OUR SMALL HERD

Our original four boys came from Ardo Alpacas in Aberdeenshire. We are not alpaca breeders and have our boys purely as pets. Our experience is that you don't need to be a breeder and that a 'batchelor herd' can give much pleasure to the owner. We have 5 acres including our big garden and grazing for the boys, 15 miles north of Inverness, Scotland. I spin, knit, felt and crochet with the fleece from the boys.

Clicking!!

Just a reminder that clicking on (most) of the photos will show them greatly enlarged.

Sunday 14 July 2019

Shearing time again.

The boys always know when something unusual is going to happen in the paddocks because the humans start shifting gates and hurdles around.  They hang around looking concerned and wondering what is going on.
Fyta and Faro know that if the hurdles are being shifted then there is every possibility that they will end up in the catch pen for something - maybe nail trimming, maybe haltering - and maybe shearing! We've had these boys for 12 years now so they know what to expect.
Fergus is a pretty laid back kind of guy who will let other herd members make the decision and he will follow them.  Being sheared isn't his favourite pastime however so he likes to scream a bit!
Today, the morning of the shearing and the boys are waiting the arrival of the shearer - real anticipation showing on their faces now as the catch pens are waiting to hold them.
Number two on the shearing list is Fyta who is shown here being sheared by James Dixon who has sheared varying numbers of alpacas for us over the past 11 years and always makes a great job of it.
And finally..............Faro was first on the shearing list as always, and also had his teeth attended to so I guess a mouthful of hay is welcome to take the taste of the dentist away!

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