Alpaca MVPs

Prairie School Farms is about everything from alpaca farm visits to vintage, chippy furniture and unique home decor to hand painted signs and about a thousand other things in our dining room and tucked in storage until our building is renovated. No matter our adventures, the alpacas still are the MVP of our little farm.

 

One of our neighbors is a project leader for a local 4-H club. She had a small group of 4-H members who were working on fiber arts and they wanted to learn more about alpaca fiber.

 

She and the members were super gracious when our offer for a guided farm tour turned into a self-guided farm tour because Jeremy needed to be at the building to work with a contractor and Emily needed to be at work.

 

 From the tone of the sweet thank you card, I think the visit was still a success! We are hoping to see some of those alpaca selfies. We think Kobe was a camera hog.

Meanwhile, in Kansas...

We took off on Sunday to pick up some items we had purchased from some family friends.

While driving down the road, we had a "whoa! wait. what?" moment. We drove past this farm and there was something that was a little unusual.

Can you see it?

Look closely at the roof of the shed.

That isn't a weather vane or a statue, that, my friends, is a goat!

We decided if the goat was still there when we drove back by, we would take a picture. I lobbied for stopping to talk the goat down. Jeremy asked me what I might say and I thought it might go something like, "Hey, buddy! Want to come down and get a drink?"

I did seriously ask if we could stop and ask the residents if they knew their goat was on the roof of their shed. My husband assured me that he has driven by this same farm several times and the goats are always standing on something.

So, what do you think? Is he standing guard? Staying up high to get away from something? Playing kind of the hill (um...shed?)?

Alpaca yarn giveaway and sale!

Happy November!

In celebration of making it through October and the beautiful fall, we are doing two things...

1.  Giving away a small "sampling" of alpaca yarn.   When we receive our yarn back from the mill, we usually have smaller skeins that are the end of the run.  There isn't quite enough for a full skein, so the mill packages whatever is left into these cute mini skeins.  We like to give these away for people who want to sample working with alpaca fiber.

So, we are giving this set of three mini skeins!  These are all natural, no dyes.

If you want to be considered for the giveaway, leave a comment on the Facebook post or this blog post. Tell us what you plan to do with the yarn or make with it.  We will randomly draw someone on December 1.

2.  Offering a sale on all of our alpaca yarn that we have on hand (not any that we have in consignment locations).  Each skein is $15 (not $18-22.50 as usual) and tax is included. This is for the month of November only.

If you have anyone on your list who is a knitter or weaver, this is a great holiday gift idea!  I am really thinking a lot about the holidays because someone told me the countdown until Christmas.  I have forgotten the exact number of days, but I do remember the small sense of panic I felt.

Alpaca rugs

Our new alpaca rugs have arrived.  We have always used Ingrid's Handwoven Rugs in Paint Rock, Texas to process a portion of our alpaca fiber into rugs.

Most of the rugs are 2' x 3', though we have ordered a custom rug that was much larger for a friend.  We think that there is nothing better than these rugs for softness and durability.

You can read more about harvesting the alpaca fiber from previous posts.

A new addition to Prairie School Farms

 Welcome our newest alpaca, Javier!

A few days ago we heard from a student who lives a few miles away from us.  He had a baby alpaca that was an "add on" to his purchase of some guard llamas for his goat herd.  He wanted to know if we wanted to buy the alpaca.

We thought about it and decided he would be a good addition to our little farm.  We were leaving for vacation and asked if they would hold him for us.

Our vacation was in Canada which meant we had a long drive there and back.  We drove the last five hours of the trip this morning and then found out that we needed to pick up the alpaca today - change of plans!  Our original plan was to catch up around the house.

Because of the change of plans, we decided to cut some corners.  Instead of going to borrow the trailer, we planned to transport him home in the extended cab of our pick up.  Armed with a layer of old towels and a blanket, we thought we could make it work.  Some of our alpaca friends have told us they have used their minivan to transport alpacas, so we could make it work, right?

When we arrived at the farm, we found out that he was a little bigger than we thought and not halter broke.  In fact, we found out that the last time they caught him, they had to rope him.  Let the rodeo begin!

After a little bit of running around, we were able to catch him and fit him with a halter.  We made a halting, running and jumping walk to the truck and then loaded up.  We said a few prayers that he would cush into a sitting position as we had been told alpacas typically do in moving vehicles.  Thankfully, after the first half mile, he found a comfortable sitting position and we made it safely home.

