Alpaca Fleece Harvest Planning

aka: Shearing Day

Quarry Critters Alpaca Ranch

www.volunteersignup.org/DTJXR

All year long we offer a gift shop fill with products and apparel made with alpaca fiber.

Where does all that alpaca fiber come from?

The answer is it comes from our alpacas.

Here at Quarry Critters Alpaca Ranch, we breed and raise quality alpacas to produce soft, dense, crimpy fleeces so we can use their fleece to make these things.

We shear our alpacas once a year at our harvest, known as “Shearing Day”. On shearing day all our alpacas get a haircut, this is where we collect alpaca fleece. This is a very big day. It requires many hands. To make light work and include alpaca enthusiast, we rely on volunteers.  It’s a long day and a dirty job but we try to always have fun. We keep our volunteers fed and hydrated with a quick grab of snacks, and conversation.

Our shearing day harvest  has run successfully every year because of our wonderful volunteers and good planning. Throughout the years we have tried to improve on how to make our shearing day run smoother. We have developed stations with specific roles and responsibilities.

Let’s take a look at these stations.

Shearing Stations

#1 Greatest shearer of all times

~ Nathan Good~

Nathan is our shearer. On shearing day he is the master.

Let’s make sure to respect the most important  job of all.

Without him the work stops.

Shearing Mat:

Duties:

1. Pull fiber away from alpaca as it gets shorn off alpaca.

2. Fiber is placed in bags, according to location from where it was removed.

Locations-

1. Prime Blanket is often “noodled”. Noodling is placing plastic on the mat near the alpaca. As fiber is gently pulled away from the alpaca it is placed on the plastic. When directed that all the “blanket” or 1st  has been removed by Nathan, then the plastic is “noodled”, (to noodle is to rolled up like a sleeping bag. Make sure not to overlap fiber on fiber. Use extra plastic if needed)

2. Side Sample- Nathan will cut a small sample of fiber from the blanket location. This sample will go in the labeled baggy. The side sample is sent to Yocom-McColl for testing. This testing will reveal our best practices for not only breeding stock but nutrition and yarn quality. This side sample is a very important piece of our business.

3. Seconds- comes from neck and belly, if unsure ask.

4. Thirds- comes from the legs and tail location.

Pictured here are shearing day fiber locations.

3. After alpaca leaves the area the floor, it  is swept clean for next alpaca. It is very important to keep same colors together without allowing different color contamination.

Alpaca Handlers :

Duties:

Halter, lead, snuggle, comfort alpacas, talk to them, then return alpaca to their home stall, after shearing on the mat.

Handler 1: Halter and lead alpacas to the grooming area

Handler 2: Hold alpacas until shearer is ready to put on mat.

Handler 3: Walk alpaca back to their stalls/fields after shearing.

Groomers:

Duties:

Use tools provided to rid the alpaca of all unwanted waste material, dung, hay, food stuff

Tools: Vacuum, wands, hand patting

Handlers: needed to hold alpacas while being groomed.

Fiber Room:

Duties:

1. Keep in constant contact with alpaca handlers to control the alpaca shearing order.

2. Writes names on all 3-4 bags

1. Banket- large clear 55 drum bag

2. Side Sample- gallon zip lock baggy

3. Seconds-blue tall kitchen bags

4. Thirds - white tall kitchen bags

3. Make sure the alpaca chip number matches the name on fleece bags.

4. Call out any special instructions such as: sock, towel, teeth, toenails, show coat or noodle

5. Help roll noodle or educate mat volunteer.

6. Weigh on scale:

A) prime blanket then record on spreadsheet

B) second & thirds can weigh together then record on spreadsheet

C) Weigh all together, 1st, 2nds, 3rds then record on spreadsheet

7. Keep all bags, 1st, 2nds, 3rds, of same alpaca tied together.

8. Alpaca bags will stay in fiber room until collected and driven up to the processing room at the house.