Shearing the Alpacas

Each October we await the phone call that tells us when the alpaca shearers with be in our area. Husband and wife team, Kay and Brian, make a day of it whilst in the Barossa so we notify our friends with small lots of alpacas who transport theirs to our place. Here we have everything in place for ease of loading, holding and shearing and is easy for the shearers to set up their specialised equipment in one place, rather than travelling to three different properties.  This in turn makes it more cost effective for each of us.
Our little guys, Turner and Gramp, are well mannered and quite easy to catch so we can put halters on them.  However, we are always sure to have some kind of yards or shed to run them into before attempting to catch them. Once they are cornered it's quite easy to get an arm around their long neck and gently ease the halter over the nose and then over the head.
So onto the trailer they walked with me leading them one by one. Such beautiful gentlemen they are.

Brian shears while Kay gathers up the fleece.

Kay trims the feet.

Vaccinates with a Five in One.

Turner is quite relaxed despite all hands holding his neck still so he is not nicked by the sharp blades.

He is restrained carefully for the safety of all involved. A kick from an alpaca is a mighty force.

The table is tilted back and he is released. 

Now they are ready to face the approaching heat of summer.
Another one of the annual events is ticked off the list.  Next will be the shearing of the sheep. Meanwhile other spring jobs are never ending.
Bee hives have been moved to make use of the Salvation Jane growing over our hill in neighboring properties, swarms of bees are being gathered to boost the hives and Brian is busy working at cleaning up the frames and replacing some of the foundation in readiness for the big honey flow when the weather heats up. Fingers crossed there is a good flow this season.