Life on the Outside

Last September, I covered a story about twin alpacas born at Luna Nueva Ranch just west of Berthoud, Colo. Little Meijo and his sister Meija were a surprise to the ranch owners as twins births in alpacas are extremely rare.  So when I was invited back to see the entire alpaca herd being sheared I couldn’t wait to see how the little twins were doing.

Upon arrival, I was surprised to learn that little Meijo, who is considerably smaller than his sister and all the other “grown” alpacas, had lost an eye due to an infection. It doesn’t seem to bother him and he is still quite friently and incredibly curious about anyone entering the pen. He’s probably the same heighth as a large breed dog (think irish wolfhound) only considerbly fuzzier. Small enough to want to bundle him up in the car and take him home.  I still think he would do considerably well in my backyard.

Next it was on to watch the shearing. With a dozen or so people running around, the hum of clipping shears running nearly non-stop in the barn and the din of about 40 alpacas milling aobut outside of the barn doors, it was quite the noisy place. Two teams worked in alternate shifts – one would hold an alpaca down while being sheared while the other would bring in the next victim. Some seemed to take the process in stride while others bucked, fought and squealed like a bad fan belt on a cold winter morning throughout the entire process.

They use an ingenious system of pulleys and ropes attached to both front feet and both rear feet to get the animal lying down on the mat. Once the alpaca is settled, the clipper (the guy with the incredibly sharp shears) begins working moving down the alpaca’s belly, flanks and back in quick, successive strokes that leave the whole “blanket” intact. With only one guy running the clippers, he sheared about 40 alpacas with 3 or 4 hours – which works out to $300 or $400 per hour. It’s hot, sweaty, back-breaking work and he earns every penny.

I still haven’t figured out how to get Meijo in the car, but I’m working on it.

Here’s a link to the slideshow of a few pictures I took.