Accoyo: The peruvian ranch of the world famous alpaca breeder, Don Julio Barreda; imported animals that originated on his ranch carry this name
Agist: To board your alpacas at another farm for a fee based on care
Altiplano: The foothills of the Andes mountains in Peru, Chile, and Boliva
Berserk Male: a male alpaca that was coddled by humans and has no fear of them as adults
Blanket: Prime fleece on the main body of the animal; best quality for spinning
Breed Back: A breeding with any herdsire from the ranch from which a pregnant female is purchased, following her delivery; offered in contracts as a three-in-one deal
Brightness: The quality of alpaca fiber (fleece) that reflects light
Camelid: Mammal family to which the alpaca belongs; also includes camel, llama, vicuna, and guanaco
Colostrum: The initial rich milk produced by a new mother soon after delivery; vital to stimulated immunities in the newborn (see IgG)
Conformation: The appropriate alignment of the alpaca's body structure in proportion to the whole animal
Cria: An unweaned camelid baby; from the old Spanish word for "create"
Crimp: The waves in alpaca fiber
Cush: A position where the alpaca folds its legs under its body to rest or keep warm. This is also the position for a receptive female for breeding. Sometimes spelled "kush"
Dam: The mother alpaca
Fhleming: Male behavior of sniffing pasture areas (especially near the poop pile) where females have been, lifting their nose into the air to inhale the scent
Fiber: The product of shearing an alpaca; interchangeable with "fleece"; never referred to as “fur” or "wool"
Fighting Teeth: The tiny sharp teeth that grow mid-jaw in adult alpacas; males use them to render other males in the herd impotent. These teet are filed down in a managed herd situation
Fleece: The fiber of an alpaca; lanolin-free. Huacaya fiber is crimpy, while fleece of the Suri alpaca is silken
Gelding: A male alpaca that has been castrated. These males are usually gelded between 18-24 months of age and helps to keep the fiber quality stable
Guanaco: An endangered member of the camelid family, native to the Andes
Guard Hair: The longer, medulated single hairs interspersed with the finer fiber on a huacaya alpaca or llama
Herdsire: The proven adult male alpaca used for breeding
Huacaya (wah-Ki-yah): A breed of alpaca with thick, fluffy fleece giving them a fluffy teddy bear appearance
Humming: The most common audio communication between alpacas; a melodic, purring shound that indicates nervous attention, as a mom calling to her cria, or an adult separated from the herd
Husbandry: The watchful care and intervention by humans to the herd for optimal health maintenance; vaccinations, toe-nail trimming, nutrition, protection, etc.
Ideal Alpaca: Perfect in every sense of conformation - proportional body, straight legs, dense fleece, overall coverate, crimpy fiber, presence and stature, aligned teeth
IgG: Immunoglobulin G; a blood test during the first days of a cria's life determines IgG levels, to monitor absorbtion the necessary colostral antibodies from it's mother's milk
Induced Ovulator: The female is stimulated by the breeding process to release an egg for fertilization; cats are also induced ovulators, different from a female cycle that the male then responds to
Junior Herdsire: Intact young adult male alpaca, not yet mature for breeding
Llama: Larger cousin of the alpaca
Luster: The rich gleam of the alpaca’s fiber
Maiden: A young adult female alpaca that has not given birth to a cria
Medulated Fiber: The thicker, hollow-shaft fiber that sometimes populates the fleece and sticks out beyond the finer, crimped fleece of a Huacaya
Micron: a measurement used to measure the width of a single fiberof alpaca fleece; fiber fineness. A micron is equal to 1/25,000 of an inch or one millionth of a meter
Micron Count: The average of measurements within a fiber sample
Orchard Grass: Medium protein grasses either growing in the pasture or baled as hay; not alfalfa
Orgle: The mating sounds made by males before and during breeding
Pasture Breeding: Placing a male in a pasture with females allowing them to "breed at will" according to their maturity and readiness; less human involvement than with pen breeding
Pen Breeding: Purposefully placing one male and one female in a pen together with the intention of breeding
Prime Fleece: See Blanket
Pronk: Romping, cavorting and prancing behavior, especially between young animals
Proven: An alpaca, either male or female, which has successfully produced live offspring
Retained CL: "Corpus Lutum" = yellow body, referring to the casing of the unfertilized egg. When not shed by the body (retained), hormones may still respond, thus giving a "false pregnancy" reading when spit testing (see below)
Roving: A narrow, cylindrical strip of processed fiber ready to be spun into yarn
Ruminant: Having a multiple stomach digestive system, maximizing low quality food sources
Shearing: The annual clipping of the alpacas fleece with electric or hand shears
Show Ring: Events sponsored by national and regional organizations to judge the quality of animals; show divisions are by type, fleece color, age, and gender
Sire: The father alpaca
Spinning: Creating yarn from the fleece using a spinning wheel or a drop spindle; to be woven, knitted, crocheted or felted into clothing and accessory items
Spit Test: TParading a bred female in front of a potent male. If she "spits him off", his services no longer interest her. This is a low-level pregnancy test
Staple: An independent cluster of individual fibers
Staple Length: The length of shorn alpaca fiber
Stud: Herdsire
Suri: A breed of alpaca with silky locks of fleece that lay close to the body, parting down the middle of the back and twist vertically towards the ground
Top Knot: Fiber on the alpaca’s head and between its ears which is considered a desirable aesthetic
Vicuna: Wild camelid ancestor of the alpaca in South America with the finest natural fiber in the world
Weanling: An alpaca weaned from its mother, usually at 6 months | 
