[Dougal]

There is of course a lot of worry about shearing sheep. It is not the easiest of jobs, even if you know what you are doing! It is important though to make sure that your sheep are ready to shear before you atempt to clip them. The wool is a crop the same as any other, you can't combine wheat when it is green just the same as you can't clip wool when it yellow! If you wait a while you'll find the job is so very much easier. Going back to when sheep were all shorn by hand then it was always much later in the year before they were clipped.
If fly strike is a big worry then make sure your sheep are dagged, it will make a huge difference. If you are going to use chemical means to control fly stike please make sure that you read the packaging. Many of the common pour ons should not be used for up to 12 weeks before the sheep is shorn!
All the best with the clipping, I'll be doing mine in July so I've a wee while to get prepared!

[Remy]

That's an interesting point about the wool colour, what do you mean about yellow - what colour does the fleece change to when it's ready for clipping (and what if they are dark fleeced sheep?).  Also, What's the reason that pour-ons shouldn't be used within a certain time period before shearing - is that because they affect the fleece's value (which I didn't think was that much!  ) as in contamination, or might it affect the shearer?  Just wondering ..  , as obviously flystrike has to be controlled but the sheep will also need shearing. 

[jaykay]

I imagine the pour-ons are bad for the shearer. Certainly I don't want to be handling Crovected fleeces getting them ready for spinning.

I've just been doing mine with Crovect but did as Fleecewife suggested in a recent thread. So after dagging, they got Crovect on the back of the head and a U shape, back of the thighs and up underneath.  Not very fleecy places but hope it adds some protection before they're sheared in a month's time. Then they can be done properly.

[Fleecewife]

Products such as Vetrazin, Crovect and especially Clik are toxic to varying degrees - otherwise they wouldn't deal with the flies.  Many people are badly affected by contact with them - this includes those who apply the product, those who shear the sheep and those who handle the fleeces, such as Wool Board workers, and home craft workers.  Judges at shows can also have problems if all the sheep in full fleece they judge have been treated with such products.  When fleeces are being processed, the water used goes back into the environment so has to be treated to remove these products, at expense to the processors.
If it is a professional shearer shearing your sheep, he or she could be exposed to a huge dose of these chemicals over the course of the shearing season, as could the Wool Board worker - they are not handling just one animal.
 
So to avoid harm to these people and to the environment it is best not to apply the products closer than 3 months before shearing, in the hope that they will be de-natured by then.  If you have to apply them to a struck animal, then destroy the fleece once shorn - but that doesn't help the shearer.  We shear our own sheep so we can decide for ourselves what to do.  It is worth discussing this with your shearer as he or she might not have a problem with the chemicals, or might have a big problem with them.  It is certainly something worth thinking about.

[Dougal]

When I talk about the fleece being yellow it means that the grease is still hard and there is very little new wool growth which makes it very hard to shear the sheep. I agree whle heartedly with what fleecewife wrote about the fact that as a shearer I handle between  150 and 200 sheep on average every day for 2 and a half months so exposure to the chemicals can become prolonged and then they can build up and cause problems.

[Mallows Flock]

Hmm... thought provoking stuff.... whilst recently Crovect-ing all my sheep plus my neighbours and a friends, that evening my chest felt almost like I was suffering ASTHMA (tho' I am not asthmatic!) Maybe a reaction to the Crovect? Maybe not!

[Dougal]

Dysect is the worst for me. Gives me a burning sensation through my sinuses, head ache and the most annoying one is the costant feeling that I have a drip on the end of my nose which is actually dry! Rather bizarre and probably not good for me!

[feldar]

We have just had our sheep done and some of our shearlings were easy to shear and some were like cardboard; these were the fleeces with thick yellow grease down close to the skin very easy to see in our Hamps.
Unfortunately we can't be too choosey when we shear because shearers are like hens teeth around here and when he says he's coming we have to be ready!
Interestingly though, disect is the worst treatment for my other half too he finds the stuff kicks off his asthma and causes his skin to itch even when wearing gloves! we refuse to use it now.
Have to say love to see our girls out of their winter coats feel a bit bad the weather has gone horid though.

[shep53]

I too can't stand Dysect gives me a bad head and makes me feel sick.  I hope to have my ewe hoggs clipped by the end of june  , the  x ewes  by mid july and the hill by early aug , all are dagged ,only the hill have crovect put on in may for ticks.  This is when the sheep are in the right body condition and the fleece has risen . If a sheep is not in good body condition and you clip, then the weather turns cold and wet they can die ( hand clipping is better as you leave a cover of wool or use snow combs for electric shears )

[onnyview]

Dagging is very important, but flystrike can occur anywhere on a sheep so remember to apply along the back of the sheep aswell. (I always fixate on the back end and tail!)

[SingingShearer]

The worst place for flystrike is on the back of the shoulders and neck where it can go un-noticed, that is why it is better to shear early using a longer bevel comb than to wait and risk getting flystrike unnecessarily.