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Fibre Processing | Shearing Shearing Llamas While there is concensus that llamas must be sheared to prevent heat stress and facilitate a better quality fleece, there are several different shearing patterns and techniques. Llamas are commonly shorn in a restraint chute, but a less traumatic, more holistic approach as taught and practiced by Marty McGee Bennett, is outlined here and highly recommended. Marty, who initially started in the camelid business for fibre reasons, has been teaching the T-TEAM Approach for over twenty years. Her approach, called CAMELIDynamics, and outlined below, is a respectful way of training alpacas, llamas – and their people! Shearing is important for both health and marketing reasons. Llamas’ sweat glands are located in the areas of the belly, armpits, and groin. The skin is thinnest in these areas and has little or no wool. When shorn, and as long hairs are removed from the sides and tail area, it facilitates better air circulation, thus reducing the risk of heat stress. Shearing, if done in combination with good husbandry practices, will also keep their fleece matt-free so that grooming can be accomplished without causing pain to the llama. Keeping your llamas matt-free also means better air circulation for them and better quality fleeces for you. It must also be noted that over-grooming can actually cause contamination of fleeces because it separates the fibres and allows easier entry of debris. Llama owners will choose different styles of cuts when shearing for various reasons. If a llama is to be shown or used for trekking, for example, it may be decided not to remove the whole fleece and, instead, to do a barrel (only mid-section removed) or lion or poodle cut (mid-section and tail area removed, leaving a section on the thigh). A tapered blending of shorn and unshorn areas can be done for these cuts. Those who are not showing their llamas and wish to have new, matt-free growth for the next year, or want all of the fibre for processing, may decide on a total or pasture cut, removing all of the fibre down to the last two to three inches of wool. Owners may also have a preference for electric shears, hand shears, or scissors, all of which have advantages and disadvantages, depending on your perspective. Electric shears are faster, but can be more stressful for the llama. While hand shears are spring loaded, tapered, and less stressful for the llama, they’re slower and considerably more work than electric shears. The round curves at the ends of scissors have a tendency to agitate llamas as they’re run across the skin, and they require more work because they must be opened and closed, and are also more difficult to sharpen than hand shears. Shearing Llamas Using CAMELIDynamics  The following instructions for shearing using CAMELIDynamics are by no means highly detailed, nor do they convey the technique nearly as aptly as Marty’s video entitled, The Wonderful World of Lama Wool. Her book, The Camelid Companion, is also a highly comprehensive reference guide to the training, handling and managing of llamas and alpacas. They’re both must-haves on any camelid owner’s book shelf. What you’ll need: Electric shears or hand shears A halter and lead rope A catch pen Grain for incentives Boar bristle brush A helping handler (if necessary) Before describing Marty’s method for shearing, it’s important to be familiar with her basic Law of CAMELIDynamics: “The most useful behavior that you can get your llama or alpaca to do for you on a consistent basis is: nothing.” Whether you’re shearing, giving shots, picking up feet, or putting on halters, it’s so much more enjoyable for all if your llamas feel safe enough to stand still while you do your work. Overall, the secret to understanding CAMELIDynamics is to learn about how llamas think and react, and to learn, too, about how our behaviour affects theirs. In other words – enhanced communication and trust. When you understand their flight-fight-freeze response and are respectful of their needs, your experience on shearing day will be decidedly more successful. The catch pen you use for shearing should be large enough for the llama, the shearer, and a helper (if necessary) to walk comfortably around its perimeter. On shearing day, halter your llama, attach a lead rope on the left side, and lead the llama into the catch pen. Whether you’re using electric or hand shears, begin introducing your llama to the sights, sounds, and sensations involved in the shearing process (this includes llamas who were shorn a year prior as a gentle reminder of their experience). [Note: If using electric shears, you may want to begin a few days earlier, imitating the shearing noise softly, and then loudly when grooming. This will reduce the shock factor when you actually turn the shears on. You can also turn the shears on and hold the shears next to their skin and let them become accustomed to the sound and sensation.] Give them a little grain before you start to keep them occupied and let them know the procedure is not intended to be harmful. It’s important to give your llama as much freedom as possible so they feel they can use their flight response if they need to. This will make them much more confident about standing still. To begin, you’ll want to stand on the llama’s left side and direct their movement in a counterclockwise fashion should they need to move. This will enable you to stay with the llama as you shear.  With quick downward strokes, use a boar bristle brush to do some light surface grooming. This will help your llama become accustomed to being touched and to being directed in a predictable direction with you. Continue brushing as the llama walks. If they stop, deciding that the process isn’t bothersome or painful, all the better. The more we attempt to restrict their movement, the more they will resist and fight against the process. Place your lead rope through the crooks of both of your arms and around your back as though it were a stole. Your shearing hand should be closest to the llama and your free hand should be used to part the shorn fibre from the body. Most llamas are less agitated by having their front end shorn than their back end, so begin shearing just below the topline at the mid-section, and work toward the front. Preserving a shearing pattern is not as important as following through from one cut to the next. In essence, your first line will be your marker line and all subsequent lines will follow in pattern with it. Lift the fleece with your free hand so your shearing hand can come behind it. Continue in even, horizontal lines, moving from the back to front until the side has been completed.  As the fleece begins to fall away, it will begin to touch the llama’s legs, which is worrisome to them. Put your shears down, support the root of the unshorn fleece with one hand, and pull the shorn fleece off. This may be necessary several times throughout the shearing process. Having the lower front and back legs shorn is the most difficult for llamas. A few leg lessons with the wand and brush prior to shearing will help them become less fearful about being touched. When the left side is completed, give the llama a quick break and a few treats. As trained llamas are less accustomed to our presence on their right sides, shearing on the right may be a bit more difficult. To shear on the right, switch the lead rope to the right while you (and your handler if you're using one) follow suit. If the llama needs to move, let them walk now in a clockwise direction around the catch pen. Again, if you are right-handed, you’ll now be shearing from the base of the neck, or the bird’s nest, to the back or the britch. Depending on your preference, you might shear only the body and blend the shorn area into the neck and lower leg. You may also decide to do a total cut down to the lower leg, in smooth, downward blows. Marty recommends leaving the topline and doing it with the finishing touches the next day. Many llamas are uneasy with having their topline trimmed. When each side is completed, use a boar bristle brush to give the llama a good brushing and scratching, which they’ll enjoy immensely with their now-shorn sides. As you brush, you can trim to areas that look uneven to smooth the appearance. If the process of shearing is unbearable for a llama, it’s quite acceptable to shear one side, or perhaps the body, and do the finishing touches the next day. Again, these instructions for shearing using the CAMELIDynamics do not convey the technique even remotely as well as Marty McGee Bennett’s video entitled, The Wonderful World of Lama Wool. Also, her book, The Camelid Companion, is probably the most definitive source available on llamas and alpacas that we’ve seen. We highly recommend these for your library. |
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Shearing
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