[Jukes Mum]

I have 2 Ryeland ewes and they are already really hot. The sheep people locally said they are better off hot than cold and not to shear for a while yet. Just wondered what everyone else did? I am in North Yorkshire and they do not have a shelter (other than the trees). If it makes a difference, one has lambs at foot, the other does not.

[SallyintNorth]

They can't realistically be shorn until the fleece is ready to come off.  This isn't a time thing, it will be affected by many things including the weather, the sheep's condition and workload.   There'll be a rule of thumb date for your area but it can vary by a couple of weeks or more depending on other factors.

People talk about 'the rise' and the fleece 'rising'.  If you part the fleece you may be able to see a line, possibly yellowy, where the grease is rising up the fibres.  It marks the line between last year's fleece and this year's new growth.  That's the line they need to shear along, and it needs to be 1/4 to 1/2" from the body for them to get the clippers smoothly underneath it.  Trying to shear before this has happened is hard work for the shearer and uncomfortable for the sheep.

Another sign is if the neck wool - at the front of the neck - is starting to peel away on its own.  Once this is happening to a few of your sheep, they may be ready for shearing. 

Your ewe with lambs may be ready a little later than your one without - the latter hasn't had any work to do so has been able to work harder on her fleece.

Dangers of sheep, especially barren sheep, who are hot and fully fleeced is that they get hot and itchy, roll and get stuck on their back.  They can die if not found and righted. 

Trees should be adequate shelter - so long as they can get out of the sun (or rain or wind )

[Marches Farmer]

Ryelands, like other Down sheep, rarely start to shed fleece before it gets to shearing time anyway.  My Badger Face, on the other hand, already look as though they're trailing a woolly blanket around the field behind them, despite fairly cool weather, high winds and lambs at foot.

[Jukes Mum]

Thanks for your fab advice! I will have a look at both their fleeces tomorrow (it's raining cats and dogs here!) to see if I can see if the fleece is rising. There is definitely no loss around the neck of either.
Not too worried about the ewe getting stuck on her back as we are about all day. They do like having a good scratch on the chicken hut though!
I will let you know tomorrow about the fleece rising (or not!) and may ask for more advice then
Thanks again!

[trish.farm]

I am in hampshire and had mine shorn last tuesday, mixture of romney, welsh and allsorts!!  Fleeces all ok to shear, black ewes could have waited longer but he very carefully sheared them.  However, weather has been foul since tues, had to do a mercy dash out to the field with a trailer, all 11 ewes (and 19 lambs who really didnt need to as they are wooly) hopped into the trailer which i left in the field with the ramp down.  Have kept the trailer bedded down with straw and as soon as it rains the ewes all run for cover.  Could have ended up with very sick or dead ewes as they were all shivering.  Sheep dont tend to get hot, the wool actually insulates them from the sun, they pant to cool down.  Flystrike is the main problem pre-shearing.  Much rather have warm sheep than cold sheep. 

[JulieWall]

Thanks for your fab advice! I will have a look at both their fleeces tomorrow (it's raining cats and dogs here!) to see if I can see if the fleece is rising. There is definitely no loss around the neck of either.
Not too worried about the ewe getting stuck on her back as we are about all day. They do like having a good scratch on the chicken hut though!
I will let you know tomorrow about the fleece rising (or not!) and may ask for more advice then
Thanks again!

The neck and tail wool tend to rise before other parts of the body anyway so if there's no separation there they aren't likely to be ready yet. Make sure they have plenty of water and some shade, they'll be fine.

[Lorrie66]

They can't realistically be shorn until the fleece is ready to come off.  This isn't a time thing, it will be affected by many things including the weather, the sheep's condition and workload.   There'll be a rule of thumb date for your area but it can vary by a couple of weeks or more depending on other factors.

People talk about 'the rise' and the fleece 'rising'.  If you part the fleece you may be able to see a line, possibly yellowy, where the grease is rising up the fibres.  It marks the line between last year's fleece and this year's new growth.  That's the line they need to shear along, and it needs to be 1/4 to 1/2" from the body for them to get the clippers smoothly underneath it.  Trying to shear before this has happened is hard work for the shearer and uncomfortable for the sheep.

Another sign is if the neck wool - at the front of the neck - is starting to peel away on its own.  Once this is happening to a few of your sheep, they may be ready for shearing. 

Your ewe with lambs may be ready a little later than your one without - the latter hasn't had any work to do so has been able to work harder on her fleece.

Dangers of sheep, especially barren sheep, who are hot and fully fleeced is that they get hot and itchy, roll and get stuck on their back.  They can die if not found and righted. 

Trees should be adequate shelter - so long as they can get out of the sun (or rain or wind )

Glad you asked the question Jukes Mum. And really found this advice useful - just what I needed.
We are shearing ours on Sunday (2 Ryelands & 2 GFDs)
I am panicking a bit about the weather being so hot tomorrow but they have plenty of trees, hedges and walls giving shade and water so I hope another day they can cope with. They were panting today but seemed normal!
I guess this happens sometimes , hot spell before shearing and prob sometimes cold spell after!

[firther]

last year when it were hot the one's that had been sheared were hotter than the one's that weren't.

Normally do ours around june time but plenty will have all ready sheared in preparation for the showing season. not shearing the me self though 

[JulieWall]

As a spinner with a small flock I tend to shear each sheep as it becomes ready, I just hate breaks in the fibre if the job is left over-late. It's not practical to do that for most people but if you do happen to be taking on the job yourself then you can pick out any that are ready. Don't be fooled by that neck wool alone, check the flanks as well as the visible areas in case they aren't quite ready yet. I find that if the area where the back legs joins the sides towards the belly is risen the rest usually is. If you try and shear too soon you're more likely to end up with nicks and cuts on the sheep.