Shearing, skirting… & Poo 2

Shearing is nearly done for this year.  I did 25 of mine, 17 of Linda’s and will finish up Saturday with 4 for Lynette & Kim.  I love shearing, but I’m always happy to be done with it too.

People seemed to like having those job description cards.  Which I can understand - I hate to be someplace wanting to be helpful but have no clue what to do to actually BE helpful.

I have to say I had some pretty good and efficient helpers this year.  Apparently I’m just a slow shearer!  The best we did was about 1 alpaca per 45 minutes.  That’s OK; I may be slow but I’m kind.

Now starts what I consider the most tedious part - skirting the fleeces and getting them ready for their “end use” processing.

Confession time;  I have 2 previous years worth of Thirds still in the barn.  I thought I would do something creative with them but I just haven’t had time or inclination so I’m just quickly going through them to see what might be worth salvaging and the rest of it I’m going to use for weedmat under gravel or woodchips in the landscape.  It’s not a very glamorous end but the 3rds are pretty crappy and hairy so at least it’s a good use for them.  Thirds actually make a very good weedmat; last a long time, lets water through but prevents seeds from sprouting and it’s a natural product so it eventually decomposes unlike those plastic type weedmats.  I’ve gone through most of the past 2 years and only salvaged maybe 3 or 5 pounds and even that is going to need dehairing to get anything useful out of it.

I sent 100% of my Prime Blankets and Seconds to AFCNA last 2 years.  I just didn’t have any time to do anything else but this year is going to be different!  I going to take some of my best Blankets to enter shows - maybe the Continental, National, and Fiber 2 Fashion and possibly 1 more - this year.  I got a nice ribbon for Batman’s fleece and I think I have some even better fleeces this year.  The hairier fleeces that AFCNA can’t use I’m going to send to a mini-mill for dehairing; they can really make a nice yarn once you get that excess hair removed.  Those I’m going to either sell via Marie’s shop downtown or I might actually do a couple of Farmer’s Markets to sell it.  The rest of it will still go to AFCNA and I’ll get a (hopefully) good profit distribution from the co-op.

Speaking of Farmer’s Markets; I might try taking some raw fiber “as is” to the Riceville market this Saturday.  They get a pretty good flow of people and it’s only 4 hours.  We’ll see.

What I should take to the Market is Poo!  I had another Poo day, sold it all at $10 per tractor scoop.  I’ve had people calling me all month asking “is it poop yet?”  Bob said if I bagged it and put a label on it, I could probably sell it for $5 a bag at the Market.  He sells tiny little bags of his llama poo for houseplants - 2 beans per pot!

Now that I’m off the Board - which frees up a LOT of time, I need to get crackin’ and get some income flowing in to finance all these great ideas I want to do.

Shearing Crew Job Descriptions

I came up with these Job Descriptions and I actually give a 3×5 card to each person telling them what “position” they are starting in. A good shearing crew can be as few as 4 people (which is actually plenty) or as many as 7 people.

Shearer (well, that’s always me!)

• helps with body take down if we don’t have enough people
• Shears body, neck, legs.
• Everybody stands back until shearer calls you in!

Pit Boss

• keeps us in order, knows who’s next, and what they need such as: shots or cylence or fighting teeth and jots down any health related notes or comments for the alpaca’s records.
• Makes sure we know who is pregnant and how far along or how old they are or who they’re daddy is and all those questions that always come up!
• Makes sure Labels/insert cards and bags are ready and in place when shearing starts.
• Reminds us to get fiber samples, reminds us who needs to be taken off as a show fleece.
• Tells the fiber person what bag to put what fiber in.
• Makes sure bags are ready and in place when shearing starts. If people are switching “jobs” make sure everyone knows what their job is & when they’re to do it.
• Makes sure there isn’t too much hubbub and commotion esp. around the alpacas head & face during shearing.
• Watches over the alpaca for stress. Has notes about who needs extra towels for spitting or peeing, and takes notes about behavior for next year.

Can double as Head Man if we don’t have enough people

Head Man

• takes down the head,
• sits with the alpaca during shearing, helps with turning over and holds head for teeth trimming.
• Remembers to take the halter off and put it back on.
• finishes head – topknot or cheeks - with clippers or hand shears.
• Keeps fingers and alpacas ears out of the way of the shears!

Doubles as Pit Boss if we don’t have enough people.

