Break out of Framesby Robbie Guidry * 3-27-00 Click linked photos, use your "Back" browser button to return to this page. Shearing day is a pivotal day: a very important one, indeed. For after all, alpacas, the "Andean sheep" (a term coined years ago by the indigenous people of Chile, Bolivia and Peru), are bred to produce luxury fiber. Shearing day is the culmination of weeks of work, and months of patiently growing the dense, crimpy, lustrous fiber known as alpaca. The alpacas certainly do their share. They spend 365 days grazing on pasture, nibbling at grass hay, and munching on a dinner of rolled corn, just to grow fiber and relax in our sunshine. They are able to grow about 5-8 pounds of fiber, lanolin free, during the year between shearings. Breeding stock as well as pet quality fiber producers, yield fleeces of comparable quality. Hand spinners appreciate the ideal 3.5 inches for the best spinning results. That length, coincidentally, is about the average annual growth of an alpaca fleece!
Shearing serves many purposes besides providing us with a beautiful fleece each year. Shearing makes breeding easier and safer for the male as well as the female. Our little crias (baby alpacas) appreciate our efforts at clearing the way in order for them to more easily find mom's milk. Admittedly, their medulated (hollow core) fiber helps our alpacas keep warm in winter and cool in summer. Just imagine, however, wearing a five pound alpaca coat in mid-summer. Heat stress can be an issue; and in order to avoid it, we make sure they spend the hottest part of the year with little else on but a mere one inch layer of fiber. Bikini time on the farm! We usually shear our alpacas in June, so that they can begin growing their winter coat as soon as possible, and so that they can be cool for the sweltering months ahead. We usually wait until after our judging competition, as alpacas are judged on their fiber as well as conformation and handling. Our trusty shearer is Mark Loffhagen. Mark is a native of New Zealand. He and his family immigrated to the United States in order to shear. He chose the US county that had the most sheep. That selection brought him to Greeley, Colorado. His choice was lucky for us, as Greeley is only 25 miles away. Although Mark began his career as a sheep shearer, he is today, one of the foremost alpaca shearers in North America. He travels throughout the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, the East Coast, and the Rockies to shear alpacas. Each spring, Mark makes arrangements with us to come for a summer shearing day. We invite several other small alpaca farms in our area to join us. It takes an entire team and lots of cooperation to shear the 70 alpacas Mark can shear in a day. Our shearing day begins quite early. Our family cleans the barn as much as possible, so that flying debris (in the form of vegetable matter from hay and straw) does not contaminate the fiber. The fun really begins, however, when we set up the "break" tent near the pond. We plug in the coffeepot, and set out breakfast goodies. We are able to steal only a brief quiet moment before the rush begins. We sit and watch the sun rise as it shines upon the Rocky Mountain foothills. A pink alpenglow welcomes the busiest day of our year. Soon Mark arrives with his kit of shearing tools. He greets us with friendly smiles, and cheerfully announces that he is ready to work. Neighboring farmers soon begin arriving, as they pull their trailers of fluffy alpacas to a gentle stop near our barn. Warm welcomes fill the air. There is little time to waste, as the day's work is on everyone's mind. The visiting alpacas are also treated to a special greeting. They have stalls waiting with lots of fresh hay, cool water, and comforting shade. Baby crias meet new friends and scamper off while mom and dad await their turn at the "blade". The process begins with a "blow out". We originally utilized a traditional livestock "blower" to remove vegetable debris from the fleece. Today, however, we use a regular "shop vac" to suck out the trash. Vacuuming gives the groomer greater control over the debris, and prevents him from blowing, or forcing the debris deeper into the fiber coat. Soon the quiet of the morning is broken by the whirling sounds of shop vacs as the grooming team begins the tedious process of cleaning the fleece "on the hoof". We used to groom the alpacas "to the skin" by shampooing and blowing. We soon discovered that the process was stressful to the alpaca as well as to the handler. Besides, it is easier to clean a fleece on a skirting table than it is to clean one on the back of a wiggling, frightened alpaca. Our solution is to spend about five minutes with a shop vac to remove pesky dust and leaves, and leave the rest of the job to the skirters and processors. In the barn busy helpers have set up a skirting table and a marking table. Close by Mark goes right to his rigging, making himself and his team ready for the first alpaca. Mark utilizes ropes and pulleys in order to