How are they shorn?
This is best done annually after the sheep are shorn to avoid any risk of fibre contamination. They can be restrained easily on their side by leaning on their neck with another person holding the rear legs in a similar way that calves used to be branded. If many are being shorn it may be easier to use ropes with slipknots positioned just above the pasterns near each foot. The alpaca can then be stretched preferably with each pair of legs separated by a 45cm (10cm by 5cm thick) board. They can be shorn with conventional shearing equipment but a variable speed hand piece with a flexible cord is more convenient for shearing large numbers.
