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Pet Peeve

You could call it a "pet peeve". I have trouble with the term "pet" being used in the alpaca industry. We are all learning and growing and grasping on to whatever tidbits of information are out there regarding alpacas. It’s easy to grab an idea or term and run with it when so little factual data exists. There is so much we don’t yet know. But there is something we do know and that is that the alpaca industry is very serious business. To develop the alpaca industry to its full potential, we must create a sustainable commercial fibre industry.

As alpacas breed, as cria are born, there will be some that will be less than perfect and won’t be useable as breeding stock. this does not mean that they should be sold as a "pet-quality" animal for $500.00. Keep them in the back pasture, shear them once a year and the fibre sales will pay for their keep. Remember, one of the positive things about alpacas is that they are a low maintenance animal. The main thing about alpacas is that they are a fibre animal. A perfectly good, rare, luxury-fibre producing animal should not be relegated to lowly "pet-quality" status, just because it does not meet breeding quality standards.

Public perception is very important. If the public sees the alpaca industry as a hobby or akin to a puppy kennel, they will not look beyond that to see that the alpaca business is a business, with long term profit potential.

The alpaca cute factor works both for and against us. It is much easier to fall in love with an alpaca on sight than it is for example, a wild boar. People like alpacas, initially, because they are lovely to look at. However, because they are so cute and lovable and you don’t slaughter them for food which, let’s face it, is part of Western Canadian mentality, many people jump to the conclusion that this is another specialty livestock industry where the first few involved make big money and then the whole thing crashes and burns.

It is not that I believe that if no one ever uses the term "pet" again that alone will change the minds of doubting Thomas’s everywhere. I just think we should be cautious and think about the things we say. I personally don’t know that many alpacas that would make good pets. For one thing, they don’t like to be petted. They are too big to sit in your lap, and they prefer the company of other alpacas to humans.

Alpacas are a fibre animal and that is how we should promote them. The commercial herd has to start somewhere, let’s start it now. The alpacas and our industry deserve more respect, let’s give it to them.

Fibre Presentation by Trudy McCall and Cathy Merkley of

T ‘n’ C Farms, Lloydminster, SK

The Importance of Fibre to the Alpaca Industry

Alpacas are fibre producing animals. This has been their main purpose over the last 5 to 6 thousand years. Since the alpacas’ introduction to North America in the last decade, the emphasis has been on breeding stock. While this aspect of the industry will continue to be crucial into the new millennium, we must begin to focus on fibre production.

Unfortunately, in Canada, there are precious few people who are expert in fibre uses, qualities or processing. This leaves alpaca producers with nowhere to turn with their questions regarding fibre production. The best the North American producer can hope for is to glean bits and pieces of information from magazines, industry publications, other breeders, workshops and trial and error.

Annual fibre sales can be a good source of revenue for the individual producers, as raw fleece or finished goods, at the farm gate or through a cooperative. Marketing your fibre is important to the long term growth of the alpaca industry.

Fibre production

The first thing to recognize as a breeder is that your goals as a fibre producer may differ from those of a fibre mill. The mills emphasize fineness and colour purity. These aspects are therefore important to the producer, but care must be taken not to sacrifice shear weight for fineness. Fibre is bought at commercial and cottage industry levels by weight. Premiums are paid for the finer fleeces, but from a producer viewpoint, it is better to be paid $20/lb. for 8 pounds of fine than to be paid $40/lb. for 2 pounds of royal baby.

There are several factors influencing fibre production. A study in New Zealand has determined that there is a positive correlation between nutrition and fibre fineness. This means that the richer in nutrients the feed of an alpaca, the coarser it’s fibre will be. Environmental factors may influence fibre production, including temperature as well as hours of daylight. It is thought that severe periods of stress will cause weak points along the fibre shaft. Little is known about genetic influences, although fineness and density are traits that have been seen to be passed down from one generation to the next. Color, sheen, crimp, style and hand are other fibre characteristics that vary in importance depending on the end use of the fibre, and are also passed down in the genetics. Consequently when making breeding decisions you should be looking for density, fineness and overall handle so as to maximize the fibre production and fibre quality in your herd. Of course don’t forget about your alpacas conformation while doing so.

