The Blade Shearing Class

The shearing class was amazing! The first day we learned how to grind, set, and sharpen the blades as well as put the stopper, thumb rest, a driver (The green strap) and a cock spur on. 

The cock spur is at the end of the top blade and is a safety device to keep the blades from over lapping on ones fingers. (The bottom pair is an old pair.)

This is to show how much more wool one can get with the bigger blades than with the small ones. (The top pair is a pair of old blades of mine.) We get the blades really sharp. They have a double hollow grind, a hollow grind is the sharpest kind. The blades get sharper and sharper as they get older instead of duller, due to the thin metal. Oh, just a note, razor sharp blades are actually less likely to cut the sheep than dull blades. Dull blades can drag the skin up with the wool and cut them. 

After introducing everyone I will talk about the other 3 days. 

Kevin Ford from MA, a professional blade shearer of 30 years, was taking the class as a refresher to enter in competitions and improve; Doug Rathke from MN, also a professional machine shearer, does mostly machine shearing and wanted to improve his blade shearing skills to enter competitions, Doug also raises 300 Dorset ewes on pasture; Tony Dobbs is our world champion instructor from down under (New Zealand) who also raises 2000 Romney ewes and some beef; Ryan Lorrie from NY a blade shearer of 2 years was taking the class to improve and to learn how to sharpen blades, Ryan also has a flock of 30-35 colored Corriedales and is a handspinner; Kristen Rosser from PA a new blade shearer learned how to machine shear in Sep (I think) and loved it so much she wanted to learn blade shearing, Kristen is also a handspinner and artist. Sy Caryl  from MI (not pictured) is a professional machine shearer who does some blade shearing on the side, and was taking the class to improve on his blade shearing skills. Sy also raises a flock of Rambouillet ewes. I was taking the class to learn the blade shearing pattern and to learn how to sharpen blades.

Myself, Kevin, Doug, Tony and Kristen.

Our wool handler (I can't remember his name), Tony, Sy and Ryan.


Doug's new friend. (The pegs on the wall above Doug's head are for sharpening the blades with.)

Sy, Ryan and Tony

Tony our instructor from Tectra is here in the US with his family on holiday (vacation) and generously donated time out of his holiday to teach us the art of blade shearing.
Tony also set the world record in the Guinness book Of World Records, blade shearing a sheep in 63 seconds. He has since sheared one in 59 seconds at a class in New Zealand, but it was not official so does not count.

The second day we finished off with our blades and then sheared Neil Kentner's flock of Wensleydale sheep. His barn was not a very good set up for a class so we had to wait and take turns shearing (3 of the 6 students could shear at a time.) After that we went up to the other sheep farm we sheared at, set up our stuff and each sheared one sheep. The other farm had just under 100 Dorset/Polypay sheep for us (I don't know the farmers name.)

The third day we sheared all day and then were invited to a dinner put on by the Odd Fellows Club and some local 4-H and Ag groups. We had beef, potatoes, squash, green beans, pickles, chocolate cake, and chocolate chip cookies . The beef was donated by Hunt Grain Farm. After dinner we toured Hunt Grain Farm. The farmer farms 11,000 acres of land and grows corn, soybeans and wheat. His machinery was perfectly clean as was his whole set up. A few of his tractors had names, "Bambie" and "Thumper" were two little ones. I forgot my camera at the motel so didn't take any pictures there.

We also got interviewed for a local newspaper and for the Sheep! magazine.

The fourth, and sadly last day, we sheared until 4:00 and then went to tour Zeilinger's Woolen Mill. A shearing gang (poor Sy had to miss a day and a half of the class as he was part of the gang and could not get out of the commitment he had made) who had been working on 700 western lambs in a feedlot came to see us and came along to Zeilingers. We did not have time to change so we were a stinky and icky when we went out to eat after Zeilinges. HA, ha! No wonder the waitress was grumpy.

As for the shearing itself, the pattern is a bit different from machine shearing. I personally think it is easier. About 3 years ago I took a machine shearing class and really struggled to get the sheep sheared.  The sheep is not as stressed out as the blades don't buzz the way a machine does so it does not tense up as much. I had trouble getting the pattern memorized,  but by the last day I got it down. (I asked Tony to watch me and not say anything unless I made a mistake, I only made 1 or 2 mistakes, one was having my foot about 4 in. too far from the sheep.)  I really enjoyed learning blade shearing and am looking forward to spring so I can shear some more!

The pattern we learned was a combination of the New Zealand and South African methods. It is the most efficient way to blade shear a sheep, it is also, if done correctly, putting all the weight of the sheep on you legs, not your back so it is the best way to blade shear as far as ones body is concerned.  As far as the blows they are done in a safe way. Ex: One shears up the belly and not down as if the sheep would lunge the sheep would not be impaled in the belly (it could be if one was shearing down.) One is also careful of the hamstrings and rolls the wool up, not shearing along the hamstring.

Another advantage of blade shearing over machine shearing is the animal is a lot more cold tolerant. Back in the day when they change from all blade shearing to machine shearing some flocks lost 40-50% of their ewes due to exposure that the machine sheared sheep could not handle. Tony also mentioned the worst shearing accident that he has seen was with machines. One does not realize they are cutting the sheep until they see blood with the machines, but with blades one can feel that they are cutting too deep and stop. The disadvantage is top blade shearers are 30% slower than top machine shearers.

I feel confident to start some custom shearing for small flocks now as well as my own, so if you have sheep that need shearing contact me at ps23farm@yahoo.com

In The Paper!

