[Jacob-list] introducing myself, general sheep questions

[gordon johnston]

<< What clippers do you use, have you ever used old fashioned "squeeze" clippers....>>

Hi Paige
We use hand shears, also know as blades, to shear our whole flock, about 60 this year.  It was brought home to me today just how lucky we are to be able to shear our own sheep in this way and not have to rely on the gangs. A friend gave me some Shetland fleeces (I try not to be given fleece as I have plenty of my own, but in this instance I couldn't say no) so today I decided to sort them. They had been shorn by contractors for whom speed would have been everything - they were disgusting ! They were full of double cuts and fresh growth, which doesn't happen when you blade shear yourself, as you cut through the 'rise' and take your time to do a good job.  They were filthy with rattling dags, which does not happen if you shear yourself, partly because you remove dags from your sheep if and when they occur, or if they are present at shearing, you crutch the sheep before you start the shearing proper, or at least remove the dags before rolling the fleece. They had blue residue from fly strike spray, which does not happen if you shear yourself because you shear at the right time ie before fly strike season so the spray only goes on after shearing. Then to add insult to injury, they had not even been rolled properly, but had been bundled together on an unswept, strawy barn floor, incorporating all the filth into the bundle. They were stored in hessian (I think you might call that burlap) sacks which would have been ok except the sacks had holes in - fortunately no wildlife had found its way in yet !
Another reason for doing your own shearing is that someone coming onto your property to shear your sheep could well bring disease with them.  Here in Britain, since we had a small outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in the south of the country, the gangs have not been allowed to shear, so some people who were still waiting for them to come will have to wait until at least Sept 10th now, which becomes a welfare issue, with sheep suffering from the summer heat with their wool still on, but then winter will come before they have grown enough wool cover to keep them warm. The gangs have also been responsible for spreading a disease called CLA, which causes large abscesses on the neck and is spread on shears.
Our main reason for enjoying hand shearing is that all the fuss and chaos of trying to get all your animals done in one day if you or someone else machine clips your sheep doesn't happen.  With blade shearing you just walk into the field, pick whoever is ready to be shorn today, and shear her there and then, with no fuss, no noise and no lost lambs who don't recognize their mother afterwards as they have watched the whole process. You also have time to sort each fleece as it comes off the sheep, cool it, skirt it, roll it, bag and label it all ready for when you are ready to spin it.
So yes, please do learn to blade shear.  It is not difficult at all, although you do need to learn to put the sheep in the correct position so that it keeps still whilst you shear it. Although if you can't do that, you can blade shear with the sheep standing, just taking off the wool you can get to as if it were a blanket over the sheep's back, perhaps doing it in two halves.  Then you could go back and shear the underneath without all the bulk of fleece in the way.  So it can be done, but if you can find a way to learn the correct way, you will be set up for life ! Perhaps if there is no-one near you who can teach you you could find a video showing the technique - does anyone know of one ?
I do hope you enjoy spinning.  Jacob wool is lovely to spin and easy to learn on too.
Juliet in Scotland
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