[Jacob-list] Lister Shears

[Pavel]

> About 3 years ago, I bought some Lister Laser Shears from Premier...thinking 
> I would shear my own sheep.  I paid something over $400 for them.  And I 
> never removed them from their case...except to look at them and realize I 
> would probably remove my animal's skin as well as their wool.


Jeanne,

I had the same feelings before I started shearing my sheep. We signed up
for a shearing class through the local county extension agency and got a
lot of practice on a flock of meat sheep which were going right from the
shearing class to the freezer. I gave a few some bad nicks, but learned
from my mistakes. I've taken two advanced shearing refresher courses
since then; best to practice on someone else's sheep before doing my
own, I feel. Have you ever considered taking a course or having a local
expert give you private lessons in shearing?

I've been shearing for four seasons now and have become fairly
proficient; very few second cuts on the wool and only occasional, minor
nicks on the sheep. We have a variety of sheep, although Jacobs are our
majority breed. I find that Jacobs, with their open wool, are much
easier to shear than the tighter-wooled sheep. Plus they have horns,
which gives you extra handles to hold for better control while shearing.

Paul Intihar
Rainbow Farm
Joppa, Maryland
Website: http://members.home.net/rbfarm/