One of the most important things to know before shearing your animal is to make sure its fiber is dry. Wet fiber can make shearing a real hassle and take twice as long. With weather being an unpredictable factor, many farmers will move animals into a dry, clean barn several days in advance to ensure the fleece is in tip top shearing shape. Sometimes the weather is simply unavoidable, and their fiber could still be damp at the time of shearing. It is important to let the fiber air out sufficiently before bagging and storing or shipping. Wet, stored fiber rots and grows mold rendering it unusable.

Another major factor is cleaning the fiber of vegetable matter, dung, dirt, and other farmyard debris. We have found that cleaning the fiber while on the Alpaca is much more effective than doing it after the fact. Many of our farms use a blower or Sharp Vac to remove impurities in the animal’s fiber.

This technique works very well when the ultimate goal of the fiber is to manufacture finished products but the strain of an industrial blower or Sharp Vac can alter some of the factors that go into judging fleece in a show setting and should be avoided for fleece destined for competition. If you have an easily stressed pregnant female hand picking or combing out debris might be your only option.

A great way to save time with this step is to take a proactive approach to removing vegetable matter and other fiber impurities. As shearing time approaches, keep farm yards and barns extra clean, especially of troublesome, hard to remove debris. The time saved cleaning the alpaca before shearing justifies spending a few extra minutes a day prepping the barnyard.

Now that the animal’s fiber is dry and clean, it is time to shear. Shearing is a serious business and many new farmers tend to use professional shearers to help out. Whether you do it yourself, or have someone come out to the farm, it is important to watch for Second Cuts, or fiber that has been shorn twice. It is key to separate these Second Cuts from the rest of the fiber lot. They are shorter and can greatly reduce the quality of the animal’s entire fiber pool.

The reason why Second Cuts are frowned upon is the process in which the fiber is spun together in order to make yarn. The shorter fiber cuts will initially bond but overtime fall out, making the finished products a lower quality. To help protect them from getting mixed in with the other fiber, go over the animal first focusing on cutting long lengths of fiber. Do not focus on how the animal looks. An experienced shearer will only focus on cutting good long lengths first, and secondly going back to even out the animals overall appearance.

If you have any questions, comments, or something to add to this please do not hesitate to contact NEAFP.