[Eeyore77]

Hello

I am giving my girls their annual haircut. Each year 1-2 out of my 7 girls will have their fleece matted like felt particularly on their back. I’ve also noticed it’s not always the same ewe. Is there a reason why the fleece will go matted? Have I left them too long before I cut the fleece?
I trim them by hand, but I was wondering how someone would clip them with electric shears when it is matted? Would it be possible?
Many thanks.

[Fleecewife]

What type/breed are your sheep Eyeore77?  Some breeds matt far more easily than others, and local climate can affect that too.  I keep Hebrideans and they are terrible for matting.  Jacobs do it too, and with Gotlands in a wet climate I found I never got an uncotted fleece.
I think it's a mixture of warm weather and heavy rain which can turn a fleece into a solid piece of felt on a sheep's back.  We had a jacob many years ago who had a particularly fine fleece, but somehow each year, it rained just the day before we intended shearing her.  She would come and shout loudly at us to get her fleece off because as it felted so it tightened and became extremely uncomfortable for her, like having your hair pulled hard.  All you can do with a fleece like that is to chuck it in the washing machine until any unmatted bits have also felted then give it to the cat as a comfy bed 
We hand shear too and I think a commercial shearer must surely have to resort to hand shears for felted areas to prevent cutting the sheep's skin up badly

[Eeyore77]

Hi
The older ones are Black Welsh Mountains. The younger two are half texel half BWM, and so far I’ve not seen them get matted coats.
If weather plays a part then that makes sense, we had the long warm dry patch in April, then the wet conditions in the last couple of weeks and it’s just since that started that I noticed the fleece get matted, but it must have been just over a few days.
If I put any fleeces into the washing machine my wife will literally kill me, even if it is to make beds for her cats! Although maybe an interesting new sideline, all natural cat beds, just need to find some buyers.