All About Sheep Shearing – with Mike Hewson!

Sheep shearing has been happening at the farm on Sunday 21st April and Monday 22nd April, and all our sheep look fabulous. Shearing is a skilled profession which should be carried out by a professional who has been trained to shear with care. Our professional shearer is Mike, who is here to tell you all about the importance of shearing, and the skill set behind it.

There are many reasons why we shear, so find out a few of them:

• Shearing reduces the risk of parasite infestation. With their thick fleece, sheep are susceptible to insect infestations like fly strike from dirt and fluids, which can happen easily when grazing in fields.
• Sheep grow their wool continuously – it is a natural product of the sheep’s lifecycle!
• Wool protects sheep from the harsh weather conditions, but to improve their welfare, they should be shorn every 12 months. This can be done in preparation for the warmer months to keep sheep cool.
• Sheep can become ‘rigged’, or stuck on their backs, which makes them vulnerable to predators. Shearing reduces this risk.

 

Most of our sheep are shorn once a year, to prepare them for the summer months, and to avoid these problems that may occur, such as fly strike. Our Valais Blacknose are sheared twice a year. This is because they have an extremely thick fleece, and it becomes very heavy and hot for them. They are usually sheared around May and September. We have 3 Valais sheep at the farm – Fizz, Fuzz and Fonz! You may have met these guys on your visits to the farm!

More about Mike!

Mike has been shearing for 25 years, and has sheared lots and lots of sheep in his time! Mike got into sheep shearing through his course in Agriculture as a student, where they were encouraged to try it out. 10 years later, Mike was handed the shearing equipment at the farm he worked at, as the previous shearer had retired. This is where it all began, as Mike began shearing more and more, with a group of people doing larger flocks, and also doing the smaller groups and pet sheep. As it had been a long time since Mike first learnt to shear, he went on a training course to remind him of the skills behind it. He then went on to shear around 2000 sheep, before attending another training course where he learnt techniques for handling the sheep during the process of shearing, to make it easier and quicker.

So now, 25 years later, Mike has developed his own routines and techniques for shearing both larger groups of commercial sheep, or just the smaller flocks, similar to that of the farm. Mike uses the same routine for each sheep, using the slowest setting on his machine to achieve perfection. The shearing machine that Mike uses has 3 power settings, the faster it is on, the quicker the sheep can be sheared, which is especially handy for the larger herds. However, when Mike shears the sheep here at the farm, he likes to talk to members of the public about the process, taking his time to perfectly shear the sheep, whilst showing others.

Mike likes to spend around 10 minutes with each of our sheep, however he has been part of competitions in the past where some shearers can shear a single sheep in 30 seconds! The more difficult parts of shearing a sheep are the stomachs, as the skin has to be stretched in a certain way to avoid their wrinkles during shearing. This is also a very sensitive area, so it takes more time and care. One of Mike’s best techniques for having good control of the sheep during shearing is to ensure that when you are holding the legs, they do not touch the floor. This means that the sheep cannot struggle as much and try and run away. When shearing lambs, they only need a slight shear around their tails and bottom, to avoid fly strike from dirt and fluids – this process is called ‘dagging’. The rest of their wool is left untouched until they are over 1 year old. Mike has also had some experience in training people up to become shearers, which is not an easy task! He even trained one of his sons!

I shear between 1000 and 2000 sheep in a year (and a few goats and Alpacas). I mostly shear little lots of pet sheep often two or three sheep at each stop, and on some days go to six or seven households. On other jobs I can set up and shear for three days with two other shearers, and the sheep keep on coming, doing five hundred or so. I like the social chit chat with so many different types of people I meet, preferring to shear steadily and accurately to turn the sheep away looking clean and tidy. However, it is also nice to have a few days where you can fly and see how many you can do in a day. And of course, still turning them away looking quite tidy.”

One message that Mike would like to get across is that WE NEED MORE SHEARERS!

The community of shearers is very low at the current moment, with lots of sheep and herds getting bigger, the need for more shearers is bigger than ever. So if you fancy giving it a try, find a training course near you and give it a go!

We hope some of you managed to come along over Sunday 21st and Monday 22nd to watch Mike shearing our sheep, and that you all have learned something new!

Until next year, Thanks Mike!