August 2012 The last 3 cria born over winter, all males, are all doing well. Mahe born in a rain storm, we found lying wet and cold in a puddle and thought he was dead. We managed to revive him with a bit of warmth and when he started breathing we gave him colostrum. Within 3 hours he was back in the barn with his mother for the night and he hasn't looked back.The very last cria born this season was sired by Parsifal, who has proved his value once again. He continues to produce our best cria with excellent conformation and exquisit fleeces. He will be represented again this year by his progeny in our show team. To date his progeny have been awarded over 30 Supremes, including 2 national titles and over 100 Championships in shows around NZ. He is a truly remarkable male.
Halter training is in full swing in preparation of the coming show season, which kicks off with the National Show in Christchurch in September. We always look forward to our visit south and will join the convoy crossing Cook Straight in the middle of the night to arrive in time to settle the alpaca for the Friday. Our team is mostly juniors with just a couple of intermediate boys.
Last month Leo and Hazel Knight retired and moved to a smaller property and we picked up their herd of mainly black suri females. It was sad for Leo and Hazel to see their well loved and well looked after animals leave. These are now for sale and will live at Surico until we can find them a new home.
 Group of weanlings Aug 2012
July 2012The 2012 AANZ Conference is now behind us and all reports are that it was very positive and enjoyable. With a mixture of seminars and interactive workshops the weekend ran smoothly, the longer tea breaks allowed for networking and catching up with fellow breeders. The speakers were mainly from NZ drawing on the wealth of knowledge among our AANZ membership and covered topics including Exporting Alpaca to Asia and Europe, Healthy Alpaca , Fibre Traits, Breeding Goals and Marketing. The 2 Australian speakers complemented the line up, with Robert Gane from Canchones sharing his secrets of marketing and Paul Vallely speaking about collecting fibre and demonstrating his OFDA machine.
The inaugural BAFINZ awards were awarded at the conference dinner, Surico was the overall winner of the suri fleeces the producers award of the 6 highest scoring fleeces and Surico Calais was awarded the best suri fleece in the white and light fawn.
We wish Anne and Neil Godfrey well with their purchase of half of our lovely young male Surico Picardy as a future herdsire.
Terri Cattell has recently joined Valerie Bushel and Justina Wu in securing valuable genetics for their breeding programs by purchasing quarter shares in Surico Hussar, we wish them well with their breeding programs.
Next on the agenda is the National Show in September, so we will be out there halter training and getting our team ready for the show.
June 2012Sold on Suri 2 was a huge success. This year New Zealand suri breeders gathered in Akaroa to discuss different aspects of breeding suri.
Keynote speaker Dr Belinda Appleton updated us on her research into the suri genome, and made sure we stayed on track in a discussion on colour genetics and the impact on our breeding programmes.
The weekend consisted of talks and discussion on breeding coloured suri, with practical hands on sessions looking at the various approaches to breeding. There was also an innovative approach to assessing suri fibre, looking at the individual attributes that make up a good fleece.
For those of you who couldn’t make it – you really missed out on a fantastic weekend – make sure you look out for the notice about “Sold on Suri 3” planned for 2013. It’s a must for anyone serious about breeding suri.
April 2012Autumn has been pretty busy for Surico; Hermione spent most of March in Europe visiting shows and breeders, we’ve been finishing off the birthing season, and attending shows at Franklin, Kumeu and Auckland.
Hermione’s trip to Europe with Molly from Thistledown was really enjoyable. They started off in England where after getting over a bit of jetlag they attended one day of the British Alpaca futurity, it was great to see how far the English suri have come since our last visit there. The next day was spent travelling to Zurich, Switzerland and a quick visit to the first day of the Swiss show. More time was spent at the show on Sunday talking with breeders and looking at suri in the pens. The suri all had beautiful luster.
Next stop on the tour was Belgium where they enjoyed the hospitality of Alain and Christine at Pure Suri. It was a great opportunity to relax for a few days enjoying the beautiful weather great company of some real suri enthusiasts and of course the opportunity to see some more beautiful suri. Alain also kindly delivered them to the next show in Hapert, Netherlands where he would be competing (very successfully winning Supreme Suri).
