Terry McNamee
For the Beaver
It was a day of “shear” joy for the Silver Birch alpaca herd as they traded in their winter woolies for their new spring coats.
Saturday, June 15, was the annual shearing day at the farm, which is located in the south side of Greater Napanee in Hay Bay. A small army of volunteers were on hand to assist owner Cathy Musselman and professional shearer Melody MacDonald,who came from Campbellford to give the furry animals their annual haircuts.
Musselman said more than 20 volunteers, including family from as far away as Florida, came out to help with the event. It takes several people to put a single alpaca on a table and hold it still while its rich fleece is removed. The fibre is gathered up and bagged to be sorted and cleaned at a later date. The fleece is used to make yarn for blankets, hats, mittens and many other textiles.
“A day like this can’t happen without every single volunteer that’s here,” Musselman said.
Having a professional do the shearing makes for a quicker job and a better experience for the animals, who were clearly happy about their new, lightweight hairdos as they pranced back to their paddocks.
“Mel has been shearing probably for 15 or 20 years,” said Musselman, who added that she is in such demand, she has to be booked a year in advance.
In thanks for their help, Musselman provided breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as a souvenir mug with the farm’s logo and some chocolate treats inside for all those who came out to help.
Alpacas originated in the Andes Mountains of Peru, and their heavy coats are designed to provide protection from cold mountain winters. They have been used as domestic sources of fibre and as pack animals for thousands of years in their native land, and in recent years have become popular animals on small farming operations in Canada.
Musselman moved from Toronto to Hay Bay in July 2017, and by that October her herd of alpacas were in place. There are two types of alpaca, and her herd is made up of purebred award-winning, “huacaya” (pronounced Wuh-KAI-ya) alpacas.
“Moving out here is the best thing I’ve ever done,” she said. Both the neighbours and the people in the alpaca community have all been very friendly and helpful, she said.
Right now, Musselman has four breeding males and nearly a dozen females, with new baby alpacas, which are called crias, due next month. It’s a long wait to meet the new crias — the dams are pregnant for nearly a year before finally giving birth.
“They give birth on their own without any intervention,” she said, adding that alpacas are hardy, clean and friendly animals, and that their fibre is warmer than sheep’s wool and has a silky texture akin to cashmere. Musselman also shows her alpacas and has won numerous awards with them.
After the shearing is over, Musselman cleans and grades all the fibre, then sends it away to be spun into skeins of yarn. She is preparing to open a pop-up shop called La Tienda where she will be selling both yarn and finished products made from alpaca fibre along with fair trade alpaca products from Chile, Argentina, and Peru.
For more information about Silver Birch Alpacas or alpacas in general, visit the website www.silverbirchalpacas.com.