Sheep Shearing

Shearing is the process of taking the wool off of a sheep. They need to be shorn once or twice a year to stay healthy. It can be done using either a shearing machine or blades (imagine giant scissors). Although it might look kind of scary, its quite a relaxing job. The “pattern” is designed so that the sheep is sitting comfortably on their rump whilst the shearer shears their different areas.

I learned about shearing when I was a young boy though never got to do much other than deal with the wool. My job was to keep the fleece away from the shearer and take it to the skirting table, take off the nasties, roll the fleece and pack it in a giant burlap sack.

Three years ago when we started our farm, the challenge of shearing my own sheep was intriguing. I started by using blades, or hand shears as they’re called, then in 2021 I bought an overhead machine to use at our farm and our customers. I’ve spent time with shearers from Eastern Canada and I’m starting to meet and work with shearers from Western Canada. It’s really neat and quite a learning experience to work with folks who’ve been doing this for a long time. The best part is having someone to just coach you along a little.

With a gentle, “Try moving your foot this way a little more,” or “Rock her weight back on that leg and then shift,” Little lessons are engrained with real time experience and it doesn’t take long to feel pretty good about your new talents.

That being said……. there seems to be a point at the end of the day where your body asks…..”What the hell was that???” . It’s hard work, physical work and yet as I said earlier, it can be quite relaxing.

I enjoy it. I want to keep at it. I have a goal and I’m working towards it.