# Shaving sheep...not fun



## secuono (Apr 4, 2012)

Well, that was a fail. Cut her w/the power shearer and the hand one. So, now I'm looking for someone to just do it for me...lol. 
I'll get a pic of her, cus she looks hilarious.


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## SheepGirl (Apr 4, 2012)

We have Emily Chamelin shear our sheep. She does MD/VA/PA/OH, so she will probably come out to you. She charges $75 for a farm call + $5/head and we have been pleased with her work.

These are the purebred Babydolls...look at how nice they look (no cuts, no sloppy shearing job)! This was last year.


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## secuono (Apr 4, 2012)

Ugh, $90 for shearing...guess I'll just suffer and make them all look ugly as I learn. Ewe was fine except when I pinched or w/e. 
How do you hand shear anyway? Doesn't seem easy unless there's small strips of clean wool and you get to the clean stuff, no dirt blocking.


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## SheepGirl (Apr 4, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> guess I'll just suffer and make them all look ugly as I learn.






			
				secuono said:
			
		

> How do you hand shear anyway? Doesn't seem easy unless there's small strips of clean wool and you get to the clean stuff, no dirt blocking.


Emily also hand shears, and she does it the same way as she uses the electric shears. She actually won the hand shearing competition at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and got on the national hand shearing team and went to New Zealand to compete.

She hand sheared my ewe (in my avatar) this past September at the fair for a demonstration. She did cut her and my ewe looked bad (because that's just the look hand sheared sheep have, it's not all neat like electric clippers), but I thought it was pretty cool. 

Here's a video of her hand shearing a sheep:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L62EmEsacEY

ETA: In the video, she talks about how to hand shear a sheep and the process she goes through.


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## Remuda1 (Apr 4, 2012)

That was a great video! Thanks for posting it.


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## secuono (Apr 4, 2012)

I don't get how she is not stabbing or cutting the skin. My shears are new and sharp, but they don't cut so well like she makes it look.

Also can't sit the sheep, they can't seem to breathe, and since I'm not fast, it's more iffy to have them sit or laying. 

The sheep look like lambs when hand sheared, looks nice!


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## nomad (Apr 5, 2012)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> She hand sheared my ewe (in my avatar) this past September at the fair for a demonstration. She did cut her and my ewe looked bad (because that's just the look hand sheared sheep have, it's not all neat like electric clippers), but I thought it was pretty cool.
> 
> Here's a video of her hand shearing a sheep:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L62EmEsacEY
> ...


When we first started raising sheep, we had some Dorset and Cheviot.  I took it upon myself to do the shearing (both with hand shears and later with Oster clippers).  I had developed my skill to the point of only being 44 minutes and 30 seconds behind the world record (is that snickering I hear?).   It is nice to watch those who have mastered their craft.  

SheepGirl,  

Thank you for the link.  It was fun to watch.

These guys are amazing in my opinion (I can't even comb my hair that fast):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ6U9wNh9cY&feature=related


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## Cornish Heritage (Apr 5, 2012)

> I had developed my skill to the point of only being 44 minutes and 30 seconds behind the world record (is that snickering I hear?).


ROFL! I love to watch the professionals shear sheep - they make it look so easy. It is hard work & they deserve every penny they get. HOWEVER that is one of the reasons we got into hair sheep - I did not want to spend money each year on shearing as I knew there was no way we were going to do it!

Hope your shearing practice gets better 

Liz


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## TeamChaos (Apr 7, 2012)

I am new new new to shearing but I have the best luck by taking all the "dirty parts" first, then I let the sheep up and I change out my blades. I was really intimidated by moving my sheep to shear them, but any cuts we've had have been when the shearers weren't in control of the sheep's body. When I "roll the sheep loaf", I'm quicker and safer than if they stand or I try to restrain them when they are standing. I like to do my shearing first thing out of the pen in the morning, so every body is hungry. I've tried hand shearing and I feel like I have to be a lot more experienced with handling them before I'll be safe and efficient at it.


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