Pushme-Pullyu gets a new 'do

Kathy and Mike Hall started a new business almost three years ago because they wanted to get out of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and start a new lifestyle.

"We loved this area," said Kathy Hall. "It's a small enough town but we weren't ready to go way off the grid."

Their new lifestyle includes raising a herd of alpacas from four pregnant females to the present 28 animals on their Tahoe Breeze alpaca ranch on Orchard Road in Gardnerville.

"Alpacas have an 11-and-a-half-month gestation and can get pregnant again two weeks after they have a baby," said Hall. "We had the first baby a month ago. Fifteen babies are due by September."

Hall said many people show alpacas but the money is in breeding because alpacas are fairly new in the United States.

The goals of breeding are to improve the herd and the quality of their fleece.

"Alpaca is going to be popular because of the lack of the 'prickle' factor," said Hall. "People who can't wear wool find they can wear alpaca. It's very insulating - warm in winter and cool in summer."

Alpacas are members of the camel family and are indigenous to South America where they are raised for their fleece and meat. The Halls raise the huacaya breed of alpaca known for a wavy, teddy bear-like fleece.

Alpacas are shorn once a year, yielding about five pounds of fleece. After being cleaned, the fleece is spun into yarn.

Tahoe Breeze Alpacas is located on 12 acres in East Valley where the Halls grow their own hay. They hope to buy and sell many more animals in the future.

"White is the most common color for alpacas," said Hall. "We breed for size and fleece and others breed for color."

The process of shearing the alpacas is a three- to four-person operation. Tia Maria is a 7-year-old chocolate brown pregnant female who weighed 160 pounds. before and 155 pounds. after her shearing.

The shearing is done by Ann Kizer who shears her own Angora goats twice a year and keeps a herd of sheep in northern Idaho "near the Canada border." Kizer said she's been shearing alpacas for 10-12 years and sheared sheep for 20-plus years before that.

Kizer was the only one doing the shearing at the alpaca ranch June 5.

"The clippers are really dangerous - they're sheep-shearing blades," said Kizer. "With a good set-up, I could do four to five alpacas an hour."

Kizer took less than 15 minutes to give Tia Maria her cool summer 'do.

Tia Maria is stretched out on the floor of a rubber-padded enclosure with legs tied. One person holds her head, another person gives the animal a general check-up, another collects the shorn fleece while Kizer shears.

It's a good opportunity to give injections, trim hooves and check teeth while the alpaca is restrained.

Fleece shorn from Tia Maria's legs and neck will be used for blankets while the finer fleece from her back and belly will be used for sweaters, hats and gloves.

"We make little bags of fleece samples from each animal to be sent to the lab for laser scans to measure how thick and uniform the fleece is," said Mike Hall. "In the fleece business, that's the bottom line.

"Baby fleece is the finest while pregnant females give thicker fleece," said Mike Hall. "Younger males are the ones with the really nice fleece."

After the alpaca is shorn, the fleece is cleaned and turned into "rovings," which are used by spinners to make yarn. Rovings sell for $3 per ounce while fleece in its raw form sells for $1-2 per ounce.

"You could use every bit of fleece if you wanted," said Kathy Hall. "Some is used for blankets and some is thrown out for the birds to make nests from it.

"Alpacas are easy on the land," she said. "They don't pack the land down like horses. They nibble on grass instead of ripping it out by the roots.

"We're trying to build up the use of alpacas in the U.S."