I have had my shearing date scheduled since February. I was scheduled for tomorrow the 28th of May. We were hit last night with a torential down pour and then I think some of my alpacas decided to roll in the dirt after they were soaked. Of course they couldn't stay in the nice dry barn. I have canceled my shearing appointment because there is no way that I can have them even semi clean and dry before Wednesday. I am wondering if I should try and hand shear them if I have only seen it done and have never tried it or taken a class. I can get my shearer back up near the end of June but will have to pay the entire fuel cost and I have 2 girls due with crias at the beginning of July. I'm not sure that I should shear them that close to their due date? If I choose to try it myself, would it be better to use the manual shears or try the electric? These might seem like silly questions but I reall am in a quandry about this. The funny thing is when I went down to attend to chores this morning and found them all dirty, they were all lined up at the fence humming at me like naughty children caught in the cookie jar. How can you be too upset with that? Paula
