First Haircuts

Since two of the babies were not born before shearing day they got their own special day for hair cuts. Joel Mariacher came back and Bootiful and Winnie got sheared. Sapele was born before shearing day and he already had his hair cut, but I didn't want to leave him out of the pictures. He was posing so nicely.

The crias that are born before the Fall get sheared. This removes their fleece that they were born with and allows their first fleece to grow in very nicely. When they are not sheared they have what we refer to as cria tips. Their fleeces are like Velcro picking up every piece of hay and dirt on the farm. The shearers don't remove the hair from their heads, legs or umbilical area. This lets them keep their scent and helps their Mommas to still recognize them after they get their hair cuts. It has been known that some mothers will not accept their babies after they get sheared. Thankfully all mommas excepted their babies this time around.

As for the Fall crias they keep their fleeces on since they need it for warmth and will get their first haircuts in the Spring. 

SHEARING DAY!!!

 

Shearing Day at Arrow Acres Farm was a huge success!  It is a day that is much anticipated and brings with it a bundle of nerves, anxiety, excitement and exhaustion.  You never know what you might uncover under all that fleece.  But I have to say the herd looked great.

 

This is where we set up to shear. It is shed #1.  The girls were checking it out while we got set up.

 

I got up at 5:30 this morning so excited for today.  I tried to go back to bed, but I couldn't.  The boys woke up about ten minute after me so we stayed up. No snoozing today.  I got out of the house early and over to the farm to help clean and set up.  Thank you to my wonderful husband to taking care of the boys today so I could go do alpaca stuff.



 

Lily's fleece made the shear say WOW!  It is beautiful. I didn't have my camera handy at all times so I missed getting her sheared, but I'll be sure to snap a shot of it on the skirting table. It is fantastic.

Vauneese was so ready to have her hair cut.

Five day old Mr. Bates got his hair cut like a champ. He was so cooperative. I think my kids could take some lessons from him.



Some people who don't know the whole shearing process sometimes ask me: do they get hurt, why do you have to tie them down, they must suffer. No, No and No. If we don't shear them, they will get heat stroke and die. So it is in their best interest to shear.  We tie them down to make the process much faster. It only takes about 10 minutes per alpaca and they are so happy once their fleeces are off they will even come back into the room freely to check on who is getting sheared next.  Clearly they didn't suffer and are happy to watch.

Spicy's fleece!



 

Reno's neck. 

 

Reno is a show animal so he gets a fancy modified bobble.

 

Next up Blue!!! Oh I was so excited I can't even tell you. Here is a shot of his fleece from his side.

 

I have been dreaming about what I am going to use his fleece for.

The shearer was impressed with his fleece and recommended I show it. 

 I thought that was pretty awesome. Since our shearer knows what he is talking about I am going to put it in a fiber competition before I spin it. So rock on Blue!

 

Blue has gotten some blue ribbons before for his fleece.  He could be used for breeding. My parents have a high end breeding program and I am not sure if he is high end enough for the girls on the farm.  So either I have to buy a girl (Lily!) or he is just a fiber boy.  Maybe someday I'll have a little Blue running around. It is kind of hard to afford to get started in the alpaca business. But I'm going to figure something out for myself some day.

Look at Blue with his fancy new hair cut.

Look at how happy Kigo looks having his fleece off.

I can't tell you how excited I was to hear from the shearers that Blue's fleece looked great and that he didn't have any issues going on like skin stuff or lumps or bumps. Phew! It is like a good well visit at the docs office.  He deserves a lollipop.

 



 

Check out Bing before and after.

 

I was hoping to get more before and after shots, but that didn't work out. My parents had to go to help another alpaca farm shear their animals. I am so worn out I can't imagine how exhausted they are going to be. It is 8:35 pm and they are still shearing and we started at 8:30 this morning.  I can hardly walk.  I can't imagine how exhausted they are!

 

A huge thanks to Mariacher Shearing Services Jay Mariacher for the great shearing job today!

See you next year and best of luck for the rest of your shearing tour.

 

 

Day 20: Seasonal

Day 20: Seasonal

31 Day Photo Challenge

with Arrow Acres Farm

 

Time to make some roving.

 

 

With Spring comes shearing season.  It is time to get that beautiful fiber off the alpacas and turned into some yarn! On the carder above I have Sanda's fleece. Unfortunately it is the only fleece we have from him before he died.  I am going to do my best to make something extra special with it.

 

The alpacas are the most eager to have their fiber shorn. Warm weather and heavy winter coats don't mix.  So they will be happy very soon and running around the fields feeling lighter and happier. 

I can't wait to get my hands on their fiber!

 

Since they are so cuddly to look at you would think you can just grab them and give them a hug. But unfortunately they don't like that. So this is the time to soak up that luxurious fiber in my hands and enjoy every second of skirting, washing, picking, carding, spinning and knitting.

 

I am so excited that Miss Maggie made a clone of herself with Mr. Bates. Gray is my favorite color and I can't wait to see what we can turn her fleece into.  His will have to wait until next year.

 

 

My parents don't have the farm open to the public on shearing day.  It is a crazy, exhausting all hands on deck day.  We don't have a good set up for on-lookers, but in the future with a different set up they might be able to invite more people to come watch the awesome transformations of these amazing animals.  But for now it is just us and the professional shearers.

 

Here is a video taken on shearing day at our farm a few years ago so you can get a glimpse of what goes on.  You can see Sanda in the video  :(  He looks almost white. Also Awan is the one getting sheared. He has so much fiber!