Sheep Blankets for Alpacas
Protecting the integrity and cleanliness of wool is a primary concern to any breeder of
fleece producing animals. Sheep breeders understood this a long time ago and resolved the
issue by blanketing their finest breeds. These blankets have proved to be an effective
means of keeping vegetable matter from infiltrating into the blanket area, thereby
decreasing the amount of wasted or damaged wool. The consequences are obvious: greater
usable production and greater profits are reaped from the small investment of dressing an
animal in a cover.
If this makes sense in the sheep
industry, why shouldn’t it make even more sense in
the alpaca business where this animals’ fleece fetches far higher prices? For 15
dollars per sheep cover, I thought it was worth the try. Tired of seeing my alpacas
gradually getting dirtier over the winter hay feeding season, I wanted something that
would enable me to protect the cleanliness and integrity of the fleece while not impinging
on the freedom of movement of the animals and, at the same time, achieve this with a
minimal amount of effort on my part. The covers accomplished all three objectives
superbly.
Thanks to the blankets, my alpacas’ fleece remained virtually free of any vegetable
matter throughout the blanket area. The base of the neck however still collected its usual
mound of waste. This could be resolved by putting hoods over the animals entire neck and
face area as some sheep breeders do with their show animals. I decided not to do this as I
usually do not process this lower quality fleece and prefer grooming the neck before
shows. The quality of an animal’s fleece not being judged by its neck
fleece, I
don’t mind if the wool is dirtier there or perhaps slightly damaged by grooming
sessions.
The sheep covers also proved themselves effective in protecting the fleeces from sun and
urine bleaching. This became particularly important to me as a fair amount of my animals
are of darker colors and therefore susceptible to the powerful UV rays of the New Mexico
sun. The covers enabled me to produce fleeces that retained the same coloring from root to
wool tip. The covers also revealed themselves surprisingly useful in helping the darker
colored animals retain lower body temperatures during hot weather. Several studies have
been performed by the sheep industry revealing that covers actually assist in keeping a
lower body temperature. Sheep with blankets have been seen comfortably resting under the
mid-day sun while un-covered sheep seeked shelter under the shade of trees. I believe this
would be particularly true in hot and dry climates rather than in hot and humid
regions.
When removing the blankets, I discovered that the fleece would be pressed and compacted
but not matted. A blower quickly reopens the fleece into a more natural volume while not
damaging the crimp in any way. Grooming time is therfore cut to a minimum while negative
impact on the fleece’s crimp is virtually nil. Time and money saved on
grooming,
cleaning products and aggravation to the animal are in and of themselves more than enough
justification to use the blankets.
My usage of blankets is not a year-long affair as the fleece does not need to be protected
as aggressively throughout the seasons. Usually, Winter and late Spring have been the
seasons during which my animals wear this protective blanket as their wool is longer and
their feed intake is mostly dry hay which has been, in my experience, the worst fleece
polutant. After Spring shearing, my alpacas are "au-naturel" as their coats are
short and they graze in clean pastures where they are unlikely to damage their
coats. Only
in the Fall, when I begin supplementing their diet with hay, do I start dressing them in
coats again.
A peripheral but not negligeable benefit of the coats is the effect on the alpaca
itself.
The animal becomes more accustomed to being handled more often as the breeder regularly
checks for proper fitting. Legs, especially hind ones, get touched more than usual and the
alpaca becomes more aware and accepting of full body handling as it is dressed and
undressed for regular check-ups. Finally, the alpaca is no longer abused by grooming
routines before shows or shearings, thereby eliminating a negative interaction with
humans.
The ultimate test of the blankets’ usefulness
is, however, the fleece itself.
Blanketing my animals has proven to produce cleaner fleece, cause less waste and fewer
fiber- processing steps which in turn have led to higher quality, greater productivity and
finally, greater financial returns.
Not bad for a fifteen dollar investment!
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