The biggest day of the year at the farm!

This past weekend was the biggest day of the year on the farm at LELF! Yes, bigger than Christmas around here...It was shearing day!! We sheared 19 (15 ewes, 4 rams) Shetland Sheep, 6 Alpaca (4 girls, 2 boys), and 2 (girl) Llama's! It took us 12 hours to get shearing done. We had talked about doing it ourselves but, instead decided to go with our favorite Shearer out of Ottawa, KS, Keith Delana. He came to the farm last year to do 5 Alpaca's for us. He is incredibly caring, and gentle with the animals. He is so informed, and knowledgeable on each one, and you can tell he is not only amazing at what he does, but loves doing it too! We started at 9:00 am, and finished at 9:00 pm! I also learned how to Shear our shetland sheep! Keith, sure made it look easier than it was. I had to learn to let the shears "float", I only nicked myself once in the thumb. That did not feel good! lol I had to continue to keep doing my best! I was so thankful to have such a great, paitent teacher with me on my first attempts. It was not our first shearing year, yet it's still always shocking to see how "tiny" the animals appear after being shorn! It was Stormy, our Cria (baby alpaca) first time being shorn she was so well behaved! I think she looks the most different before, and after!

Before:

Look at that gorgeous crimp, and fawn color of fiber!!

After:

The farm girls were such amazing helpers they certainly made the day go by smoother by lending the best helping hands!! Keith is really amazing with kids, he showed the girls how to make fun things from the leftover fiber around.

Keith, and Nick starting on one of our Studs, Puck! All 27 of our farm friends that were shorn this past weekend will be feeling much better as the temperatures continue to rise, and won't suffer from any heat strokes this summer! It is so important to do annual shearing each year for the health of the Alpaca, Llama's, and Shetland Sheep. We're very excited to be rich in lots of fiber, and wool. We will be making lots of Alpaca Dryer Balls, and begin making Wool dryer balls for those who are interested. Stay tuned for more wonderful Alpaca, and Wool products in our Shop.

For Annual shearing we not only shear, we also update everyone on their vaccinations, and hoof treatment. It's a good time to give a health evaluation, looking, and inspecting the animal up-close. We're happy to report everyone in wonderful, great health! Here are some more pictures from the BIG day! Here I am learning to shear our Shetland Sheep

Look how beautiful our guard Llama's look! Athena (white) and Princess (brown)

Look how skinny Alpaca girls look!

Thanks for reading! ~ Lots of Love, MJ