Once we got unloaded, we made another running, jumping and halting trip to the pen.  All of the other alpacas were very curious about the new guy.

 We got Javier settled in with some water,  hay and food.  His companion in the small pen is Blue - our ambassador animal.  They were getting along great after a few minutes of getting used to each other.

 

We think he is going to fit in very well here.  Our goal is to have him halter broke within the week.  Can we do it?

All the other boys are still really curious. We will introduce him to the bigger pen after a little more time in the small pen.  I am also thinking it will be easier to catch him in the small pen for halter training. Or, we can put him in the big pen and just chalk the catching time up to our cardio workout for the night.

Something waxed the rooster...

"Something waxed the rooster"...and other strange things said in my house.

We often laugh about some of our conversations, thinking that if someone were listening in, we would either be committed or arrested.   In our attempts to find humor, we sometimes have strange conversations or choose strange phrases, like referring to a dead rooster as getting "waxed."  On my commute to work that day, I kept thinking about how many professional women in our country had a conversation about a dead rooster before 7 a.m., let alone any time of the day.

Last Thursday morning, my husband finished morning chores and returned to the house.  He let me know that our one, lone, survivor rooster was dead by telling me that "something waxed the rooster."  This is the same rooster that escaped the gathering of the roosters for butchering last fall...the one that was last seen that morning running down the middle of our paved county road towards our neighbors.  This is the same rooster who returned to the yard and roamed around the pen until we took mercy on him and let him back in the pen.

At the time of his passing, we thought that he might have died of a heart attack after chasing our new chickens around the pen.  We had decided the night before to put the new chicks, now adequate size to hold their own in the coop with the other hens and this rooster.  We thought if we added them at dusk, the old chickens would be a little groggy and by morning, they would just think, "hey, have you been here this whole time?"  We would save the new hens some of the annoyance of the expected establishing of the pecking order.  Maybe the rooster went a little crazy with all of the new hens invading his space.

In actuality, we now think that the rooster died a hero's death trying to protect his flock.  We woke up Sunday morning to 60 percent of our chickens dead or missing.  Something got into the pen and took out nearly all of our new chicks and left the survivors a little rattled.  We found where the varmint (of some sorts) broke through the chicken wire.  The postmortem on the situation was that we lost the prettiest of the new birds and we spent Sunday morning cleaning up and fixing the fence.  We think that the wind from our little thunderstorm kept us from hearing anything.

My husband was pretty bummed that he had worked really hard to raise our little chicks and to see them through.  We also counted ourselves pretty lucky that we haven't had this problem before. Now, we are being extra cautious about keeping the hens locked up in the coop at night and I am sure my husband's repair job on the fence will hold.

The ups and downs of farming...

Spring time fun: alpaca shearing

 Ahh, spring is here!  We all seem just a little more thankful for the warmer temperatures after the snowfall last week.  Snow in late-April is a bit of a trial for people desperate for warm temperatures and time outside.  It also adds a layer of complications to shearing alpacas.

Last Tuesday, we were scheduled to join our friends on their farm for shearing day.  This is always a much anticipated day and involves a lot of logistics to trailer our animals back and forth.  I had to work and we made arrangements for my mom and dad to help my husband.  They are experienced alpaca shearing day helpers and really generous with their time.

At 5 a.m., we started prepping.  I needed to be in the shower by 6 a.m., so we got an extra early start.  We haltered all of the animals and put them in the trailer in the middle of a wintery mix of precipitation.  We were hoping that the snow would pass us by and if not, the trailer would keep everyone dry.  Worse case scenario?  We would get everyone sheared and put all of their fiber out to dry on tarps in our garage. 

I left for work and called my husband to say that the roads were wet and starting to get slushy.  By the time he left, the roads were really slick.  He saw several car accidents and decided that he needed to turn around. We ended up postponing shearing until the next day.

What to do with the alpacas?  If we took them back to the barn, they were going to need to somehow dry out.  I was too cold to use the fan that we use during the summer to keep them cool.  My husband sent me a text to say that he had a plan!  He built a makeshift pen in our garage and put them up there for the night.  They ended up drying out and staying out of trouble.

The next morning, we loaded everyone up again.  The day was cold in the morning, but the sunshine warmed us up.  I am still a wimp; I wore three layers of pants and three layers on top, including my huge winter chore jacket.

Once we got there, everything fell into place.