Front Legs

• gets the front leg ropes on and pulls from the front legs,
• trims front toe nails, finishes lower legs with clipper or hand shears.
• gets next alpaca to be sheared from stall.

Can double as fiber person if we don’t have enough people

Rear Legs

• gets the leg ropes on and pulls from the rear legs,
• trims rear toe nails, finishes lower legs, butt and tail with clippers or hand shears.
• takes finished alpaca back to stall

Can double as shearer’s helper if we don’t have enough people

Fiber person

• Assists shearer in taking off the blanket, lifts fiber away as it’s cut and helps to make sure the blanket comes off in a single large piece
• reminds shearer to take fiber samples.
• makes sure all the fiber gets into the right bags as neatly as possible.
• Try not to get cut ends against cut ends as that makes skirting harder later.
• Sweeps up work area between alpacas to prevent contamination - color or grade - of the upcoming alpaca from the previous alpaca.

Doubles as Front Legs if we don’t have enough people.

Helper

• Assists with lifting and lowering alpaca’s body to the mat in take down.
• Otherwise, helps shearer avoid having to get up & down or crawl around on the mat.
• Helps shearer by handing things such as the oil can or by dipping and cleaning the shears etc.
• keeps shears or clippers clean and wipes off excess oil.

Can double as Rear Legs if we don’t have enough people.

We need to approach shearing as a well trained team; like a nascar pit crew (or maybe an operating room team??) with every person assigned to specific jobs that they do each and every time. It’s fun and good training to switch off jobs and I think that’s fine but the “job” itself needs to be the same every time for every single alpaca. Otherwise? It’s just a bunch of helpful people milling around with good intentions and no clue what they’re supposed to be doing.

Alpaca shearing

I am sore and weary but I do love those long neck alpacas looking so skinny out there in the field and the bags of fiber piled high in the barn.

We didn’t get done this weekend - have to do at least next Wednes and possibly a 4th day.  I might have been a tad ambitious in how many per hour I thought we could do!  But, I believe we are going about as fast and efficiently as we can and so that’s just good enough.  We are doing about 1 alpaca every 45 mins - worked from 10 am to 4 pm Sat and Sun with time off for lunch; got all 12 males plus1 female and her cria finished; so we sheared 14 all together.  Still need to finish up 9 females and 2 crias which I guess means 2 more days here for my herd before we move on to starting Linda’s.

Lots of work but… I really love doing it.  I like shearing, I like handling each and every alpaca, touching them all over and really seeing how the fiber grows.  I guess the fact is that I’ve started to become a size of herd where it makes more sense to bring in a team of pros.  They could probably shear the entire herd in a single day and all I’d have to do is sit and sip beers and point at things for them to better.  By the time I pay 2 (or more) helpers and feed everybody for several days — the numbers don’t bear out doing it myself being lower cost either.   But, I like doing it!  So, we’ll see about next year.

In the meantime… I want to share my alpaca shearing crew Job Descriptions.  Everybody said it helped them to understand what they were supposed to be doing and when so here they are in the next post.

Shearing Day - planning beats chaos

It’s been a year, 25 alpacas are fully poofed and Spring’s warming temperatures and sunny days are making them hot and crabby. Time to shear!

Got my shearing dates set, got my crew lined up, got my combs and cutters all sharpened and the shears are lubed… Ready, set, go! Right? Nooooo way. Having been my own shearer now for a few years, I can assure you that a smooth day takes more than picking a date and hiring a crew!

Planning, man. You need to plan your work and then work your plan!!

The order -

who are you going to shear first, second and so on. I like to start with males and then go from white to darkest colors. Within each color, you ought to work from finest to coarsest. Of course, I make some adjustments for my personal situation. I know that each year it takes me a couple of alpacas to “get my hand back” so I like to start actually with a couple of fellas with stronger fiber so that if I don’t do such a fabulous job it’s not going to ruin a good fleece. Same thing for the females except, my preference is to always do the cria’s last. I figure by the time I get to them I’ll be most in the groove and will do the best job in the fastest time. That’s my theory anyhow.

Paperwork -

Now that I’ve got my shearing order set in my mind, I like to make up colored index card sets for each alpaca to go into their fleece bag. I write each alpaca’s name and whether it is

• 1sts (blanket),
• 2nds (necks and upper legs - pieces) or
• 3rds (good enough to not be trash but not good enough to be 2nds).
• Sample - for the 2″ mid-side sample

I use colored 5×7 cards and I always use the same color for all 1sts, another color for 2nds, another for 3rd. With clear bags and a bright colored card - you easily an see who’s bag came from who and what it is.

