This page contains text, pictures and videos that show different methods of shearing alpacas.
Shearing Alpacas
The most important thing to understand about the shearing of alpacas is that alpacas do not have a flexible backbone so they can not be shorn in the traditional manner that sheep are.
There are a few different methods of shearing alpacas which involve holding the alpaca still to enable them to be sheared.
This video shows alpacas being shorn and a restraint system that appears to do the job. You get to see the shearer taking of the blanket of the alpaca. Some things worth noting is that I can count 6 people being used just to put the alpaca into the restraint system, and it takes up a lot of space in the shed (lengthwise). You can see the other helpers collecting the fleece with their knee braces on also.
This video shows alpacas being blade shorn in Peru. The alpacas are screaming throughout and are man-handled a fair bit, so its quite stressful for them. Its important to recognize of course that these guys don't have the luxury of shearing tables that we do, and that this is their livelihood. If you're sensitive I suggest turning the sound of before you watch. It is interesting to see how efficient they are using the blade shears and the brightness or lustre of the fleece as its shorn is lovely. This video takes you through the whole process from taking the animal down and restraining it as they shear, to folding the fleece up and having it weighed and recorded.
The next two videos are part one and two of a segment called 'Dirty Jobs' which has a presenter called Mike Rowe doing different jobs that people write into the show about. This one was working on an alpaca farm. The majority of the videos is about the shearing but they do go into other details as well such as teeth, mating, spitting etc. Its reasonably informative and has good close up of the shearing. Just a small correction - they state that alpacas have a 4 chambered stomach when in fact they have 3 chambers. The restraint system used here is a table with restraints for the legs and a belly strap. You get to see more detail of table when they shear the camera man in part two.
Dirty Jobs Part 1
Dirty Jobs Part 2
This is another video that shows the restraint system similar to the one used in the top video. Its very quick, the alpaca is not happy and again you can see the amount of space required for the ropes which must be on a pulley system. The video only shows the take down of the alpaca into shearing position.
The following two videos show a ceremony where they catch the vicunas and shear them, there are bits where you get to see a reasonable close up of the vicunas being shorn.
