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Aplaca Term (H)

Hair fiber: Specialty fiber obtained from an animal other than a sheep, usually from the goat and camel families (mohair, cashmere, angora, llama, alpaca, vicuna and guanaco). These products, except angora, are included in the term “wool.”

Hembra: Female alpaca or animal.

Handle: The way an alpaca fiber feels when touched; often used as a synonym for "softness."

Hank: A definite length of textile material that varies according to the material. A hank of wool is 560 yards, cotton and silk is 840 yards and linen is 300 yards.

Herdsire: a male alpaca with genetic characteristics desirable for breeding into a herd.

Heritability: A measure of the strength of the relationship between performance (phenotypic values) and breeding values for a characteristic in a population.

Histogram: A graphical representation, similar to a bar chart in structure that organizes a group of data points into user-specified ranges.  Used to quantify alpaca fiber characteristics. The histogram on such a report depicts the measurement of 2000 fibers in scale.

Humming: a sound alpacas make when they are happy, concerned, uncomfortable or curious. Different styles of hums indicate different emotions.

Huacaya: A breed of alpaca characterized by a well-crimped fleece that grows perpendicular to the skin.

Huarizo: A mostly derogatory term most often used to describe a llama-alpaca cross. Characterized by weak, medullated fiber and poor breed type. A crossbred animal.

Hybrid: An individual that represents a combination of species, breeds within species, or lines within breeds.

Hybrid vigor: An increase in the overall health of hybrids over that of purebreds, most noticeably in traits such as survivability and fertility.

Hyperthermia: Body temperature that exceeds the normal range.