hobble the alpaca. The team sweeps the cement floor spotlessly clean, and places a comfortable pillow nearby for the alpaca's head. The alpaca's front and back legs are drawn, and he is gently lowered to the floor. One team member holds the head in place, while Mark begins shearing. Another team member then collects the wool as it comes off the alpaca. Mark is a talented and thorough shearer. He understands that "second cuts" are undesirable for the processor. He also takes into consideration the stress level of the alpaca. He swiftly shears one side of the blanket, before his team turns the alpaca over to complete the cut. As quick as a whistle, the shearing team removes the blanket from the shearing station and hands it over to the skirting team. Meanwhile, Mark shears the neck and finally the legs and belly. The shearing team swiftly removes each fiber section separately. In less than 20 minutes, the job is complete. Mark's experience has taught him that shearing in fiber grade sequence makes sorting easier. Teamwork is the key to a successful shearing day. While the shearing team is releasing the freshly shorn alpaca, the skirting team is placing the final touches on the harvest. The skirting team marks the bags with the owner's name, the alpaca's name, the fiber bag's weight and the appropriate fiber grade and color. The team quickly examines the fleece portion as it rests on the skirting table. They promptly remove dung tags and large pieces of vegetable matter. They also sort the alpaca's harvest as it arrives. They place the fiber in one of three appropriate bags: the prime fleece bag, the neck fiber (B grade) bag, and finally the belly and leg fiber (C grade) bag. They store the bags in a clean, cool location until the time comes for the owners to retrieve their harvest. There is not a moment to spare; as yet another fleece is on its way to the skirting station! Freshly shorn, the alpacas return to the herd and enjoy their new cut. They prance and shake in the sunshine, relishing quiet breezes at long last. Today is the day they begin their gentle, patient task of growing yet another beautiful fleece for next year. There is only one short lunch break during the course of this busy day. At long last, the whirling sounds of the shop vac grind to a halt. The hot summer sun is finding its niche in the mountain skyline behind us. Weary, dusty workers sink into the shade of the tent. We smile and yet still have energy to laugh and joke. Our work, too, has just begun. Collecting fiber and cramming it into the backs of farm trucks is reluctantly followed by collecting "alien" looking shorn alpacas. Baby crias race to moms' sides as trailer gates clank to swing open. We think about our neighbors' long ride home as we quietly put our farm back into regular operation. We store our corral panels and tent flies. We haul leftovers into the cool kitchen and wonder where the day has gone. We sit together at the dinner table to remember the good times we had. Our respite is brief, however. The setting sun is our call to duty. We sip cool water, take a deep breath, and return to the barn for evening chores. Those hungry alpaca faces that greet us have no idea how tired we are. Nor do they really care. Their noses point to the hay loft, and wonder why we are slow to ready their stalls. We go into automatic pilot, turn on the radio and fill water buckets in time to Vince Gill. Robbie Guidry was born in Beaumont, Texas and grew up in Crowley, Louisiana. She has a bachelor's degree in social studies education and a master's degree in social and cultural history from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. After teaching for 8 years in Louisiana, she and her family moved to Dillon, Colorado, where Robbie taught skiing at Copper Mountain Resort for 6 years. She also owned and operated Mountain Aire-Looms, a quilt and antique shop, in the Frisco Historic Park. In 1988 Robbie and her family moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where her husband worked for the postal service and Robbie once again pursued teaching. In 1991 the family purchased an old sheep farm north of Fort Collins. Today Robbie and her husband Michael own and manage an alpaca breeding program called Cottonwood Farm Alpacas. Robbie founded the Alpaca Breeders of Colorado (later called the Alpaca Breeders of the Rockies) in 1994. After serving as a board member for several years, she served on the Alpaca Registry, Inc. board of directors for two years from 1997 until 1999. While on the board, she served as an officer and also the editor of the ARI Newsletter. UPDATE: Robbie has retired from from farming, but hopes this info will be helpful. All Animals owns all rights to this article and the photos. You may link to the article (not the photos), but you may *not* copy it, nor reprint it anywhere else. You may print the URL which is www.all-animals.com/shearing.html Advertising | Site Design | Site Hosting | About Us | Home | Email |
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