Shearing 2009

People Needed:

It helps to have as many folks involved as you can beg, borrow, or steal. Someone has to halter and bring the animal from where it is housed, over to the shearer, someone else needs to assist the shearer by picking up the fiber and getting it into correctly labeled bags (labeled by yet another person or done ahead of time), and someone sits beside the alpaca and reassures the animal all is well as they support and gently stroke its head. This year I was fortunate to have my part time assistant, Krista Aguilar, and volunteers Ivan Gunter and his two daughters, Simone and Sierra.

The Shearer:

One can opt for a crew (see shearing ‘08) or a single shearer. I have used both, and both work well, but my preference is the individual shearer. With the crews it is possible to do as many as 100 animals in a day, but those crews require a lot from the herd owner to keep the process running smoothly so they don’t have wasted time. For me, this adds stress to a day that is already a little on the hectic side of the normal alpaca lifestyle. Bill Watkins, my favorite shearer, spent 5 days here for the ‘09 shearing to do 55 animals that needed to be shorn.  Bill keeps a steady pace, yet never gets demanding, and takes the necessary time to evaluate each animal for me. It is a great time to do things like nail trimming, dental work, and immunizations, all of which are easier to do while the animal is tied down.

Responsibilities of the Herd Owner:

Beyond making sure there are plenty of people to assist the shearer, providing for lunch and break time for everyone involved is a must.  Shearing takes a lot of energy and breaks with snacks and drinks are important. This needs to be planned out ahead of time, so no time is lost in food preparation. 

At least finding the place, for lodging the shearer, is also the responsibility of the herd owner as the shearer will probably not be from that area and will not know what is available.

Herd owners also need to have basic emergency first aid available for both people and animals, like band aids, disinfectant, etc.  I also make sure my vet knows when I will be shearing and would be available in the case of a mishap.

Possibilities for Fiber - End User Product:

It is an exciting time for the Alpaca industry.  Every day it seems there are more awesome uses for the yearly harvest of alpaca fiber.  There are new co-ops popping up with advantages such as having the fiber sorted as it comes off the animal by a Certified Fiber Sorter which results in many superior finished products, or using a processor that specializes in only a few products such as blankets, or rugs.  The list of uses is nearly endless, but a few other examples would be fabric, doll hair, teddy bears, insulation, stuffing, quilt battings, or anything made of yarn; knitted, crocheted, or felted.

No matter who does the processing, or what it is processed into, nothing can beat the warmth, durability, and comfort of Alpaca!

My 'partner in grime,' Krista Aguilar, gathers fiber as Bill shears

Sierra just LOVES Moneypenney

Hold still, Dad! Simone labels the bag for Money Penny's fiber.

Simone, Ivan, Bill and Domino