After much consideration we decided to give shearing a go ourselves. After much ebay stalking I got a new electric handpiece at a good auction price in the wee hours when it finished.
However that was the easy bit, there was lots more to do. I decided to make a solid table for the first year as it is apparently quite practical to roll an Alpaca onto a shearing table if it is at the right height.
Here is a photo of the shearing table I made, sorry about the poor lighting.
The new shearing table, with restraints.
I was rather pleased with my efforts, especially the mechanism that connects the two out-riggers together so that they both swing from one side of the table to the other together. (You can’t see what I mean in the photo.)
Well you can’t have a shearing table without a skirting table, ie to pick over the fleece.
The Skirting Table
Well, it was good to finally make use of the two old single bed frames I had been hanging on to for many years.
Anyway, then there was cutters & combs & getting them sharpened. Fencing around the shearing area. Lighting, overhead support for the handpiece cable, oil can etc for the hand piece. Tubs for the fleece, plastic bags, sample bags. Welding apron for kicking protection. Toe nail clippers, hand shears for fringes & tidy ups. It seemed to go on & on.
And yet that was still really the easy bit. I still had to get to the point of actually putting live shears to an Alpaca. So some personal development work to release as much of that as I could tune into.
And then I needed to have some idea of how to actually shear of course, having never tried it before. So lots of web surfing, reading & video watching. I also attended a couple of shearing days at another local Alpaca Stud to see the whole production line in action. Julie came along to one of those too. Also lots of talking with another local Alpaca stud owner who shears their own.
Anyway, the day finally came & we did our first two. In retrospect I didn’t have the handpiece tension firm enough & fibres were getting under the cutter & then teh comb was riding up the fleece. So two chopped up fleeces, but no cut Alpacas or humans. It went better after that, with the help of some more Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).
We have now done 4 females, 3 mums & 3 cria. We still have the three studs, new mum Tessa & two other females to go. (Oh, & the first two got a quick second run through to tidy them up too.)
A few of the shorn.
I used a deeper comb which leaves a bit of fleece on to provide some sun protection, and a bit of a help for the remaining cold/wet days before it gets hot. It also helps prevent nicking the Alpacas.
Reina & Ruffiano - mother & son.
Still need to work out the shearing of the legs better, particularly between the knees & thighs.
Lucina & Solano - mother & son.
I didn’t know how I would go shearing a Suri, as the fleece is very different & hangs down in smooth dreadlocks. However it went pretty well.
Titicaca, a Suri - look at that shine.
The three cria were an extra challenge as new shearer, with very fine fleece, and long – on a smaller body. We did the mum first each time, with the cria nearby. Then let mum & baby be with each other for a while before then shearing the cria, with mum nearby. All three cria are still feeding from their respective mums, so we are glad it didn’t mess up their feeding relationship, although if natural weaning had occured they are all big enough now.
Ruffiano - does my face look big in this?
So the saga continues, with the studs & 3 females still to go.
Of course I have only been talking about the shearing itself – that is only part of it. Julie has been right there, helping get them on & off the table, collecting, sorting, baging & labeling the fleece, reminding me to take a fleece sample, and to do the toe nails, and don’t forget the fringe… all with our 11 month old baby on her back in a sling or safely nearby!
Grant
