Shearing Sheep Tips for Shearing Day

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1 Shearing Sheep Shearing Day Tips for Shearing sheep has to be one of the hardest farm tasks. It can be enjoyable but it is always hard work. For ten years, my husband and I tackled the job ourselves. We would spend multiple weekends shearing sheep and fiber goats. The results got better as we learned how to shear a sheep, and became more skilled. But the time commitment was enormous, and during both seasons, there is so much other work to be tended to also. It was accepted as a way of life but, it was definitely taking its toll on our bodies and lives. As our flock grew and included more sheep, out of curiosity, I called a professional sheep shearer. I was very happy with the quoted price and even better, she was acquainted with the breed of fiber goats we raised and knew how to shear the Pygoras.

2 For the last few years we have used professional sheep shearers to shear our flock. The job, that used to take multiple weekends, is now completed in just a few hours. I know not everyone can spare the money to have the animals professionally sheared. But if you can save or reserve the funds for this, I recommend it. As shearing day approaches we start to prepare the area for shearing. Our barn, like our home, doesn t always stay neat and clean. Clearing the barn isle of hay and equipment, gives us a place to shear if the weather is very hot or rainy. We also prepare an outdoor area, near where the sheep are housed. Shearing Sheep Tips for Success Remove all feed from the sheep and goats the night before shearing It is easier on the animal if they do not have a full rumen

3 while being sheared. I do let mine have some hay to munch on overnight but we do not feed anything the day of shearing. Make sure the sheep and goats are kept dry Collect the animals in a small sheltered pen where they are accessible and out of any rain/wet weather. It takes up a lot of time if you have to collect animals from far pastures. Have a lead rope ready if your animals are reluctant to be caught and removed from the herd. I have two that walk right out and let us start work on them without issue. But most of ours need to be cornered and led by a rope, with someone behind them, providing encouragement! We don t show our sheep and goats and they never leave the farm. I know that some animals are more used to being led around and it is an easier job.

4 Have an area ready and cleaned up Have the electric on and the extension cords ready. If the day will be sunny, choose a shaded location or possibly work in the barn if there is enough room. Gather your bags or boxes for collecting the wool. I don t have time for much skirting while the shearing is going on. If I see a patch that is definitely too felted or soiled to be of use, I will discard that immediately. Otherwise most of the wool goes in the bag for later skirting. Practice good bio security measures The blades should be clean, disinfected and in good working order. If your animals have tested positive for CL or any infectious diseases, let the shearer know so they can take extra precautions when cleaning up after working with your herd. Foot rot or scald is contagious so definitely point this out if you have any animal suffering from it. If the weather is extremely hot, be aware that this is a stress factor Try to work in the shade, and watch the animal carefully for signs of tongues hanging out signaling heat stress. Also, watch the respiration and stop immediately if the animal shows signs of heat stress. Your shearer may want to reschedule the appointment if conditions are extreme. Have water available to keep hydrated while shearing sheep.

5 Alert the sheep shearer to any body or skin issues Know where any lumps, skin issues, or wattles, are on your animal and alert the shearer to these areas. A few of our fiber goats have wattles in odd places. Don t over do it We have the shearer trim hooves while shearing sheep. Its a great time to get this job done. On the other hand, we do not recommend that you use this time for dosing worming pastes or liquids, vaccines or other medications. Shearing day is

6 stressful enough and adding in medications is contraindicated. I have talked with other sheep owners who do not like to have the feet trimmed during shearing. It can possibly leave blood drops on a clean fleece if the hoof is nicked during trimming. Also the bits of hoof can get stuck in the good fleece. This is a decision you and your shearer need to make. Keep other distractions such as dogs, children, other animals away from the shearing area. I think that it s wonderful to share farm happenings with friends and family. Letting people visit can be very educational. My advice would be to have a good plan in place. Remind people observing that the sheep need to stay calm. Everyone needs to stay out of the way so the shearer can do her work shearing sheep. Request that pets be left home on