How to maintain fleece quality

Other things to do to improve fibre quality is to provide a clean environment. Keep pastures clear of blue burr and wild rose. Feed a hay with little or no crested wheat and timothy as the seed heads become entangled in the fleece. Keep feeders low to the ground to reduce the amount of hay falling onto the alpacas’ backs. Provide clean dust baths for them to roll in. The most important factor influencing fleece quality is annual shearing. First and foremost, the health and well being of your animals depends on annual shearing. Heat stress has far reaching effects. Fibre that is too long and/or badly weathered can not be processed commercially and gives a bad name to alpaca fibre in the cottage industry.

Once the fleece is off the animal

The 1998 CLAA membership directory includes a clip care manual that is a great reference at shearing time, whether you do it yourself or hire a custom shearer.

Once the fleece is off the animal, what do you do with the fibre? Fibre testing and analysis can be done to give breeders some information to use for breeding decisions and marketing. At the moment there are two labs that do micron testing.

Once the alpacas have been sheared, the fibre can be sold as raw fleece or processed and sold as finished product. The Alpaca Fibre Cooperative of North America was established this past year as a marketing co-op and will help the producer make the leap from the cottage industry to the commercial market. If you are interested in more information on joining the co-op call the AOBA office at 970 586 5357. An information package on the Canadian Camelid Fibre Co-op should be in the mail by the end of June.

Some Canadian Fibre Processors

Before shearing, keep alpacas clean and dry. Use a stick to bring vegetable matter and dust to surface and hand pick as much as possible. Organize your shearing area prior to bringing in the first alpaca. Use a clean dry surface to shear in an area with good light. Have all your supplies on hand including electric or hand shears, extra cutters and combs if using electric, sharpening stone if using hand shears, extension cord, lubrication, prelabelled sample bags(to send a sample away for micron testing), fibre collection containers, pen and paper for recording pertinent information and a broom or vacuum. You may also want to have toenail trimmers, teeth trimmers and vaccine supplies at hand so you can do those jobs as well while the animal is restrained. You should always have a first aid kit handy for the people and the animals and enough helpers to make it a quick and efficient job.

Depending on the cleanliness of the alpaca you should be able to use one cutter per alpaca and one comb for every two alpacas. Hand shears should be sharpened every couple of alpacas.

As the fleece comes off the animal it should be sorted into its respective containers. You should have containers for the blanket, seconds(upper leg, lower side), thirds(lower leg, belly, and apron) and neck. If manpower and time is available further sorting on a sorting table can also be done at this time. Sorting tables can be made fairly inexpensively with a wood frame covered with 1/2" mesh(wire or plastic). It should be large enough to fit the blanket portion of one fleece on it at a time. As the fleece is placed on the sorting table, second cuts, dust and vegetable matter falls through the mesh. The purpose of sorting is to add value to the fleece. Presenting a clean, well sorted fleece to a judge or processor will earn you marks and/or dollars. Sorting separates the prime fleece (blanket)from the rest. This is important because the blanket should have no guard hair, have consistent handle, crimp, staple length and colour throughout. The blanket is the portion of the fleece that is presented for showing and used in the finest garments. Neck fibre is often of comparable quality to the blanket but is of shorter staple length so has to be processed separately. Seconds are somewhat coarser than the blanket and thirds even more so. Thirds have a lot of medullation and are quite dirty, it also comes in various staple lengths. Seconds can be blended or used alone and made it items which are not next to the skin, slippers or outer sweaters. Thirds are best used for rugs, saddle blankets and things like that. Both seconds and thirds are good for felting as well. Second cuts are short bits of fibre that occur when two cuts have been made over the same area. These are inevitable but should be avoided as much as possible, especially in the blanket area. Second cuts should be sorted out as much as possible.