 Four farms came together for this shearing day.  Read about last year's shearing for more about the process.

This year we had three guys on the shearing crew from New Zealand.  They work very quickly and do a great job.  It is an added bonus to get to hear their accents.

Winter weather at Prairie School Farm

Today was a snow day.  One of those snow days where you know in advance that work and school are canceled and there is no need to wake up early and shovel the drive and allow extra drive time.  Everyone had made the call to keep people home, if they could, to avoid the blizzard like conditions and mammoth snowfall expected.

 

We went to bed with no snow.  We woke up and we were surprised to see a little snow.  At one point, the meteorologist said that we could have more than 20 inches of snow.  Where was all of the snow?

  And, then the snow started.  It snowed and then it stopped.  Then, it iced.

Then, it snowed again.

Once the snow stopped, we talked about going outside.  By the time we got bundled up, it was snowing again.  But, we still ventured out to check on the animals and to see if we could dig out the cars.  My husband hadn't been feeling well, so despite my objections, he said he needed the fresh air.

The snow started falling again and it was a really beautiful scene.

The alpacas were nestled in the barn with their coats frosty with snow.  They seemed to be content to enjoy the hay we tossed to them.

Everywhere we looked, the snow made everything look just a little more beautiful.

The garden gate...

The butterfly I forgot to put in storage for winter was still standing guard in the garden.

And, the poor rooster that was left out, too - up to his neck in snow.

Snow on our chicken coop door.

Our containers all looked like they were frosted.

Seriously frosted with a lot of snow.

It is fun to think that in a few weeks, we will have all of these planters filled with flowers.  Spring will be here soon.

Joey was good company.  He loves the snow.

My husband wanted to get the snow blower out.  After he cleared the driveway, he took to the yard.  I think if he was feeling better, he might have cleared the whole yard.  Paths to the alpaca barn and dog kennel would have to be enough for tonight.

As of now, it is still snowing.  I can't wait to see our farm in the morning.

Farewell to Cy

We endured another tough loss this week.  Our sweet dog, Cy passed away.

He had been with us for many, many years and was simply the best dog I have ever owned.  He was sweet and gentle and would play fetch for hours.  He was a dog that actually brought the ball back to you and would only hedge when he thought another dog would steal the ball during the transfer.

To be fair, he was also a tomato thief.  He loved to sneak into the garden and take the tomatoes right off the vine.  He also was very sneaky and would wait until his dog friends dropped their rawhide treat.  He would steal the other rawhide and walk around with both, much to the frustration of the dog that was caught snoozing.  This usually equaled some kind of scuffle between the dogs.

He will really be missed around our farm.

Winter in Kansas

 Our farm still looks like a winter wonderland - well, sort of.

By now, we have trudged over most of the snow and have left footprints.  We have had some melting and a few patches of grass are starting to show through.  It is nowhere near as magical as the first moment when you step out the door and everything is covered in a blanket of pristine snow.  I think it seems so magical because you know that the landscape will never be that perfect again, once you blaze a trail across the yard...at least until the next snow.

Last week, I helped with chores in the morning and was the first to mar up the snowfall.  My husband had sidewalk snow removal duty.

I remembered to tuck my camera into my chore coat pocket and say a silent prayer that the dogs wouldn't knock it out or I wouldn't spill it out bending over to pick up something.

It was cold and quiet and beautiful. The chicken coop door even looked kind of lovely with a little snow resting on the window.

 People often ask how the alpacas handle the cold.  They are much better in the cold than the heat as they have a warm blanket of fiber.  We still take extra care to make sure they have hay and fresh water in the winter.

This year, they didn't like the snow drifts near the barn, so my husband shoveled paths for them from the barn to the hay bunk.  The first morning when the drifts blew high against the fence, the alpacas put on a funny show of first hesitation and then some crazy jumps over and around the drifts.

Just before feeding, we run all of the alpacas out of the barn to set out their food buckets.  They keep watch and jockey for position to be the first through the gate for feeding.  This particular morning, Scout had snow on his face and a lot of hay jammed into his fiber.  What a clown.

Duped by a fellow farmer

We were really excited to buy some replacement hens this summer.  We thought we had a great situation - healthy looking new chickens and a smooth transition introducing them to the flock.

Then, we had a surprise.  Our ten hens turned out to be two hens and eight roosters.