7 shearing day. It might be a good idea to check with your shearer before issuing any invitations. Shearing season can be very stressful. The shearers are in high demand and have many farms to visit. We know how to shear and have the equipment that we were able to afford. But professional equipment makes the job go much faster. For the size flock we have, it would not be cost effective to purchase that grade of shearers. This is a video of one of our pygora goats being sheared. This method used is less stressful for the goat because it s fast and they can t struggle. Micah was chosen to be the featured goat in the video. It took less than seven minutes for Anne to have Micah looking clean and handsome.

8 For more information on Star Gazing Farm and Anne s Shearing work visit Please visit our handmade shop on this site to see all of our yarns and other handmade products.

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10 Why Neuter Livestock for the Homestead? The decision to neuter livestock is part of maintaining a safe environment on the homestead or small backyard farm. This choice is of primary importance. Most of us are not running a breeding operation. We are raising animals for weed control, meat for our table, eggs, and other things like fiber and fleeces. Often, people don t have the space to keep a bull, boar, ram or buck separate from the rest of the animals. In addition to space and separate housing, there are some serious facts to consider. Controlling the population on our backyard farms and homesteads is of primary importance. All animals require care, feed, veterinary services and room to move

11 around. Over population can occur before you know it. Boys will be Boys. Sparring is a natural activity for all goats and sheep and not necessarily just for Bucks and Rams Not Breeding? Livestock. Then, Neuter If you are not planning to breed your livestock, the most responsible course of action is to castrate, or neuter you livestock. Animal behavior is one reason to go this route. Males tend to be more aggressive, which can be a problem if you are not prepared to deal with this trait. Food aggression can be annoying and dangerous. An eighty pound buck jumping on you to get the food bucket can result in you being injured. The food bucket can be enough to cause a curious friendly, intact, male animal, to charge you and ram into you. I have learned that letting a ram lamb become too pushy can

12 lead to having a 100 pound lap puppy who thinks he makes the rules. Our ram, Ranger, wouldn t let me into the pen, once he was full grown. I have been knocked down and also had my ribs broken by overly friendly male goats and rams. Buddy and Gary Goat Neuter or Separate the Goats Unwanted babies is another reason to neuter livestock on your homestead. Males left in the same field with the females often become territorial. Do not think that you can wait until you see mating behavior before separating the animals. As we were told as teens, it only takes once! By the time you actually witness mating behavior, you are probably expecting baby animals.

13 Micah and Pongo, two of our whethered goats When Should You Neuter? Timing is another factor to consider when making the decision to neuter livestock. Waiting longer gives the urethra time to mature and reach its full growth. This will go a long way towards avoiding a later urinary track blockage, which male small ruminants can be prone to. Of course, waiting can also have consequences. I waited too long to neuter a goat kid one year. Then bad weather arrived and by the time I was able to move him to another pen, he had impregnated his mother, sister and all the other females. Oops! We had a bumper crop of baby goats the following spring. If I had at least separated the males when they were weaned, I could have avoided this result.

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15 East end of a westward pig. Charlie as a young boar Methods Used to Neuter Livestock There are multiple methods to use to neuter livestock. Surgical castration, Burdizzo method and Banding with an elastrator are all methods used by farmers. I have been taught to perform banding and use the burdizzo but for our farm, I have chosen to go with surgical castration. My reasons are that we usually only have a few babies here at any one time. I feel more comfortable doing something if I do it often. Surgical castration is one hundred percent effective and we have a good farm vet that I trust to do the surgery. If

16 we were in a more rural location and raised more babies each year, I would choose to go with banding. Banding cannot be used on male piglets as they do not have hanging down parts. Banding can leave a descended testicle though, if you are not careful, which can result in an unwanted pregnancy at some point. Our Ram/whether, Ranger, was banded as a lamb by the previous owner. He did not realize that one testicle had slipped back up into the abdominal cavity during the procedure. It later descended into the scrotum and resulted in him being fertile. The common saying when doing a banding is always count to two! before considering the job complete. Ranger our Ram, that was supposed to have been neutered as a lamb Another consideration is that the burdizzo and the elastrator for banding are both bloodless methods. Using a bloodless method results in less likelihood of attracting flies.

