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Shearing day comes every year, if you are a smaht alpaca farmer in the northeast, that happens in the early spring. For us, we schedule with our shearer, Mr. Malcolm Cooper, a year in advance. Malcom tends to arrive the evening before the shear so we can wake up first thing, eat a hearty breakfast, and head out to the barn for set up.
Both Malcolm and Farmer Steve took turns shearing this year. We had a total of 12 alpacas to rid of their valuable fleeces. We prepared to collect three of our perceived best fleeces for show preparation. The rest of the fleeces were collected with standard storage in a grain or clear plastic bag. Our choice here depends upon the quality of the fleece. Another story for another day.
Volunteers are always needed on shearing day. We need alpaca handlers, shearers, wool gatherers, record keepers, a coach, a referee, traffic cop, director, rope pullers, halter putter-on'ers, alpaca huggers, and snack givers. Steve and Malcolm pretty much never leave the mats. So we all do our best to make sure they have snacks and beverages. At this point because we only have 12 alpacas, things aren't too crazy. It's constant hard work, but being organized and the help of fantastic people really helps keep the day manageable. I cannot thank you all enough. Round of applause for the volunteers.
Meghan Greenwood [The Shriners' Daughter]- she was our floater that would be anywhere doing anything I asked...not an easy task, her ham strings were killing her the next few days as she was mostly on the barn floor picking collecting and qualifying fleeces by cut [roughly 1st, 2nds, and 3rds] - then running those full bags to Louise;
Louise Myer [Farmer Steve's mother] - Primary Record-Keeper. Louise has a list of of animals to be shorn and a clear checklist of the plan for each animal. I try to identify in advance how each animals fleece will be prepared. Is it a show fleece? Should it be bagged or boxed? Will we want a fleece sample? If so, how is that sample being collected? Then she has to collect information about the fleeces. She catalogs the weights of the fleeces and properly labels all the fleeces;
Kevin Merrill [my dad] - is responsible for all the photos documenting this part of our alpaca farming journey. Thanks Dad. Many of these photos will be cherished family heirlooms;
Douglas Myer [Steve's Father]- our alpaca wrangler. Doug was in charge of single-handedly catching each alpaca and haltering it for its moment on the mat, Doug is Farmer Steveıs father;
Fran Merrill [my mom] - Was responsible for giving alpacas re-assuring pats while they waited on-deck, ready to be placed on the mat. While giving them re-assuring pats and kisses she pulled out the larger pieces of vegetation, part of the pre-skirting process. She also made a fantastic cake and added to our basic needs for nourishment;
Farmer Steve, well as I mentioned before, he was a shearer and holder;
Me, awe heck, I didn't do anything. I sat back drinking some home brew.
Here is a picture gallery of our shearing day. Thank you Dad!
Doug in the paddock. He had just spent some time catching Nebis.
Doug really has a way with our critters...its called reward! A little hand-fed grain can go a long way to making friends with an alpaca.
Here Fran and Doug are working together to convince a reluctant youngster onto the mat.
Mammattegwa on Deck. Farmer Steve stretching out his back while looking at the results of his and Malcolmıs handiwork...
This is the beginning of the process. Here you see Steve restraining the animal while Malcolm places the front feet into the ropes. The back feet are already roped in. This helps us to restrain the animal, keeping it safe and secure during the shearing process.
Steve continues to restrain the animal while lowering him to the ground. I am on the left, pulling on the ropes to stretch out Wawiobwan (roughly Wa-wee-o-bwan AKA 'Ben').
Now that Wawiobwan is fully restrained, Steve removes his halter. Here he seems quite calm while I am evily laughing at his misfortune, most likely it is because of one of Malcolm's wisecracks...
Malcolm examines Wawiobwanıs fleece prior to beginning shearing.
We are all staged. A box is slid underneath Wawiobwan. This box is used because I will be showing Wawiobwanıs fleece in the future. I have found using these large boxes keeps the fleece intact and itıs easier for me to skirt. Malcolm is starting up his shears.
Malcolm obtains a fleece sample which will be sent to a lab for histogram analysis. The analyses tells us many things about the quality of the fleece.
Wawiobwanıs fleece is shorn right into the box. Although it may look like Steve is really holding Benıs head down with all his might, he is really just holding it still. Ben did not struggle at all.
As the fleece is shorn I am gently guiding it onto the box. Attempting to retain its character, just so I can mess it up later during skirting...
As Malcolm works his way across Wawiobwanıs topline, the animal is lifted and rotated [by Steve] to the opposite side. Malcolm is shearing the whole time and I am concentrated strictly on managing the fleece. Everyone has a very specific job. We are all watching each other closely to ensure we are working as a well choreographed team.
Steve continues to rotate the animal, while Malcolm continues to goof off...a happy shearer makes for happy alpacas!
The most desireable fleece on an alpaca, also called Prime fleece. I am simply trying to gently gather it all within the box top for storage.
Another nice shot of the shorn part of the alpaca [left] up next to the staple that has yet to be shorn [right]. I wish I had better lighting for this shot. It was a test shot I was doing while Dad was taking a break.
Now they set to work on the neck, chest, and hips, typically referred to as ısecondsı, then the legs and belly ıthirdsı. I try to consider not just where the fleece came off the animal, but more the actual quality of the fleece.
Toward the end of the shearing session, the front legs are removed from the stirrups so that Malcolm can get to those hard to reach armpits. At this point it is critical for the person restraining the animal to be in tune to the animals movements. One quick jerk could result in those incredibly sharp shears digging deep into flesh. I am just off camera also on standby to help restrain the animal if needed.
Meghan and I bagging the fleece.
Fran, my mom, bonding with Pep who is ıon-deckı waiting for her turn on the mat. (This is my favorite photo of the day.)
Malcolm showing his fine form, while I trim toenails.
Sig with his handler Doug, waiting for his turn...
Sigıs fleece being boxed.
Once their shearing is done, they are removed from the ropes and a halter is placed back on. Each critter is given a gentle pat and a little love by me or Steve as we coax them to get up off the mat to join their herd.
Farmer Steve trying his shears on Bobaliwi while Malcolm looks on. Notice how little effort is required for restraining the animal.
My little cousin Laura with Doug and Giles (pronounced Jiles).
Giles is so darn sweet. Here he is just hanging out while Steve shears him up.
Malcolm holding up Gilesı large head while Steve shears the neckline, I restrain Gilesı back end, and Meghan collects the fleece.
Ahhh, its over. Giles gets hosed down before being sent out to pasture to dust bathe and scratch all those itchies generated by the shear.
July takes a dip in the pool after her hair cut.
YAY! Everyone made it through the experience safe and sound. We have tens of pounds of fleece, the samples have been shipped to the lab and everyone is used to their new cuts.
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