g
Shearing time is upon us. Make sure your fleece is long enough, and that it is
clean prior to
shearing. The fleece cleaners are great - their electrostatic force flicks
the debris out of the
fleece on the alpaca. Take a mid side sample and get you microns tested.
Weigh your total
fleece weight, and then remember to fill in the AGE submission form to get
started on
breeding values for your alpacas.
We strongly encourage clients with offspring from our males
to register them and their shear data with AGE.
This helps us get our stud male breeding values more accurate, and give you
better advice on who to use for which female.
We also recommend that older animals that do not grow enough length
for decent use in a 12 month period, are shorn anyway. This for animal health
reasons. The shearers are still reporting cases of lice in alpacas with 2 year
fleeces.
We are finding that modern day youngsters have fleece perfectly
long enough to be shorn at 7 months, and are "over-fleeced" at 10 months.
Consider shearing them young. The second fleece will be far better for it.
Finally, on mating, remember that young females can likely be mated
at 12 months of age. But this may not be the best for them. If your female is
smaller, or is not emotionally mature, or is resisting the male in the mating
pen, then wait. You will get a far better productive life from her by waiting,
than by forcing the
mating.
