Why couldn't I manage it as well as anyone else with a bit of practise? We used to get a retired shearer to do ours 75 and I had a go doing a full belly crutching once without cutting anything off or them bleeding much at all as we have a plant that came with this place,I'm sure you would do a good job just go slow but I hate "white wooly ground lice" Still, so there Stu mate now a mate does them and now lives next door. I haven't seen that yet, I have seen some one cut through a tendon when dagging.
I put a tear in my pet sheep's neck with the hand shears, looked terrible, but didn't bleed. If you get the right teacher, then I can't imagine they are going to let you do anything stupid. The one thing with electric shears the plug in ones, not the proper mounted ones is how easy it is to forget where the power cord is.
NZ has lost a fair amount of good people to electrocution this way. I never managed to electrocute myself but talking to onlookers, it turns out I have been close[xx ]. Sign up for my monthly newsletter! Get all the latest news along with practical tips and expert advice. Calculators Vet talks Expert advice Ebooks Fun stuff. Log in Login. Log in. Remember Me Forgot your password?
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Remember me. Forgot your password? Forgot your username? Start Prev 1 2 Next End. Shearing my own sheep?? Worth it??? LongRidge Away Posts: Thank you received: Good exercise for the heart is to bend down and help someone up. Inger Offline Posts: Thank you received: The first step in this process is to position your sheep.
There are five main positions you will use throughout the duration of the process so that you can reach all areas of the sheep. Her legs will be up in the air and her belly will be exposed. Be as gentle as possible while you are working with her. She is already stressed, and the rougher you are, the more she will fight you. The belly gets sheared first in this original position. Use long strokes, shearing the wool from the breastbone to the flank area.
Next, you can shear inside the hind legs as well as near the crotch. This may or may not be usable wool. To do this, lean forward and draw the shears along the inside of the right leg. Remove the wool along the crotch. Turn around roughly so your knee is in front and the right foreleg is between your legs. This will expose the left side for shearing. You should shear from the left hind leg, beginning with the hoof and working slowly back toward the rear.
Next up is the neck, chest, and chin of your sheep. Gently grasp the sheep underneath her chin and use your hand to stretch her backward.
Draw your clippers toward the neck, stopping just below the chin. Now you need to shear the entire left shoulder. You might need to reposition the sheep and balance your weight to give you better access. The shoulders can be some of the trickiest places to shear, since they tend to be quite wrinkled. Use your free hand to gently pull the skin tight. While you shear, work upwards toward her shoulder.
You should be able to clear everything in just a couple of blows. Last but not least, you need to shear the back and right side of your sheep.
This is why it is a good place to start. Make your first blow on the right hand side, your second on the left, then shear off the wool in between. Make sure the first and second belly are set wide enough apart. This will make the rest of your job easier down the line. Shear the inside of the hind legs and crotch. The next step is to the wool from the inside of the hind legs and the crotch.
To do this: [8] X Research source Lean further forward still holding the sheep firmly between the knees and bring the shears up along the inside of the right leg. Then bring the shears across to remove the wool along the crotch. This blow may need to be repeated to ensure all the wool is removed. Now run the shears down the inside of the right leg. The most important thing to be aware of here is the ewe's teats. It's advisable to cover the teats with your left or non-dominant hand to prevent yourself from accidentally shaving them off.
Change position and shear the left hind leg and tail. Turn approximately 90 degrees so that your right knee is in front of the brisket and the sheep's right foreleg is in between your legs and her left side is exposed.
Shift your right leg a few inches backwards to gain better access to the sheep's tail. Position the comb of the shears so it will enter the wool at the top of the tail. Make a blow from the top of the tail upwards along the backbone. Repeat once or twice to clear all the wool from the tail. Since you have easy access to the sheep's head in this position, you can take this opportunity to shear the topknot of fleece from the sheep's head, if necessary. Shear the chest, neck and chin.
Before you continue, you will need to move into the third position. To get in position: [11] X Research source Place your right foot in between the sheep's hind legs and your left foot at the base of her spine, holding her body firmly between your knees.
Use your left hand to grab the sheep below the chin and stretch her head backwards. Bring your clippers from the brisket towards the neck, ending your blow just below her chin. This is one of the most satisfying parts of the process, as it feels like you are "unzipping" her fleece. Continue to make long parallel blows along the left side of her neck, ending first beneath her eye and then beneath her ear. Use your left hand to hold her ear back so you don't nick it.
