Re: [AlpacaTalk] Re: Supplies to keep on hand/shearing
Ah yes! I meant to respond in the shearing question, too!
Living in the south, you cannot not shear every year. If you don't,
you WILL lose animals to heat stress. Or at the very least you will
get sick animals. Shearing for alpacas isn't a personal choice. It is
absolutely mandatory.
Again, if it's difficult for your to find a shearer at a reasonable
rate, contact breeders near you for their advice, contacts, etc. See
if you can bring your animals to their farm on shearing day to keep
costs down for both farms. Maybe they have a trailer and can help
with transport.
Shearing is NOT optional. It is a requirement.
If you can't have them shorn by a shearer, many people hand shear
with Fiskars scissors, the spring loaded kind. Yes, they look like
hell afterward, but if you don't plan to show them at halter shows,
or show the fleece, this isn't really a concern. The fleece has to
come off when the weather starts hitting 65º or even 60º. Maybe even
cooler than that.
Please contact local breeders for help/advice/
Heather
On Jan 19, 2009, at 4:25 PM, Mary Jane Fox wrote:
> Hi Janice, In one of the posts I think I put links to the heaters
> ( $150)
> we use, and for the blankets,they have buckles around the chest and a
> belly band that attaches with velcro. Look at them.It is important to
> not put a blanket on a alpaca that has never had one on in a large
> space. I like to put them in a catch pen when I blanket, this way if
> they do start to panic we may have alittle more control of the
> situation, in fact catch pens are a very important part of alpaca
> handling.Much better than chasing them around.
> Shearing, well I think you found out what happens when you don't
> shear.
> Problems and more money being spent than you would pay for them to get
> shorn. Yes mid-June in GA is very late. Mid-June in Ohio is very late.
> You must either find another shearer or learn yourself, if in a
> bind you
> can always hand shear, you can contact me at fox.maryjane@
> and
> we can talk more about that, the equipment alone is going to run you
> upwards of $500. Old is relative I guess when it comes to any living
> thing, but when deciding whether or not to shear your older animals, I
> judge the amount of fleece the animal grew the year before if they are
> growing only 1/2" to 1" per year it may not be necessary to shear
> every
> year. Some of the girls that are 10 and above and still having babies
> aren't growing much fleece. I think since these animals are living
> longer with the care we provide ,that we need to adjust our care
> accordingly to the new horizons.
> Do you wait for a shearing crew that does alpacas to come thru your
> area
> there has got to be someone coming thru earlier than that in GA.
> Try the
> alpacashearers yahoo groups ask if anyone gets to your area, or try to
> find a sheep shearer in your area it may not be pretty but they will
> survive. There is alot of shearing info on the web now especially if
> someone already knows the machine they just need to learn the
> techniques
> for shearing alpacas. Do a google search on alpaca shearing to see if
> there is anyone else who can help you. I start shearing in Ohio at the
> end of March so I am wondering why you wait so long into the spring to
> shear? I have the majority of my shearing done by Memorial day.
> When hosing off alpacas do not hose above the belly, legs, neck, under
> belly , between hind legs are all spots that regulate heat, if you
> hose
> off the blanket area, soaking it, you can actually cause a alpaca to
> overheat more because you stop the flow of air thru the fleece.
> Glad to help you out.
> Mary Jane Fox
> Up-Close-and-
> Kirtland, OH
> 216-272-8887
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posted by Chaddo at 6:16 PM
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