The Hapert show had breeders from both Belgium and Holland and had a good representation of NZ genetics both in the suri and huacaya. Hermione enjoyed meeting the new owners of Surico Oracle and was very happy to see how well he was looked after and loved in his new home. Molly, Hermione and Ward (from Excellenz) also gave a presentation on suri at the show, this was very well received and hopefully got a few more breeders interested in suri.
After the first day of the show in Hapert, Hermione and Molly hitched a ride to the German show in Alsfeld for the second day. The atmosphere in Alsfeld was very buoyant and they managed to talk to quite a few suri breeders about the German suri industry.
After that it was time a short tourist interlude in the beautiful medieval town of Rothenburg before heading up to Sweden on the ferry to give a weekend workshop on suri hosted by Anne Marie and Paul of Österlen Alpacka. It was great to see so many enthusiastic breeders and potential breeders and we hope many of them go on to join us breeding suri.
Hopefully they will be making another trip to Europe next year so let us know if they can visit your farm in 2013.
Birthing Season is all over for the season. We ended up with some beautiful cria this year and mainly females which is great! It always helps further your breeding program to have females born. You’ll be able to see them at the Open Farm on National Alpaca Day, or at one of the spring shows if you can wait that long! Otherwise you are welcome to make an appointment to visit us on the farm.
Show Results are updated on the website now ( click here), but a few quick highlights are…
Surico Prima Donna won Supreme Suri at the Auckland Easter Show. At the Same show Surico Calais won the Supreme Suri Fleece as a senior female.
Surico Walkinshaw won supreme at the KumeuShow, Franklin Show and Rotorua Show.
North Island Colourbration Show Surico Prima Donna won Supreme Light Fawn Suri, and Surico Nordica the Champion Male Light Fawn Suri. Then Surico Walkinshaw won the Supreme White Suri, so a good show all round.
Events coming up include… For a full event listing click here...
Hope to catch up with you somewhere along the way February 2012
Hermione is planning an alpaca trip to Europe this March/April with Molly Gardner from Thistledown. They’ll be visiting The British Alpaca Futurity in Birmingham England, then quickly heading to the Swiss Show near Zurich. Hopefully fitting in some farm visits before giving a presentation on suri at the Dutch Show in Hapert 24th March. From there it will be a visit to Germany starting with the show in Alsfeld. Then a final stop at Osterlan Alpacka/Suri Sweden in Sweden to present a workshop on suri and showing alpacas to be held on 31st March & 1st April.
It’s a tight schedule but needs to fit in with shows planned here, leaving after the Kumeu Show returning before the Royal Easter Show! Keep an eye out for news about their trip on the Surico Facebook page.
January2012The New Year has given us reason to celebrate already.
21 cria have been born for this season with 12 being females, after a couple of years of mainly males it is another step forward for our breeding plans. We are so happy with our sires and dams as we have had some absolutely beautiful cria. The pick of the crop at the moment is a stunning young female, Demoiselle, sired by Parsifal and the dam is Surico Maya. Then there is Parsifal and Ballerina’s beautiful girl Coppelia and a wonderful little fawn male we called Picardy by Mr B, out of Calais. We also have a full brother to Onedin, by Parsifal out of Jade who we have named Rhodes and many many more! Parsifal who is now 13 years old is still producing some of the best suri in our herd.
Richard and Rosemary , Sonric Suri Alpacas recently purchased two of our top quality suri. Surico Trilogy joins their herd as a future herdsire, he has superior fleece qualities (gaining 84.5 points to win Supreme Suri Fleece at the recent Rotorua Show) and a promising future. Surico Marbella will also go to their herd as soon as she unpacks her cria, which is by Surico Valiant, a full sibling to 2011 National Supreme Champion, Surico Tangier. Congratulations Richard and Rosemary, we wish you well with these two lovely suri. Nov 2011At the beginning of the month we had the last show of the year (for us) Manawatu. We took a smaller team of only four suri, as most had been shorn after Waikato. Surico Prima Donna won the Supreme Suri ribbon, and the others did well with one Reserve Champion and all three placing. View all our show results here...
