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.
