We know Alpaca Shearing

The most important thing is to have a clean, dry space and animals. Preparation begins the night before. If it looks like there will be rain or inclement weather, then your animals need to be in a shelter to prevent their fiber from getting wet. If your animals are soaking wet when we arrive we will be unable to shear them. It may also be a good idea to do a rough cleaning of your animals the night before to get any straw/contaminants out of your fiber. This is more for your fiber than for me as a shearer. If you plan on using your fiber or showing your blankets then they will need to be reasonably clean of debris. If you plan on administering shots on shearing day then it would be useful to have all those things ready, especially if you are scheduled for a morning appointment.

Towels: Paper towels don't work nearly as well. Old rags or towels are the best for the spitting/peeing that will inevitably occur! We've all got that one girl or guy, so its helpful to be ready for their mess.

Lighting source: if the shearing area is naturally very dark this is useful to keep things well lit.

Power source: an extension cord leading to the shearing area or a power outlet within 50 ft.

Broom: Fiber gets everywhere, and a good broom can keep it under control.

halters/leads: Only if your animals need to be moved a considerable distance.

bags: Any fiber samples will need small sandwich bags. Fiber should to be bagged according to how you want to use it.

Water/drinks: To keep hydrated.

On the day of your appointment I will call you 15-30 minutes before I arrive so that you can get the first animals ready to be sheared. If the animals need to be moved a distance from their field to the shearing area, then a holding pen can be very useful. Also, having some of these animals haltered and ready will make things run more smoothly when I arrive.

When I arrive at the farm I will talk with you about where you would like to shear and then set up my station. A power outlet is required within a reasonable distance from the shearing area. I shear the animals on the ground and use foam pads as a cushion for the animals and my knees. The animals will be restrained with a rope restraint system. I will have everything I need for the actual shearing but there is a list of things above that can be very useful to have around.

Most of the most physical work will be handled by us. However, there is still a lot to be done outside of this and generally one more person will be helpful to do the job efficiently.

for smaller farms I find the best number to be three. Usually that means myself and my assistant, and the owner or a helper from the farm. The handling of the animal on the mat is usually a three man task. Myself and my assistant will hold the animal at the mat while a third person, the "puller" will put the restraints on the legs of the animal and pull the rope pulley to tighten the rope while we bring the animal down. This is the most physical task that will be required of you other than the of preparing of the animals. Any farms with less than 10 animals the two of us will do all of this work.

A third person or a fourth person is helpful for handling fiber collection. It is VERY important that this person listens while we are shearing and does not reach in to collect fiber until the shearing handpiece is safely away from their hands. It is useful but not necessary to have another person preparing the next animal to be brought out, but if your holding pen is next to the shearing station then this is not a big issue.

I have found that a focused team of three can do the work at the same pace as an unfocused group of ten!

If we are shearing all day, then food and drinks are appreciated. Given our preference, we prefer wholesome light foods such as sandwiches and fruit, (but beggars cant be choosers!).

As for accommodation, this is not expected but if yours is the last farm of the day then it would be greatly appreciated. Myself and my assistant are used to some pretty rough conditions and even a spot in the barn or a place to pitch the tent would be happily accepted. This helps to keep my costs reasonable by cutting down on expenses. Again, this is not expected.

Many of the female alpacas we shear are pregnant. Given that shearing time falls in the spring/early summer, a lot of those females are quite far along. Out of the thousands of alpacas that we have sheared pregnant, we have never had an issue. That being said, if you are concerned about a certain female or she is very late term, please let us know so we can take it into consideration.

Sure! We love to help people with show blankets. If you have a couple of blankets you want to show, its helpful to have a large piece of cardboard or a table cloth to shear onto. We will carefully shear the blanket onto the cloth or cardboard, after which time we'll give you a few moments to pull it away so it can be easily skirted and cleaned in preparation for the show. Just let us know ahead of time so we can be ready.

We will always work with you to accommodate your preferences when it comes to the look of your animals. That being said, we have a very routine pattern, and deviating from it in a substantial can be quite difficult. We do our best to make every animal look good getting up, but if you have one you want to look EXTRA good, just let us know before we shear it. :-)

We're pretty fast! We set up one shearing station and normally shear at a pace of 8-9 alpacas per hour. Setup and break down take about 15 minutes each.

In the United States we shear from Florida to New York, then West to Oklahoma. In Europe we Shear in Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands. If you have enough alpacas, we'll go just about anywhere!