misfitmorgan
Herd Master
Firstly i would like to say...why are you shearing your sheep? It is to early in the year to shear sheep unless you have a warm barn your going to lock them inside of pretty much 24/7 until April. Generally if you have any over night temps in the 30s or lower you should not be shearing yet. Shearing to early can cause sheep to go into shock because of the immediate temperature shift. Another side effect is poor feed conversion and weight retention.
We have had crazy weather and it has been really warm a lot for this time of year but your still forecasting over a month of temps in the 30s or 20s overnight and almost 2 weeks of daytime highs in the 40s. How do you know when to shear your sheep? Basically if you can stand outside late at night or early morning almost naked for 15-20minutes a few nights/days in a row and not feel cold, then its time to shear. Most people who do not show sheep will not shear until April-June, in the northern half of the US.
All that aside....
Shearing just takes practice. Do not think your going to shear like the guys in the competitions. As far as i understand it those competitions are the fastest/best shearers from each country(who compete). Even the best shearers cut sheep, thats how it is, it is not something you really ever are 100% sure is not going to happen. Use a 13 tooth comb not a 9 tooth, you could even go as fine as a 20 tooth comb.
Something like this for a 13 tooth
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/spirit-shearing-comb?cat_id=37
Something like this for a 20 tooth
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/phantom-r-shearing-comb?cat_id=37
I will mention that the finer a comb the longer and harder it is to shear a sheep with. Pros use a 9 tooth generally because it is faster and easier to shear. I have heard rumors of a 7 tooth comb...dont know that it actually exists though. So why use a finer comb if it is harder to get thru the wool and takes longer? A finer comb makes it harder to cut a sheep, the 9 tooth comb has very large gaps between the teeth which makes it easy to get the buttery soft sheep skin between the cutter and comb hence cutting them. A 9 tooth also makes it easier to accidentally shear off a teat, belly button, pizzle, vulva, or ear....etc....yes it did/does happen. I would like to say it happens much less now then it used to but i think it may be more a fact of people being much more concerned with showing it these days then in past times.
Take your time, a few small nicks or cuts will happen and its ok if it does. I'm sure we would all the sheep included prefer if it didnt but you need to balance time spent stressing the sheep with the odds they will get nicked. Always keep blue kote on hand and a suture kit just in case, blue kote all nicks/cuts unless they are very large or deep. If you accidentally take a "strip" off, call a vet or take the sheep to the vet, it will need to be sutured or glued. Many will suture sheep on farm without any type of numbing agent, we would never choose to on a large area. DH has put in a suture or two about 3 times in his life when something went wrong.
Make sure you use plenty of oil on the combs and cutters and shearing head. You can hear the pitch/tone of the shears change when they have proper oil, you can also hear when they need more oil when you are shearing. Make sure your cutters and combs are sharp, and were sharpened correctly. Most people will send their comb/cutter sets out to be sharpened. Dirty sheep make dull combs quickly. Depending on the sheep we can shear 2-6 sheep before needing to swap combs/cutters. If you do not live in a particularly muddy place and do not feed overhead you should be able to get more sheep per set. If your speed is correct and your oiled properly and your comb/cutter are sharp shearing should feel something like cutting thru a stick of butter that has been out of the fridge for around 30 minutes give or take.
Hold skin taut esp around belly, brisket, legs....most cuts happen in those locations. Try not to pull on the wool, hold skin taut from an area that is already sheared if possible. Pulling on the wool and cutting towards the area your pulling on is almost a for sure way to pull the skin up enough to cut the sheep.
Unless your trying to shear professionally dont be to hard on yourself. DH takes 10-12 minutes to shear a sheep with a 13 tooth comb, thats a good time to aim for when doing a small number of large size sheep.
This is our Llama before and after he was sheared, you can also see the sheep before and after being sheared. The sheep that look grey are spring lambs, they have never been sheared and will not be sheared until the following spring.
