Kensmyth “Haircut 100” at Clay Meadow – Alpaca breeding for 10 years

check us out on BBC One News Gloucestershire today – 4th May 2017 – live News feed

Nearly two weeks ago, when the weather was fantastic, we had our males shorn with a bit of a difference in order to celebrate our Alpaca breeding.

First of all I must say that this is a “one off” to celebrate our Alpaca business and the fact that this year will be our tenth group of Alpaca to be born to Kensmyth. The “blanket” is the best part of the fleece on the Alpaca so shearing in such a funky manner did mean that we lost a little of the best parts of the fleece this year but it is worth it. I must also say that my Alpaca males do not mind being shorn and it is not something I would try with my females! The boys love the attention and the girls are not so fussed. Plus with an 11.5 month gestation, the females are nearly always pregnant at shearing so you need to be as quick as you can to shear the pregnant girls!

We had the boys shorn early as this is something I wanted to do to promote my Alpaca Business and show people a more humerous side to Alpaca in times when Farming seems really low. I must emphasise that Alpaca are still a “wild” animal and that only castrated males are usually kept as “pets” –  I have only done this with Alpaca I know really well who were happy to have it done and who relish the attention they are getting!

As a breeding Alpaca farm, we do not have any castrated males and these funky cuts showcase the excellent fleece on my stud boys and their superb temperaments and conformation. They love showing off as you can see and yes, it will be coming off!