To prepare your fleece for showing or to be shipped you should lay it out on your sorting table cut side down. Make sure you have cleaned it of as much vegetable matter and second cuts as possible. Skirt the fleece. This means removing any fibre around the outside edges that may be coarser than the main blanket or dirty i.e.. the bird’s nest at the neck and any manure stains at the britch. This is a good time to assess your fleece and decide what you are going to do with it. Showing your fleece is a good idea and gives you valuable feedback on the quality of your fleeces and how you can improve on them in your breeding program. Whether you are showing your blanket fleece or shipping it off to a processor it should be packaged the same. With cut side down fold the fleece in half or thirds lengthwise and roll from the britch up to the neck end. Put it into a bag with an appropriate label. Seconds, thirds and neck can be sorted on the table as well getting rid of debris and second cuts and then bagged and labeled. If storing your fleece for some time before doing anything with it, make sure it is dry and in a container that can breath. Oil of lavender will keep the moths away if you have a concern.

FARM PROMOTION IDEAS

Have you ever wondered what would be a relatively inexpensive and painless way to promote the industry, your animals and your farm? Travel expenses, facility rentals, promotional materials and displays, time and money spent going from show to trade fair to exhibition and no one ever comes out to the farm?

This problem is easily rectified. Instead of going to the public, have the public come to you. Invite people to drive out to your farm and meet you face to face, see your herd and check out your operation. All you have to do is give them a reason to be there. Everyone has neighbors who are curious but haven’t made the time to stop in. Provide them with the excuse they need. Hold a barn day, a clinic, a demonstration,or an open house. Any of these events with a little bit of local advertising will get people to your farm. Once they arrive, you’ve got a captive audience and potential customers . Invite the local media to attend. They get a story, you get free publicity. From there, it snowballs. People hear about you, call you up and ask if they can come on out for a look around.

These events don’t cost a lot and you don’t need to have any extraordinary skills. Just be friendly, keep your vicious dog tied up out back, provide free coffee and let people touch your animals. The animal will do the rest.

A great time to have a barn day is at shearing time. You can always use an extra pair of hands and it is a tremendous opportunity for new breeders to gain some experience. The CLAA fibre committee is currently working on a clip care manual and a checklist which will hopefully be available in the new CLAA directory. One of the most important things about shearing is sorting the fibre correctly. Experience is a tremendous teacher. Handling the fibre is the best way to learn, but a little guidance goes a long way. If you are a new breeder and have never sheared or sorted fibre before, call up an established breeder in your area and ask them if you can be there when they do their shearing or bring your animals over and have a shearing bee.

An open house can be a lot of fun and very productive at very low cost. It’s important in our industry to handle the fibre correctly and the clip care manual and check list will provide a good basis to start from. Please look for it in the spring.

NEWS ON THE FIBRE FRONT

submitted by Cathy Merkley, member of the CLAA Fibre Committee

Shearing season is well underway in the llama and alpaca community. For many producers, fibre is a major part of the year’s production. For many breeders, fibre can be a major headache. The question that I am most commonly asked is, "What do I do with all that fibre?" The answer depends on the quality and quantity of your fibre, your interest and abilities when it comes to processing your own fibre, your marketing scheme and perhaps, your patience. The fact is that alpacas and llamas are fibre producing animals. They must be sheared annually for their health and well-being. This results in quantities of fibre that need to be shown, processed, sold or stored. At times, this task can seem daunting. Keep in mind that it is crucial to the longevity and overall success of the alpaca industry and increasingly important to the llama industry that, as breeders, we begin to develop the fibre aspect of our industry.

In 1998, a study was done that investigated the feasibility of a Canadian Camelid Fibre Co-operative, funded in part by the government of B.C. and in part by the CLAA. Andrea Harris and Associates from B.C. was the firm commissioned to conduct the study. The consultant examined the quantity and quality of fibre being produced, the availability of processing facilities, the marketplace and the interest within the industry to form a co-operative. In order to market fibre to the commercial textile manufacturers, we would have to be able to produce 20,000 pounds of one type, one quality, one colour fibre. These levels of production are far beyond the current capabilities of Canadian producers. This does not mean, however, that a Canadian Camelid Fibre Co-operative is not feasible at this time. No one begins at the top. A Canadian Co-op can provide services to producers that meet our current needs. As our industry grows and producers’ needs change, the co-op can evolve to satisfy the demands of the membership.

