Alpaca Shear - Before and After

Photos by Beth

This alpaca is Orion, otherwise know as Slammie. His total fleece weighed 5 pounds and 4 ounces. The Prime which is from the top of the back and sides was 2 pounds and 10 ounces and was 4 inches long, Seconds from the hip area and neck weighed 2 pounds and 10 ounces. I don't keep or weigh Thirds (Garden Mulch) which is the fiber from the belly, chest, and legs. The thirds are usually hairy, different lengths, sometimes matted, and quite coarse.

Two people and the shearer evaluate and sort the fiber into plastic bags as the alpaca is shorn. I think I am quite critical because I don't like to take the time to work with low quality fiber. Dave, our shearer, has a motto "If in doubt, throw it out" and I totally agree.

Our total shear weight yesterday for our 11 alpacas was 57 pounds and 12 ounces which gives us an average of 5 pounds and 4 ounces per alpaca. The lightest fleece weighed 1 pound, 1 ounce, and Polaris, our herd sire, weighed in at 8 pounds, 14 ounces.

These statistics fascinate me. I woke up at 3 this morning thinking about it and had to get up and do the weighing and recording.

Jennie's Lambs Arrive

Jennie had her lambs last night. We went to the barn to check her at 9 and she was acting VERY uncomfortable and I could see an occasional contraction. Back out at 11 and there were two wet lambs, on their feet, and nursing. We looked them over, tried to help Jennie dry them off with towels. and sprayed an iodine solution on their navels. Then just sat and observed. This was our first lambing experience and we felt like proud grandparents, praising Jennie on a job well done.
The little black girl (or should I say ewe lamb) isn't as aggressive as the white guy below.
I hope Smitty names them soon. Everything needs a name to establish permanency in this world of ours, don't you think?

I will get some better pictures when the light is better. Their pen area is pretty dark. They are in their own little space, enclosed with straw bales. I think the sheep folks call these little ewe/lamb spaces "jugs" and they stay here for a few days for bonding and easy access.

Fiona Goes to Charm School

This is not a good picture of Smitty's little Haflinger mare, Fiona....but I can't take another one for you right now 'cause she's at a trainers learning to be a driving pony.
Andy, the trainer, says they are driving 6 miles a day. When she comes home at the end of the month, she will be the fittest thing on the farm. She is doing well, but the second day, she reared up in the shafts and went over backwards. Sure am glad that she did it there. Actually it's probably a good thing. The old horsemen always told me that if you have a horse that rears, the best thing is to pull them over.

Upcoming Alpaca Shear and 4-H Practice

John is leading Slammie (NS Orion) over a ramp practicing for the obstacle course at the 4-H Fair this summer. Some of the other possible "tricks" will be walking over plastic, side passing, pivoting on front feet in a circle, lifting a foot, going over a jump, - pretty much horsey trail class stuff.

We shear our alpacas this Thursday. I can hardly wait! You can see by the picture, Slammie really needs a haircut. Our "Alpaca Barber" is the same gentleman that sheared our sheep a few weeks ago. He says doing the alpacas is easier. We lay the alpaca down on its side as gently as possible, stretch out their legs, hobble them, shear one side, and roll them over. They tend to lay there quietly, although, we do have a mother (Lady Belita) and daughter (Celeste) who get quite verbal. As Dave shears he tells bag holders where the cut fiber goes (Prime, Seconds, and Thirds). This makes my life much easier when it comes time to screen and pick through the fleeces. Apparently this sorting doesn't happen with sheep shearing.
I don't save the Thirds at all and they frequently become garden mulch. This is the hairy (guard hair), coarse and short fiber from legs mainly. Each alpaca is different. I have a few older boys that the neck and chest fiber becomes Thirds and that the blanket, (usually prime from back and sides) becomes seconds.
We have 11 to shear so I need to prepare 22 bags with name, date, and lines for pounds/ounces sheared. I weigh it all when we are done and keep good records for each alpaca. Small samples of fiber are put into little baggies to be sent to a lab to get a micron/comfort level count. I only do this for some. As the alpaca ages, his/her fiber usually becomes more coarse and I think this info is important for breeding selections.

View from my deck - Ivan and Abbey

The dark horse here is Abbey who was my middle daughter's 4-H, Jumping, and Dressage horse. Abbey's 28 now and retired. She has quite a bit of arthritis in her hocks and has Cushing's Disease. You would never know she is over 15 because she is so spunky and full of life.
The big white guy is my Ivan. He's 19, a Percheron/Thoroughbred cross and has lived with me since he was 3, when, by the way - he was black. He and I have pretty much done everything you can imagine - dressage, jumping, trail riding, shows, camping. He's a wise horse with an incredible sense of humor. Unfortunately, he uses his wit and wisdom teasing and making life difficult for my husband. For example, Smitty calls him and like a good pony, up he comes - until he gets to the gate and whirls around, kicks up his heels and gallops away, laughing at husband's cuss words.
Three other horses live here at our farm and be assured, you will hear about them eventually. I do love them all.

Handspun Yarn from KittyGrrlz

This is a lovely skein of yarn that Bobbi from Greenfield, Wisconsin spun from my dyed roving that I called Tulip Leaves. Maybe you remember the roving from an entry here right after Easter. I have admired Bobbi's work on Etsy for some time now. You can visit her shop here to see some more of her creatively done handspun.

Alpaca Babysitter

This is Maryann's sweet Suri alpaca, Weatherby, who thinks that it's his job to adopt and care for all the critters on the farm.
Photo by Maryann