This past Sunday was sheep shearing day! It was an adventure, to say the least.
After AC and I got back from church, Andy (sheep shearer extraordinaire) arrived and we geared up to help wrangle sheep. Andy set up shop on some plywood that we put down under the lean-to end of the barn. He hung his shearing rig, which was surprisingly small, from a hook on the wall. Meanwhile, Samantha and I got to work separating the ewes from the lambs inside the barn because the ewes were just getting a trim while the lambs were getting a full shear. Then, Sam and I would wrestle a ewe into a holding space by the barn door–this was quite the workout because sheep are heavy and strong and they don’t want to go into that little corner so they fight it pretty hard! Once we got the sheep in place, I’d remove her jacket.
When Andy was ready, he’d open the door, pull the sheep out, and manhandle her into a sitting position that made me laugh every time. He’d turn on his clippers and get to work shaving down their legs, belly, butt, and face. Then he’d release the sheep to AC who would hold her in place while Ruthann or I put her jacket back on.
The ewes went pretty quick because they were just getting a trim. The lambs, while easier to handle due to their smaller size, took longer because they got the full monty. Since Ruthann was going to process and sell the lamb wool, I swept off the plywood after each shear so (1) stray pine straw and dirt wouldn’t get into the raw wool and (2) the wools wouldn’t mix (especially if they were different colors).
Andy averaged about 4 minutes per lamb so, all in all (transitioning sheep, shearing, sweeping, the occasional hoof trim, etc.), we wrapped up the whole endeavor in about 3.5 hours. We were all tired and dirty, but now AC and I can say we’ve helped shear sheep!
Yesterday, AC got to help card the wool we harvested (that is, putting it through a machine that combs it out).
So now we’ve seen the entire sheep-to-yarn process. Here’s the whole thing smushed into a 3 minute video (that’s too long to embed in this blog post, apparently).
Until next time,
Charli
Wow so fun! Any idea if the sheep like it? Or just dont like being held down but feels nice after?
No idea, lol! But let’s pretend they feel nice and fresh afterwards!