The following is from page 11 of the final report of the study, regarding options related to the feasibility of a Canadian Camelid Fibre Co-operative’s planned business operations:

"- the basic services provided to members by the co-op would be the grading, sorting and processing of fibre into yarn and partially processed products such as roving;

- members would pay a fee for these services and the processed products would be returned to them;

- members can choose whether or not they want to have their fibre processed with that of other producers(processing charges would reflect the higher costs associated with processing smaller lots);

- the co-operative would not be involved in marketing activities, but could play a role in facilitating the sale of processed products by providing market information to both buyers and sellers (e.g. publishing a list of products available for sale and a list of potential buyers)."

THE NEXT STEP

A major source of funding has been provided through the generosity of Mountain Meadows Ranch and Willowridge Associates. During the 6th Annual Breeders Select Llama and Alpaca Sale held at Highwood Auction in High River,AB on April 25,1999, one alpaca, Archibald, donated by MMR and one llama, Dealers Choice, donated by Willowridge Ranch were auctioned with all proceeds going to support the fibre co-op. Thank you for having the foresight to realize how important developing the fibre co-op is and for your generosity towards that cause.

The CLAA BOD has approved allowing the co-op steering committee the use of central office as headquarters for a membership drive and will cover some of the start up costs such as copying and postage. A legal firm is continuing the incorporation of the co-op on a pro bono basis. It is not clear if the co-op will be ready to handle the 1999 clip. That will depend on the response from the membership and availability of quality processing at a reasonable rate, which in turn will depend on the volume and quality of the various types of fibre committed to the co-op. Sorting for the co-op will follow the guidelines in the 1999 membership directory fibre section. (This is a good information source regardless of the end use of your fibre). Look for an information package and membership form to arrive in the mail in the not-too-distant future. Consider this option carefully. It may be the best answer to the question, "What do I do with all that fibre?"

 ALPACAS AT AGRIBITION 1997

    Canadian Western Agribition held in Regina, Saskatchewan every November is one of the
largest agricultural shows in Canada. People travel to Regina from all over the world to see the best that
the agricultural industry has to offer. This year, the alpaca display was impressive. There were six farms
represented at five displays. The CABA was there as well, with all the farm exhibitors helping to man
the booth. R&R Alpacas, Mountain Meadows Ranch, Adventure Alpacas, TnC Farms & Battle River
Alpaca, and High Plains Alpacas were all there with their displays, their fibre and products, their animals,
their enthusiasm, their PR skills and, at times, their patience. Weekdays saw something like a thousand
school children a day through the barns. Yikes!
    Agribition is all about exposure and the alpaca industry got that! Attendance numbers were very
high. The alpaca farms were located in the same area as llamas, Lowline cattle, goats, ostrich, and
horses, all of which drew large crowds. There were television interviews that played throughout
Saskatchewan and newspaper coverage.
    The R&R Alpacas Sale drew a lot of attention and received media coverage also. Having cria a
few days old and even a birth at Agribition upped the already high alpaca cute-factor. As is always the
case, people love alpacas at first sight and babies just add to the excitement.
    Agribition is a tough show. It is eight days long, or is it eight long days? The weather is
unpredictable at that time of year. Usually, it’s -30C, this year it was above freezing, and the problem
was too much heat in the barns. The cattle had to leave the barn some days, but our hardy alpacas
handled the temperature and dust very well. They were tired of the crowds and bored in their small pens
by the time it was over. The displays were dust coated no matter what we did to try to keep them clean.
It’s all day on your feet on cement floors and answering the same questions over and over and over
again. But, what better way to inform the public about alpacas and alpaca fibre? There were a lot of
people who had never seen or heard of alpacas, some who were looking for a new enterprise, and many
people who had been investigating alpacas for some time and getting ready to make a purchasing
decision.
    The farms that display at Agribition put out a large time and money commitment to promote not
only their farms, but the industry as a whole. We feel it was well worth it, hope to see you next year!

SHEARING ALPACAS AND LLAMAS

Spring is here and that means it is shearing time in the llama and alpaca industry. This article is intended to help producers understand the importance of annual shearing and the reasons behind it. It should provide some information that will take some of the fear and some of the hassles out of shearing and give producers some ideas about what to do with all of that fibre after it is no longer attached to the animal.

