[Jacob-list] Sheep shearing question......

[Mary Hansson]

Hi all,
 
When I had less than 25 sheep, I was doing it myself and never considering hiring a shearer.  I did the shearing when I wanted, when the sheep needed it, and didn't need to bother locating one.  I have used Kevin Ford who travels to our area of the country in the months of February and March for the past several years.  This year, he did my 50 in about 2/3 of a day and finished off my friend's 15-20 or so sheep to finish off the day.  Shearers want enough business to warrant their time and effort doing "house calls".
 
Chris---I don't know if Kevin would come as far afield as your B&B, but it is definitely worth the time tracking him down to ask the question as he is a name and phenomenon in himself.  That said, Neal and Louise have a shearer (John if the name is correct from several years back when I went and helped out at their shearing day) that is more in your neck of the woods and may be well-known to the local spinners.
 
As far as shears.....  I purchased the Ball and Burgeon shears (hand blades) and have used and used and used them.  The skill of clipping fleece off of sheep is an excellent one to know.  The first sheep a friend and I ever sheared took 2.5 hours----and he looked like a dream when we finished with him.  Granted, we didn't leave any of those million second-cuts (that made us feel so much better with such a neat-appearing sheep) in his spinnable fleece.  I am down to about 15-20 minutes per sheep at the beginning of a season, and have cut that time down to about 10 minutes when doing 20-25 during the few weeks I have taken to do that job.  One or two sheep per day shorn isn't much and is certainly do-able for just about anybody.  The fleece does not have to come off in one piece to be washable and spinnable into yarn.  The position of the sheep during shearing isn't terribly important either.  They stand well and are at a perfect height if you plop them up on a fitting stand that the
 sheep showers use.  After they lop themselves off the side a time or two and realize that maneuver will make their neck very uncomfortable---they stop and stand pretty still for the duration.  I have only experienced one sheep knocking the entire stand over and taking off with it.....and that sheep REALLY didn't want to be shorn.  She was a piece of work, but did get shorn despite her protests.
 
My advice to the person with 3 sheep that is still waiting for somebody to come shear them......get a pair of plain old kitchen scissors, get a friend and halter to hold the sheep still, and start in on the project.  If you do even 1/3 of a sheep each day, you will have all 3 done inside 2 weeks.  If you get a third person to videotape the sessions, I can almost guarantee you that you could win big money (that will pay for several years hay and feed by the way) on those "best home video" shows.  You will have stories to remonstrate with family, friends, and acquaintances alike for years to come.
 
Mary Ellen




Mary Ellen Hansson, MEd, RD, LDN
ISeeSpots Farm
Jacob Sheep:  Lambs, adults, wool
www.iseespots.com
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