CANADIAN CAMELID FIBRE CO-OP PRODUCTION GUIDE

Sort Your Fibre Like a Professional

You CAN do it with a little help from the fibre-testing lab!
By: Darryl Huddlestun CCFC Director/Education Committee

A little planning and pre-shearing work will allow you to sort your fibre in a way that will assure you the best dollar return possible.

The Canadian Camelid Fibre Co-operative (CanCam) hopes to provide our members with a quality controlled, economical alternative for the processing of their fibre. We offer this procedure as guidance so that you, our future members will be in a position to benefit fully through CanCam once we become fully operational. With fibre sorted this way, you can then sell it as raw fleece, have it spun by a mill and sell the yarn or add even more value and make or have garments and accessories made that you can sell.

To get ready to sort your fibre in a professional manner, there are just 3 things you SHOULD do prior to your shearing date:

1) Take two 2"x 2" fibre samples from each alpaca. Send one to the Yokom-McColl Testing Lab one month prior to shearing date. For your future reference place the other sample in a ziploc bag labeled with the animal's name, adding the micron/SD/CV/>30 details to the label upon receipt of the histogram. Over time you will have a complete set of micron samples for guidance.

2) With current histograms in hand, sort your clip on paper in sequence from light to dark colors and fine to course grades in each colour group.

3) Pre-clean your alpacas, pick, pick, pick and bang or carefully blow the dust out of their fleece. Avoid abusing the fibre, leave heavy contamination and discard at time of shearing. Vegetation that is confined to the tips of the locks will not likely be a problem. Vegetation that has worked deeper into the locks can result in a poorly processed product. The nape of the neck, or "bird's nest" is often very contaminated with vegetation; sometimes having multiple pieces worked deep into each lock. The 'bird's nest" and any other fibre with a like degree of vegetation should be removed and discarded. Please note CanCam will not be able to accept heavily contaminated fibre for processing. For further information refer to the Clip Care Guide in the CLAA Members Directory

Even if you feel you know nothing about fibre quality the micron test results will guide you while your hands learn to distinguish the difference in the "handle" of fleeces that fit within a given class. In time, you may choose to "downgrade" a fleece that does not have a good "handle" for its micron class, rather than go by micron alone.

The Canadian Camelid Fibre Co-operative recommends that you sort based on the following micron classes:

Royal Baby <20,
Baby 20.0-22.9,
Superfine 23.0-25.9: these first three classes can usually be worn against the skin.
Medium 26.0-28.9: is appropriate for garments worn over a shirt.
Course 29.0-35.0: is used for lined outerwear and rugs.
Strong >35.0: is often blended with wool and carded into batts for duvets and felted to line flower pots. It can also be used raw/loose as wall insulation.

Though you may be hesitant to blend different colours, CanCam will be asking that you sort your fleeces into 7 basic colours:

1. Natural White (no fawn or black spots!) - limited to pure white,
2. Beige - includes beige, light fawn and light fawn/white pinto,
3. Fawn - includes medium fawn and dark fawn,
4. Brown - includes light brown, medium brown and dark brown (maroon),
5. Rose Grey - includes light rose grey, medium rose grey, dark rose grey and brown/white pinto
6. Silver Grey - includes light silver grey, medium silver grey, dark silver grey, black/white pinto & streaky white/black
7. Black - limited to pure black.

CanCam hopes that by using these 7 basic colours, we will be able to collect sufficient amounts of like quality fibre to obtain the best possible volume discounts for processing.

For yarn, fibre shorter than 3" but at least 1 1/2" long (relaxed) can only be "wool" spun and so must not be mixed with longer fibre that is to be spun "worsted". Neck fibre and 1 year growth from older animals often belongs in the "wool" spun class.

Needed for Shearing Day:

-Warm/Dry weather, Patience & Sense of Humour
-1 shearer, 1 sorter and 3-4 helpers.
-Wire sorting table 4'x8' (if possible) with very good light over it.
-Large boxes marked with different micron classes to put the individual bags of sorted fibre from one color/one class in.
-Large plastic bags to sort various small lots into
-Pre-drafted Sort List
-ARI color chart
-Scale
-Felt Marker/labels/paper/pencil
-Broom/shop vac to clean table/floor after each alpaca is shorn
-Large garbage can/bags
-Grooming tool/willow stick or blower to bang/blow (carefully, never closer than 2') dust out of fibre immediately before shearing
-Blood Stop (just in case)
-Pre-cleaned alpacas shorn once every year & crias from last year

Try as much as is practical to shear in the order of your pre-drafted sort list. We suggest you review the Clip Care Guide published in the CLAA Members' Directory for further assistance.

If it is not possible for you to sort your fibre at the same time as shearing, it is IMPERATIVE that you do not contaminate the blanket (prime fibre) with skirting, neck, apron or leg fibre. Many animals' shoulders are also coarser than the blanket. We suggest that each blanket be skirted, placed in a bag & labeled for secondary sorting another day. Cotton bags such as old pillowcases work well. If using plastic bags, make sure to leave them open for a time to allow moisture to escape. Do not use old feed bags or other polypropylene bags or anything containing material that will shed into the fibre and contaminate it.