The sheep are in the backround.
This is SH shearing....FYI never try to shear on MDF Board.
This is our big ram after DH sheared him
And this is kora after being "sheared"
...I'm joking of course i used clippers.
We have had crazy weather and it has been really warm a lot for this time of year but your still forecasting over a month of temps in the 30s or 20s overnight and almost 2 weeks of daytime highs in the 40s. How do you know when to shear your sheep? Basically if you can stand outside late at night or early morning almost naked for 15-20minutes a few nights/days in a row and not feel cold, then its time to shear. Most people who do not show sheep will not shear until April-June, in the northern half of the US.
All that aside....
Shearing just takes practice. Do not think your going to shear like the guys in the competitions. As far as i understand it those competitions are the fastest/best shearers from each country(who compete). Even the best shearers cut sheep, thats how it is, it is not something you really ever are 100% sure is not going to happen. Use a 13 tooth comb not a 9 tooth, you could even go as fine as a 20 tooth comb.
Something like this for a 13 tooth
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/spirit-shearing-comb?cat_id=37
Something like this for a 20 tooth
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/phantom-r-shearing-comb?cat_id=37
I will mention that the finer a comb the longer and harder it is to shear a sheep with. Pros use a 9 tooth generally because it is faster and easier to shear. I have heard rumors of a 7 tooth comb...dont know that it actually exists though. So why use a finer comb if it is harder to get thru the wool and takes longer? A finer comb makes it harder to cut a sheep, the 9 tooth comb has very large gaps between the teeth which makes it easy to get the buttery soft sheep skin between the cutter and comb hence cutting them. A 9 tooth also makes it easier to accidentally shear off a teat, belly button, pizzle, vulva, or ear....etc....yes it did/does happen. I would like to say it happens much less now then it used to but i think it may be more a fact of people being much more concerned with showing it these days then in past times.
Take your time, a few small nicks or cuts will happen and its ok if it does. I'm sure we would all the sheep included prefer if it didnt but you need to balance time spent stressing the sheep with the odds they will get nicked. Always keep blue kote on hand and a suture kit just in case, blue kote all nicks/cuts unless they are very large or deep. If you accidentally take a "strip" off, call a vet or take the sheep to the vet, it will need to be sutured or glued. Many will suture sheep on farm without any type of numbing agent, we would never choose to on a large area. DH has put in a suture or two about 3 times in his life when something went wrong.
Make sure you use plenty of oil on the combs and cutters and shearing head. You can hear the pitch/tone of the shears change when they have proper oil, you can also hear when they need more oil when you are shearing. Make sure your cutters and combs are sharp, and were sharpened correctly. Most people will send their comb/cutter sets out to be sharpened. Dirty sheep make dull combs quickly. Depending on the sheep we can shear 2-6 sheep before needing to swap combs/cutters. If you do not live in a particularly muddy place and do not feed overhead you should be able to get more sheep per set. If your speed is correct and your oiled properly and your comb/cutter are sharp shearing should feel something like cutting thru a stick of butter that has been out of the fridge for around 30 minutes give or take.
Hold skin taut esp around belly, brisket, legs....most cuts happen in those locations. Try not to pull on the wool, hold skin taut from an area that is already sheared if possible. Pulling on the wool and cutting towards the area your pulling on is almost a for sure way to pull the skin up enough to cut the sheep.
Unless your trying to shear professionally dont be to hard on yourself. DH takes 10-12 minutes to shear a sheep with a 13 tooth comb, thats a good time to aim for when doing a small number of large size sheep.
This is our Llama before and after he was sheared, you can also see the sheep before and after being sheared. The sheep that look grey are spring lambs, they have never been sheared and will not be sheared until the following spring.
The sheep are in the backround.
This is SH shearing....FYI never try to shear on MDF Board.
This is our big ram after DH sheared him
And this is kora after being "sheared"
...I'm joking of course i used clippers.
It is nice for them to be able to see.
