Shearing

3/25/2008 3:52 pm

Tom and his son Mike shear young rams

Shearing is a campaign of crossed fingers and logistics that begins long before the day the wool is sheared from the sheep. Shearers get busy in the spring; everybody wants their sheep sheared then. In mid-January I called Tom, who has been shearing my sheep for the last 10 years, to reserve a day for him to come to the farm. We agreed on Tuesday, March 18th. By then the cold days of winter will have come and gone. The sheep have been kept warm by their fleece that has grown to 3" in length in the 12 months between shearings and now weighs about 10 lb. Also we must shear before lambing in April because it will be easier for newborn lambs to find the teats of shorn ewes.

The sheep cannot be sheared when wet, their wool would mildew in the storage bags. We never know if it will rain on the day of shearing until then.

Last year we sheared outside, but shearing day came in a rainy week. Luckily I was able to reschedule Tom for a sunny day the following week; and as importanly, I managed to reschedule the shearing crew who handle the sheep and wool on shearing day. A good, experienced crew makes the day go well for sheep and wool: Mark gets the sheep to the shearing board; Dominique picks up the shorn fleece from the shearing board and skirts it (removes the soiled wool) with Chris who stuffs the skirted fleece into a wool bag and sweeps the shearing board between sheep.

This year we will shear in a barn; rain should not be a factor. The flock is 100 sheep larger counting the lambs born last spring; Tom will bring his son Mike to shear too. Mark, Dominique and Chris will be back again and Ryan will drive up from the city to help out. Things look good.

Tags: Shearing

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