Shear the left shoulder. Shift your weight and maneuver the sheep slightly, so you have better access to her left shoulder. As the skin on the shoulders can be quite wrinkled, use your left hand to pull the skin taut.
This will make your blows a lot smoother and help you to avoid nicking or cutting the sheep. Starting from her left knee, shear upwards towards her left shoulder, using one or two blows to clear the wool. You should also use this as an opportunity to clear the wool from the inside of her left foreleg. Change position and start shearing along the sheep's back. Move into the fourth position by sliding the sheep down along your shin until she's lying on her right side.
Keep your right foot between her hind legs and your left foot under her shoulder. Now it's time for the long blows, which extend all the way along the sheep's back. Position the shears at her tail and make a long straight blow all the way to her head, staying parallel to her spine.
Continue making these blows along the back until you've gone one blow past the backbone and her entire left side is cleared of wool. Change position and shear along her right side. Now it's time to move into the fifth and final position. Swing your right leg around so you're standing upright with the sheep's nose between your knees.
Shear along the right side of the sheep's head, neck and shoulders, using three or four separate blows. Remember to use your left hand to hold the wrinkly skin around the shoulder taut. Once the neck and shoulder are cleared of wool, shear the wool from her right foreleg, from the shoulder to the toe. Next, make a series of diagonal blows along the sheep's flank to clear the wool from this side. Use your left hand to put pressure on the sheep's right shoulder joint to keep her steady.
Shear the right leg and hindquarter. The last step is to shear the wool from the sheep's right leg and hindquarters. Shift your right foot forward slightly so you can reach and place your left hand on the sheep's right flank, applying firm pressure. This forces the sheep to keep her leg straight making it easier to shear while also stretching the skin. Shear in a curved motion from the sheep's flank to her right hind leg.
When the leg is cleared, make the final few blows to clear the last of the wool from the sheep's hindquarters. Congratulations - you've sheared your first sheep! Skirt and roll the fleece. Once the sheep has been sheared, you will need to skirt and roll the fleece if you plan on selling the wool.
Skirting means removing any dirty or "incidental" wool which is not valuable and therefore not used for selling. To skirt the wool, place the fleece flesh-side down on a flat table or other surface. Spread it all out til it forms a single layer. Like it or not the ewe is only half of the genetics of her own lambs. The overall genetics of the flock improve faster if you use great rams. The ram cost varies considerably. Ewes should be in good shape and on the younger end of things like years old.
Ewe lambs will be more of a challenge since they do not always breed to lamb at a year, so you will keep them and get no return your first year. Once again, quality pays. Consider getting sheep from a flock on NSIP. These gals will know how to take care of a lamb and should still have a few productive years left before getting culled. The advantage to an older ewe would be lower cost of getting started in sheep and gals who have repeatedly proven their worth as breeding stock.
Just make sure they are bred and in good shape if you are considering an older group. Many people assume that registered is also high quality, maybe, maybe not. Make sure if you are paying for registered sheep you are getting more than just a sheet of paper. No matter what sheep you choose, you should be getting a flock that is the result of years of selection for great sheep that will make your sheep business a pleasure. The biggest yearly cost for keeping sheep is feeding them, with the highest costs per day usually coming in the winter non growing season and the lowest costs per day when the flock is on pasture.
We pasture our sheep as much as we can however in our area of Ohio we still get a winter hay feeding season. Usually this number is a little high, but since you never know the price of hay until you get to the time to buy it!
Better to plan a bit of extra money so you can be sure your budget will last as long as the winter does! Grass is not free , if for no other reason than you could be doing something else with your land.
For this article I am leaving out the cost of the land, figuring that you already have access to potential grazing, unless you have to pay someone else to use it. Fencing is another area of getting started that will depend upon your situation, if you have fence already good deal. You are a lucky one!
However, if you have single strand electric or high tensile fencing you will probably need to do something else to keep in your flock.
Getting netting to start pasturing your sheep is the least expensive way to get started with new fence. I like to have enough netting so that you can set up the next section of grass without letting out the sheep.
For the deworming we rotate around between the dewormers labeled for sheep to prevent parasite resistance the dewormer not working any more. Our ewes get 12 ml each per deworming.
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