About Us

In 2003, we bought our current 9.5 acre farm in Albany, on the edge of Auckland and North Shore City. The farm included a flock of approximately 35 Suffolk ewes and their lambs, plus a ram. We enjoyed the sheep but have subsequently discovered a much more fascinating animal - alpacas.We first saw these at Field Days and Agricultural Shows and also did a bit of research both on the Internet and by talking to local breeders. We finally purchased 7 females and one stud male, all suri with the exception of one black huacaya which had a fawn suri female cria at foot. We decided to breed suri alpaca because of their rarity and beauty. For Gerald this was a new experience, but Eileen had previous experience of country living which included breeding horses in the picturesque English country village of Wisborough Green at a property with a brook running through it called Moonsbrook. Therefore she named her English horse stud Moonsbrook, which was the originator of the name of our alpaca farm, Moonvale Suri Alpacas.

About Suri

There are two types of alpaca, and although all are reasonably rare, the suri comprises only 6% of the entire world alpaca population and only 2% of these are coloured (non-white). So, because of their extreme rarity and highly prized silky, lustrous locking fleece (which has been described by the South Americans as the 'fleece of the gods') it wasn't hard to decide which way we wanted to go.

Suri are Alpacas that have developed a highly specialized fleece which produces one of the finest and most sought-after natural fibres in the world. It is this fleece, which has a much longer staple and greater lustre, that sets suri apart. In South America alpacas are very much about the fleece market, but here in New Zealand, as in other countries such as North America, Australia and Europe and the UK it is still also a developing industry, breeding up for the emerging fleece market as sufficient amount of quality fleece becomes available. Therefore it is important to breed for this market aiming at consistently fine, lustrous soft handling fleece.

Coloured suri are extremely rare in world terms because it is such a young developing industry. Alpacas originated in South America where there are still vast herds to this day, but much of the superior fibre quality was lost many years ago with the Spanish invasion. The Spaniards did not appreciate the value of the alpaca and it's superior fibre, prefering their native Merino sheep, and a huge percentage of the alpaca herds were slaughtered. The remaining few were driven up to the higher ground of the Altiplano of the Andes by the peasant farmers, and the harsh conditions depleted the stocks further, particularly the suri who are not so resilient to this type of environment. This is due to their different fleece characteristics which part along their backbone causing some exposure that the huacaya does not experience. Most of the few that survived remained on lower level farms.

Suri first arrived in this country at the end of the last century and are still rare, commanding high prices. Most suri are fawn or white because this was considered the best to breed in South America as it could easily be dyed, but there is an increasing World demand for natural undyed fibre.

Also there are very few Full Coloured Suri in the world, and by that we mean they have a suri pedigree from their sire and dam going back 4 generations and with a maximum of one huacaya in the fourth generations, ie the great, great grandparents. This is because the coloured huacaya has been used to introduce colour into the fleece. We are very proud to be the owners of some of these rare alpaca.

'Accoyo' is another term you see proudly appearing in suri descriptions including ours. This relates back to the famous South American Accoyo herd where a very famous and well respected breeder Don Julio Berreda rigourously developed the suri standard. As a result the Accoyo line is considered by most breeders to be the best in the world.

Products labelled only as "alpaca" are 99% of the time huacaya fibre, not suri. Suri fibre is the closest animal fibre to silk, and comes in over 22 natural colors. It's slick, long fibre scales give yarns a very silky, smooth feel, and is non-allergenic because is does not contain lanolin. Because of their silky slippery fibre cuticle a suri fleece micron measurement is considered to be equivalent to that of a huacaya with a measurement 2 to 3 microns less. For example a 20 micron reading for a suri is considered to be equivalent to that of an huacaya with a measurement of 17-18 micron. It's superb handle, lustre and silky feel ensures is much sought after in Europe, Asia and the USA for use in high quality garments and textiles from this wonderfully soft fibre

Alpaca comes in a large range of natural colours, from pure white, through shades of fawn to pure jet black. It can be blended to produce more subtle shades and can be mixed with sheep wool, mohair, silk or other fibres. The trend back to "natural" colours means less dying, limiting the need for using harsh chemical dyes that may be hazardous to the environment.

These attractive animals are often highly priced but alpacas have advantages over other farm livestock, especially on small blocks. They require a low level of care and are easily maintained animals which can survive on grass and water (as they have in the Andes for hundreds of years); here in New Zealand however most owners would probably supplement their feed with hay, and maybe pellets etc, at least some of the time but a rich diet is not to be encouraged and can lead to declining health and fleece quality. Unlike sheep, they do not get footrot or flystrike and do not require docking. They defecate in selected areas and their padded hooves are easy on fragile pastures. Alpacas are modified ruminants, not only eating less grass than other animals but converting it far more efficiently.

Alpaca is popular with handspinners and because it has little or no natural grease may be spun with little preparation from the raw fleece. The average clip from one alpaca is between 3-5kg of fleece per year and this is increasing with careful breeding practices. The first clip from a young alpaca, known as Baby Alpaca fleece, is the finest fleece commanding premium prices.

At or after shearing time the fleece is sorted and graded according to fineness, vegetable contamination or staining. The top quality fleece comes from the saddle of the animal, the remainder is of usually of poorer quality and may contain coarser prickly guard hairs that are not so good when worn next to the skin. This coarser fibre makes excellent duvets because it retains it's thermal qualities and can also be made into rugs, or garments that are lined with another material. It is now also being used for home insulation in New Zealand.

We are members of the New Zealand Alpaca Association. You can check this out by clicking on the link below:

» The New Zealand Alpaca Association

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