Shearing Day!

Shearing day did finally arrive! I was starting to wonder if we were going to get around to it at all this year! After all the rain we had, with the alpacas locked in for days and still not dry, we had quite a cold snap. I had wanted to give the alpacas time to dry and roll the dirt and stuff out of their coats, anyway, and when it got very chilly again, I was glad I had waited to shear. Then it started getting very warm... Monday, Memorial Day, is predicted to hit the high 80s, maybe 90 degrees. So I called the shearer who had been recommended. He called back and asked if today, Saturday, would do. Why yes, it would.

The shearer, Jay Mariacher, was great. He may still be learning about shearing alpacas (he usually shears sheep) but you could have fooled me. His wife came along to assist, and two of his kids as well (they managed to keep my 8 year old occupied!). For a change, I was able to get a few pictures of the process.

Here you see the shearing set-up, with mats on the floor and the two sets of foot-ropes (I don't know if that's actually what they're called, but that is their function.)



We started with Feldspar:



Thor was next



followed by Angel, then Castanet, and Milk last. Here are the boys after their haircut:


And here is Castanet during and after hers:






And just for fun, this is what the boys looked like earlier this month!