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| Spring Shearing | |
| When spring arrives and the days begin to warm, it is time start harvesting that wonderful fiber that your alpacas have been growing all winter long. Shearing is an important part of the alpaca business and it benefits both you and your alpacas. You get fiber to use or sell and your alpacas get relief from the heat of summer. Here in Maine spring comes late so we don't start shearing until sometime in May. We like to do as much of our own farm work as we can so we do our own shearing. Many farms hire a professional shearer to do the work for them. Like so many other things in this business, it all comes down to personal preference. |  click for larger image Raisin waits for her appointment at Al's Beauty Salon |
| Extra hands make the job go much more smoothly so we often work together with our friends Dawn and John Brooker of Fiber Fields Alpaca Farm. We shear with the alpacas laying down on their side secured with a harness. We find this method to be less stressful for us as well as the alpacas. Once the animal is down and secured, they generally calm down and seem to be quite relaxed during the process. Since the alpaca is laying still you can take your time and do a nice clean job with no second cuts. Second cuts are created when you make a second pass with the shears over an area. The result is short pieces of fiber in your blanket. All of these will need to be removed during skirting so it is preferable to avoid creating them in the first place. You begin shearing at the belly. The first pass or two will be coarse hair which should be removed and placed in your seconds bag. Once you get into the prime blanket fleece, you make long steady passes with the shear while a helper rolls the blanket. You continue this until you reach the spine, then that half of the blanket is carefully removed and placed on the skirting table. Be careful to keep the shears flat against the skin to avoid second cuts. Be especially careful as you go around the corner from the side to the back. Once the blanket is removed you can shear legs and neck. This fleece is usually of lower quality and should be placed in your seconds bag. You will probably get some second cuts while shearing the legs and neck because of all the small radius nooks and crannies. Just do the best you can and pick them out before you put the fiber in the bag. Remember, the prime fleece has already been removed and is safely resting on the skirting table. When one side is finished, you roll the animal over and repeat the process on the other side. This is a good time to trim nails, check teeth or do any of those little chores that are difficult to do when the alpaca is unrestrained. | |
| Here you can see Dawn and John working together. A third person is holding the alpaca's head. Dawn is rolling back the blanket as John shears. There is a gym mat under the canvas for everyone's added comfort. | Notice that the shears are held with the tips of the comb pressed firmly against the skin. You can see the tracks on the shorn area indicating long smooth passes with the shears. |
Here is the harness that we use. We fabricated this one ourselves but there are commercially made versions available. You need two of these, one for each end of the alpaca. Here is the list of material:
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Here are the shears that we use. There are several different brands but most of them look pretty much like this. We use a 13 tooth comb when shearing alpaca. The risk of cutting the skin is reduced by having a comb with narrow tooth spacing. Be carefull when shearing between the front legs. There is a fold of skin where the leg attaches to the body. This fold can go between the teeth and get cut so extra caution is required in this area. |
