Okay, so Skin Biopsy testing has been going on in the U.S. for a few years now, what do we think of it?

EXPENSIVE ! …..I know about $300 per SB……….Im with you there.

The average alpaca scores around a 38 follicles sq/mm. An exceptionally dense alpaca has above 65 follicoles sq/mm.

Personally , we have not done any Skin Biopsy tests, but plan on biting the bullet soon and testing some of our herdsires, and a few of our important females.

What has convinced us to get the testing done?

We have several friends that have been getting these tests done regularly for the last few years, and they all seem to come away with the same surprising observations.

Since reviewing the scientific data of SB tests, most of our breeder friends conclude that

Human hands cannot accurately determine density of an alpaca.

WE are finding many breeders experiencing the following: What they once thought was dense with their hands is NOT, and what they thought was not dense with their hands and/or eyes is now very dense based on the skin biopsy report!

These particular breeders making this statement are very experienced breeders, all of whom have a minimum of 13 years in the industry, some are past AOBA judges. They claim that with the help of the SB test results, they are making significant changes in their breeding programs. One breeder had Stud A breeding most of his herd because he thought he was VERY dense (Stud A test was approx 45 fol/sq.mm). Stud B was not used much because he was not dense. ( Stud B test results of approx 80 fol/sqmm), The 24 year alpaca breeder and past AOBA judge reversed his breeding males. He became a believer in the SB tests.

Other breeders are mentioning similar storys.

Okay, I can accept all of this. Technology triumphs again!

But this brings up another interesting point. If human hands cannot accurately determine density, why are we permitting judges to attempt such feats in the ring? Well, obviously we need to have judges attempt to figure out density in the ring, but what are the judges doing to catch up with this technology?

Hopefully some judges will comment.

My thought is that eventually, with the help of SB tests, experts will learn other visual fleece characteristics that correlate to high SB numbers………

I think that eventually, we all will all be capable of determining accurate density with the use of our eyes as we learn from biopsy tests exactly what fiber characteristics are associated with dense fleece .