Kristen, the other girl at the shearing class, and myself got in the newspaper! None of the four guys did. I feel a bit bad for them.

http://davisonindex.mihomepaper.com/news/2012-12-06/Scene/Sheep_shearing_class_gathers_participants_from_all.html

One thing I don't like about newspapers is they always have a way of changing the story. I told the news reporter that I've had sheep for 9 or 10 years and hired a shearer for the first few years. His max flock was 15  and my flock out grew the shearer's max and then he quite. I learned to shear with blades with the sheep  in a stand or standing tied next to a fence. I was taking the class to learn how to sharpen blades (I had a horrible time finding anyone who could even get a start of an edge on them and did not know how to do it my self) as he mentioned, and also to learn the pattern.

Rooing! edit: picture of the "rise"

I rooed PS23 Dove (seen above) on Friday. I never rooed a sheep before and this was kind of cool. Her wool around her neck was falling off and I tied her up and just peeled her fleece off. I got the neck wool off first and peeled (kind of like peeling a banana) backwards toward the britch-the fleece came off in one piece and it only took about 20 minuets.

Shetland sheep get what is called the "rise" where their wool stops growing and gets a natural break. Just before the "rise" the wool gets compacted at skin level and you can't easily part the fleece to see the skin. Then the fleece "rises" and you can see the skin-they are then ready for shearing or rooing. Rooing is basically pulling the loose wool off the sheep.
Here is a picture of the "rise".

Rooing was historically the way Shetland wool was harvested on the Shetland Islands. In modern times it has been easier or more convenient to shear, so many of the Shetland sheep have been bred against this trait. Some don't roo any at all and some roo only on their necks, and britch area. Others roo on the neck, britch, belly and on their back line. I have a lot of Shetlands that roo in patches and a few who don't roo at all. This is the first one I've had that rooed competly!
This is a picture PS23 Emrald shorn. Emrald is one that won't roo. Her dam did not roo either. She kept her dark patches on her sides!

This year I'm late with shearing as I normally shear before lambing. (I did not shear as the sheep that had gotten sick from acidosis, (grain overload), lost a lot of weight and I had more barn space with 15 fewer ewes.) This year was the first year I've lambed out unshorn ewes and does. I have now shorn all the Angoras and a lot of the sheep.

Not all are ready to shear, and since I waited so long already I may as well wait untill they are ready to shear. I have 18 more Shetlands to shear: about 6 or 7 are ready and the rest are not ready. I normally shear in the beginning of March (the rams get shorn later as they don't have lambs.) I reshear the ewes that need reashearing-about half--when they are ready (usually in May or June.)

If they are shorn too early they get the rise and the wool gets matted on the outside of their next fleece. I have to say over-all the wool lost from shearing too early and then reshearing is a wash with the amount wasted because they get dirtier when shorn late. I also still like shearing before lambing better because they don't bring as much water into the barn when it rains, the barn would be less crowded and the ewe's back end is cleaner for the lambs finding milk.

Food fair and sheep shearing

On Saturday my Mom and I went to a local food fair (focusing on local food.) It was at Maywood nature center and I took these turkey pictures from the window. The turkeys were funny! We had lamb samples and many people had never tried lamb before-most liked it. There were a few people interested in buying some lambs in the fall. One was Greek and she was very excited. I also had roving and yarn and sold 2 skeins. Other vendors had CSAs, grass-fed beef, bison, herbs, apples, baked goods and more. Wagners were also there with lamb.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the morning I went to Wagners Hidden Valley Woolen Mill to help with skirting fleeces. It normally takes 2 days for shearing, but on Tuesday it was cold and the sheep were harder to comb through as the lanoline was stiff. They sheared about 230 Coopworth sheep-all had BEAUTIFUL (jacketed) fleeces. It was fun to talk to every one and see all the fleeces. David the shear is very knowledgeable. He shears in Scotland every year and has shorn in other countries as well. He has a flock of Corriedales and Comebacks and he said that he culls his ewes by 6. (He used to keep them until mach older, but had more bottle lambs and lower weaning weights.) Ewes over 6 also have smaller fleeces. He said that once they get to 6 "it is down hill from there". So if you make 6 your cut-off you'll make more money and have much less work during lambing. David also does not breed his sheep as lambs(neither do Wagners) as he said it is actually MORE expensive to do so as you have to feed them really well so they are not stunted. That is something I'm going to think about!


David Keir shearing.
Coloreds in back waiting.
Who's next?
All white.
Daphne-Carol's pet. Daphne is a spotted Coopworth, but can't be bred ever as she has a hernia.

Yesterday afternoon I got my rams into their own pen. They had been with the ewes all winter and were starting to get bored as 3 of them decided to be acrobats-jumping over the hog panel. (They are in a cattle panel pen now.) I also had to get them out for lambing as I want to start grianing my ewes, but not the rams. Then I opened up the fence separating my ewes from the ewe lambs and mad a gate there. I will be able to lock all of the sheep in one half so I can put the grain down without having sheep in the way.

Links to see shearing

Here are some links to see shearing for those that have never seen it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tquot-aR4JI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr7AUvMCqjc&feature=related

Shearing class

One Sat. I drove down to Arlington (3 hours south-west) to take a class on shearing. I already shear my sheep with blades (hand shears) standing up and thought it would be nice to learn the other way.

The class was at the Arlington research station. We all got to shear 3-4 sheep. It is a lot harder than it looks to shear! (Every one thought so.) We got handbooks with info on shearing techniques, sheep handling facilities, wool quality improvement, grinding& sharpening, alternative& specialty shearing,and resources. There is also a section on fitness exercises. I have a lot of work in that area! And all winter to do it!

There were some ewes that already had lambs-they were so cute!

We were also served lunch.

The breeds were Polpays, Hampshires, crosses and Rambouillet. I sheared 3 Polpay ewes. I got the shearing pattern down but need to work on handling the sheep!