Do older Mom's have better Cria's?

It just takes time for even the most awarding winning alpacas to start to age, but is that always a bad thing? One thing that we have noticed in the many years of raising Suri Alpacas is that the older the mother the better the cria. Although that might not be the case for every alpaca, we have noticed it in our herd specifically with Brandywine's crias. Brandy is a ten year old and has a great conformation, lock, luster, and density for her age. Brandy has been bred to Sandusky five times and over the years we have noticed a dramatic improvement in their cria's lock structure. All their crias have great conformations, but note the changes in lock type over time of their crias. Brandy and Sandusky's first cria, Giant's Causeway, had an average, consistent, penciled lock; that was dense but with average luster. Their second cria, Chesapeak, has Shirley Temple curls throughout his fleece. They are independent, consistent large curls with lots of luster and density. The third cria, Jordyn, has thin pencils with tiny twists. Jordyn also has amazing luster and density. (We have shown you her second fleece.) Their 2010 Cria, Brody, has the same lock structure as Chesapeak. The locks are very defined with large curls and extreme density. Brandy and Sandusky's 2011 cria has a "you've got to see/feel it to believe it" lock structure. No picture can even come close to capturing how amazing his locks are. His locks are uniform pencils from his neck to his hip, and he is extremely fine. To have a better idea of Blanco's unique lock structure, check out his video on his page. He is covered from head to toe with these penciled locks! Blanco, at the age of six months is by far Brandy and Sandusky's best cria. It will be interesting to see how the future crias compare to these beautiful young ones! To check out more photos/videos of Brandy, Sandusky, and their exquisite crias, check out their pages: Brandywine, Sandusky, Chesapeak, Jordyn, Cape Blanco, and Brandy's Brody. So you might want to rethink the value of your older herd members. They all deserve an extra hug as their best is yet to come!