There are three main reasons to shear your alpacas and llamas. Most importantly, the health and comfort of the animals depends on it. Fibre is the cash crop for alpacas and llamas and will provide income for the producer. Fibre is the backbone of the alpaca industry and important to the future of the llama industry. We need to get the fibre and products out to the buying public.

For the majority of alpacas, shearing annually in springtime is ideal. Twelve months of growth should provide a five inch or longer staple length. Most fleeces can stand up for twelve months and will not have suffered too badly from weathering and dust and vegetation collection. Shearing in the spring allows for enough regrowth for protection from sun and insects in the summer and cold in the winter. It is much easier to check body condition of an animal without fleece. An animal that goes through the summer in full fleece will suffer heat stress and the potential health problems that go along with that condition.

Exceptions to annual spring shearing would be older breeding females whose energy goes into their offspring rather than fibre production, as well as show animals. Be sure to provide adequate shade and drinking water as well as wetting sand or cement or providing a wading pool or sprinkler for full fleece animals to cool off. The older bred females should be sheared every second year and show animals can be sheared after show season or held over until spring. Watch these animals carefully for signs of heat stress. Llamas should be individually assessed as to how often and how much should be sheared.

The backbone of the alpaca industry is fibre production. Without it, the industry will flounder. Fibre production is becoming increasingly important in the llama industry as breeders are selecting for finer, heavy, single-coated fleeces. Producers have several options for marketing their fibre. It can be sold at the farm gate as raw fleece, spun yarn and end products. These could be anything from knitted or crocheted garments, felted hats and insoles and stitched and hooked rugs to other household items. Value added processing means more cash in producers’ pockets. For those producers that do not handle the fibre, raw fleece can be sold for cash to the Canadian Llama and Alpaca Fibre Company. Another option is to pool fibre through the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association, where it is spun into yarn and returned to the producer. The advantage of pooling is that it decreases your loss percentage and therefore reduces costs to the producer. A feasibility study is being done in B.C., sponsored in part by the Canadian Llama and Alpaca Association, on the potential for a producer co-operative for llama and alpaca fibre in Canada.

As shearing time approaches, several steps can be taken to improve quality and decrease stress for animals and handlers. The CLAA fibre committee (Linda Wendelboe) has produced a clip care manual that is an excellent guide to shearing day preparation. That manual will be sent to members of CLAA with the 1998 directory.

The following are a few highlights from that manual:

Pre-Shearing Preparation for the animals include placing them in clean pastures free of brush and dusty areas. Avoid polypropylene from feed bags or bail twine. Fleece must be dry, so keep animals under cover if precipitation is likely for a few days before shearing. Clean as much dust and debris from the fleece as possible just before shearing. This is best done by hand picking and sweeping gently across against the direction of growth of the fleece with a stick (approximately 2 feet long and 1/2 inch in diameter). Shear in order from light to dark coloured animals, sweeping or vacuuming shearing surface between each animal. Shear stud males either before or after all of the females to reduce stress. Females can be shorn at any stage in pregnancy but if shearing in the last month of pregnancy, allow extra time for handling these animals so they can be restrained and moved very gently. If shearing both llamas and alpacas, finish shearing one species before starting on the other.

If you are a new breeder and have never sheared before, there are several clinics and workshops sponsored by private farms at this time of year. These are excellent events to attend and get information and experience as well as an opportunity to socialize with other breeders. Custom shearing services are available from professional shearers at reasonable rates. When hiring a custom shearer, they will tell you what facilities and arrangements they require.

Sorting and grading the fleeces is a skill that is developed over time. It is important that this be done correctly, so that when the fleece is shipped for processing, time and money is saved by not having to resort fibre. Take a sample from midside on the animal and send it away for testing. There are two labs presently using laser technology to measure fibre diameter in microns, and standard deviation and coefficient of variation as well as graphing the results. These are the Yocom-McCall lab in the United States and the Melbourne Institute of Textiles in Australia. This information can be an important tool for the producer when making breeding decisions and for marketing animals and fibre.

