Remember, dull tools are dangerous tools. When purchasing shearing combs, it is important to buy a type of comb that is best suited to the sheep you will be shearing.
Preparing sheep for shearing A sheep shearer should be contacted well in advance of shearing time. Sheep should be penned before shearing. Sheep should be fasted before shearing. This will result in a much cleaner shearing floor.
A full stomach also contributes to animal discomfort during shearing. Wet sheep should not be shorn. Sheep should be sheared on a clean, dry surface e.
The shearing area should be swept after each sheep to provide a clean surface for the next. Skirting Fleeces After shearing, belly wool and tags should be separated from the rest of the fleece. Every sheep producer should learn how to skirt and roll a fleece. To skirt, throw the fleece flesh side down, so the dirty end of the fleece faces up.
Remove off-color wool, tags around the breach, very short and matted wool, and other contaminated areas. Then roll the two sides of the fleece in toward the middle and roll the fleece from one end to the other.
The flesh side will face out, created a clean, attractive package for the buyer. It is usually not necessary to tie fleeces. Some wool pools will discount fleeces that are tied.
If fleeces are tied for competition , only paper twine should be used. Skirting is especially important for high value wool, wool that will be sold to hand spinners, or for fleeces that will be exhibited. Packaging wool Small producers can package their fleeces in cardboard boxes or plastic garbage bags. Wool should not be packaged in poly feed sacks or burlap bags. This will contaminate the wool. Large producers should pack their wool in large square bales.
The preferred packaging material is clear plastic wool bags. Different grades or classes of wool should be packaged separately. All belly wool, tags, off-color, burry, seedy, chaffy, cotted, stained or dead wool should be handled and bagged separately.
Black wool should be kept separate from white wool. Bags of wool should be labeled. Properly sorted and labeled wool will bring more money to the grower. Wool should be stored in a clean, dry place until ready for market. Improving Wool Quality There many steps producers can take to improve the quality of their wool clip. Since black and colored fibers can seriously undermine the value of a white wool clip, black, colored, or spotted sheep should be sheared last and black wool should be kept separate from white wool.
One of the major wool contaminants is polypropylene: hay baling twine, poly tarps, and poly feed sacks. Polypropylene should never be allowed to come into contact with wool. Paint branding can be damaging to wool. Get all the latest news along with practical tips and expert advice. Calculators Vet talks Expert advice Ebooks Fun stuff. Log in Login. Log in. Remember Me Forgot your password? Password Reset. Please enter the email address for your account.
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Start Prev 1 Next End. When to shear my sheep??? How much wool dothey grow? LongRidge Offline Posts: Thank you received: Ronney Offline Posts: Thank you received: Mike and Suzi living the lifestyle in sunny central hawkes bay, Still loads of animals oh and we still have our Zebra truck. Experienced, skilled shearers will shear in less than 5 minutes per sheep, and this is a must for pre-lamb shearing.
Feed removal for 24 hours is a common practice to improve the handling of non-pregnant sheep during shearing. For ewes sheared close to term days pre-term , feed withdrawal should be lessened either by feeding a half ration the day before shearing or by withdrawing feed for only 12 h.
More severe feed withdrawal during pre-lambing shearing will increase the incidence of both milk fever and ketosis, which are triggered by stress and feed withholding. Shearing before lambing allows for better lamb survival and flock productivity while improving fleece quality. Following these simple guidelines will improve both the welfare of your flock and your bottom line. Home Reproduction. Richard Ehrhardt, Small Ruminant Extension Specialist Michigan State University Shearing before lambing is a practice that benefits the welfare of the sheep as well as making management easier and increasing flock productivity.
Drier environment. Wool holds considerable moisture, with a full fleece capable of absorbing a lot of water under humid climates, even when sheep are housed indoors. This moisture holding capacity of wool creates a microclimate close to the lamb that is relatively damp, thus creating a prime environment for hosting pathogens and allowing them to proliferate.
Both the relative humidity of the barn and the microclimate near the lamb are drier when ewes are shorn, creating a healthier environment that is less conducive to pathogen growth.
Cleaner environment. Wool also has the capacity to hold mud and manure as well as absorb fluids from the birth process, all of which can harbor and promote the growth of pathogens. A short fleece minimizes this situation, creating a much cleaner environment for the benefit of both the ewe and her lamb s. Increased lamb birth weight.
It has been well established that shearing during mid-pregnancy improves lamb birth weight. The improvement in birth weight is most evident in ewes with multiple births, although it has also been documented in ewes with singletons as well. The mechanism for this increase in birth weight is not entirely clear.
Some studies indicate that an increase of voluntary feed intake by shorn ewes may be responsible, whereas other studies show no change in intake yet an increase in birth weight. It is clear that in some studies, the increase in feed intake is not enough to explain the increase in birth weight, suggesting a metabolic adaption by the ewe to partition more nutrients to the lambs. Whatever the case, it is a biological phenomenon that we can use to our advantage as shepherds.
Birth weight is a limiting factor for lamb survival, particularly in multiple births, so any management tool available to increase it should be utilized. Improved fleece quality.
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