We are having an unseasonable heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest with temperatures running in the upper- 70′s to mid- 80′s F. for part of last week and predicted to last until the weekend. It’s even warmer in the foothills, up to 92 degrees out by Darrington, WA, reported by Squire Creek Alpaca Ranch who are shearing this weekend. Last year in June, we were calling it “June-uary” because was nearly cold enough to snow. Since it doesn’t usually warm up this early, everybody is anxiously awaiting their shearing date so the alpacas don’t get overheated.
Our shearer, Brian Schreiber, was scheduled well ahead of time for June 13-14, but we recently learned that he is getting out of the business and has turned over his shearing calendar to somebody new in the business. To make matters worse, my agisting farm has been playing phone/email tag with the replacement guy, which is worrysome. The soonest we could schedule another shearer with a good reputation to come out to the farm is in mid- July.
Another impact is on breeding and late-term pregnant females. Herdsire owners are reluctant to risk overheating their males by breeding them in full-fleece during the heat wave, causing breeding dates to get pushed back. And I’m starting to worry about Bailadores, who is due to give birth July 11th. If she gets too stressed from the heat, it could cause her to go into labor prematurely. We will be looking for creative ways to keep the alpacas cool, such a setting up a sprinkler set on low for them to get their legs and bellies wet.
*UPDATE*: It appears that through much negotiations, my agisting farm has found an excellent shearer, Ann, who can come on June 14-15th. Now if we can just keep the alpacas cool enough through the end of this week, the temperatures hopefully will be more reasonable, we can get everybody sheared, and set up for their breeding dates.