Producers wanting more information on fibre and shearing should read the CLAA Clip Care Manual and attend shearing demonstrations or contact members of the CLAA fibre committee or experienced breeders near you. If you are not interested in shearing yourself, hire a professional. Just get it done. All of that beautiful fibre won’t do you or your animals any good if it isn’t harvested, processed and sold.

How to Felt

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season and is ready for another wonderful year with our llamas and alpacas. In these cold winter months, you may be looking for a fun fibre project that will use up some of that lower grade fibre that you didn’t ship to AFCNA or have spun into yarn. Alpaca and llama fibre makes really nice, very warm felt. You can make as much felt as you have fibre for. The final product you have in mind will determine the size and thickness of the piece of felt. Thin felt made with better quality fibre can be sewn into vests. Thick felt makes very good insoles. Felt can also be used to make hats, mats and beautiful wall hangings.

The following is one method that we use to make felt. I’m sure there are others, but this one works well for us and is worth giving a try.

What you will need:

- a plan
- a plastic lined frame; 1" x 1"’s can be used to make any size frame. Tinfoil lasagna pans work will for small pieces of felt.
- lower grade llama or alpaca fibre, carded
-old towels
- hot water
- liquid soap (Murphy’s oil soap works well)
- cheese cloth
- felting wool batt (optional)
- electric palm sander, paper removed

Place your carded fibre in the frame in layers. Alternate the direction in which you lay the fibre layers. Lay a piece of cheesecloth or a batt of wool in the centre of the alpaca or llama layers. This helps to bind the fibre. When sufficient layers are in place, (we use between four and six, not counting the cheese cloth or wool) cover with cheese cloth or nylon.

Use one capful of soap per cup of hot tap water. Pour over the fibre, patting it down with your hands and continue adding the soapy water till the fibre is thoroughly wet. Continue to press the fibre until it begins to felt. Use the towels to absorb excess moisture. Use the electric sander to continue the felting process, lifting the sander to move it. Peel back the cheese cloth or nylon and turn the fibre over. Use the sander on side two. When the fibre layers feel like solid felt, rinse the felt well in the bathtub or laundry tub. Lay flat to dry. Once dried, (may take a couple of days) cut into insoles or vest pieces or slippers. Using a variety of colours makes a great wall hanging. I haven’t tried this, but binding the edges would make a great mat. Wear them, show them off and enjoy.

This is a really fun thing to do with a group. Make it a project day with other producers or fibre people. It’s messy enough that the kids like it, too! Let me know how it works for you. If anyone has any felting ideas or other fibre project ideas, send them to me and I’ll share them.

 Shearing Demonstration notes by Trudy McCall 

Materials:

shearing table or another method of restraining alpacas

Electric shears

Cutters and combs

Extension cords

Extra lighting

Rubber mats

Hand shears

Rotary tool such as dremel drill with diamond carbide blades and cone attachments for trimming teeth.

Toenail trimmers

Clean rags

First Aid Kit including Blood stop powder, glue

Old socks

Halters and lead ropes

Several handlers

Large clear plastic bags with a stand or person to hold them for fleece collection.

Labelled sample bags, if desired.

Preparation: 

Have a well-lit, spacious, clean area (preferably indoors) to set up the shearing table with a near-by table to hold equipment and supplies.  This area is ideally located near the alpaca pens, with a staging pen, if possible.  

If alpacas can be on green grass pasture for 10 days or so, this is the best method to clean fleeces prior to shearing.  For very dusty or heavily vegetated fleeces, hand picking will be necessary to get the fleece as clean as possible.  The cleaner the fleece before shearing, the less work after and more valuable your end product.  Do not wash your alpacas before shearing.  Do not blow or vacuum fleeces that you intend to show before shearing.  Hand picking will remove vegetation without disturbing the character of the fleece, which is an important factor in fleece judging.  

  Begin with black, then brown, fawn, white and grey.  The table and area should be swept between each alpaca with close attention to cleaning when changing colours.  This decreases the amount of cross colour contamination of the fleeces.

 When the alpaca is secure, take the sample from midside if desired, the size of the shear.  