This is pretty embarrassing for someone with an undergraduate degree in agricultural education.  Friends, I have taken classes and taught lessons on the anatomy of a rooster versus a hen.  This is not tough stuff.  It is, however, tough when the birds are young and the comb and wattles aren't obvious and the farmer selling you the birds plucks out the tail feathers.  We thought the tail feathers were missing because the birds where hot and stressed in the small cage.  In retrospect, I think our birds were selectively plucked to appear like hens.  I guess we can give this farmer points for solving a problem.  Unfortunately, we inherited his problem.  What do to with eight roosters?



Source: BackYardChickens.com

We were discussing our options one weekend afternoon while we cleaned up the garden.  To add insult to injury, our formidable flock of roosters began a chorus of crowing.

We did some outreach to friends with chickens and discovered someone who was butchering part of his flock and he would help us.  My husband had the day off of work and volunteered to see this task through to the end.  The alternative of feeding these food eating monsters through the winter seemed really expensive and annoying.  And, the crowing!  Our neighbors would need a lot of "good will" eggs to forgive all of the crowing.

Please keep in mind that my husband doesn't like to put his hands in dishwater, let alone butcher chickens.  He was also going to have to catch all of the roosters early on that Friday morning...and did I mention this was his day off!  If he didn't have a lock on husband of the year before, he certainly does now.

He was almost finished catching the birds when the door to the cage flew open and one escaped.  At least, he thought it was one, but he wasn't sure.  It was dark and cold and he was chasing the bird around the yard.  At one point, it escaped to the front of the house and onto the road.  He chased it for awhile and saw it last running down the middle of the road towards our neighbor's house.  Geez.  Eventually, the runaway made it back to the yard.

My husband has a whole adventure story about the actual experience of processing the chickens.  The story involves a collapsing cage, runaway birds (again), tackling of runaway birds, and a firearm...all because we were duped by a fellow farmer.

Trust me...I am keeping my eye out for that farmer.

Ahead of schedule

On Labor Day weekend, we had a list a mile long and the benefit of having family members available to help at different times throughout the weekend.  I also had to work mid-day on Saturday which meant we had to keep to a really tight schedule to make sure I wasn't late for my work commitment.  Our Saturday morning list included finishing some cleaning and repair work on a rental home that we own in a neighboring town.  We were really proud of ourselves when we headed back to our house ahead of schedule.  Then, things got interesting.

We were headed down a county highway and all of a sudden there were cows in the road.  What?  Cows.  Standing in the middle of the road.

We realized that the farmer traveling towards us had the gate to his stock trailer fly open and most of his trailer full of cows spilled out onto the highway.  All the girls looked uninjured, but a little dazed.  We pulled over and so did a young guy in the pick up behind us.

My dad was with us and he drove our truck up a few yards and jumped out to stop traffic.  My husband, the other good Samaritan and I tried to keep the cows together and on the road instead of in the bean fields on either side of the road.  The farmer was quick enough to close the trailer to catch a few of the cows before they exited.  Still, we had eight or so cows in the middle of a highway with cars backing up in either direction.

The farmer decided that running them back a couple of miles to the pasture from which they originated would be the best bet.  My husband accepted this challenge - he drove them all the way back to the pasture on foot.  He checked is run for the day off his list.

The whole situation was made better by a series of fortunate events.  When it first happened, there wasn't any traffic except the truck and trailer, us, and the other good Samaritan.  We had just enough people to help keep the cows together, stop traffic, head them off at the appropriate corners (we had to make two corners and the turn into the pasture), and everyone was willing to help.

My dad and I picked up the farmer's wife because she had jumped out to help and the truck and trailer sped off to help us find the pasture.  She could not have been more thankful for the help.  We had a lady delivering mail that stopped and help turn the cows into the pasture.  Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when all of the cows were back in the holding pen.

As we all climbed back into our truck, my husband laughed and told me that we were still two minutes ahead of schedule.

The funniest moment was when I was running down the highway.  My dad had pulled ahead and my husband was way ahead behind the cows.  One of our friends and his daughter pulled up along side me and asked, "What are you doing?!!!"  I tried to explain that a farmer lost some cows on the highway and my husband was running them back to the pasture.  Of course, that is what everyone does on the Saturday of a long weekend.

(The picture above is not of the cows that enjoyed the 5K run with my husband.  These girls were in a pasture near our house two springs ago.)

Relic of the Kansas prairie

My weekend started with a Friday night and Saturday morning retreat with some student leaders. The retreat site was at White Memorial Camp near Council Grove, Kansas.

