Having the fleece of our alpacas tested is a important tool in making informed breeding decisions. A Histogram is a report of the test results from a lab. With our commitment to continually increase the quality of fleece produced by our alpaca herd, these histograms play an important role. We make use of the services of the Natural Fibre Centre (NFC) for this testing. The four basic measurements reported on a fibre test are Average Fibre Diameter (AFD); Standard Deviation (SD); Coefficient of Variation (CV); and Comfort factor (CF).

•  The age of the alpaca when the fleece sample was taken is important. Since fleece characteristics change over time, the stats will change from year to year. Typically, as an alpaca becomes older, their fleece will become less fine and have more variability (increased AFD, SD and CV). Usually the stats from an alpaca's second shearing is a better indication of its future fleece production than its cria fleece stats. 

• Fleece characteristics are affected by environmental factors. These factors can include types of pasture, kinds of supplemental feed, stocking density and herd stress as well as many others. As such, the fleece stats of an alpaca will likely differ when they go from one farm to another especially when the farms may be in different regions of the country or in different countries. 

• There are different methods for testing alpaca fleece. The two most common are the Minicore (MCR) and the Butt Cut (BC) methods. The minicore method is most often performed using the OFDA 100 and the Butt Cut using the Sirolan LaserScan. Although testing has shown that fleece tested by both machines have similar values, it is important to understand an important difference – the Minicore method measures at various places along the length of the fibre shaft and averaged while the Butt Cut method measures only the fibre shaft where it was cut. Thus, the Minicore method will give an average of the fibre since the previous shearing whereas the Butt Cut will represent the characteristics of the fibre that grew during the period just prior to the sample being taken. There is ongoing debate as to which method is better. The Butt Cut is less prone to environmental variability over the course of the year and therefore potentially a better indication of genetic characteristics but because it provides a snapshot of representing only a short period of growth, it is also more prone to be not representative or in being manipulated (e.g. an alpaca that was underfed or sick for a period shortly before the sample was taken). The Minicore method is more sensitive to the environmental variability through out the year which will affect the results. What is most important, however, is that there is consistency in the testing method used and that a person reading the stats understands whether they are looking at a small section of the fibre shaft or an average of the fibre along its whole length.

• Where the sample is taken will affect the test results. The characteristics of the fleece from various areas of the alpaca is usually different. For this reason, it is important that there is consistency in where the fleece sample taken. This is most commonly taken from the mid-side of the alpaca.