May 4, 2009 Our First Clip!

May 4, 2009: We did it! We had our first successful "clip"! We rented a cargo van and got all things ready..halters, bags, gloves, knee pads, people and animals in preparation for a 4:00 departure and a 5:30 shearing. At 3:20, we got a call from our host Betty that the shearers were ahead of schedule and would be there in about 40 minutes- about an hour and a half earlier than we expected! Since we had never loaded our animals, let alone walked them anywhere on a lead, a challenge lay ahead of us! Instead of the nice relaxed pace of leading them into the van, we needed to get them in and fast! First we had to call our neighbor Emily, who wanted to come along for the adventure and hope her parents could get her to our house so that we could leave in about 15 minutes. Luckily, they all hopped in the car and we actually had 2 extra helpers which we really needed.


I was able to halter Ishtar and lead her to the van and when she saw it, she cushed and wouldn't get up. We tried lifting her and nudging her and she finally rose. We needed a ramp for the van and luckily Jay had positioned a piece of plywood to act as a fence between the actual fence and the van (we haven't got lane ways YET). We took it and made it a ramp and Brenda and Joe filled in as human fencing. Ishtar got up the ramp with a little slippage and Emily got in and held her back while we tried to get the others, who had by this time wandered off to graze! After a little bit of herding. Jack grabbed Hamilton and carried him into the van and the rest followed! We were on our way and reached our destination at 10 past 4! Not bad for beginners!

Once at the Kresko's the fun began! As each animal was brought in it was weighed and readied for shearing. Once again the set up was for one alpaca to be restrained for toenail clipping and any needed shots and then shorn and another one poised and waiting, and we all had jobs. For each station people were needed to hold the animal while others fastened loops around each foot. The alpaca is gently lowered to the mat and the ropes pulled taut so that it can't kick anyone or hurt itself. Then someone swoops in and clips the nails and gives injections. Jamie and Matt begin shearing and first the blanket(prime) is removed collected all in one piece, then the neck (2nds) and then the legs (some not worth saving). Several times, the rope must be tightened or loosened to enable the shearer to turn the animal or get between the front legs. The object is for this all to be done like a fluid dance with all parties knowing their jobs and when to do them and most of all to stay out of the shearers way, but to be close enough to do the job! If this sounds like a tough thing to accomplish, keep in mind that it is all done in about 4 minutes per animal without any mishaps or injuries to anyone or any animal!!! Some cried and bawled (all of ours did!!) , but I think it was mostly due to the indignity and strangeness of it. I'm sorry that our video isn't longer because you would have seen Ishtar get up, and I swear if she could have, she would have smoothed her hair, brushed off her shoulders, given us all a cold glare, and walked off with a huff and as much dignity as she could muster!

In all of my reading, it is recommended that you begin with the lightest animals first and work up to the darkest to avoid mixing darker fibers with light. In reality,the order pretty much depends on who's set up and ready to go first. Since ours were the last to be shorn, I asked the shearers if they would mind doing all of mine on one mat to avoid being contaminated with all of the other colors. No matter how hard you try to clean the mat between each animal( and I was meticulous at my station!), some fleece seems to find it's way back and I figured that mine would only be contaminated with similar colors. So at the risk of behaving like a diva, I asked for special treatment! Not only that but I wanted a bigger fleece sample for the Ideal Alpaca Community and I wanted it from a specific place on the animal! Jamie and Matt were very happy to oblige, thank goodness! Our four went very smoothly despite a lot of strange noises!

Betty and Dan invited us to stay for a pot luck meal afterwards and we gladly accepted. There was ham barbecue, kolbassi and kraut, no bakes, dirt, and I brought my chocolate angel food cake (made from scratch no less!). I've noticed that many alpaca events wrap up with food and fellowship. We've met so many nice people in this alpaca adventure! Yesterday we added Betty, Dan, Lori, Derek, Barb, Carmen, a nice young marine, and so many others whose names I can't remember.

We thanked our hosts and all who helped us and returned home where we found it was much easier to unload alpacas who are glad to be in a familiar place! They leapt from the van and ran up to the barn!! We all laughed at how easy it was and what we had accomplished today!

They are no longer fluffy and huggable..they look like E.T. with their long skinny necks and huge eyes! They are so thin without fleece!! I gave them extra food last night and this morning. Unfortunately it is raining like mad and the temperature has dropped a bit but I have seen them go into the barn and huddle together for warmth!

I can't wait to get the results of our fleece samples to figure out what characteristics we have in our herd and what we may need to add with our next breeding. For now, anyway, their work is finished and the alpacas can relax, graze and work on growing their fleece for next year and their crias! I'll be busy getting our fleece ready for processing!