# Shearing question



## nsanywhere (Apr 6, 2010)

How difficult is it to learn how to shear a sheep? Something I should try, or call in a professional?

Also, when is it done? Determined by temperature, length of wool, before/after lambing, anything else?


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## miss_thenorth (Apr 6, 2010)

We are new sheep owners, and we are attempting it ourselves this week.  Our plan is to put them in the milking stand, and shear them, worm them, and trim their hooves.  My sheep are overdue--as they are rubbing their own wool off when they scratch themselves.  they are quite scraggly looking right now.

Being the do-it-yourselfers that we are, we couldn't even fathom paying someone to do it.


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## jhm47 (Apr 6, 2010)

We always had our sheep sheared shortly before lambing.  The ewes tended to lamb in a more sheltered spot, out of the wind when they were sheared.  It was also much easier for the lambs to find their teats and begin nursing.  We did lamb out a few "in the wool" ewes, and had one lamb that started to nurse on a wad of wool.  He refused to nurse on the teat at all, and returned to his private "wad" over and over.  We supplemented with milk replacer, but he struggled and struggled to get back to his wad, and eventually died.  

I did shear a few of ours from time to time, but found it much easier to hire it done, since the shearer also bought our wool.  My family used to take bets on whether the ewe or I would lose the most blood during the shearing.  It was usually pretty even.


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## aggieterpkatie (Apr 6, 2010)

It depends on if you want to be able to market the wool to handspinners or throw it away.  IMO, if you want to have a nice, marketable fleece, pay someone to do it.  I usually sheer my own, but I'm paying someone to do it this year since my blades are dull.  I usually don't sheer on the stand, I sheer on the ground like the "professionals".  It won't hurt to try it out with them on the stand though.


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## ksalvagno (Apr 6, 2010)

I think some things to consider are:

How many sheep do you have?

What is your weather like? Here in Ohio I noticed that the sheep around here are already shorn so I'm thinking March is when people tend to shear their sheep around here.

What are you going to do with the wool? It has to be shorn properly for handspinners to be interested in buying a fleece. Even if you are going to use it, you want it cut properly. Most handspinners would want a fleece that has been shorn so that it is in one piece.

Can the lambs find the teats ok? 

If you are going to have the wool processed by a mill, you need to find out the length that the mill requires. if your wool is too short or too long, then the mill machines have a hard time processing it.

Find some professional sheep shearers in your area and find out what they charge.

Are your sheep friendly and can be handled easily or are they never touched and just left out in pasture? You really don't want to be a novice at shearing sheep and try to shear sheep that are normally never handled. The shearing needs to be done as quick as possible if they aren't friendly.


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