Also we are starting to have the first cria born of the season, two on the ground so far with lots more due over the coming months. It’s a great time to come and visit!
31st October 2011Another great weekend at the New Zealand Royal Show, held 29th & 30th Oct at the Waikato Show. Surico Tangier won another Supreme, and Surico Walkinshaw and Surico Matisse won champioships. See full show results here...
27th October 2011Shearing is over for another year!
24th October 2011Surico had a great day at the Hawkes Bay Show (Fri 21st Oct) taking home a first place for each suri entered, 4 championships, and Surico Prima Donna won Supreme Suri. Couldn't have asked for a better show - Hawkes Bay turned on the sunshine as well!!!! Now just have to get shearing out of the way this week before the NZ Royal Show this weekend at Waikato. See full show results here... 3rd October 2011
Surico suri took a number of broad ribbons in both breed and fleece, including Champions in Junior male and female, Intermediate male and female. The highlight being Surico Tangier taking Supreme in the breed. See the full results here...
Our fleeces also did well with Surico Maxwell Smart taking another supreme and Surico Trinkett the finest suri fleece.
The show had a record number of suri entered – over 160 breed and 67 fleece – along with great interest from the public and the developments we are making with suri textiles proves the suri industry in NZ is going from strength to strength. There has never been a better time to get involved.
September 2011Expo PreparationHalter training is well under way for Expo at the end of the month, weaning has taken place and the juniors are starting to walk well. We have a large team of junior males, but only 2 little females, a little light fawn girl Prima Donna and a light brown, Miranda. We have 10 junior boys who will have an outing before shearing.
The good news is that there are 156 suri entered in the National Show, a fantastic effort from suri breeders. More about Alpaca Expo 2011...
Other exciting news is Surico in collabaration with Thistledown and Bumblehill [Aust] will be embarking on another run of fabric to establish commercial viability. we will be out there looking to buy suri fleece in a specified micron band very soon.
August 2011
On the farm
Last month was fairly quiet on the farm. We weaned a dozen or so cria, some were weaned early to take the pressure off their older dams. They are all doing well and have become really friendly, the start of their halter training. Halter training starts in earnest this month for our juniors in preparation of the National Show. Some will only be weaned close to the show, so we will bring them into the house paddock on a daily basis and send the dams back to their paddock for increasing amounts of time up until final weaning. This has worked quite well in the past. The workload for the Expo is hotting up, sponsorships have been well received, trade stands have all gone but one. entries are starting to come in. All our cria have been registered so we hope everyone else has done the same.
Stud Males Over the winter we have certified seven young males to add to our stable of sires. For some of these we are offering quarter shares for sale, we could be persuaded to sell a couple outright where we have similar breeding, but mostly we want to retain some ownership to secure the proven genetics. Most suri breeders in NZ will have had an email from us, but check out the For Sale page on this website. For overseas breeders we would look at outright sales. Surico Oracle has already been sold to Belgium and we have a contract on Surico Triton also to go offshore.
June 2011
On the farm There has been lots of rain but it is still warm enough for the grass to grow. This seasons cria are all doing well and some have been weaned this month. We are now sizing up our show team, lots of junior boys not many girls this year.
Sold on Suri This was a great event, with over 50 suri breeders gathering to learn and share ideas about suri. Julienne Gelber was a wealth of knowledge and it was wonderful to have her talk about suri fbre and in relation to other rare fibres. Saturday night we all ajourned to the local cafe Essence in Ngongataha for a really enjoyable meal.
AANZ Conference This year Sue was the only one from Surico to attend the conference in Nelson. Her favourite speaker was Malcolme Walkingshaw talking about merino and of course Molly Gardner with her enthusiasm for suri.
Alpaca Expo 2011 So now it is all go for the Expo, our next major alpaca event. We are busy with the organising and soon will choose our team for halter training to be ready for the show season.