What else needs doing for each alpaca on Shearing day?

I also like to make a note card for each alpaca to remind what else I want to do while they are on the mat. Who needs a fiber sample (I take samples from every alpaca which makes remembering that part easy!), who am I planning to show and want to take their fleece more carefully or finish them off a bit more tidily. Who needs their fighting teeth trimmed, toenails etc. Some people like to take care of worming or vaccinations on shearing day - personally I don’t because I don’t care to add to the animal’s stress and it’s easy enough for me to do it on a different day but if you do need to do something like that you would make a note of it on their “needs” card. Some animals have specific situations I want to check out such as checking their bite or examining their skin.

Supplies and organization -

Make sure I have PLENTY of clear bags - I use the Lawn and Leaf bags from Lowes.

Makes sure I have Plenty of quart size Baggies for fiber samples.

I clip the 4 cards for each alpaca fleece bag plus their needs card together and put them in the order I want to shear. That way on shearing day, all you have to do is drop each card in a clear bag and get the right alpaca on the mat to keep yourself on track. Simple.

Winter’s last hoorah

snow a while, rain a while. Might get down to freezing but not by much and not for long. I wouldn’t mind another white blanket before the summer comes but I doubt if any will stick tonight. Oh, well. I like summer but I like winter better.

The Farm House is open for the season and we’ve had our first guests. The next couple checks in on Friday. Everybody that comes always enjoys sitting on that big old Southern Comfort porch and watching the alpacas frolic. Hope we get a lot of bookings this summer!

As the days have been getting warmer; my thoughts turn to shearing. I’ve been working on setting up the shearing schedule for me and Linda. I hope we can get it done on weekdays this year but it’s harder getting helpers than for weekends. I’ve got 25 to do here and Linda has 20 at her place. The way we did it last year wasn’t good at all - seemed like I was shearing in dribs and drabs for 2 months! I’m determined to get it done faster this year. If we can work full 6 or 8 hour days with a good crew, we can easily do 10 or 12 a day. (We’re not fast like the pros but we’re kind to our alpacas and shear a good clean fiber harvest!) But a good dependable crew is essential. I can do it with 3 I think but 4 or 5 is better. More than 5 seems to turn into a circus which can be a lot of fun but not terribly productive.

No wonder I don’t have any grass left!

Gotta love those growing boys…  I brought the guys up to the barn for Spring weigh in and toenail trimming.

166.7 - Amigo weighs 56 pounds more than he did a year ago in March
137.6 - Calcentines - plus 47 pounds over 1 year ago
113.6 - Gandy packed on 51 in just under 12 months (compared to April 07)
118.0 - Mel also added 51 pounds also in just under 12 months
113.6 - Mr. E added 49 in under 12 months
123.7 - Orsino gained 35 since last June, 9 months

I have 300 pounds more of alpaca than I had a year ago!!!  Teenagers; what’cha gonna do??  They EAT.
The 2 ‘05 models - Amigo and Cal - are 2.6 years old now so they are about to their full Adult size now.
The 4 weeds (Gandy, Mr E, Mel and Orsino) are fall ‘06 models so they’re about 1.5.  1 more year of growing.

175.5 - Batman weighs 2 pounds more than he did this time last year

176.7 - Flash weighs 12 pounds less than 1 year ago, but only 4 pounds less than last Sept.  He’s been trending down since hitting his Peak at 210 (after shearing!!) in May 05.  I think he’s in good shape.

149.5 - SuperFino weighs 7 pounds less than a year ago.  I scored him a 5 at that time… I think I’ll get a fecal just to be sure since he seemed like a 4 or even a 3 to me this year.  I know he’s not missing out on any groceries.  For a gimp, he’s frequently the first runner to arrive when I call the pack down to the lower paddock for chow time.  Strictly a lover, never a fighter.  Avoids the boy battles.

167.4 - Conversely, Valentino chubbed up 12 pounds over the past year.  Definitely in the Plus sizes for BCS - 6 I think.  Which, with those pasterns of his, is not so great.  Have to ponder what to do - I’m not really set up for different feed regimes.

All the guys are in spectacular full fleece and aside from the seeds, stems and twigs they’ve stuck to themselves, they just feel so fine and soft.  I can’t wait to shear them!

