Kerfluffle

Post-pandemic shearing is still a little crazy around here as in, we need to do our own. The Farmer had to shear alone last year, and his goal was to get the animals cool. I started a loftier goal of trying to cut the different grades of fiber off, but, alas…

Peggy-O, for starters, has really dense fluff. I decided to use actual hair cutting scissors to get closer to the skin. It didn’t help much because every cutting implement got dull in a flash. I finished her shear with clippers walking around the barn following her. She is the most docile!

A new tactic was much needed for sanity to be preserved on day two! We decided to ask our sharpening guy (we have a guy!) to hang out and sharpen the extra shears and all of our knives while I frantically sheared animals as quickly as I could, returning dull blades for resharpening as soon as they no longer cut. Little Cherise did not really fit into the chute so I played Ring Around the Rosie with her on a leash. So much for getting different grades of fiber sorted! 

Dark Star, despite being jumpy due to bumps all over his skin, was the easiest one in the chute this year and was finished in record time with freshly sharpened shears. 

The end result is still ridiculously amateur, but we DO have cooler animals this summer. Having the sharpener on premises during shearing was a game changer. He sharpened for at least two hours while I sheared and kept running the blades back to his truck. I think we sharpened both sets of clippers four times each. 

Stay cool and hydrated, everyone! Happy Summer!
 

The Alpaca Yearbook Photo Nightmare

Sometimes you have to take care of business on your own... even if it does not go so well. Our shearing team didn't make the rounds this year, and so took it upon ourselves to shear our own animals. After shearing Ramble On Rose post mortem, we also had the equipment and a tiny bit of experience. We got 16 pounds of fiber, but the quality in each bag is not as high as if professionals had taken care of the job. 

We did learn a few valuable lessons:

1. Always use a sharp shearing tool. As soon as the blade was dull, it cuts zero hairs and annoys the animal.

2. Shearing the alpacas in the chute was less stressful than having them on the ground. There were no vocal protests, and they stood patiently for nearly an hour. Dark Star wanted to buck a few times and was mollified by some grain.

2a. Two people are needed to shear alpacas in the chute - one to shear, one to calm and hold the alpaca using the halter and leash. 

3. Shearing in the chute made it difficult to get to all the places. We had so secure the animals with belts under their bellies and two preferred to have their head between the stabilizers. We kept their halters on which prevented the heads from being sheared. Hence you see long swaths of fiber in awkward spots.

4. It's really difficult to shear an animal to make it look smooth. Hopefully next year my experience will help me do a better job.

5. We need to lay a tarp under the alpacas to assist with fiber collection. Picking up fiber off the dirt barn floor is not ideal.

Our number one priority this year was to make sure the animals were cooler in the heat. Next year, I'll do a little more reading before I get busy with the shears. Hopefully the fiber mill will still be able to use the fiber for something nice.

 

Dark Star half-shorn on Day 1. (More fiber off after getting sharper clippers Day 2.)

And let's take a moment to giggle about these hilarious hair cuts! I'm so glad they don't have to be published in their school yearbook And most fortunately, we didn't have to do any bison pulling...

Quarantine Haircuts

Eight+ weeks into the quarantine has so many of us feeling a little bit too fluffy on top, so you can't help but feel a little bit jealous of the alpacas who have their barbers make a home visit on a Saturday morning!

They were highly grateful to be able to see again! It also happened to be 80* on that day, a weather pattern that quickly changed back to freezing a few days later.

It's nice to relax in the sunshine after a thorough grazing!

Our shearing team was adamant about social distancing, so we took the opportunity to rent a box truck and also replenish the hay supply that day. We took a picture of this road sign for our nephew, who is attending Purdue next Fall! We stop in Russiaville for the hay, but are looking forward to many trips to Purdue to visit and spoil him!

Our hay guy had a new "toy" to help load the hay into the truck with a few big lifts. What a relief it was to not need to move all the hay into the truck by hand. It saved so much time!

Finally, I joked with my colleagues that it wouldn't be ISSMA Qualifications day without me interacting with a UHaul! I really missed the students and the event, but it was good to be distracted by getting some work done.

Here's hoping you are enjoying a safe springtime. Till next time!

De-Fluffed

May 19th was this year's shearing day, and it was lovely to get another "few" pounds of fiber and see the animals emerge sleekly from under the thick winter fluff. It's getting to be time to contemplate getting the fiber processed again. We have four year's worth of fiber in my study, but also lots of yarn left to sell from our first processing. The to-do list is lengthening!

Greta and Moonstar wandering around in their new outfits!

On Memorial Day, The Farmer and I went to a farm just over an hour north of us to look at some boys for sale. We are hoping to get Dark Star a companion, and possibly purchase a stud male to breed to Greta. She is Dark Star's mom.

They had also just gotten sheared and it was interesting to feel the different ages of the animals. They definitely don't stay super soft as they get older. Our animals are also getting a rougher coat as time moves onward. We'll see what the processors say when they work with the older fiber.

Finally, a friend of mine gave me this card last week. It took me a few seconds to catch what was going on, and then I couldn't stop laughing. Still laughing! 

Hope your summer is off to a great start! Till soon!

Shearing 2018

Every shearing day is unique. Unfortunately this year no one was home to see it happen. The Farmer had to hood a graduating doctoral candidate, and I had State Orchestra Finals, both pretty important reasons to miss.

