We did things a little different when Ian came to shear the sheep yesterday.
We kept the sheep inside the small pen in the barn and Ian brought them out one by one. And after Ian sheared Kim and Merricat, the first two sheep, we decided to let them each out to graze, when they were done.
In the picture above Ian just cut the wool from the top of Kim’s head, which is too short to be made into yarn, so he is tossing it off to the side. He does the same with the wool from the sheep’s bellies, which is both shorter and dirty.
After each sheep is shorn, Ian trims their hooves.
Braeden, who was watching with his grandmother Terry, asked if it hurt them. Ian told him how it’s like us cutting our nails, although, like with a dog, if you get too close, they can bleed.
Kim hadn’t been shorn in a year, so her wool was very long and the tips full of a year’s worth of mud and manure.
Merricat was next. Her wool pooling around there like sea foam.
I reminded Ian about Lori’s wool having a lot of lanolin in it. Lanolin makes the wool sticky and harder to shear. So he decided to get her done early on.
When he was shearing Merricat, his razor sailed through her wool. But with Lori, he could only push the razor a few inches at a time.
It took Ian longer to shear Lori than any other sheep, but she gave him no trouble. I’m not sure why some sheep have more lanolin than others.
When Ian went to get the next sheep for shearing, Asher just about walked up to him and volunteered. I took a video of Ian shearing Asher, you can see it here.
I took this picture as Ian was telling me that when sheep’s head hangs down as much as Issachar’s is, that means they’re going to start kicking. Not a moment later, Issachar did just that. But Ian was ready for him. He said you can feel when a sheep is starting to get tense and be ready for it.
From what I could see, when the sheep start to kick or try to get up, Ian would reposition them so they would be more comfortable and fall into the dormant state that sheep do when they are on their backs.
Ian remembered Constance. “Constantly difficult” is what I think he said, or something like that.
She did give him a hard time as expected, but he talked to her gently as he got her comfortable. And once he started shearing, he was delighted. Her wool peeled away from her body with ease, I never saw Ian work so quickly.
All was forgiven.
“Robin is a jumper,” I said, as Ian got a hold of him. Robin started bouncing, but Ian held tight and soon had him on the shearing mat on his back. There were a couple of sheep that Ian quietly sang to as he sheared them, Robin was one of them.
When he was done, I opened the gate and Robin bounded out like a little lamb.
I couldn’t get a picture of the sheep all together after they were shorn. They were spread out all over the pasture. But I took this picture today of Robin, Constance, Merricat, Lori, Asher and Issachar. Kim was on the other side of the pasture with Fanny and Lulu. But I took the picture of her below yesterday.
Kim is very skinny, but I know she’ll fatten up on grass soon. I’m not sure if she’ll will make it through another winter. We’ll see how she does this summer.
Sweet Kim looks like a youngster! Just curious about why no grain in the summer? I suppose she can graze to her heart’s content and that will be filling enough?
She’s so much smaller than the other sheep, especially without her wool. The spring grass is very rich and filling for them. This time of year when they first go out to graze I only let them our for an hour or hour and a half twice a day because they need to get used to the fresh grass. They will eat all day and can get bloated if they do. Kim often comes in from the pasture about 15 minutes a head of the rest of the sheep because she’s had enough.
Maria all the photos were wonderful! I felt like I was there watching the whole process! Please tell Ian he is a Master shearer and his poems are delightful to read each week!
Oh I love to hear that Nancy, and I will pass your message on to Ian. :)