Well, I mentioned that my list included Shearing Llamas so we would have the raw wool for Wooden Nichols Bird Nesting Balls. So I opted to do Scooter Pavo,who is the first one to get a haircut.
Note he is tied to a pole in the little chute, on a short leash, hence he can not turn and spit at me, and the narrow chute prohibits alot of movement. Making it easy to shear off his 3 year old coat of hair.
This is before I started of course, and below is the peanut gallery taking it all in, along with my photographer, Crystalie. 
Below you can see I start with shearing a swath down the back, and then work down both sides. This style is a barrell cut. 
As you can see I am not, Vidal Sasson, but I remove the wool as I cut, to keep it off the ground. Llama wool has only about 10% lanolin in it by weight, so I don't even get that oily like you would shearing a sheep. 
The last step is to trim his hooves, with a small nipper, designed for the task, removing off any extra hoove that is grown over his pads. This is something the llamas don't like very much, they tend to lean on you with all their weight. 
Here Scooter Pavo is all trimmed up and looking pretty good! 
A bag full of wool, that will make some little birds, very happy and also the shopper who buys the bird nesting balls. 
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Wow, he looks great!!