Well, it is that time of year again. It is time to get the llamas out of the pen and onto pasture, away from the hay and on fresh grass. It saves us some money on hay, and we can shear and sell fiber. It is a practice I am getting better at, and this is the first year I have got the shears to work since lending them out to a guy who dulled them beyond usefulness on their first use. I have new blades and I have learned a bit more about proper tensioning.
For sure, they are not to be leant out again. Anyone who knows the right way to use them probably has their own, and anyone who needs them likely has their own to use. I need to work on that assumption, and keep them out of the hands of novices.
Now, to be fair, it includes me, when I say novices. But after lending them out to someone before I had ever used them, only to have them returned to me unworkable, was a costly mistake on my part. I never got to learn how they were supposed to feel new, and sharp, so I ended up fighting with them unnecessarily while trying to work them out.
I only sheared two llamas so far today. It has got up to 81 degrees out now, and is a bit much for working with hot fiber and in sunlight. I could do with a shady spot to work on this. but I don’t have one at the moment. Maybe one day.
The exciting part is that the brown and white one has a lot more hair in her fiber mix, and is a bit undesirable as spinning fiber, I think. So this year she got her first ever shearing, and while she fought it, and I had to only do a saddle cut on her, I was able to blend it with the shears so that it did not LOOK like a saddle cut. She will get to have her first cool summer, and we can get a closer look at her blend of fiber and hair.
The black llama would not let me down at her belly for much cutting, so she looks a little unkempt there, but she is shorn well all over the rest of her, so that was again, good!
Honestly, I am not sure how I can get the males to volunteer to come on over for a trim and a shave. They have long, beautiful fiber that is ready for a good cut! I will try later, maybe later this week! At least they are predominantly lighter colors, and will suffer a little less in the heat.
I am no fan of fighting llamas in a small pen, but I don’t have them a setup that would allow me to drag them apart by the front and back legs like some shearers do. I am getting just old enough that it might be a good idea, though.