Beginning in 2009, AOBA expanded the grey classes at AOBA Certified shows to specifically include non-patterned greys naming them "Modern Greys". These are alpacas having fleece colors which match to the silver grey and rose grey swatches on the ARI Color Chart; however, they are absent of a tuxedo pattern.

A tuxedo pattern appears as white on the face and bib (front of the neck) and these are now referred to in the AOBA Show rules as the "Classic Greys" (aka the "Tuxedo Greys"). Our farm's Classic Greys include A.L. Paca's Revolution and Simba's Silver Maze, two males with well defined tuxedo patterns.

Jackhammer though, is a Modern Grey. His fleece is extremely color consistent; meaning it is completely absent of spots or patterns. There are fibers of two colors only (white and medium brown) and these are blended in what appears to be a 50/50 ratio. This blend is evenly distributed from nose to foot, shoulder to tail. In fact, Jackhammer fits the modern grey class so well that several Senior Judges have repeatedly referred to him in the show ring as the definition of the "Modern Grey".

Prior to 2009, and the creation of the Modern Grey classes, non-patterned alpacas with fleeces which clearly matched to the grey swatches on the ARI Color Chart, could have been, and were frequently color checked into the standard grey classes. Jackhammer was a prime example of this. Since his fleece color is an exact match to the light rose grey swatch on the ARI Color Card, he was color checked 100% of the time as a grey even though he is absent of any pattern.

Modern Grey is a good thing! A breeder has to be careful with breeding pairings for Classic (tuxedo) Greys as if they are paired with white spotted alpacas (those with a white spot on their extremities, i.e. nose or foot) then a cria having Blue Eyes and a solid White fleece can result (i.e. a Blue Eyed White "BEW").

BEW's are most likely hearing impaired (deaf). Our farm helped to support a study initiated by Ohio State under Dr David Anderson wherein BAER hearing exams were performed on various alpaca populations. 100% of those having Blue Eyes and solid White fleeces were confirmed deaf. Those with blue eyes and colored fleeces were found to have normal hearing - hence, blue eyes on a colored alpaca is simply nothing more than a cosmetic variation and is not a genetic fault.

There is a similar finding in cats as those with blue eyes and white coats are also deaf.

Starting back in 1995 we began extensively tracking breeding outcomes and noted colors and patterns of sire and dam behind resulting cria color / pattern. This was entered into a database and as our database grew more extensive, we spotted the trend of color patterns leading to BEW outcomes. We stopped breeding greys to white spotted and our BEW problem was resolved.

The Pattern <=> BEW link was further theorized in a 2001 paper titled "Some Educated Guesses on Color Genetics of Alpacas" by D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM.  (In 2002, Dr Sponenberg was kind enough to visit our farm and lecture at a Color Genetics class attended by other breeders who were interested in learning how to better predict breeding outcomes).

So, back to Jackhammer and why his color is a good thing. As he is absent of pattern (or spots) he can be bred to an alpaca of any pattern (i.e. Classic Grey, Modern Grey, white spotted, pinto, checkered, etc.) without fear of a BEW outcome. Additionally, his roan coloration (the even mix of brown and white colored fibers) should be heritable as this came from his dam who is also a Modern Rose Grey, so ...

The proof is in the pudding as they say, so we are continuing to note the colors and patterns of the females Jackhammer has been bred to and we'll post the results on-line here.  (I personally would not bet against the possibility that nearly all of his offspring (out of brown and black) dams will qualify as Classic or Modern greys though.)

03/06/10 Doug

See more about A.L. Paca's Jackhammer here.