Begin with the leg fibre, front and back.  Then go to the belly.  This fibre can go in the same bag with the leg fibre.  Beginning at the upper belly, take long strokes, following the contours of the body including as much area as possible in the blanket.  The blanket is rolled up toward the backbone as it is sheared, but not removed.  Do not allow the handlers to pull on the fleece as this lifts the skin and increases the danger of cutting the alpaca.  Remove any dung tags or urine stained fleece from the britch area.  Use extreme caution when working under the tail!  When the blanket has been sheared to the backbone, it is removed to the sorting table. 

Have the handler remove the halter.  Shear up the neck to the face.  Do not leave fibre at the top of the neck.  Use extreme caution near the ears and eyes.

Try to refrain from “cleaning up” until all of the fleece is removed to prevent second cuts contaminating the fleece.

Turn the alpaca to its other side, being careful to roll it over on its belly, not its back.  Rolling an alpaca on its back risks uterine torsion in pregnant females and aspiration.

Shear the second side in the same manner as the first side.  Once complete, clean up the alpaca as well as trimming tail and top knot.  Now is a good time to trim toenails and teeth, if necessary.  Some breeders take advantage of having the alpaca on the shearing table to vaccinate and deworm, as well.

 Teeth trimming:

Alpaca teeth continue to grow throughout their lifetime.  If their bite is not correct, the teeth can grow past the dental pad and make eating very difficult.  The incisors can be trimmed using the cut off wheel on a rotary tool.  A soft cotton rope, similar to a dog chew toy can be used to hold the alpaca’s mouth open.  Someone strong must hold the alpaca’s head during this procedure.  The male alpacas have fighting teeth that come in between the age of 2 and 3 years.  These teeth are extremely sharp and as their name suggests, are used for fighting to establish dominance among breeding males.  Males have been known to castrate one another if these teeth are not trimmed.  While males can still injure one another, the chances of castration or other wounds are less if the fighting teeth have been ground down using a grinding attachment on a rotary tool.

 Always keep safety in mind when setting up your shearing shed and throughout the day.  

Note:  If you would like a printed form of these notes just cut and paste into a word document

Sorting Demonstration Notes by Cathy Merkley

Sorting is as essential to producing a valuable product as breeding for fineness, uniformity, and density.  You can have the best fleece in the world, but unless it is properly sorted, it will lose value.  Conversely, you can have a substandard fleece that will have value added by sorting it properly.

 Sorting is separating the fleece as it comes off the alpaca by body area and skirting the blanket or prime fleece according to fineness, length and colour to produce a blanket fleece that is uniform and therefore, more valuable to the producer, the processor, the retailer and ultimately, the consumer.  If one were to simply bung all of the fleece into one bag and send it off to the processor with mixed grades and lengths, the end product will be itchy, will pill, will shed and not have the soft, beautiful handle that alpaca products should have.   By sorting, we add value to all of the grades of fibre, from ultrafine through to coarse.

Materials needed:

 Sorting table – not commercially available.  You’ll have to make your own using a metal or plastic mesh with holes between 1 to 2 cm on a frame of wood or plastic.  Make legs or use some sort of stand.  Make sure it is a comfortable height to prevent backache. 

 Water squirt bottle.  A misting of water is helpful to fight static electricity if the air or fleeces are very dry.  Static also builds up with the use of plastic – sorting table and bags.  The water is also helpful to help remove fibre from clothing when changing alpacas or colours to prevent contamination of the fleece.

 Plastic sample bags.  Clear zip-lock sandwich bags work well.  Label them according to the sample.  These samples are sent for testing and/or for your own records.

 Large clear plastic bags.  You will need up to four per alpaca sheared.  Neck fleece in one bag, leg and belly in a second bag, skirtings in a third bag and the blanket in the fourth. 

 Bag Holders.  Metal leaf bag holders work well.  They are metal stands that hold the bag while holding it open for you.  Five gallon pails or tall, narrow, cardboard boxes also work.  

 Felt Marker, pencils, pens.  You can use a felt marker to label each bag with alpaca name, date, blanket, neck, belly and legs, and seconds.  Pieces of paper labelled appropriately can also be placed in each bag.

