Goode View Alpaca farm invites community out to see alpaca makeovers

In Bedford County, a special event comes only once a year for residents of a farm in Goode.

And while they might not look like your typical farm family - they're inviting the whole community to get to know them.

The Beck family drew quite a crowd Friday, to see something- foreign to most Virginian farms: a herd of alpacas.

At a Goodviewe Alpaca farm, the good view today is front and center to see shearers give the 21-member herd a much needed makeover.

While the process looks intense and not every alpaca likes having its hair cut, the shearing process readies them for summer's heat.

The shearers lay them out and strap them in - while their alpaca comrades look on. Then they get to work shearing - collecting up to a dozen pounds of fiber per alpaca. Two shearers come all the way from Australia for the process, making their way up the east coast, visiting farms along the way.

"I kinda felt bad," said one youngster looking on. "But I don't think it hurt very much for the alpacas because they're so fluffy I don't think they can even feel it."

Then the naked alpaca dashes away after shearing - ready with its summer bod.

"Mostly just looks like a sheep with like a giraffe neck!" said another youngster.

Throughout the morning, more and more vehicles line the street outside the Beck farm. Families arrive down the hill to watch the process - most lured in by the Facebook event.

This has become tradition at the farm.

The Beck family, reformed city folks from Philly, want to show these families, kinds in particular, what the alpaca life is all about.

"Most of the time they're sitting in the house playing a computer game, this way they get out they get fresh air, they see what a farm is about," said Jimmy Beck.