Latest News

21 Dec 2011

Christmas and New Year specials.  Selling two females with their female crias at foot at bargain prices. Check out the Starter and Pregnant female pages for more details

20 Dec 2011

Good results from the Whangarei show with Silverhill Viscount awarded Champion Grey and his younger full brother Silverhill Vaughn getting Reserve Champion Grey.  Vaughn also got Champion Grey Fleece.  Silverhill Victor, their sire, won Sires Progeny with them. 

23 Nov 2011

First cria by Silverhill Prince of Beltane was born on Sunday.  A medium fawn boy - looking good.

1 Nov 2011

Spent the weekend at the Waikato Show which saw just under 300 breed entries.  All five fleece that I entered got a ribbon, with Silverhill Viscount (grey fleece) picking up Champion Grey Huacaya Fleece and beating the National Expo Grey Fleece Champion by 1 point.  In the breed entries Silverhill Viscount 4th, Silverhill Vianca 3rd, Nonsuch Jane Seymour 2nd, Nonsuch Anne of Cleves 3rd, Thistledown Montezuma 3rd and my junion grey male, Silverhill Vaughn 1st PLUS Champion Grey Huacaya (beating a strong line up of grey 1st place getters in other age groups.)  A highlight to end the show on.   Although entered by one of his other owners, Silverstream G Force was again awarded Reserve Champion for his fleece.

19 Oct 2011

New Stud fee tiering system introduced for Silverhill wholly owned males.  When I first entered the industry alpaca boys were selling as pets for $1000+ and therefore if you paid a stud fee of $1000 at least you got your money back when you sold them.  However, this is no longer the case.  I am therefore following the protocol offered in some other pedigree livestock industries and having a two tier stud fee system.  Initial fee pays for the servicing of the female, plus some mobile mating expenses.  Additional fee is for the right to register the cria by the issue of A4 form.

19 Oct 2011

Show season started with a bang at a great Expo in Tauranga.  Silverhill Viscount 3rd in class (breed), 1st in class (fleece), Silverhill Vaughn 2nd in Class (breed), Silverhill Rose Ellen 3rd in class (fleece), Silverhill Tenacious and Silverhill Beltane 4th in class (fleece).  Plus Silverstream G Force Reserve Champion (breed) and 2 x Reserve Champion (fleece)

29 Aug 2011

Gilt Edge Jasper and Silverstream Evaki available for stud duties in Northland/Auckland to end of September, after which they will be returning to Hawkes Bay and South Island respectively.

Expo entries now in and halter training the juniors underway.

2 May 2011

Well, despite rain being forecast for the whole of Sunday, with heavy rain expected in the afternoon, the rain actually held off until 3.30pm, by which time all of our visitors were on the point of leaving.  Lots of interest generated in alpacas plus the sale of 3 pet boys which two groups were interested in purchasing, but only one could be successful. 

30 Mar 2011

National Alpaca Day is on May 1st and we will be opening our farm between 10am - 4pm.  Alpacas will be on display with some good bargains to be had for people interested in starting a small herd. or adding to an existing one.  The opportunity to feed the alpacas and possibly lead them will be there for those who want to get up close to an alpaca.  Our farm shop, selling carded fibre suitable for spinning or felting, alpaca yarn for knitters or weavers and handknitted accessories such as scarves, beanies, gloves and baby socks.  Cash sales only as EFTPOS is not available.

21 Feb 2011

We had a good day at Franklin Show with all the team winning a ribbon.  Viscount was Best of Colour - Grey and for a change there were a reasonable number of grey entries so he had more competition and therefore his success was more meaningful.  Beltane came 2nd to Noah (again) but picked up the Reserve Champion Senior beating out all the other colours including white/light fawn.  Another two shows coming up in the next three weeks so we will be busy.