May 2011On the Farm Well birthing for the season is over, the next cria are not due until the end of the year. This seasons drop has given us excellent cria and because we had a high ratio of boys we will now have an excellent selection of possible stud males, a great asset for the future.
Easter Show
National Alpaca Day
Feeding the alpacas a few nuts and colouring in were hits with the kids (and some adults). Farm walks were popular too.
If you missed out visiting on National Alpaca Day and want to learn more about alpacas on your small block give us a call and make a time to visit.
The draw for the Suri Scarf was won by Mike Ferris from Clover Down Estate in Jackson Road.
Sold on Suri
The event is organised by VentureSuri and held at Surico. Included are presentations and hands on sessions. Julienne Gelber from Australia will be speaking, she has a wealth of knowledge about fibre and textiles as well as breeding suri. Also speaking is Sue Hannaway who was involved with putting Suri garments on the runway at New Zealand Fashion Week last year, her focus will be on sustainable fashion design. Read more...
Alpaca expo 2011
Surico is proud to be a sponsor of Alpaca Expo 2011.
February 2011Summer has been a busy time here at Surico. We welcomed twins (human) into the family in late December, congratulations Clint and Kerif, along with over 30 new cria. We've also managed to fit in quite a few shows, and have been very happy with the results from our team, particulary Surico Tangier who has now won 3 Supreme titles including; Hawkes Bay, Warkworth, and Franklin. Surico Triton has also been doing well, winning Supreme suri at Waikato 2010 in October.
With a gap in shows until Easter for us, we've turned our focus to some much needed admin including setting up this great new website. We hope you enjoy!
October 2010
See the full show results for Surico click here August 2010Once again, we are privileged to have had one of our suris chosen for the National Auction. Surico Onedin is indeed an exceptional young male; already certified to become a stud, he exhibits some stunning qualities. Check out his page. This is a rare opportunity to purchase these excellent genetics. Get a syndicate together with some other breeders and make a bid on the day. We would love to see him remain in NZ. Support our industry. Buy NZ made! Getting ready for the National Show is our next task, we have lots of preparation ahead to make the journey south. Time for halter training our new show team, some will only be old enough to be weaned just before the National in October, so we are making it a gradual process. We bring the dams and cria in everyday and give them some extra food, nuts and chaff, some days we separate the cria for half an hour, we walk amongst them and put our hands on them. We will try and do this more often as we get closer to the show. Buliding up to separating the cria for the day and lettng them back with their dams overnight. By the time we wean them they should be well used to the routine. Congratulations to those who bought suri in our tender. There are still some lots available, which we will now sell separately, so if you are still interested, give us a call. We had a very successful and enjoyable weekend at NZ Alpacas with breeders on the Saturday 31st July and Open Day on Sunday 1st August. Plans are afoot for a Fibre A'Fair at the Rotorua Racecourse on 27th Nov. Find out what to do with your fibre and what others are doing. More about that soon, watch our website.
March 2010New Cria, Shows and Squeals on Wheels have kept us all busy at Surico for the early part of the year. The mobile mating has picked up considerably with many still seeking out the services of our tried and true studs as well as some of the new boys on the block. Autumn is our preferred birthing |
In January we entered two shows; Surico Lochinvar took Supreme fleece at the inaugral Banks Peninsula A&P Show, and Rotorua A&P Show turned on another brilliant day, Surico Trilogy won Supreme Suri Fleece and Surico Walkinshaw was awarded Supreme Suri in the breed section. 
With a break from showing we are still busy moving forward with the Surissimo fabric project and are starting to visit farms around the North Island. If you are interested in talking to us about the project give us a call (ph 07 33 22 362).
The Alpaca Expo and National show is over for another year, and we are extremely pleased with our results as well as how the show went overall.
Surico has once again won the National title of Supreme Champion Suri at the 2010 Alpaca Expo held in Chrischurch in October. We were very excitied when Surico Onedin won Supreme, making it the fourth time a Surico bred alpaca has won. Other Surico winners were Surico Mantavani in 2009, Surico Ballerina in 2007, and Surico Yulia in 2005.Surico are proud to be members of: |
