Shear madness

[altivo]

Well, this year's shearing went much more smoothly than last, thanks to a little help from casey382 who arrived bright and early. He played the role of "Maxwell's daemon" by managing the gates between the "Before" and "After" pens so that Gary and I could concentrate on catching sheep and dragging them all unwilling to the clippers. Aside from one butt from a would-be ram who isn't, and a bruised knee, we got through it all unscathed. Only one sheep managed a little excursion in the wrong direction on his way back to the "After" pen, and that was quickly taken care of.

We started at about 8:10 and were done just before 9:00. I was glad to call it quits: greasy, frightened sheep are difficult to hold onto and move. I expect to be sore tomorrow as if I'd spent an hour lifting weights or something. I think Gary was much relieved. We had a lot of trouble with escapees last year and this year everything went smoothly. Most of the credit goes to casey382 because he was there to open and close gates, which let us concentrate on holding onto the miscreants. Eight fleeces this year, even old Shebaa had some usable wool to offer.

After Tom the shearer packed his equipment and headed on to his next stop, we cleaned up and chatted for a while, then went to Woodstock for lunch. A stop at the feed store was anticipated, and Gary proposed to do it on the way to the restaurant but I was driving and did it in the other order. As it happened, that was propitious, as the paper placemats this morning had coupons printed on them from the feed store for a discount on any purchase over $25. We saved three of them, and used one before returning home. The others are good until July 15, and we'll certainly be back there at least once before that.

Photos show "before" and "after." Click thumbnails if you want a larger view.

Comments

[schnee]

Wow, what a difference!

[altivo]

Yeah, they shrink quite a bit. About 5 to 6 pounds of fleece comes off each one.

[casey382]

I was glad to help. And will do it next year if you need me. You two did the hard work, I was just flipping gates.

[altivo]

But our work was made much simpler by your help. Thanks!

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

Naked sheepies, eek!
Bet they're happier, though, especially with the warm weather here already.

[altivo]

Sheep are happy when they have a pile of food, and unhappy when they don't. Supposedly it can get too hot for them, and the symptom is panting like a dog. We've never seen this, though, even when they are still in full fleece and the temperature hits the 90s. I suspect the wool keeps heat out as much as it can keep it in.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Gasp nude sheep!!

They'll probably be thankful for the haircut pretty soon :) They were very wooly too O.O

[altivo]

It was a mild winter, temperature wise, so they didn't have quite as much fleece as in some years, but yes, they're happy enough without it right now. Today was a scorcher.