[Whittsend]

Hello,
My question is - when is the right time to shear my sheep and do I need a specialist shearer?
 Keeping sheep is a new experience for me. I bought three coloured Ryeland ewe lambs last September.  I had just started to learn how to spin and decided to have a few of my own sheep, as pets,to provide me with wool.
I had done a lot of research into various breeds,went to the smallholders fair at Builth Wells and attended a 'sheep for beginners' day course. My girls seem to have managed well over the winter, here in North Wales, despite the ten foot high snow drifts that took weeks to thaw! Like most of the country we have only had a couple of really warm days so far and we are in a fairly exposed and windy location.
We are surrounded by sheep farmers so I can easily get the names of local shearers but, because of their really thick wool do my girls they need shearing before the hill breeds that surround us and will someone who usually shears welsh mountain sheep do the best of jobs on my very wooly Ryelands?
Any advice would be appreciated please. I don't want to upset a local shearer by asking what might seem to him to be  be insulting questions about his ability to handle 'teddy bear' sheep'.

[FiB]

Hi Whittsend    I dont think it's a daft question, (but I'm not  a shearer!).  Not sure where you are but there is a guy advertising on Preloved in Corwen who says he does any breed and any number (a lot of the commercial shearers wont be interested in small numbers).  I had 'The singing shearer' come last year and hand shear my 12 as a lesson (leaving me 2 to do, which I did - not quite as good looking as his, but I got there!).  Perhaps we could get together and get him down (its a long way for him to come for just one customer - but I cant recommend him highly enough in terms of experience, understanding of fleece and breeds, kind way with the sheep...).  With only 3 (i  think you said) it is well worth learning to hand shear if you are reasonably fit?   I'm in Bala if you want to chat.  Cheers, Fi

[Whittsend]

Hello Fi, thank you for your quick reply.
I am at Betws Gwerfil Goch, which is only six miles from Corwen, so that might be a very useful contact.
 I am assuming that   the 'singing shearer' is a different person you have used. He does sound really good and would be interested in contacting him, especially as you say that he is good with the sheep.  You didn't say what breed of sheep you have and when you plan to have them sheared but I would be more than happy to fit in with your shearing. If he does come from a fair distance  it might  make it more worth his while to do both lots on the same day.
 Thanks again, Alison 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi,
   the answer to this question does depend on the sheep, the weather and if they have lambs at foot. Lots of people that I speak to are adamant that sheep with lambs should not be sheared till after weaning or the threat of frost has passed but I keep Ryelands and the siging shearer did mine and 2 other Ryeland breeders in my area last sunday including my ewes with 6 week old lambs.
Those who want to spin or sell the fleece may also want the wool to "rise" before shearing and those who show their sheep will be often shearing early in the year to get sufficient wool growth for trimming and grooming prior to a show. Some breeders with large flocks shear earlier still so that the ewes take up less room in the lambing shed and dont get as hot so there are lots of variables to concider
Ryelands are a very heavy wooled breed and get terribly hot. My Ryeland girls fleece was ragged and dirty, coming off under their tummies and on their faces and both they and the lambs were panting with their mouths open to try and cool down. The risk of flystrike was increased due to the fact that the new spring grass had given a few of them messy bottoms so I wanted to get them sheared and crovected asap.
I live in an area with a very sandy soil which warms up quickly at this time of year so concluded that the chance of sufficient ground frost or low temperatures which might result in the ewes udder getting chilled were unlikely and as they have access to the straw lined lambing shed every evening I decided that keeping them cool and fly free was my priority as keeping them warm is easy.
I do have some electric shears for dagging and tidying faces but a good shearer is worth paying for I recon. If you wold like to learn to shear the wool marketing boar hold courses around the country though they cost around£180
 
Hope that helps
 

[Blackbird]

I'm lucky enough to have the Singing Shearer coming tomorow to shear mine. I have 3 Dartmoors, a Heb/Lincoln longwool cross (all very long woolled) and a Shetland ewe not shorn last year, who is shedding. My other Shetlands were shorn last August, so I'll have to think about what happens to them later.

Like Buffy's sheep, mine have been panting like dogs in the warm weather over the weekend - though they are stupid enough to lie out in the sun rather than in the lovely shady hedge .... One of them also tends to a mucky bum, so I'm keen to get them shorn and Crovected asap.

Hope you find someone to shear your lovely 'teddy bears' -  it can be difficult when you only have a few.

[Ina]

If you wold like to learn to shear the wool marketing boar hold courses around the country though they cost around£180
 

  Since when? They used to be free - at least up here in Scotland.

[Whittsend]

I have found the details for the 'singing shearer' on the web now. Coming from South Yorkshire does seem an unreasonable journey for just my three sheep so fitting in with anyone else in my area who uses him would be a really good idea. I am sure my neighbouring farmers would think me daft for not using a local shearer when there are several available  but I assume he is used by some of you  because he is so good. Is this the case or just because you don't have shearers local to you? I want my sheep treated kindly and to look tidy when they have been done.
'Blackbird,' Buffy the eggs layer', whereabouts in the country are you? It's eight degrees here, raining and blowing a chill wind so I didn't think it was time to have them sheared just yet. Now I am worried that I need to get them done. They are outside all the time but  have natural shelter around the field and  they use the spaces beneath our oil tank  when the weather is really cold and windy(its raised up on pillars of concrete blocks).  Is there more risk of them getting overheated if the weather turns warm suddenly than them getting chilled by having them sheared too soon?  I am hoping that when I have had them a whole year I will have more confidence to follow my instincts but at the moment I really appreciate you more experienced sheep keepers sharing your knowledge with me . Thanks again for your replies.

