An Argument in Support of Shearing Crias
here are those who believe that alpaca (and llama) crias
should not be shorn. This belief appears to be especially strong among suri alpaca breeders. There are those who believe that crias
should be shorn. I am a proponent of cria shearing and this article attempts to explain why I believe that shearing crias is a desirable
practice.
Alpaca
breeders know that the finest fleece an alpaca will produce is its "cria" fleece (more correctly this fleece should be
called a hogget or yearling fleece). But, alpaca breeders have noted since the early days of the North American Alpaca industry that
cria fleeces tend attract excessive amounts of vegetation and other contaminants. Breeders also noticed that the tips of the fibers
were often a different color from the rest of the fiber. A common explanation for these phenomena is that the cria has been swimming
in amniotic fluid for eleven months. This explanation is wrong.
Alpacas and llamas are born with an epidermal membrane that covers the entire body. The purposes of the epidermal membrane
have not been fully determined though it does help the cria get through the birth canal. The epidermal membrane does not occur in llamas until
the last two months of gestation.[1] I contacted Dr David Anderson, then at Ohio State University, College
of Veterinary Medicine, to ask if he could tell me when an alpaca / llama fetus begins to grow its coat. Dr Anderson provided answers
from Drs Murray Fowler and Ahmed Tibary. Dr Fowler wrote: "The Epidermal Membrane is visible grossly from about the last two months
of gestation. It lifts off the skin at the time of hair development. Once formed, the hair coat is separated from the amniotic fluid by
the EM."[2] Dr Tibary notes that: "based on aborted fetuses we receive I can tell you
that we do not see any coat on 8 month old fetuses but 9 month old fetuses usually have some cover on the blanket and legs. So the coat
may start developing towards the end of the 8th month. At 10 months the coat is pretty obvious."[3]
When the follicles begin to produce hair, the hair is very fine - the finest, most delicate fiber the alpaca or llama will
ever produce. Then Boom! Birthday! That lovely soft fiber which has been protected by the epidermal membrane in the cria's sheltered world
of its mama's womb is now assaulted by the harshness of the real world. Because of the fineness, the tips of the fibers are especially
susceptible to damage through exposure to sunlight, rain, and dirt.
I haven't quite noodled out why the tips fade to a lighter color. Fading of tips is also common in hogget sheep fleeces (photo
above). It may simply be exposure to sunlight as can happen in human hair or it may be something more complex.
It is clear to me that these most delicate parts of the fleece are easily damaged by the cria doing normal cria things
like rolling in the dirt. If the first shearing occurs when the cria is a year old, the oldest, most delicate, tip-ends of the fiber are
fourteen months old and have suffered a year of abuse. It is the fineness and age of the tip-end fibers that gives cria fleeces their
Velcro®-like reputation and cause problems when the fleece is processed into a roving or yarn.
If you look closely at a lock of fiber that exhibits the faded tips characteristic you will often see that the tips are dried and damaged
and that they are locked to neighboring tips. You can often break these tips off in your fingers - it takes much less effort than breaking
healthy fibers.
I propose that the reason cria fleeces so readily attract vegital matter is because the tips, once damaged, are more capable of interlocking
with the surface scales of VM. So, in a sense, the damaged tips are essentially dry felted to each other and to the VM.
Individual fibers must be able to slip freely from the tangle of fibers fed into the picker, opener, and/or carder. When
the fibers don't slip free of the lock because the tip of the lock is bound, they break. Broken fibers will show up as neps or noils
in the roving. Also, because the tip of the lock is bound, it remains as a knot of fiber (sometimes rather large) as it proceeds through
the carder. Because it is a knot that won't slip free, it can be shredded by the swift as it carries the knot past a the worker / stripper
rollers. The shredded bits are additional neps that remain in the roving and ultimately in the yarn and finished sweater where they will
eventually come out as pills.
Most people don't do anything with the fleece shorn from a cria except to save it for sentimental reasons. Kim Upper at
Upper Alpacas in Roseburg, Oregon spins it. His
blog
describes how to do it.
[1] Fowler, Murray E. Medicine and Surgery of South American Camelids. 2nd Edition. pp. 399 et seq.
[2] Fowler, Murray E. Email communication to Dr David Anderson
[3] Tibary, Ahmed. Email communication to Dr David Anderson
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Last modified: 2020 Mar 25 2257:55 UTC