When sorting at the same time as shearing, always flip the blanket on to the sorting table shorn side down. This will encourage second cuts to fall out of the fleece. Pull skirting (lower edges) away and place these in the "Strong" lot. Keep the blanket fleece (or half of) intact whenever possible. Follow the same procedure for neck, apron, leg fibre and shoulders. Discard all lower leg hair and britch (under tail), second cuts as well as areas that are badly stained, have manure or are heavy with vegetable matter. Again, store the clearly labeled, properly bagged fleece in a clean, dry area, protected from pest infestation until ready to sell or ship. CanCam expects to provide more details on sorting, packaging and shipping when it commences its fibre collection process.

To summarize, you should aim to sort according to quality, staple length and colour. CanCam will want to group similar micron/hand fibre with similar length together for each of the seven basic colours. Remember, the more uniform the fibre, the better the quality of processing that can be achieved.

We know you will be pleasantly surprised at how much of the stress these methods will remove from the long, hard days of shearing. Think of the satisfaction you will enjoy knowing and seeing that you really can sort your own fibre in a professional manner to maximize its value.

SORTING

The production of great fleece starts long before shearing day or the sorting table. Please consult the Fibre Production Guide: General Information document and Shearing document for points and tips on maximizing fleece production before the actual sorting process takes place.

SKIRTING AND SORTING:

The goal is to keep like quality and similar lengths of fibre of one color from one fleece together while removing as much debris and contamination as possible.

The blanket (prime area) may be removed from the animal in one, two or more pieces, depending on shearing style and characteristics of the fleece.

The blanket may be shaken gently to remove excess debris and then should be placed on the sorting table, shorn (flesh) side down.

All areas with urine, dung, mud, or excessive vegetation should be removed and discarded.

Short fibre (1" and under) and second cuts are allowed to fall through the mesh to be discarded.

Any fibre showing signs of active insect infestations should be removed immediately and placed in an airtight bag or container to prevent possible contamination of other fleece.

All areas of the blanket containing coarser fibre* or shorter fibre* or fibre of a different colour* should be removed and placed with the appropriate portion of the rest of that fleece.

*Please consult CanCam's current sorting instructions to determine the micron classes and colour groups that are being used. There is no need to skirt off fibre that fits within the same micron, colour and length class as the main portion. For instance, if a sample from the blanket portion indicates an average micron of 17, there will be some fibre, likely on the edges of the main portion, that is coarser than the main part but will still fit into the under 20 micron class. If all of this fibre is between 3 and 6 inches, there is no need to remove any of it due to length. If it is varying shades of grey with black and white mixed in, it will all fit in the silver grey colour class.

BAGGING, WEIGHING AND RECORDS:

The staple length (relaxed) of the locks/staples can be measured and recorded. Fibre 3-6" is usually suitable for processing into a worsted style yarn. Fibre over 6" may have to be processed by a specialty mill or may have to be cut by a mill in a special machine before processing. Fibre from 2–4" is usually suitable for processing into a woolen style yarn. Mill requirements and facilities, losses due to short fibre and other factors, vary from mill to mill.

Any additional information such as animal name, species, Huacaya or Suri, length of growth period, crimp, lustre, handle, colour or fleece tenderness can be recorded along with micron count, if known and current.

The fleece from each animal can be weighed and the weight of the various qualities of fibre produced can be recorded. The weight of the collection bags, if weighed beforehand, can be deducted to determine the shear weight of the fleece. This information can be useful in tracking fleece growth patterns and changes and in examining possible correlations between husbandry practices and fleece production.

CanCam encourages all members to conduct basic on farm classing/grading and offers educational seminars to provide help in this area.

A secondary sort should be conducted on farm, either at the time of shearing or at a later date, prior to shipping to CanCam. Fibre from different animals but of similar quality, length and colour which is to be processed in one lot, is sorted, graded and combined for shipping to CanCam's designated collection depot. If you are not confident of your ability to do the secondary sort, you may omit this step for the Fall 2000 fibre collection. However, CanCam recommends attending a CanCam Sorting and Grading clinic or seminar, as basic quality control must start with our members at the farm.

Prime fleece should be handled gently to avoid pulling it into more pieces and should be placed in a properly labeled bag along with other prime portions of fleece of that colour, micron class, length and hand.

The remaining portions of the fleece can be turned onto the table, shaken and skirted to remove excess debris, checked for consistency of fibre quality, length and colour and then placed in the appropriate properly labeled bag.

Any fleeces showing dual coat characteristics (containing a large percentage of guard hair or secondary coarse fibre) can be improved by dehairing or removing the guard hair and/or coarse fibre. Some mills have dehairing facilities. This can also be done by hand before processing. Do not place fleeces having dual coat characteristics or heavy medulation in with fleeces that are relatively free of guard hair and medulation.

Huacaya fleece is usually processed separately from Suri or silky fleece; therefore keep these different types of fleece separate until processing decisions are made. At this time, Alpaca is processed separately from llama so these should also be kept separate.

CanCam likes to have fibre packaged in large, clear plastic bags, clearly labeled with the producer’s name, fibre type and quality, colour and weight. These bags can then be placed in cardboard boxes for shipping along with the appropriate CanCam forms.

Please consult CanCam's current Bagging/Boxing/Shipping Instructions for more details.