2 Feb 2011

Rotorua show was held in the wake of Cyclone Wilma.  Torrential rain caused slips on SH5 near Rotorua which meant finding a detour around the back roads to the show ground.  Once there the stream that flows through the showground had risen alarmingly almost to the level of the wooden bridge we needed to cross to get to the show ring and pens.  The stream was threatening to flow over the bank into the alpaca pen but luckily the rain had stopped and after a while the water started to recede.  The Convenor and several breeders who had stayed with her overnight were trapped as the bottom of their driveway had washed away and it was impossible to drive out, so there were quite a few scratchings. Nevertheless it was a good day and we came away with a ribbon for each of the alpacas we'd entered plus a Championship ribbon with our grey boy.

18 Jan 2011

Latest cria on the ground is a lovely light grey female sired by Silverhill Victor.  This is his second grey cria and a big surprise given that the dam is a brown girl with a white face (which I guess may make her genetically roan but not a sign of grey in her pedigree). 

13 Dec 2010

Fleece stats have come back and we are really pleased with this years results.  Most encouraging was that 8 out of 9 of Victors progeny (ranging from 2 mths to 20 mths) came back in the ultrafine (under 19 micron) range, including his black daughter (age 20 months at shearing) and one of his brown daughters (age 15 months at shearing).  

6 Dec 2010

Good results at Whangarei Show yesterday.  In addition to numerous 1st and 2nd place ribbons, we took out Champion Grey and Champion Grey Fleece with Silverhill Viscount (a grey boy sired by Silverhill Victor) and Reserve Champion Mid/Dk Fawn with Silverhill Prince of Beltane.  Beltane had a good weekend as he settled his first female on Saturday.  Supreme Champion at Whangarei Show was Silverstream G Force, a magnificent white boy we co-own with Kaipara Pines Alpaca Stud, Silverstream Alpaca Stud and Waitakere Alpacas.  He is in the North Island until February and available for stud duties now.

10 Nov 2010

Due to slow growth of grass with a drought looking likely for the second year running (we already have large cracks in our paddocks due to lack of rain over the past month) we need to reduce our herd size quickly and are having a HERD REDUCTION SALE. All offers considered.

14 Oct 2010

Went down to Expo in Christchurch last weekend and picked up two 3rd place ribbons (for Silverhill Maria in junior female white/light fawn and Silverhill Viscount in junior male grey) plus Champion Senior Male for Silverstream G Force which was very exciting.  There were 3 aftershocks over 4.0 whilst I was in Christchurch but I didn't feel any of them thank goodness.

31 Aug 2010

Well, the drought broke middle of May and now we are up to our ankles in mud.  It's funny to watch the alpaca trying to avoid the muddiest bits of ground or tiptoeing through mud they just can't avoid.  With rain every weekend for what seems like ages, halter training is way behind schedule.  Entries for National Expo close this coming Sunday so I'm just about to send mine off.  I made the decision to travel down to Christchurch - it's the first time we have attended Expo in South Island and Silverhill Alpacas is proud to be sponsoring Champion Adult Female and Male Huacaya.  It should be an exciting three days.

5 July 2010

Silverstream Evaki and Gilt Edge Jasper arrived at  Silverhill Alpacas on Saturday and are now available for stud services during the winter and spring months.  Both Evaki and Jasper now have cria on the ground.

1 July 2010

We went down to Napier for the AANZ Conference last weekend and had a good time listening to the various speakers and catching up with other breeders.  Some very interesting, well presented topics and well worth the 7 hour drive each way. 

9 June 2010

Our last cria of the season was born on 1 June, a white male. Our next cria are due in September so we have a 3 month break from birthing.  Since last July we have had 16 cria born, one of which (a male F1 suri) unfortunately died in the first 24 hours.  We also had a 50% girl/boy ratio with 8 girls and 8 boys.

2 Jun 2010

Our on-farm alpaca shop will be open this coming Queens Birthday weekend.  Stocking carded fibre, knitting yarn, and our own knitwear.  If you are passing on the way from Auckland to Mangawhai, feel free to drop by and browse.