A:
2025 Alpaca Services offered and Standard Fees - Please note that
all pricing is subject to shearer discretion...
Farm Call/ Setup fee - $120 per farm and
$60 per additional setup on farm
Standard Full Body Cut - Our standard is a show quality cut; we remove blanket in one piece then shear the remainder of the animal - includes stovepipe legs, topknot and tail trim, and toenails - $40
Llama
shearing - prices are $50 for a full body cut, and $40 each for basic barrels.
If you have more
than a few top show animals that need special attention, please let us know.
Because special head cuts require quite a bit of extra time, we need to know
ahead of time if there will be more than 5 or 6 per location for a show string;
by shearer discretion there will be a $20 charge per head after the first five.
Teeth - Fighting and/or overgrown front teeth can be trimmed for an additional $15 per head.
Bulk rate discount - individual shearers have the ability to offer a discount.
Off season cria tipping is available as well as special pricing on herd health
checks with teeth and toenails. Thank you for understanding.
Farms that provide lodging will have their set up fee waived.
Oftentimes, the boys will need a place to crash, sharpen blades or just rest. If you can put them up at your farm, or someplace cheap, clean and local, the night before or after your shearing day, it saves quite a bit of time and expense as well as aggravation on our part. Accommodations need not be extravagant, showers and floorspace are their main priorities. Farms that feed them get extra bonus points ;-)
John Gunther, Micah Justice, Sardis Gunther and Mickey Gonzalez are our Master Shearers. All have a high standard and stand behind their work. If you have any problems, please contact us and we will do our best to make it right.
A: Because
i am scheduling for 6 independent but cooperative shearers, i usually post dates between 3 and 6 wks in advance... i hold back posting some
of the smaller farms and my younger shearers in order that we can go
through areas more than once and cover late schedulers and/ or rain
dates... it also helps me accommodate more of your special needs to wait
a week or so after first posting as i am almost always getting a few
calls about dates that won't work.... i will add a week or two's worth
of dates at a time every week, so checking the calendar is
essential... if you're not there yet, don't panic...
Generally the master shearers go through an area catching the biggest farms
first (we build the calendar around you guys, and by majority regional
preference) and then i fill in around the regions until their schedules are
packed... if you are new to us and have a small farm, or just contacted
me recently, i will fit you in as soon as i can... Please be
patient... most of our clients have been registered and waiting since
before January. Latecomers, reschedules and small farms will generally be added
to the younger crews schedules which are naturally posted a little later for
logic's sake... if
you got a confirmation email and a popup screen when you preregistered,
i will get you on the calendar...
i
am only human and occasionally i miss obvious mistakes or duplicate
farms... if any of you see something that makes no logical sense, or
see duplicate dates, feel free to call my attention to it via phone
call (if it's your farm) or a facebook note....if you see everyone around you
posted and you're not there, just drop me a note and i'll see if your
registration didn't go thru for some reason..
As always, expect a phone call from me a day or
so before your scheduled shearing date... i will be making adjustments in problem areas
or due to the circumstances we run into at farms, without disturbing
as much as possible. I will also ask that all of you be as flexible as possible
as the schedule progresses.... these guys have tight schedules and generally we
run pretty close or a little ahead, but understanding that each individual farm
has unpredictable situations, we truly appreciate it when the farms are able to
bear with us over slight delays, or allow us to start a little earlier in the
event of a cancellation or reschedule.
A:
No....i can only
guesstimate... i call every farm a day or so
before shearing to confirm your appointments...if we
have cancellations or special needs to accommodate, the order
of the farms may change.
if you have a specific
need regarding time that is inflexible, please let me know
in advance and i will do my best to accommodate your need.
Generally the posted dates are pretty final and the order is logical, but we
cannot predict the behavior of the farms before or after you and may have to
make minor shifts or adjustments before your date... please take this into
account when you are scheduling your help. my four man crews do not
require you to have tons of helpers, but if you have other scheduling issues,
let me know in advance and i will try to work with you.
A:All of our crews have experienced handlers who can do teeth for a separate fee. we use a toothamatic for front teeth, and fightamatics or ob wire for fighting teeth. if you or your vet would like to vaccinate, worm or do teeth while the animals are restrained, please be sure to let us know beforehand as this tends to slow down the process.
Any questions, comments or concerns, call me or drop me a fb private message ..also.... i get most of the final details worked out on the weekends, so most postings will be on monday or tuesday ...thanks for your patience..
A: If you intend to use your
fiber or sell it, we generally recommend vacuuming
with a shop vac or blowing with a leaf blower to get the
majority of VM (vegetable matter) out of the fleece
as essential, and this should be done the night before
shearing...
do not feed hay after you clean them as they are experts at
redistributing VM... dirt and grain are easy to shake or
pick out of a shorn fleece, not so VM... withholding food
and water for a few hours before shearing can make the
experience more comfortable for the animals as well as your
fiber handlers.... pee washes out easily, but you never want
to put wet fiber in a bag and leave it.... yucko..;)
please do not leave your animals locked up without water in
the summer heat though....obviously...
If you are preparing a fleece for show, you can pick out
chaff, etc, but vacuuming will disturb the lock structure
and is not recommended.
A:Our number 1 priority is that you have the
animals penned and dry, relatively close to the shearing area.
Most of the time the guys will find their best setup area,
we just need some cleared space...
If we
are shearing outside, you must provide a shaded area. Shearing in
full sun can cause heat stroke and death, especially in darker
animals. Access to electric and water is extremely helpful...
if it is raining or rain is expected, do your best to keep
your animals dry... worst case scenario we will try to
reschedule, but if you miss your date with us, i cannot
guarantee that my guys will come through your area again...
we do not cancel for rain.
If you are planning on doing shots or worming, having them
drawn up beforehand saves a bunch of time.
Having your plastic bags
marked ahead of time for fleeces, and baggies for fleece samples is also
helpful. If you want to be able to use or sell your fleeces,
please
A:
We
don't use drugs, (on ourselves or the animals...;-)) as this puts all
animals, especially the pregnant ones at risk. If you or your vet want
to give your animals something for anxiety, that is your choice, and we
will use the same precautions we use for all animals. we are not
veterinarians, please check with your vet or mentor farm for their
opinions on this subject.
A:
All of our crews will do small farms, however it is certainly more
cost effective to combine resources if possible.... we offer several
options to remedy this situation. some large farms don't mind small
farms coming to their farm and being a "hub" of sorts for their
area... if transporting your animals is not an issue, splitting the
setup with a larger farm and working within their discount rate will
be something to consider... we also send out our younger guys in two
man crews to cover the small farms, so one way or another, we can
probably help you.
