Shearing, a drag.

[shy sheep]

I'm not sure how many times to shear my sheep a year. I've looked it up A LOT but never the same answer twice. Who knows FOR SURE. And another thing, what do y'all shear your sheep with? Olden day shears that look like giant scissors or new ones? Thanks!
-shy sheep

 

[SheepGirl]

What breed/type of sheep do you have? Fine wooled and medium wooled breeds only need to be sheared one time per year (usually in the spring so they have enough wool come winter). Long wooled breeds can be sheared once per year, but depending on where you live, they can/should be sheared 2x per year.

We have a professional shearer come out and do ours. She gets them done quickly & correctly so there's very little stress on the sheep compared to if we do it ourselves. She uses electric clippers (not sure what brand/type), but she sheared my old ewe at the fair during a shearing demonstration with hand shears.

 

[shy sheep]

I have Suffolk/Hampshire sheep. Medium wool. So one year? Thanks, that really helps!

 

[SheepGirl]

Yep, one year sounds right for a Suffolk/Hamp cross.

 

[BrownSheep]

I second that. Out of all my breeds my Suffolk Hampshire put on the least amount of wool between the yearly shearings.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

You can shear with hand shears, but it takes a while and is hard on your hands if you're not used to it. I use an Oster Shearmaster machine. If you only have a couple sheep I'd look for a local shearer and hire that person to do it once a year. Totally worth it.

 

[Alice Acres]

We have a commercial electric shears, and my husband and a friend shear our flock. They each have their shears, and if they can talk our 25 yr old son into helping (catch sheep), they can whip thru them pretty fast. But if he does it himself, he spreads it out over a couple days.

We shear once/year, and time it about a month before they lamb. This timing has a several benefits: 1) easier to shear neatly as the skin is stretched more tightly on their bodies - less chance for cuts and nicks. 2) you get your hands on every part of each ewe and can troubleshoot if needed. 3) The ewes lamb easier without all that wool on them. Less tiring and less overheating. Lambing in full wool would be like us trying to give birth while wearing a snowmobile suit!

 

[shy sheep]

I only have two, but planning to breed them and get more. My dad has a friend who's a shearer, and he's going to teach me, I just don't know which shearers are the EASIEST. I want easy. -shy sheep

 

[BrownSheep]

Electrical. I'm guessing he'll have industrial so you just have to be very careful not to cut the flesh as it is much easier to cut the ewe.

 

[TGreenhut]

I only have two, but planning to breed them and get more. My dad has a friend who's a shearer, and he's going to teach me, I just don't know which shearers are the EASIEST. I want easy. -shy sheep

McKenna-

If you want easy, don't even think about using hand shears... Electric shearers are expensive but they are worth it because they are so much easier to use and save so much time.

Resa