Thursday, November 5, 2015

Out of the Jurisdiction: Shearing the Sheep

 

 The white sheep get pretty woolly and need annual shearing.
The black sheep will shed their own wool, but shearing will clean them up.


Before.


The shearer uses hand scissors.  This sheep is Cuddles. 


Obaaaaama was caught outside.  Once they are turned onto their backs, they are docile.


The wool comes off in one big sheet weighing about ten pounds.


Stompy gave us quite a chase, but, in the end, he got a good haircut, too.

11 comments:

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Must be extremely hot under all that wool.

Kate said...

I am fascinated by the fact that the white sheep need human hands to help them shed their wool whereas the black sheep accomplish most of it on their own. What a task for the talented shearers. I wonder if Willa will want to observe and learn the task in the far future?

Sharon said...

That is quite an operation especially using hand sheers.

Taken For Granted said...

Being able to shear sheep is getting to be a lost art in this country. Being able to hold up a fleece like that show the shearer knew their craft.

Sylvia K said...

Amazing! I do agree with "Taken for Granted", a lost art in this country it is! Seeing that entire fleece is awesome!! Great captures for the day, Jack, as always!! Enjoy your weekend!!

RedPat said...

I had no idea the fleece came off in one piece like that, Jack!

jennyfreckles said...

Phew, after struggling to avoid it I would think the sheep might be glad in the end to lose that hot weight.

William Kendall said...

I guess when it's done they do feel better to have all that hot wool off for the summer.

Bob Crowe said...

Where is this?

This takes a lot of skill. The only time we've seen a sheep sheared was at a dinner show in Sydney, distorted by jet lag and Foster's.

Kay said...

I've only seen this done with electric shears (and it was done remarkably fast).

Susie said...

Haha your pics make it look so easy! I love the narrative, dad:)