The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Pony-n-trap on July 22, 2010, 11:29:36 am
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Just managed to catch up 2 of our ewes, not easy with no dog, well, we did take my 2 terriors and they helped a bit.
We wanted to check one for flystrike, she hasnt got it but is bare on her backend so wanted to check her over, whilst there we decided to try and hand shear, we only have 9 ewes and are waiting on local farmer to help us out.
ANyway, wont win any prizes for best hair cut but got the fleeces off, in one piece and they look quite happy with themselves. Will attempt the other 7 when OH gets back from Skye next weekend.
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Hi. If you mean that she has a patch of rough or even raw bare skin on her rump then that is almost certainly where she has already had flystrike. The maggots have finished feeding on her and gone off to look for more victims. Another place to check carefully is underneath just tailward of the teats - this bit can get daggy but is difficult to see when a sheep is standing so can get strike there.
Well done for having a go at shearing - you'll get the hang of it eventually. Watch how the professionals do it and try to remember the order of the blows and the position the sheep and the shearer are in at each stage. This is all designed to keep the sheep under control and the skin stretched over a convex curve to minimise the risk of nicks. Remember also to cover the teats, sheath, tail, vulva and ears with your hand when you get to each bit - your other hand with the shears will know where its partner is whereas those bits are easy to chop off if you just shear blindly :o
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Thanks very much for that info Fleecwife, she must have had an attack before we got her then because the skin was like that when we got her and we noticed it when we were worming etc. There are no maggots on her now, had a good look just we noticed the flies following her. We put Battles on her, is this right?
Didnt nick them when shearing, suprised how easy it was, I had a go at hand shearing one last year and she looked awful so I must have bought better shears this year!!
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You can get a poster (from the wool board I think) showing the different stages of shearing a sheep. At first glance it seems strange because the shearer illustrated is kind of upsidedown. But if you pin it to the wall infront of you and get a sheep it all comes clear. Its designed so that the illustration is a reflection of yourself. I basically learnt to shear using this poster. The challenge once you have mastered it step by step is to develop the whole process into a continuous fluid motion. I sheared some of my neighbors sheep in exchange for the loan of his clippers. I then realised that at 90p a sheep I was better off getting the profesional in!