The animals were sleek and skinny when we arrived home and there was plenty of fleece for processing in spite of the reduced herd size. All of us are ready for summer!!

Next up: GARDENING!

Annual Buzz Cut

Last Saturday finally arrived after the poor alpacas had to carry their fluffy fleece around for an extra month. Our shear team had multiple scheduling conflicts, so we waited…

And waited...

As usual, we asked ourselves if we are feeding them enough… such skinny bodies underneath the richness of the fiber!

The alpacas were thrilled to be free of their winter coats as the temperatures soared into the mid 90's shortly after their buzz cuts.

Only one hot pack member is left. Poor Tenny will have to wait until her undercoat falls off in about a month. In the mean time she is not complaining about the loving brushes she is getting to encourage the shedding process! 

All the best summer wishes!

Shear Joy

At which repetition does a novelty wear off? Our fourth year of shearing on May 3rd had a little feeling of "been there, done that" pervade the activity. There was no trip in a cargo van , no shear team coming to our farm with us seeing the process the first time, no first shave of a cria. And there is a growing mountain of alpaca fleece piling up... Nonetheless, the animals were happy to be a little cooler without a big winter coat on.

Dark Star and Leven look fresh and glossy, post shearing. They enjoyed prancing around the pasture eating hay (!) while the ladies were being shorn.

 Yesterday we moved the fence panels so that part of the pasture can recover. We accidentally allowed the alpacas to over-eat one section. First accomplishments: the obligatory rolling, nap time, and lazy eating while laying down.

 While watering the new grass seeds, I noticed that Greta (back) was very interested in the hose. I took it up to the fence, and she could not get enough to drink! Bella, the bossiest micro-manager of all time (front), had to investigate as well. She preferred getting her face soaked to actually drinking. She kept getting water up her nose and sneezing. She may be the ring leader, but she is not intelligent...

Here's to new joyful experiences amidst the well-worn traditions! For the sake of tradition, I shall add that this is CERTAINLY the year to process alpaca fleeces. Right?!

Fuzzy? Oh, WAS he!

For the third time already , it was shearing day at Shady Grove Alpacas, and high time for it. The temperature was in the 80's and all creatures were hot. These lyrics inspired the title of this blog post, and I often wondered if there might have been a shearing team involved with the product. Our adolescent Darkstar had such a giant, 21 month-old coat on, that it was a job and a half to extract him from it.

After spending 30 minutes cleaning his coat this morning, Darkstar proceeds to take another roll in the hay.

Last minute brush work gets most of hay off the top layer.

Lovely locks on the shearing mat.

Neck: so much fiber we can't remove it without shaving the rest of the area.

Neck is emerging.

Almost finished...

Truly a camel's neck, long and thin.

Post shave, Darkstar was having difficulty getting his show look back together, but his fiber is sooo lustrous and truly perfectly black!

Darkstar, left; 'Leven, right - two boys looking for some fun!

However, our other show hopeful, Cassidy, has the look perfected. She is also amazingly lustrous and I can't wait to see how her fiber re-grows.

Shorn Lady's Tea-time.

The Shady Grove Alpaca herd, ready for beach weather!

Knitting pattern available from The Fuzzy Mitten: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/alpaca-with-bikini

And now the true work begins: fiber processing... Here are the numbers that need to be added to the 30 pounds of fiber already waiting on me. Our scale is not quite accurate. It measured the total at 32 pounds of fleece with all bags on the platform, but you will come up with a different sum when you add these numbers together:

The Eleven (at 8 months of growth): 3.6 pounds

'Greta: 4.1 pounds

Bella: 4.2 pounds

Cassidy (at 10 months of growth): 4.5 pounds

Moon Star, the perennial fiber queen: 7.3 pounds

Darkstar: 12 POUNDS!!! of fleece. We vowed NEVER to keep another alpaca in this much fuzz ever again. We'll just show in re-growth in the Spring if it is necessary and convenient.

Did you say you were coming to help? Your shift begins on June 1st. And Thank You in advance!

Shearing Day

After 13 months of growing their fiber, it was shearing day for the alpacas today. Instead of traveling to another farm like last year, a young shearing team came to us. They set up their athletic mat in the barn, strategically placing chains, ropes and pulleys around some of the posts. Then the animal's feet were secured and it was lain on its side. A classic game of "locate the head" ensues. Moonstar starts the action.

Moonstar was not a fan of the procedure. She made a high-pitched crying sound throughout. I felt terrible, but The Farmer had a grain treat waiting for her.

First cut into the "blanket." One reason Moonstar was not too happy: her fleece is so long and thick and a little matted. The man shearing really needed to pull the fiber apart to get started. I'm sure it felt like rough combing through tangled hair.

Unbelievable mass of fiber. Her total weight loss via hair cut was 7.7 pounds!

Greta takes a turn.

Bella cannot stop spitting so she had to have a towel on her mouth. Several men had a lot of green stuff on them... The shearing team also trims the toenails and makes sure the teeth are the correct length. Bella needed a little teeth trimming, which she took with a surprising amount of understanding.

The final result: Far Side Cartoon #2

Good news about Dark Star's fleece! He has been taking dirt baths and getting a lot of straw in his fiber. It looked like it had gotten weak and broken. However, such was not the case. Everything was perfectly normal and he just needs a little hosing off and getting the hay picked out before showing. Hooray! And now, we have 18 pounds of fresh fiber to process... On top of the 12 pounds of fiber from last year. Who's coming to help??