   Record sheet.   Many breeders weigh alpacas prior to and after shearing to get the overall fleece weight.  This should be recorded as well as the weights of the separate grades.  Over the years, this information can be used to track progress in production.  A sample record sheet is enclosed.

 Fleece Test Results.  These can be obtained prior to shearing and will tell you what grade each blanket fleece will go to and whether or not fleeces can be combined.

 Sample Board.  Using your fleece test results, prepare a board with each grade and a fibre sample that equals that grade according to its histogram.  This is an excellent reference and the best method recognizing various grades. 

  Method:

 The fibre will be collected by one of the helpers and placed in the appropriate containers.  The blanket fleece should come directly from the alpaca on the shearing table to the sorting table.  This is the majority and most valuable part of the fleece and if all of the blankets can be sorted on shearing day, that will be a big job well done.   I always recommend that show fleeces be rechecked before going to the show.  If the remaining bags of fleece can be sorted on shearing day, that is a bonus but depends on the number of head and the number of helpers and may be a job for the days following shearing. 

 Blanket

The blanket fleece should be thrown out on the sorting table cut side down.  Fine, dense, crimpy fleeces will hold together and allow quite a bit of handling.  Loose fleeces, even if they are fine, don’t hold together and are more difficult to sort.  If the fleece is in one piece, cut side down, you should be able to identify the belly edge, the topline edge and the shoulder and britch.  Pull a lock from somewhere in the middle to use as a guide.  Work your way around the edge of the fleece, removing anything that doesn’t match the sample lock in fineness or length.  Pay close attention to the topline edge, as there is often short fibre there.  The angle of the backbone sometimes produces a strip of over shearing that needs to be removed.  Turn up the edges of the fleece.  This will let you see clearly if there is anything that needs to be removed.  Remember, the purpose is to remove everything that differs from the sample lock, so everything that remains should be the same.  This results in a uniform blanket fleece that will produce a much better quality end product than a fleece that is not skirted.  The skirtings from the blanket fleece are usually the next grade in fineness and should not be thrown out, but kept separate and sent for processing.  Repeat the above procedure for the second half of the blanket fleece.  Line it up on the sorting table, topline edges together and skirt it the same way as the first.  Remove any vegetation and give the fleece a shake to dislodge dust and second cuts.  These will fall through the mesh of the sorting table to the floor. 

When the skirting is complete, fold the fleece in half, along the topline edge.  One cut side will now be facing up, this is an excellent opportunity to remove any second cuts that still remain.  Roll the two halves together from the britch to the shoulder.  As you roll, the other cut side will be facing out and second cuts can easily be spotted and removed. 

Place the fleece in the appropriately labelled bag. 

Clean your work area before the next fleece comes to you, being particularly careful when changing colours.

 The neck fleece is often comparable in quality to the blanket, but is separated because of the difference in length.  The cut off for short fibre sent to CanCam is 75mm or 3 inches.

Fleece lengths accepted by CanCam are short - 1 ½” to 3”  (35 mm to 75mm) and long – 3” to 7”(75 mm to 17.5 cm).  Anything shorter than 35 mm or longer than 17.5 cm is considered unprocessible.

 Leg and belly fibre varies greatly with the quality and age of alpacas.  Some remains quite fine and is very useful.  Some is course early in an alpaca’s life.  If it feels bristly, it is too coarse and should not be sent to the co-op. 

 Once you have experience and confidence in sorting, feel free to combine fleeces of similar fineness, length and colour.  If you are not sure, it is better to bag everything separately and leave it to the classers at the collection to decide.  Mixed grades in a bag will downgrade the fibre and undo all of the good work you have done by properly sorting.

 It is not difficult to sort your fleece properly, it takes a little time and practise, but gives large payoffs.  First, you are adding value to your fleece and that carries forward to a higher quality end product.  Secondly, handling the fleece with a practical purpose teaches you a usable skill, as well as telling you a lot about your herd, your husbandry practices and your breeding program.  This is very valuable information that can give you an edge in a competitive industry while advancing the industry as a whole.

Note:  If you would like a printed form of these notes just cut and paste into a word document