After a couple postponements due to snow - we finally solidified a date for sheep shearing. The ewes came rather happily into the enclosed area ready for the shearer. The temperature stayed in the mid-teens throughout the afternoon - a little chilly for shearing - but with lambs due in days - we simply couldn't wait any longer.
Our shearer, Jim arrived right at 2:00 pm. on Wedesday afternoon. Ooops - one of the ewes had already given birth to twin black lambs!!! Thank goodness we had not waited until Friday to shear. We tucked her into a jug (a small pen for the mom and babies to bond). The reason we shear before lambing regardless of the temperature is for three reasons: 1) the shorn moms will never give birth in a snow bank like an unshorn mom is likely to do 2) the babies can find the teats on a shorn mom and not suck on lanolin or dung tags and 3) the ewes will eat like crazy and all fit into a much smaller space -both good in the final days of pregnancy.
Jim set up quickly and the shearing began. Off comes the first fleece in about five minutes total.
Very quickly a pen full of shorn ewes is sniffing and re-identifying each other. We shear all the white ewes first, then the white ram, then the black ewes and last the black ram. The whole process takes just about 1 1/2 hours for our 21 sheep. As Jim drives away, we cut the twines on six bales of straw and shake and pile the bedding - making a deep, deep nest for the ewes to settle in - to stay warm and to create a soft, clean next for birthing.
The newly shorn fleecesa are quickly gathered off the shearing floor, and tucked in a big bag with a tag identifying the name and number of the sheep. Each of these fleeces will need to be tossed out on a skirting table, skirted, rolled and prepped for further processing.
Just as we finished shearing, the second set of lambs were born. Within the next four days, a total of twelve lambs to seven mothers had been born. Whew - shearing just in time!
