Island Alpaca 5th Annual Shearing Day - April 2012
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Hottie being sheared!
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Hottie being sheared!
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Hottie being sheared!
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Hottie being sheared!
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Hottie being sheared!
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Hottie's final touches!
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Luna beginning her shearing!
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Luna being sheared!
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Luna's final touches!
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Carlie Rose being sheared!
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Kristina waiting for her turn to be sheared!
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Aquinnah being sheared!
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Aquinnah being sheared!
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Aquinnah being sheared!
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Aquinnah being sheared!
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Aquinnah being sheared!
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Aquinnah's final touches!
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Mustang Sally waits her turn to be sheared!
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Mustang Sally being sheared!
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Mustang Sally being sheared!
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Mustang Sally being sheared!
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Mustang Sally being sheared!
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Mustang Sally's final touches!
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Bella-Notte being sheared!
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Bella-Notte being sheared!
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Bella-Notte being sheared!
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Bella-Notte being sheared!
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Bella-Notte being sheared!
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Bella-Notte's final touches!
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Jolly's turn!
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Jolly being sheared!
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Jolly being sheared!
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Jolly being sheared!
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Jolly being sheared! Almost done!
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Anika being sheared!
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Angelica being sheared!
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Angelica being sheared!
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Angelica being sheared!
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Angelica being sheared!
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Angelica's final touches! She sheared off over 10 pounds of fleece!!
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Autumn Mist being sheared!
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Autumn Mist being sheared!
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Autumn Mist's final touches!
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Eve being sheared!
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Eve being sheared!
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Eve being sheared!
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Eve's final touches!
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Siena being sheared!
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Siena being sheared!
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Siena being sheared!
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Nicola being sheared!
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Nicola being sheared!
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Nicola's final touches!
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Layla being led out after being sheared!
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Summer Solstice waiting to be sheared!
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Summer Solstice being sheared!
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Summer Solstice being sheared!
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Summer Solstice being sheared!
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Summer Solstice being sheared!
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Summer Solstice's final touches!
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Summer Solstice all done!
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Zora getting ready to be put down to shear!
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Zora getting ready to be put down to shear!
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Zora waiting to be sheared!
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Zora waiting to be sheared!
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Zora being sheared!
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Lorenzo being sheared!
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Lorenzo being sheared!
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Lorenzo's final touches!
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Marco being sheared!
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Khan D'Or waits for his turn the be sheared!
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Jozi Best educates the guests while Khan D'Or patiently waits for his turn to be sheared!
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Khan D'Or being sheared!
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Khan D'Or being sheared!
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Roberto getting ready to be sheared!
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Roberto being sheared!
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Roberto being sheared!
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Roberto being sheared!
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Roberto being sheared!
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Roberto all done!
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IL Bacio's final touches!
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Lucca being sheared!
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Cassiel waiting to be sheared!
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Cassiel being sheared!
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Cassiel being sheared!
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Cassiel being sheared!
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Cassiel being sheared!
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Chase Tavern Estrada being sheared!
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Chase Tavern Estrada being sheared!
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Chase Tavern Estrada being sheared!
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Chase Tavern Estrada being sheared!
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Chase Tavern Estrada being sheared!
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Chase Tavern Estrada being sheared!
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Chase Tavern Estrada's final touches!
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Chase Tavern Estrada's 5.8 pound blanket!! Show Fleece!!!
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Molly and Kristina freshly shorn!
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Annabelle freshly shorn!
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Desni and Hottie freshly shorn!
Enjoy photos from our Fifth Annual Island Alpaca Shearing Day, Saturday April 21, 2012!
For video click here! We sheared 435.8 pounds of fleece from over 70 alpacas!! That's amazing! What's more impressive is that our herd sire, Chase Tavern Estrada, had 12.4 pounds of fleece sheared off of him!! Each alpaca produces between 3 and 10 pounds of fiber depending on age, genetics, environment and nutrition. So we were absolutely amazed when we discovered that Estrada's blanket weighed 5.8 pounds and his leg/neck fleece weighed 6.6 pounds together. Estrada continues to impress us!
Thank you to all who came to watch and explore the full process of harvesting the fleece from our herd and witness the start of the fleece to fiber transition.
Alpacas are sheared once a year in the Spring. Shearing is an important part of alpaca farming, and benefits the alpaca greatly to get some relief with the onset of the warmer weather to come.
Alpacas can be sheared standing up or stretched out on the ground or a table with out any harm to the animal. We prefer to lie them down, tying the front legs together and the back legs together. This method allows the shearer to work faster and get a more even cut. We think it is less stressful too because it is faster. Typically each animal is sheared in less than 10 minutes.
Not only does shearing keep the alpaca cool and comfortable, it provides us with valuable fleece that can be processed into yarn, roving or simply felt, and then later, beautiful hand made products that we feature at our farm store.
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