Turning the Alpaca

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Once the shearer has completed the blanket, legs and belly, the alpaca is rolled onto its belly. In this position the shearer has better access to the back of the neck and head. Among alpaca breeders, there are a number of different techniques and approaches to shearing alpacas. Some breeders prefer to leave the legs and head completely unshorn. But at HaSu Ranch Alpacas we prefer to shear the majority of the alpaca, blending what is shorn with whatever is left untouched. We do this for two reasons. First, one goal of any good shear job is to remove an even and consistent fleece in regards to the length of the fibers. Shearing only select portions of the alpaca could negatively impact the shearing the following year by creating an uneven fleece length across the body. Secondly, an alpaca's conformation and balance are more easily evaluated on an evenly shorn alpaca. 

At HaSu Ranch, fleece production is a major part of our business. Therefore our approach to shearing is one that will provide us with the most usable fleece per alpaca. That includes everything from our breeding decisions, our pasture management and our technique for shearing. The HaSu alpacas are shorn all the way down the leg to just below the knee, blending into the unshorn fleece below. We shear all the way up the back of the neck, blending into the back of the topknot and around the face and chin. The alpaca's topknot is trimmed around the edges just above the eyes. We also trim the tail so that it looks in proportion to the body and is blended well into the alpaca's rump. Once the top of the tail is blended, we then trim down the sides and straight across the bottom. The end result is a beautifully trimmed and tidy alpaca, displaying its perfectly balanced conformation.