That was fun

The class was really small.  7 “at risk” teens.  But they asked the same questions most grown ups do and were very polite and well behaved.  Credit to their teachers!

What, ME give a talk on alpacas?

I’ve been asked to go to a local school tomorrow to talk to a class about alpacas and alpaca fiber.  Now, it’s not like I can’t talk about alpacas for hours with just the least encouragement but giving like a prepared presentation freaks me out.  I told the teacher that I’m a very nervous speaker so hopefully they’ll ask lots of questions.  I only get nervous when I’m talking to a silent group.  If I have somebody asking questions there’s no shutting me up!

Here’s a photo of my lovely boys relaxing with their full bellies this evening.

Lovely early Spring

Spring is busting out and so are alpacas!

I had a little adventure the other day. Had to bring a couple girls up to the barn the day the Vet Tech class visited so I brought Ivana and her cria Atilla plus Ruby and her cria Boomer to the barn for them to practice on. Atilla is 7 months old so he’s completely halter trained. He walks quite nicely beside his mom. Boomer is still less than 2 months so I didn’t even consider haltering him. However! I should have considered carrying him instead of letting him walk.

I have never seen such a circus in all my days. After the class and our lovely lunch party, I walked Ivana and Atilla back to the pasture, both on their leads just as sweet as pie. I walked Ruby back expecting baby Boomer to stick close to momma like a good ‘paca baby should.

But nooooo! Boomer wanted to explore apparently. About the time I got Ruby through the gate, he goes bouncing off across the barn lot with not the least concern about being separated from mom. This is when the rodeo really gets started!

I decide to lead Ruby back out to see if Boomer will form up and follow him mom but… as I’m trying to get Ruby turned and through the gate; out dashes Supresa and Coco. I’m trying to hold on to Ruby and shoo Supresa and Coco back in. I get Coco but ZIP! out pops Carolina and Toots. Every time I got 1 back in; 2 more pop out! Supresa and Carolina are immediately head down munching the grass which is sooo much tastier than the exact same grass inside the pasture. Toots however decides to frolic with Boomer. They’re leaping and hopping and pronking around like mad things. Ruby is going nuts and about to yank my arm off.

Well, it’s getting to be a long story… and it took much longer to live it. I finally did get everyone back inside the pasture with various trickery and bribery techniques. Including, Boomer who just finally got tired I guess because he let me walk up and pick him up. Halter training starts immediately for that boy!

We do poo

Yep. Here’s some factoids about alpaca poo.

A) they do poo. More or less in communal dung piles - some have better aim and accuracy than others. Many community dung piles I might add. I have 25 alpacas. I probably have twice that many dung piles. Don’t ask me why; it’s apparently a closely held alpaca secret.

B) it’s best for their health to remove the poo from pasture daily, or 3 times a week, at least once a week depending on which alpaca farmer you ask and how many alpacas they have. The reason is that by removing the poo you reduce the chances of them getting a big load of intestinal parasites. Even if you remove your poo 3 times a day though you cannot totally eliminate all worm eggs but cleanliness is good for keeping the load down. Besides, it also reduces the fly population and that’s better for alpacas and people.

C) they poo abundantly and will insist on putting their poo piles where it is convenient for them, not for you. Don’t want a pile right in the gate entrance? Just try and tell them that! Don’t want a poo pile inside their shelter or barn stall? Get over it and clean it up.

D) how much poo per paca? According to my research, an adult alpaca will eat about 10 to 12 pounds of green grass or about 2 pounds of dry hay daily (or a combo of both hay and grass). Plus they will want about 1 pound of pelleted alpaca supplements. Plus they drink roughly 1 gallon of water. Yet - their weight (unless it’s a pregant adult or growing cria) is staying roughly the same so… what goes in must come out. And boy does it!

E) I figure my herd generates about 3 pounds of fresh poo per head per day. That’s 75 pounds of poo my friends!

I used to swap poo with my gardening type neighbors in exchange for fresh leafy green vegetables but now I find with rising prices for hay and feed that what I’d really prefer is the folding kind of green stuff. So I ran an ad in the local paper to sell my poo.

Wow! I should have charged more. These gardeners are like compost junkies and I’ve got Grade A shit! This is fun to see them all excited about what I’ve been viewing as an elimination problem that I’ve got to eliminate. From now on when I see a paca setting her back feet, hiking her tail and letting fly. I’m cheering Atta girl!! Shake that money maker!