17 Are Roosters Neutered? Roosters are not routinely castrated as it needs to be a surgical procedure and is not always successful. A neutered rooster is called a Capon. Neutering a rooster needs to be done before sexual maturity. In some countries this is accomplished by feeding or implanting estrogen but this is not widely practiced in the United States.

18 Cattle and Swine A bull will test your patience and the patience of nearby neighbors. A bull will spend a lot of time trying to find the

19 weak spot in your fence line. Not to mention the large size and strength of a bull. Castrating a male calf would be the right choice if you are not running a breeding program. We chose to raise heifers for our feeder calves. The aggression is minimal as they mature but they are more content to stay on the farm. Pigs To Neuter or Leave Intact? With swine, leaving the males intact in those pigs you plan to raise for meat, can result in an off tasting pork product, but only if they are left intact past the point of sexual maturity. This is a theory that is debatable, also. Some believe that if the males are separated from the female pigs, there is no tainted taste to the meat. Read more here. In our case, our weanlings are sold intact, to people who are planning an upcoming pig roast, to be held before the point of sexual maturity occurs. We are keeping one boar for breeding

20 at this time. We are not having any issues with him as far as behavior, but he has two females to take care of and plenty to eat.

21 Hand raised pigs may be less dangerous, but it is always good to remember that the animal works on instinct. As with any thing farm related, being informed goes a long way towards being successful. Make the decision before hand on how you will deal with male farm animals and make sure the task is taken care of in a timely manner.

22 Snow on the Farm Blizzard 2016

23 What Goes Into Preparing the Farm for a Major Snowstorm? What makes farming different when there is snow on the farm? Actually, nothing. The same things need to be tended to no matter what the weather brings. Except for the fact that, the older I get, the more I seem to fall on that lovely cover of white. The latest snowflake extravaganza left me rather beaten up. It was light fluffy snow which made it easier to shovel but walking through this powder, up to my knees, made the footing unstable. At least the fall was soft!

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25 (Chickens are not known for their love of snow. After a couple days inside the coop, a few will be curious enough to try the pure white snow in the run. I will shovel some snow out of the way and lay down straw to entice the others to leave the coop)

26 The Real Difference When Snow is Expected on the Farm The real work of dealing with snow on the farm begins before it happens. We spent the week leading up to the predicted blizzard in full preparation mode. I am a little bit crazy about not ever running out of feed for the animals, balanced with not hoarding food that might get stale or moldy. I try to calculate how much we will need, depending on the season, and plan accordingly. Even though someone had recently picked up feed, I noticed that the goat and sheep formula we use for our mixed flock, was running low. So that needed to be purchased. Water is another big concern on our farm. We are a well and septic area, which means that when the power goes out in a big storm, we have no water. To prepare for this we store water in gallon jugs, and three gallon containers. The frozen hoses are stretched out and then wound up to take inside. (Store in the bathtub or some other water proof space, so the frozen water won t ruin your carpet or floor when it thaws.) Water really is our biggest worry on the farm, and more so when there is snow on the farm.

27 The next task was to collect up any tools and feed bowls lying around. This is so I can find the bowls without digging through a mountain of snow. This storm was predicted to reach blizzard status with the high winds so collecting loose objects before they become flying projectiles is a good safety precaution. Waiting for Snow on the Farm And then we waited. The storm arrived on schedule and the snow continued through the next day. 36 hours of snow on the farm. It took a good deal of time to make it to the farm the next day. Since we had supplied everyone with extra hay, feed

28 and water and they were all safe, we didn t panic. When a vehicle could finally make it down our street to the opening of the farm drive, I was getting anxious to see how the animals were doing. When the coops and houses and stalls were opened I was glad to see that there was still water and food left from the night. Everyone was doing well. The chickens immediately started eating. There were already some eggs waiting despite the different schedule for the day. With a foot or more of snow on the ground, no one was interested in going out, except the ducks. They quacked for quite a while discussing the crazy weather.

