Today was shearing day for our small herd of alpacas. We had engaged shearer Ian Elkins and his team to give our poor hot boys a haircut before the temperatures hit the mid 30’s. We helped wrangle them into the pen where they waited looking very wary, but the whole process was done with care and very little stress to the animals.
Ian popped each one in turn up on the shearing table and having secured their feet to stop them thrashing and getting injured, they were masterfully shorn while his assistant gave their fringes a clip.
Not a cut or nick to any of them and once free of their thick coats they quickly set about re-establishing the pecking order in the group – not so easy when you have gone from looking imposingly bulky to a long necked bambi lookalike in a few minutes!
The makeover session continued with a toenail clip, and essential drench and shots done, they were soon out in the paddock enjoying the cool air and rolling around on the grass.
The wool is luxuriously soft and silky and I hope to be doing some crafting with it later.