[FiB]

I went early last year (mid may) much to general agastness of neighbours - but they were shearlings then, whereas I have 1-3 week lambs at foot at mo - so whilst I'm keen to get shearing I need to hold off a few weeks cause of the energy demands on the sheep of producing milk AND growing a new fleece.  That said, hand (blade) shearing leaves them with a bit (especially the way I do it!! ) so not so worried about cold (and they have shelter if they need it)  I'd like to aim for end of may so will ask Philip what his schedule is.  Yes wool board course is dear - but if you qualify for Farming connect in Wales courses are heavilly subsidised

[Daniel Does]

I did mine (Lincoln Longwool in Lincs) last weekend, they're due to start lambing in two weeks time. The extra stress from being too hot is more of a burden on the sheep than being a little chilly.
If they're cold they can eat more, both to generate heat and grow wool.
If they're hot, there's sweet Fanny Adams a sheep can do about it.

When shearing other people's sheep I've only ever found the most primitive breeds a little awkward if shorn too close to their lambing date.
I shear a flock of North Ronaldsays in two goes, about a month apart. The first 100 or so are in the diary for next week, the rest will be in June sometime.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi,
 
  I dont know when the wool board started charging Im afraid but they sent me a form to complete last week to attend a course in my area and the cost is £180. I cant comment on their pricing policy for other parts of the country.
The first year is really tough as everything you do is for the first time and there are so many different approaches to the same thing and all have their own justification. A good shearer will take the time to shear you sheep how you want them and will use a blade which leaves a short length of fleece on if required. The singing shearer travels around the country and may have customers in your area so its worth giving him a call.
If you live in a colder wetter part of the country and if your sheep have lambs at foot then you need to use your judgment as to when is the best time for you to shear. Which is unlikely to be this early in the year. I have lots of grass and shelter for my sheep and my ewes were already starting to shead their fleece. Thee weather is warm here and the ground holds the heat so this year, with this flock, this was the right time for me.
You could always give the singing shearer a call. even if he dosent do your sheep I'm sure that he would be happy to advise. At the end of the day do what you feel is right for your flock and if you end up regreting it then do it differently next year.

[Bionic]

I was thinking of doing a Wool board course but have been put off of it by people on here. Someone said their courses are full of testosterone filled young men and I am a nearly 60 year old woman so would probably find it quite tough.
This is the first year that I have needed to get sheep shorn. I have 5 Ryelands to be done. Luckily my nearest farming neighbour shears for a lot of people and has experience with 'woolly' sheep as he spent time working in NZ so I am hoping to get him to do mine too. 

[Whittsend]

 I rang the 'singing shearer'  yesterday evening and the very nice lady I spoke to told me that he is already fully booked for the rest of May.  The previous day he had left his house in south Yorkshire  at about half past four in the morning  to drive to Essex, where he had nine customers to visit! I have emailed  my details to him and asked him to contact me if there is any chance of him being in my area in the next month. The weather here today feels like February, not the middle of May, so I am not too worried as yet. If  he can't fit me in or if the weather suddenly gets hot I  will contact a local shearer and get get him to shear my Ryelands, to prevent them getting uncomfortable, or worse still, dangerously overheated.  Thanks again for everones advice.  :wave:Alison 

[bocky]

If you are stuck for a shearer I can fit you in.
I'm based in the Vale of Glamorgan and will travel.
Andrew 07980 159593

[Tudful Tamworths]

I did a Wool Marketing Board course years ago (when they were free to anyone with a CPH number) and it really was full of muscled teenagers who had been shearing since the age of three and who were simply intent on being the fastest - regardless of blood spilled. They did dozens of sheep each, whereas I (a novice and in my 40s) managed a pathetic 11.
I ached so much I couldn't change gear on the way home, and I couldn't walk properly for a week.

If you fancy a less rigorous introduction to shearing, with a very sympathetic (and champion shearer) tutor, there's one being run at Kate Humble's farm in Monmouthshire on June 8. Only £95, including lunch. See this link for info: http://www.humblebynature.com/whats-on/view/841

[plumseverywhere]

I rang the 'singing shearer'  yesterday evening and the very nice lady I spoke to told me that he is already fully booked for the rest of May.  The previous day he had left his house in south Yorkshire  at about half past four in the morning  to drive to Essex, where he had nine customers to visit! I have emailed  my details to him and asked him to contact me if there is any chance of him being in my area in the next month. The weather here today feels like February, not the middle of May, so I am not too worried as yet. If  he can't fit me in or if the weather suddenly gets hot I  will contact a local shearer and get get him to shear my Ryelands, to prevent them getting uncomfortable, or worse still, dangerously overheated.  Thanks again for everones advice.  :wave:Alison

We had to postphone our visit due to heavy rain and poor conditions but I can vouch for the fact that the singing shearer (and family) are fantastic! Philip is like a sheep whisperer and is so calm and gentle with the animals. He has lots of enquiries and will arrange his diary around them geographically.
Or see if Bocky can fit you in. just depends on the weather etc