https://oakgrove.com.au/Stud_Males.html

17.01.2022 PATRIC PROGENY STATS Our cria from stud male Elsendale Patric continue to be some of the best in style who consistently exhibit low micron, even from less than fine females. Here are some of Patrics Progeny test results & like their father as they age we are seeing them stay mostly fine with low SDs. Wallace - 13.5 Micron, 3.1SD... Billy - 14.8 Micron, 3.6SD Sultan - 15.2 Micron, 3.4SD Matari - 15.2 Micron, 3.7SD Minuette - 15.3 Micron, 3.6SD Kristi - 15.7 Micron, 2.9SD Denim - 16.7 Micron, 3.9SD Augustine - 16.2 Micron, 3.7SD Frost - 16.4 Micron, 3.9SD Billy - 16.5 Micron, 3.1SD - 2nd Fleece Bambini - 18.2 Micron, 3.4SD - 3rd Fleece Talisman - 17.5 Micron, 3.5SD - 3rd Fleece

17.01.2022 Autumn cria at Oak Grove - some really lovely babies this season and even 2 early evening births which is a bit unusual - both totally normal births with very active strong cria thankfully.

16.01.2022 Gorgeous Autumn colours around the farm at Oak Grove this month, still lots of green grass as well that our Autumn alpaca mums are enjoying. The cria this Autumn are also very lively, a really lovey time of year.

15.01.2022 Today i have decided to create a seperate FB page for our alpaca stud - Oak Grove Alpacas. I will share here our 15 years of knowledge gained breeding some of the finest ever alpaca fibre in the world, in addition to that already available on our website. We are committed to a commercially viable future for alpaca fibre which will benefit all alpaca breeders, by ensuring the industry produces quantity of valuable fine fibre that will see a good return on fleece so that breede...rs really start to value the amazing fibre alpacas produce. If you know anyone in the alpaca industry interested in doing more than breeding pets or show ponies & who wants to see alpaca have a bright future based on a truly viable fleece industry, then please refer them to this page. We love our alpacas for their beautiful faces & interesting personalities just as much as the next person, but they can offer so much more if you make the effort to improve their most amazing asset - the fleece! :)

15.01.2022 After reading some Facebook post comments elsewhere that show breeders still think that feeding your alpacas well will make them ALL blow out (increase in micron), maybe its time to suggest anyone not familiar with how to determine genetically fine alpacas through feeding read my article from 2015? ....Here is a link https://oakgrove.com.au/Beyond%20Ultrafine.pdf

14.01.2022 Did you know we offer individual alpaca workshops? You dont need to wait for one of our group workshops to be organised to visit us here at Oak Grove, as we can tailor a workshop to your specific needs. With 17+ years breeding alpacas & in that time having bred some of the finest alpacas in Australia, we have a wealth of knowledge to help you get started on your alpaca journey, or improve your existing breeding plan. ... Contact us to discuss a workshop that teaches what you need to know & benefit from the one on one interaction where every question asked is one you need answers to. Visit our website workshops page to get more details https://www.oakgrove.com.au/Workshops.html

13.01.2022 Another gorgeous cria fleece from a cria sired by Elsendale Patric. **GRID TESTED** - 14.8m, 3.6SD, 100% CF CRV 48.2. Did I mention it was a grid tested result!! Most of our cria come back slightly finer micron & have lower SD on their second fleece - so cant wait to test this one after this years shearing. The photo doesnt do this fleece justice - the lustre is amazing This crias sire Patric is a true stay fine male & has one of the lowest SDs for a working male we have seen - His 8th Fleece 2017 - 20.5 micron, 3.2SD, 15.7CV, 99.2%CF. Talk about stay fine! A true representation of our breeding philosophy that we have stuck with since we started breeding alpacas back in 2001.

13.01.2022 Stud Male Elsendale Patrics 6th fleece, not only is he still 21.5 Micron with a low SD of 3.8, but still holding beautifully defined lustrous fleece with high amplitude crimp & bundling. This male truly has longevity of desirable fibre traits! His progeny to date are also almost all showing lovely fleece style & fine micron. Patric is male worth using over your white or fawn females, we offer discounts for multiple matings.