The drive to the camp was amazing.  The prairie views were really incredible and everything looked refreshed after we (finally) got some rain.  The only down side was the gravel roads to the camp had some serious mud in the low areas. My car really needs a car wash!

At the corner where you turn south to take the final road to the camp, there was this awesome old house.  I feel in love with it on Friday night and promised myself that I would get a picture today.

I love this relic of the Kansas prairie.

Lessons learned

Today has been a day of lessons learned.

As part of my work day, I attended a luncheon that featured a panel of women who provided advice for other women working in our field.  All four panelists are people that I know and have worked with in one aspect of our jobs or another.  It was especially fun to hear them talk about their career paths and perspectives on being busy women leaders.

Two of the panelists spoke about the importance of focus.

Lesson number one.  Focus.

After reheating my cup of tea for the third time tonight, I decided to sit down and actually enjoy it.  It was a great chance to catch up on some of my favorite blogs and get some perspective on the day.  (I also put water on to boil for dinner and forgot about it for several extra minutes while I got distracted by e-mail.  Hmmm....focus.)

Enter lesson number two.  Don't read sad things when you are feeling kind of sad from the start.  This equation equals tears.  This story, from one of my favorite bloggers, will help with perspective.  The perspective was worth the tears.

I was feeling kind of guilty about staying inside with the temperatures so mild.  We actually had rain this morning - a glorious, slow and steady rain.  

Why stay inside?  My husband was still at work and the dogs needed some time to run.  Truthfully, I felt like the alpacas were staring me down, especially Magellan.

I mean, how can you ignore that face?

 The dogs had some time to run and get into mischief.  The only way I can get a picture of Joey is to give him a rawhide treat.  Though, he will growl at me, Cy (our other dog), and a shadow if he thinks you are getting close enough to take his rawhide away.

 The dogs also got into the garden which is off-limits because they are tomato thieves.  They do look guilty, don't they.

Lesson number three:  Get your thoughts together before opening your mouth.  This is the time of year when I most need to practice patience and a balanced approach.  I dropped the ball on that one today.  The good news is that I am sure I will have a lot more situations this week during which I can practice.

I am not a...5-star Horticulturalist

Sometimes, you just have to share something that makes you laugh, even if you don't know what to make of it!

My husband is really good at finding awesome things on Craigslist.  He's great about scanning the listings and discovering some item that we just have to add to our collection of collections.  And, every once in awhile, he will stumble on a particularly creative, funny or weird post.  I am not exactly sure how to classify this post, but it made me laugh!

Folks, how many times have you gazed forlornly at your sad and sorry roses and thought to yourself, "How I yearn for a few dried cow patties* to rouse and revive them!"?

Ah, well, your wishes CAN come true! 

 Yes, I have risked chiggers, heatstroke, and a vast array of spiders to provide you with a bag of all-natural cow manure. And this didn't come from just any old herd--these are special Gelbvieh/Limousin cows--loved and petted at Prairie Springs Cottage; why there is even a lovely one named Erma!

Munching on Flint Hills grass, drinking from spring-fed (soon-to-be-brackish) pond-water, and nibbling a bit of George Ebert's hay (Hey! We're in a drought if you haven't noticed!), these cows have ruminated and digested (and expelled) a perfect, pretty-much-organic, fertilizer just for you.

Despite barbwire tearing a hole in my shirt, a grasshopper thwacking my eye, and enduring the thrumming of hovering Chinooks, I am still willing to give you a tremendous bargain: $8.00 for a pillowcase-sized bag; cash only.

On second thought, all of you should get off your lazy duffs and get it yourselves--maybe you too would get to see one of these little endangered horny toads, become 'one' with nature, and have an all 'round great day...!

*disclaimer: I am not an Herbivorologist, a Poopologist, nor a 5-star Horticulturalist--I have no idea how much to put on roses--google it yourself, please.

Dirt, Denim & Diamonds - Day One

Congratulations to my blogger friend for an excellent start to her conference Dirt, Denim & Diamonds!

Tonight was the beginning of what will be a great opportunity to network and learn with women from the region.  We connected over our love of agriculture and everyone was so warm and friendly.

The agenda for the first day included shopping from a great set of exhibitors, hearing an inspiring presentation about gratitude, and making our own gratitude journal.  (Oh, and did I mention the food was great, too!)  It was fun to see talented women share an inspiring message and to help us make something meaningful.  Nothing can bring a group together like working on a project - sharing supplies, offering advice, and providing compliments on each other's work.

