Alpaca Shearing

Come early spring its time to shear the alpacas. Having grown a coat that makes them look about 3 to 4 times bigger than they are watching them run around after shearing is quite funny. I personally apologise to them they have gone from these nice fluffy cute animals to something that is pretty much just a head on a stick. Here is the big boy Gomez before and after his shearing.

 The process is to have your flock in a small pen where you can easily drag them out one at a time. I suggest until you learn they can kick backwards and sidewards and they can twist their head and spit on you that you use some protection. Once you get the hang of grabbing them around the shoulders and moving them its quite easy. They are them usually walked (man handled) up against a vertical table and strapped on some way and the table is tilted to the horizontal and the legs tied and pulled out straight for the shearer to begin. Now - some just lay there and don't seem to mind but others, well thats a whole different story. Some like Gomez scream, spit, kick, wee themselves and even poo on the table.

If you get a good shearer they will clip their toe nails, file their teeth and give them a worming dose for the year which all needs doing. I've used a couple of different shearers and to have an Alpaca shorn, teethed filed, and working dose you will pay around $60 Australia for a small number to be done.  Please think of you shearers and if you can get them in a shady spot and provide pawer and water for them .


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bath Tub for Water Troughs

Image
I don't know if this happens else where around the world but an old bath tub makes a good size water trough and you can usually pick them up from renovators for free. Unfortunately they are often just tossed in the paddock and the water is attached through a hole drilled in the wall of the bath. That's what happened on my farm and a few years on now the bottoms are rusting out of the tubs and the constant leaks are becoming a concern. I like to to things a little different. A mate of mine who renovates old houses had a bath he didn't want so I used it to replace the worst one I have. I put some plumbing in so it could always be drained and cleaned then poured a slab of 2 barrow loads of concrete over top. I then built a frame around the bath like you would when installing it in a house. A bit of 3 ply wood as the cover on the sides and a few layers of paint I now have a great looking water trough -- very swish indeed.
Read more

World Naked Gardening Day 2018

Image
Here is the story about how I discovered world naked gardening day, the first Saturday in May each year. The founders of the day say;  “it is meant to be funny, light hearted and non-political” and I'm all for those days.  Well when I first moved to my farm I was on hands and knees in the middle of one of my paddocks planting a young shade tree. I look up to see one of my neighbour some 500 meters away walking around her garden in the nude. Then her partner came out and also started walking around in the buff and they seemed quite happy just chatting away. I was so embarrassed, there I was now hiding behind this tiny young tree in total fear they would think I had sneaked up to have a perve. I turned around still on all fours and crawled all the way out of the paddock so they couldn’t see me. When I got to the trees I up and ran all the way home and hid inside thinking, oh my god I’ve moved in next to a nudist colony. Turns out that was the only time I ever saw them ...
Read more

Coffee - yesssssss. Growing and Roasting.

Image
 Somewhere back I wrote about being somewhat of a coffee snob. But still I set out grow and roast my own and I did it on my first go. Totally surprised but it is really good.  Here is the video of the process 1. Growing. I started without any knowledge, I just saw a coffee tree at a nursery and thought I'd give it a go. Turns out the little tree was actually a miniature so it less than a meter high after 3 years but is covered in fruit. I started out with the tree planted in a position where it just got too wet and the leaves all fell off. I then moved it to a dryer position which is actually under the drop line of a huge gumtree.  2. Pulping. You just squeeze the berries and the seed covered in a slimy substance shoot out. Derrrr keep the seeds and feed the skins to the chooks.  4. Fermentation. It should be called simply, soaking. Toss the seeds in fresh water and leave them for around 2 days - 18 to 24 hours.  Don't be too particular you can feel the regular ...
Read more