12.01.2022 Why choose Autumn matings? Well Its mating season at Oak Grove & over the years we have found that Autumn matings & therefore very late Summer/Autumn births have their advantages: 1. Females are not heavily pregnant in Spring or have very young cria at foot during the busy & sometimes stressful for some animals shearing season.... 2. We have found that Alpacas in general like many other livestock will birth closest to the Summer Solstice (longest daylight hours of the year). Thus animals due prior to Summer can often go weeks overdue, but animals due after the Solstice in our exoereince usually give birth much closer to their due date (340 gestation). This allows to more effectively plan our time knowing the birthing will all be over in a shorter time span. 3. Autumn weather where we live in S/E NSW is generally more predictable & the early morning dews keep the grass growing. The heavily pregnant females are also not suffering from super hot late Spring, early Summer temperatures.

11.01.2022 AUTUMN MATINGS - Time to start planning! .................................................................................................................... Summer is almost 2 thirds over, its time to start planning for your Autumn matings for your girls. We have found that Autumn matings work well for us as the cria is due at a time when the weather is mild & we have plenty of grass. We also prefer Autumn matings as it means during the busy shearing time in Spring our girl...s are not heavily pregnant. We have found also that Autumn due dates can be more accurately predicted, whereas Spring births tend to mostly go overtime. If you are looking for an outstanding stud with a drop dead gorgeous fleece & also proven to have the stay fine factor with a low SD then please take a look at our Stud male Elsendale Patric on our website. 6th Fleece 2015 - 21.5 micron, 3.8SD, 17.6CV, 97.8%CF! His cria to date have been mostly very fine & stylish - with many being of show quality. We also offer discounts for multiple matings, even if you want to split the mates between 2 different alpaca studs.

11.01.2022 ALPACA WORKSHOPS Its a lovely time to visit us & do an alpaca workshop here on the far south coast of NSW, we have had lots of rain recently so everything is lush & green. The hot weather of Summer has passed & we are expecting our first drop of Autumn cria to be born over the next few weeks. Visit the Oak Grove Alpacas website for Workshop details http://www.oakgrove.com.au/Workshops.html

10.01.2022 SELL YOUR FLEECE FOR MORE - I often hear people saying they cant sell their fleece for a decent price. But my experience over 18+ years of breeding alpacas has been different because of a few factors that I would like to share. 1. You can get a good return on your fleece if you grow quality fine fibre. Quality is the key. Skirt well & test for accurate micron. 2. Advertise it online on your own website with details (micron, length, colour, weight, comments & photo. Dont jus...t say fleece available, most people wont bother contacting you to find out more. 3. Dont under price it - stand by your product because people who value it will pay more for quality. Those who dont are not your market! :) Its nice when you have people wanting fleece before its even off the alpacas back! This shearing I had an order for $600 worth of fleece - 12kgs of 18-20 micron with length 8 - 12cm at $50 a kilo which has paid for half my shearing costs straight up. I run between 40-50 alpacas & sell most of my fleece privately online via my website as I get the highest price that way. (I start at $60 a kilo for ultrafine (under 18 micron), then go down $10 a kilo for every 2 micron higher increment after that. I sell the scraps & short pieces for $7 a kilo. Sometimes I invite the local spinners & weavers group to come out for a sale day where I sell large garbage bags of shorter fleece for $30 & have discounts on some of the medium quality fleece. So if you are a small to medium breeder like me and grow nice fleece you can certainly make a good return on it per animal, if you make the effort to market yourself online, and be willing to package & post if off to buyers whether they want just 1 kilo or 10kgs. Dont expect it to happen straight away, but over time you can build up a customer base of people who will return to buy your fleeces if they know they will get nice fleece. Hope this information was helpful :)

10.01.2022 Our finest alpaca to date was looking so lovely today in the paddock, that I decided to update her image. What makes her statistics & so many of our herd stats significant is that we are breeding genetically fine alpacas, & we know that because when grazed on regular quality feed alpaca fleece if not genetically fine will blow out in micron. We have a double up genetically fine test for our animals;... 1. Firstly we live in dairy country known for its higher rainfall & lusher pastures most of the year which have higher feed value. No dusty paddocks here, green pick even in Winter & no overgrazing. 2. Then on top of that we feed DAILY a 16% protein pellet & muesli mix to every single animal. If an alpaca stays fine for longer here, you know its genetically fine! :)

