Summer Haircuts

Most people are eager to get a new shorter haircut for summer and our sheep are feeling the same way. This past Sunday we had our 4-H animals sheared. We do not shear our sheep ourselves because it can be a long and painful process if you do not use the proper technique or are not used to shearing often; it is a back breaker. Once a year we have our sheep sheared around May, shearing at this time means that their fleece will be the appropriate length for showing and it is not too long by the time lambing comes. 

Sheep Clippers

The morning before shearing the sheep are not given food or water. If sheared on a full stomach they can easily become uneasy and are more likely to kick and move around. This is dangerous as the electric clippers have very sharp blades that can cut skin and one wrong movement could mean getting an unnecessary cut. If this precaution is taken and you have a good shearer your animals should not sustain any major injury. Clippers are much more efficient than the traditional hand shears, but they also take special skills to use because they have fast moving sharp blades. Compared to hand shears the electric clippers are able to shear closer to the skin. Wet sheep also cannot be sheared, so if it looks like there is going to be any sort of precipitation they should be put somewhere where they can stay dry.

A lamb before shearing with very woolly legs and face:
a shearer's nightmare.

 Before the shearer arrives we halter all some animals and tie them up so we can quickly bring them to the shearer as we do not have a very efficient set-up in terms of fences and we only have 50 animals to be sheared. The remaining animals that are not haltered are placed in a small holding pen so they can be easily caught. 

We set down a piece of plywood for the shearing to take place on and gather bags and a broom to collect the wool with. 

Shearers have a specific technique to make their job as quick and easy as possible. Professionals can shear a sheep in under a minute. One record is 839 lambs in 9 hours. The 'Tally Hi' method is used by most shearers and originated in Australia. Using this method a shearer does not require the sheep to be tied up in any way but instead they use their arms and legs to hold and move the sheep in order to shear their whole body. Skillful shearers know how to make the process as comfortable as possible for the sheep with little stress. However it is not a good idea to shear ewes who are very close to lambing.

Here are some snapshots of our sheep being sheared.

Reasons for Shearing Sheep

• makes them more comfortable in summer. After shearing they can lose a few pounds of wool and it's easier for them to stay cool.
• a long fleece can easily become dirty and collect tags(manure) which is a breeding ground for parasites. During lambing the fleece can also collect blood and fluid from the placenta making it dirty.
• when lambing season is about to start it is nice to have a good view of the ewe's  udder and back end to see how much milk she is, how close she is to lambing and if there are any feet coming!
• lambs are able to obtain more heat from laying beside their mother if she has a shorter fleece. 
• vaccinating and treatment involving needles is easier because you don't have to push through a forest of wool to find skin to inject under.

Overall shearing is essential to the well-being of sheep (unless you have hair sheep which naturally shed). 

Our sheep are a meat breed and there wool is not especially valuable so we use it around the farm for things like insulation in our dog house. 

Even the best shearers make the occasional cut. We spray the cuts with Blu-Kote which is used on surface wounds, cuts, galls, hoof, foot and pad sores, chafes, abrasions, moist lesions and itchy fungal eczema. It protects against fungus and bacteria and helps the wounds heal. Some of the lambs now sport purple spots and they will for awhile since the spray doesn't come off easily.