Shearing the Crias

Last year Alpaca Shack's Sooleana did not get sheared before the winter. Her gray fleece was the finest of the herd, but I was unable to enter it in fleece contests: the ends of alpaca fleece are hooked and they collect all kinds of debris. So when Kitchi was born in late August, there was no debate about shearing him.

Both Kitchi and Sokanon met the shearer on Tuesday afternoon. One of the risks of shearing a nursing cria is that the mother will reject her newborn. Sokanon, who is fifty pounds at two months, would probably do okay, but little Kitchi was a worry. We kept the mothers in the pen while we sheared and watched before releasing them out to the herd. Both Irish Rose and Alameda accepted their crias, even though Alameda had long since given charge of Sokanon to her sister, Sooleana.

We, except for John, find this chore quite stressful. He delights in every part of the procedure: the tying of the legs, the bagging of the fleece, the finishing touches with scissors-even the clean up.

You can't help but laugh at the finished product-a gangly, skinny, long-necked critter-looking for his Mom!