10.01.2022 NOW SOLD - Here is a head shot of Taffeta taken today.

10.01.2022 HEADS UP ALPACA OWNERS - If like us you were suffering drought this Spring/Summer & then you had the flooding rains or at least enough good rain to get the grass growing & now your place looks like somewhere in Ireland like ours does. Enjoy the beauty of it - but be aware that it hides potential problems for your alpacas. Now the moisture level is high & the weather is still warm it is creating perfect conditions for the worms dormant in your paddocks during the dry to now bu...rst into life & overwhelm your animals defences. So regular faecal worm tests will be in order, or if you rarely drench so don't have worm resistance, a good long acting preventative drench we have found works well for us as we use it sparingly is Cydectin Long Acting injectable. It gives up to 4 months protection - especially for barbers pole blood sucking worm which can kill an alpaca within weeks in the right conditions. See more

09.01.2022 Our website www.oakgrove.com.au has a lot of information in the articles section about breeding for finer fibre. Here is a direct link to our latest article - Beyond Ultrafine - Resurrecting the Incan Alpaca http://www.oakgrove.com.au/Beyond%20Ultrafine.pdf

08.01.2022 Beautiful Oak Grove Taffeta is for sale. ..................................................................................................................... Colour: Solid White | DOB: 29/11/14 | IAR: 193145... Taffeta is a gorgeous maiden female that we are only selling because she is related to both our stud males. She is sired by the magnificent fine male Elsendale Patric who was still 21.5 micron, 3.8SD, 17.6CV, 97.8%CF on his 6th fleece last year & what a stylish fleece it is, still showing defined crimp & bundling on his now 7th fleece with very little guard hair & the handle is superb. See more of Patric & his fleece here http://www.oakgrove.com.au/Stud_Males.html Taffeta comes from a line of stay fine alpacas with her grandsire not hitting 20 micron until his 5th fleece. She had a gorgeous stylish crimpy ultrafine first fleece which was an excellent fleece length at 130mm for 11 months of growth. (See pic) She has a very sweet gentle nature & is a pretty feminine looking girl. She is halter trained & ready to mate. A quality edition to any herd. Taffetas 1st Fleece Statistics 1st Fleece Oct 2015 - 17.9 micron, 4.0SD, 22.6CV, 99.4%CF, Length 130mm Price $3500 (includes AAA transfer fee)

08.01.2022 ITS ALL RELATIVE!! Would you say this histogram is good at 20.5 Micron, a nice low SD of 3.2, Comfort Factor of 99.2% & a fleece profile that shows very little variation along the fibre length throughout the year? When you find out its the 8th fleece from a working stud male fed 16% protein pellets every day & lives in high feed value dairy country its waaaayyyyy better than good - its down right fantastic! ... Even more so knowing he has been consistent in his fleece stats now for years, moving less than a micron up or down in the last 5 years!!! If you dont realise how good this is try finding something similar out there - these type of alpacas with longevity of fine quality fleece are rare. Our stud male Elsendale Patric continues to hold fine yet again & tops it off with a beautiful stylish fleece just to show off! Fleece stats are always relative to age, location & feed, taking all factors into account when comparing alpaca fleece stats is essential if you want to make educated decisions. We have limited Patric progeny weaners now available - male & female with first fleeces from 14.4 micron - contact us if you are interested in acquiring some of these amazing stay fine genetics. Web: oakgrove.com.au Mating packages available - within 200kms or on farm. 1st Fleece 2010 - 16.6 micron, 3.1SD, 18.9CV, 100%CF 2nd Fleece 2011 - 17.6 micron, 2.7SD, 15.1CV, 100%CF 3rd Fleece 2012 - 19.9 micron, 3.3SD, 16.5CV, 99%CF 4th Fleece 2013 - 21.5 micron, 4.0SD, 18.7CV, 96.9%CF 5th Fleece 2014 - 21.2 micron, 3.7SD, 17.4CV, 98.5%CF 6th Fleece 2015 - 21.5 micron, 3.8SD, 17.6CV, 97.8%CF 7th Fleece 2016 - 20.4 micron, 3.4SD, 16.9CV, 97.8%CF 8th Fleece 2017 - 20.5 micron, 3.2SD, 15.7CV, 99.2%CF

07.01.2022 Progeny from our stand out stay fine stud male Elsendale Patric continue to do us proud. Recently at Gunning show his progeny won the Sires Progeny class for Chregan Alpacas.

