So the shearing season is upon us and we can start as soon as the risk of night frost is past, which means May, June and July in the UK. Though this year our last frost was on 15th May, so don't be too hasty! We have done some shearing in August but often it leaves the animal to go into winter carrying too little length of fibre, even if we use a “blizzard type” of comb. The same animal then comes to shearing next year with the minimum of fleece development, so on balance it is best to complete by July end. For machine processing fibre is needed between 2 and 5 inches long. Shorter than 2 inches and it falls out of the machinery and is lost. Longer than 5 inches it tangles and slows the whole process down. If the fibre is 6 inches or longer you should consider selling it to hand spinners. A good quality fleece should command £30 per kilo for the prime area, which is called the blanket.

It is important to prepare the animals some weeks before shearing commences by putting them into clean and debris-free paddocks to reduce to a minimum the contamination from organic matter, such as hay seeds, straw and dust, all of which make shearing harder work and reduce the value of the fleece. Avoiding contamination of fleeces is the single most important management action you can take to enhance the value of your fleece.

Shearing alpacas can be done several ways. If your animals are halter trained and quiet it is possible to shear them standing up. However, most will require some restraint for their and your protection. We lay ours on their sides and tie their feet with soft ropes to a spacer bar and apply a firm but gentle stretch in both directions. They will then usually lie quietly with a handler holding their heads, who is able to control and reassure them. The same restraint can be used on a shearing table, which places the animal at a more convenient height and enables the fleece to be collected directly into boxes from the table. We usually shear our older females or those closer to calving on the table. Some shearers prefer to use the same method as for sheep, with the alpaca sitting on its rump and turning the animal as it is shorn. Again a handler will be needed to hold its head and someone on the switch to turn the motor off if need be.

The quality of alpaca fibre depends on several factors. The most important is the presence or absence of coarse guard hair. The best alpaca fibre is as good as cashmere, and the fibre from the shearling animal, which is known as “baby alpaca” is superb. Usually nearly all the fleece from a shearling will be good enough to be classified as “baby alpaca”. The quality of the fibre on the older animal varies over the body of the animal. The prime area or “blanket” is the area which would be covered by a blanket placed under a saddle. This area will generally have a low level of guard hair. The second grade comes from the neck and upper rear legs and the third grade from tail, lower legs, belly, and apron areas. We like to leave sufficient fibre on the tail to help protect this area from flies and sunburn. The fibre as it is shorn can be separated into grades and bagged accordingly or if the whole fleece is shorn at once, as in sheep shearing, then the fleece will need to be put on a table and graded by skirting out the coarser bits, which will be obvious both by sight and feel. Your hands are the best tools for assessing the quality of the fibre and it doesn't take long to develop a feel for the “handle” of the fibre. Pick out any debris that may be embedded in the fleece then bag, weigh and label it. We send our fleeces to the British Alpaca Fibre Co-operative.

It is sensible to start shearing with the white animals and progress to darker colours to prevent contamination of the lighter fibre with dark hairs that will visibly stand out. We routinely sweep up after each animal to reduce contamination to a minimum. Store your fibre away from vermin and moths and start planning the garments you want to make through the winter!

Back to Library Index