Alpaca shearing time

I can't say it's something I look forward to particularly as some of the alpacas are nice and quiet while being sheared and some of them make a right racket. I get the impression it's not something they love, but the second it's over they're totally fine again. And it has to be done or they would be boiling in the summertime.

Anyway, yesterday the lovely shearer arrived early in the evening and we all set to work. It's actually quite hard work - first catching them, cos Lloyd and I are pretty rubbish then getting them into position and holding various legs while they're getting it done. Our shearer uses a table and I like this.
Our original boys were all very quiet this year, even Darjeeling who was a noisy sod last year. The babies were quite good, Stella made a bit of a racket, but Herbie was very good. Our older girls, however, made a right noise! You'd have thought we were torturing them. I hate it.

Here are the before photos

 Stella is in the middle with her ears back - you can see how much she's grown.

And here's the afters - I had to take them today, because it was getting a bit dark by the time we finished yesterday. We were also very tired and very, very dirty!


Herbie, looking very small, Vienna his mum and Tetley in the front. You can probably tell that Vienna is Tetley's mum too!  It was a huge surprise that when she had Herbie he was white as she always has wee black babies.

Vienna

Earl Grey and Truffle

Herbie and Vienna

The rest of them weren't very hungry, either that or they weren't feeling all that photogenic after their haircuts!
I think they look adorable - tiny, but adorable!

Remember last year I said that we were thinking about getting a blanket made with the fleeces? Well, I've looked into this and its going to be incredibly expensive, I think it's a lovely idea, but just too much money. So then we were in the quandary of what to do with the fleece. It's not like our alpacas have the highest quality fleece! Then as luck would have it we got a postcard in our mailbox from a sort of syndicate that sells the fleece in bulk. I suppose it works because there are so many people like us that just have a few alpacas. It's done by weight and we don't even have to clean it. Result! So this is what we've decided to do. We haven't included Herbie's and Stella's fleeces because they were twig magnets and it seems very unfair to give such messy fleeces! But all the adult ones have gone... or will do once it's bagged and dropped off.

So, all in all a job well done!