Saturday 4 July 2009

The Big Day........ a whole lot lighter !

Zakhura.....first time sheared.....
Dusty... having toes and trim !

Friday was the big shearing day for us here at Zanzibah Alpacas, we are usually sheared earlier, but James was really busy and didn't manage to get to us sooner. I must say with all the hot weather, the alpacas have been struggling with their fleeces on......

It was a lovely hot day and all went to plan, I decided to have all the alpacas sheared due to the excess fleece and the heat, including the new girls. Trienza and Tremona are not pregnant and so it was decided that it was more beneficial to have them sheared.

It was lovely to see the alpacas skip out into the field, rolling about and running around, I think that they were quite relieved to get rid of all that fibre.

I must say, that you would not recognise some of them if you did'nt know them before the event.....Zanubis.......rose-grey, now looks dark grey......and about 10 times smaller. I shall have some pictures of the 'before and after' soon.

James and Marlon even sheared Aymara standing for me, as I was a bit concerned after what happened last year, she stood like a lady and didn't move an inch....so I hope that all will be well with her pregnancy for this year.

I've got some beautiful colours of fleece this year, I hope to keep some and possibly sell a little. I have not had time to weigh it yet, hopefully I will do it in the next couple of days. It has been all go here, also on Friday the contractor arrived to cut our hay, so we are hoping for the fine weather to continue, fingers crossed....at least till Wednesday....here's hoping !
James and Marlon did a fantastic job !....thanks guys ....see you next year !

3 comments:

Lucy said...

Ha ha ha I am just about to post pictures very similar to yours on our blog! I can't believe how dark Zakhura is underneath! You forget how the sun bleaches them. Same with our Roisin. They love it when they have their fleece off, don't they?

Gerry said...

Even the very serious Ballindalloch llama girls had a gambol and gallop when relieved of their fleecy burden. It was a pleasure to have James and Marlon shear the herd - thanks for recommending them Jayne!

Debbie, Barnacre Alpacas said...

I'm looking forward to seeing Zanubis's fleece at Kelso!!!