Shear delight

Monday 14th May 2018
Shearing Day
Next to pantomime, sheep shearing is just about as seasonal a job as you could get.
You don't want it done too early or the sheep will feel the cold. But too far into early summer and they get too hot. More importantly fly strike becomes a real problem.
Luckily we realised early enough that our usual shearer had become unavailable. He got himself a job in Australia so, quite unreasonably I thought, would not be able to shear my sheep this year.
Fortunately we were in time to piggy back on someone else's arrangements.

Last year the sheep were not shorn until the second week of June. They were hot and were in various states of self-shearing. There were clumps of wool all over the paddocks.
So this year we managed to get the job done a few weeks earlier. The lambs came down with the adults, but they don't get sheared. Two weeks later and we might have kept them up this end to wean them.

Shetlands are small, so shearing is quick, but they can be a little feisty at times. One of the ewes gave the shearer's arm a good kick! I was very happy with the shearer we used. He was quick and efficient, but just as importantly his communication was good. It is always a worry that your shearer won't turn up after you have taken time off work and gone to the effort of penning the sheep. It's not easy to book a replacement in a hurry.

All penned up ready for shearing.
I put them in a large pen until the shearer arrives, then narrow it down.

That's Rambo on the floor getting a hair cut. He was calmer this year than usual.

All done and heading back down to the sheep field.

With the shearing done, fly strike is much less of a worry. The shearer offered to apply a spray-on fly strike preventative too, which works out much cheaper and easier than if we did it ourselves. This chemical can be used at shearing, unlike some of the others. The chemical is pretty strong stuff and means the sheep are not organic, but if you have seen fly strike in action you wouldn't want to be pussy footing around with garlic and essential oils! We asked the shearer to check their feet too and trim where necessary. Again, better to do it all at once.
One reason I like having the shearer round is that it gives a good chance for someone who knows what they are doing to give the flock a quick look over. I do check on the health of the Shetlands every day and spend quite a bit of time with the in the field, but apart from Rambo and the lambs I rarely get very close to the others to inspect them closely.

Shearing made it obvious that last year's efforts at castration were only partly successful. Two of the ram lambs will need to be kept away from the females later in the year - it is a good job they will be going off to the butcher before then.
One which for some reason I had fixed in my head as a young ewe is actually a male!! I had begun to have my suspicions. This is quite useful, since a wether (castrated male) is good company for the ram when he needs to be separated from the ewes. Come August they will be coming into season but we don't want Rambo to service the ewes until early November so that we can aim for lambing to be during school Easter holidays. This year we will also have to separate the one female lamb. She can go with the wether while Rambo is in with the older ewes.

It was good to ascertain the condition of the ewes too, especially Ewe 00004 who nearly died earlier in the year. She is still skinny but not disastrously so. Hopefully she will begin to put weight on again quite soon.

Happily settled back in to a new strip of pasture.

There was one other surprise while the sheep were being sheared. The ewe which did not give birth this year looks as though her udders may be swelling up. If so, we will have a very late lamb.We'll see what happens.