When we arrived at Living Water Ranch, we were greeted by the conference organizer with cute and creative table decorations, a bag of goodies, and a 'wow factor' folder.

 I loved, loved, loved the folders.  Each had a denim pocket that included a pen and information on ways to connect with the conference.

 Our project tonight was making a gratitude journal.  A local Stampin' Up! demonstrator helped us with the design, materials, and instruction.  She did a great job keeping us focused and helping us share tools between tables.

This was the perfect project to follow an inspirational presentation by an ag ed leader from Nebraska.  Her message was perfect to set the tone for our conference and to provide perspective.  We really are so blessed.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow!

Stalking rain clouds

 We need rain.  Bad.

There is rain in the forecast and we are so excited, but cautiously so.  Last time we had thunderstorms in the area, all of the action split and went north or south of us.  We are desperate for rain!

We noticed that there was some storms on the radar to our west.  The clouds started to look promising and any thunder-like noise had us stop and listen.

Given the likelihood that it might rain, we hustled out to take the fabric top off of the gazebo and to feed the alpacas some hay.  I grabbed my camera to get a few photos of the building clouds to the north and east of our house.

I was struck by how dry the corn looked in the foreground and yet so hopeful about the promise in the clouds.

Shearing day

Today was shearing day! Each April, we transport our alpacas to a nearby farm to harvest the fiber our alpacas have produced.  For us, this day represents a year's worth of work and all of the possibility of what the fiber will become - yarn, roving and rugs.

Shearing day is very fun, very busy and full of hurry up and wait moments.

We started bright and early.  We had a beautiful sunrise as the backdrop for chores which mostly consisted of my dad and I standing around watching my husband put things in order for the day.  He was a man with a plan and we just needed to stay out of his way.

My dad traveled up the night before to provide an extra set of hands.  My mom met us at the farm to help with the process, too.  Most years, I have been traveling for work on shearing day which left my husband and dad to take care of things on their own.  It was great fun to have us all together.

Our shearing crew is two men from New Zealand that spend time in the United States traveling from farm to farm providing shearing service to alpaca and llama producers.  It helps to have several smaller farms meet at one location to save set up time. We borrow a trailer and that means a little extra time for loading and a little uncertainty for the alpacas - it's not everyday that they ride in a trailer.

Everyone was a little camera shy (and extra dirty from rolling in the dirt) this morning.

Meet Chaccoyo.  He is one of our newest alpacas and offers a good "before" picture.

All of our alpacas wear their halter from the moment we catch them at our farm until they are secured in the shearing area.  When we arrive at the farm, we help with set up for the shearers and the host family and then we catch two to three animals, attach the lead rope, and bring them out of the trailer.

Every person has a role - someone helps in the shearing area with holding the animal, clipping toenails, releasing and tightening the ropes, while another gathers fiber and one or two others hold animals that are on deck or transfer finished animals back to the trailer.

The alpacas are secured in a very safe and gentle way.  The primary goal is to protect the alpaca and the shearer.  Alpacas basically has two defenses - spitting and kicking and neither are pleasant when you are on the receiving end.  The shearer also does not want to cut the animal and that means that having the animal secure helps reduce the chance of this happening.

The method of securing the animal involves gently putting a padded rope around each leg and extending the front and back legs out from the animal.  Once the ropes are in place, two people lift the animal and set them on the padded shearing area and the ropes are set by a third person.

When the animal is set, the halter is removed and the shearer and a holder go to work.  The first part to be removed is the blanket.  The blanket is the fiber from the main body of the animal.  This portion is bagged separately from the neck and leg fiber or seconds. 

We have the blanket processed into yarn and roving.  The seconds are processed into handwoven rugs.

The fiber on the top of the alpaca's head and on the face is carefully removed.  Chaccoyo had a lot of fiber and it was so full this spring that he was having trouble seeing.  We had tried to give him a touch up before shearing day to help him.  Today's haircut was much more effective.

Once the last of the shearing is complete, the halter is put back on and the alpacas is released.  The shearing  process takes around eight minutes per alpaca.

I promised my mom that I wouldn't get her in any pictures.  She was an expert fiber gatherer.  That's her leg and elbow in this picture...I mostly kept my promise.

And, Chaccoyo after shearing - a new alpaca.  With our really warm temperatures, having the fiber off the boys is one way we can keep them cooler.