06.01.2022 Our Stay Fine stand out male Elsendale Patric just keeps on refusing to blow out. Stats for 2020 - 11th Fleece Micron 20.7 SD 3.4 CV 16.6... Comfort factor 99.2% Yet another year of consistent fleece quality despite being fed a high protein pellet mix every single day of the year since he arrived here 7 years ago! Add to that minimal guard hair & defined crimp fleece that is bright white with high lustre - I just love this guy! He also passes these traits on to his progeny more often than not & often throws to the colour of the dam which is handy when using him over coloured females! See more

06.01.2022 Fleece results are in for 2016 & our stud male Elsendale Patric is holding one of the most consistent micron fleeces we have seen. But it isnt just the stay fine stability of his micron we are pleased about, but even more so his low SD that is still under four at 7 years old! We know his fleece is even throughout based on grid testing but his ability to hold an even fleece micron throughout the year shows in the low SD. ****** 2016 Fleece ***** ... 7th Fleece - 20.4 micron, 3.4SD, 16.9CV, 97.8%CF Only a 1.1 average micron variation over the last 4 years! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Fleece 2010 - 16.6 micron, 3.1SD, 18.9CV, 100%CF 2nd Fleece 2011 - 17.6 micron, 2.7SD, 15.1CV, 100%CF 3rd Fleece 2012 - 19.9 micron, 3.3SD, 16.5CV, 99%CF 4th Fleece 2013 - 21.5 micron, 4.0SD, 18.7CV, 96.9%CF 5th Fleece 2014 - 21.2 micron, 3.7SD, 17.4CV, 98.5%CF 6th Fleece 2015 - 21.5 micron, 3.8SD, 17.6CV, 97.8%CF

04.01.2022 Shearing is over for another year and this years cria fleeces are amazing - all our progeny sired by our amazing stay fine male Elsendale Patric are super stylish and highly lustrous. Cant wait to get the fleece stats back!

03.01.2022 Visit our website females for sale page to see our latest package deal offer https://www.oakgrove.com.au/Females_For_Sale.html 3 Females + 2 Female cria at foot & 1 female heavily pregnant for $6650 (includes all AAA transfer fees)

03.01.2022 This seasons cria are coming along nicely, some real stunners for both looks & fleece.

03.01.2022 Fleece stats back for another year! 2019 results for Patric progeny - he is passing on his 'stay fine genetics', style & low SD as seen in these 2 year olds!: Denim - 2nd Fleece 13.1Micron, 2.5SD, 100%CF Samurai - 2nd Fleece 15.1 Micron, 2.6SD, 100%CF... Enigma - 2nd Fleece 15.6 Micron, 3.3SD, 100%CF Minuette - 2nd Fleece 16.2 Micron, 3.2SD, 100%CF Plus this 3 year old!!! Billy - 3rd Fleece - 14.6 Micron, 3.1SD, 100%CF NOTE: All these animals are hand fed 365 days a year a high protein pellet mix & good quality lucerne hay as required. They live in dairy country which has not been affected as much by drought conditions in the last 12 months since the previous shearing in October 2018 - only through Winter/early Spring when the pasture is normally low & all have excellent body scores of 3+. Fine genetics - not fine by environment.

02.01.2022 A moment in time.....for a few minutes this morning I enjoyed this beautiful site as the sun comes up over the ridge, and breaks through the trees and the mist to start what looks like another beautiful Autumn day in the Bega Valley, SE NSW.

01.01.2022 Now standing at stud at Oak Grove Alpacas - the much revered Windsong Valley Amadeus. This male has it all, his fleece has extreme density, fineness (22.9 micron 10th fleece), lustre, defined high amplitude crimp with very little coarse primary fibres throughout the fleece. He is also the sire of multiple champion winning progeny.... A son of WV Kenjiro & grandson of the famous WV Iceman & genetics that include Ledgers Dream & Purrumbete Inti - as well as a double dose of Highlander. More details on our stud male web page https://www.oakgrove.com.au/Stud_Males.html

01.01.2022 In addition to owning & managing both Oak Grove Alpacas & Oak Grove Web & Graphic Design I also produce Camelid Connections online magazine, It is a FREE magazine devoted to Camelids but with a focus on alpacas & llamas. If you havent already subscribed then come & join us, no strings attached & we never share your info with anyone - ever! www.camelidconnections.com.au A bonus for subscribing is that we offer subscribers regular camelid related prize give aways & special di...scount offers. The reason we can make this magazine free to anyone interested in camelids is due to the support of our advertisers, & the more subscribers we have the more interested advertisers are in placing ads with us & also offering the prizes & discounts we pass on to our subscribers. So please subscribe if you enjoy reading Camelid Connections as it helps us help you! :) Thanks for your support!