Alpaca Fleece

Alpaca fleece is the most exciting part of our Business second only to the animals themselves. Fleece is the hair of the Alpaca. It is also refered to as fiber or fibre.

Suri and Huacaya fiber is different in looks and character. Our ranch/farm has only Huacaya Alpacas. Therefore, Suris will be discussed only briefly.

Shearing is the removal fleece from the Alpaca. This is usually done once a year in the spring. Shearing an Alpaca is very similar to shearing sheep. You may choose to shear your own animals or hire someone to do this for you.

The herd owner may choose to sell their fiber to a Cooperative . Some ranches keep and sell or use the fleece themselves. If your herd is large enough you can do both.

Alpaca Fiber contains no Lanolin. It does not have an oily feeling like sheeps' wool. Therefore, it does not need to be washed before working with it.

Rough Alpaca fiber is great for felting . It can be easily hand cleaned and used for many dry felting techniques. It also works great for wet felting. During the process of wet felting it is washed.

Roving is fiber that has been hand cleaned and combed. The process of combing is called "carding".

You can hire someone to card your fleece for you. If you card your own fiber you will need to purchase hand carding paddles or a drum carder.

Some felters like to purchase roving instead of rough fiber because the basic cleaning and combing is done for them. Spinners may also prefer roving so they do not have to card the fleece themselves. Roving does cost more than rough fiber.

Many herd owners will sell neck and leg fiber for a cheaper price than the prized blanket or back fleece. How much Alpaca fleece you sell will depend on your location and access to your customers.

Quality Fleece , Shearing Alpacas , Alpaca Fiber Coop , Alpaca Roving , Felting Alpaca Fiber ,

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