29 The sheep were comfy cozy in their stall. The door leading to their outside paddock was nearly blocked by snow. I am glad that I blocked the doorway from the inside, so that no sheep were trapped outside during the storm. As long as they have hay in their manger I would bet they didn t even notice the gate was closed.

30 See you tomorrow Bunnies.

31 I know the goats aren t planning any outings in the snow.

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33 Sheep Out on Good Behavior The latest installment in the Sheep Tales Category What happens when the sheep come out and they actually behave like well mannered ruminants? Photos, of course! The sheep had not been out of their fenced area by the barn for a few days. The weather doesn t always cooperate. While I am a dedicated shepherdess, I am not willing to stand out in the cold and rain, chasing the sheep from one area to the next. A beautiful day arrived recently, and I set aside time to let the grazers out to chomp on what green could be found. Since the winter has been mild so far, there is a fair amount

34 of green grass to be found. We started out heading over the hill on an adventure hike We raise a small flock of wool producing sheep on our small farm. We feed both hay and let them graze. However our fenced grazing area needs work, and since there are still 24 hours in a day, that has yet to be accomplished. So when they are out grazing, I need to be watching to make sure they don t wander towards the road.

35 It is possible to raise small ruminants in a paddock situation. We use a paddock/fenced area off of the barn and have been successful with this system for many years of goats and sheep.

36 Millie and Ike spent some quality time discussing sheep issues of the day. Millie mothers Ike The best part of this day was the photos I took! Sometimes it just works. This was a good day for photos, as the temperature was warm and the sun was partially hiding behind a cloud cover. Since I am always learning how to use all the settings on my camera, and lighting is still a bit of a challenge for me, not having the bright mid day sun was actually good for me.

37 the flock did go into the woods behind the pigs but they came right back out. When I am photographing our animals, I like to get up close and personal. Sometimes that leads to the animals feeling a bit uncomfortable and like I am overstepping my boundaries! I surely don t want them to not want me and my camera around, so I try to respect their space. With my new 85mm fixed lens, I can get some closeups without being really close. I am working on the blurred background that the lens provides. That blurred background can be enlarged or not by using different f-stops. I think. Learning the camera, when not using the auto settings, is a huge challenge for me. (please feel free to correct my understanding in the comments section. )

38 So anyway, my photography sessions last a good while because I take the time to let the animals and birds get used to me following them around. I also take about a million shots and end up with maybe ten or twenty decent ones. The wonder and beauty of digital. It s free! Take as many as you want! Edit the good ones and forget the rest. The downside of the fixed lens is that I can t get away from some eager models fast enough and end up with extreme closeups!

39 On this particular day, a lot was going on at the farm property. Logging trucks were exiting and entering to carry off the logs being harvested. We had a well pump issue in the farm house and the repairman was working on that. I thought it might cause the sheep to freak out and scatter all over but it actually helped them decide to go into the large fenced area and STAY THERE! They stayed for a long time, munching on grass and weeds.

40 I wandered around taking pictures. And when we had enough, (actually, probably just me, I was getting hungry), I grabbed some grain and led them back to the barn with NO PROBLEMS! Yes, I know. It s hard to believe. I wish I had a funny anecdote or an amusing story to relay about me falling down or the sheep escaping but they were actually really well behaved.

41 Take heart! Miracles do happen even with Sheep!

42 The End Need another amusing animal post? Check out this one from 104Homestead.com. What happens when the doorbell rings and you re holding a sick chicken?

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