Every spring the roving shearing crews roll through the country leaving flocks of naked sheep in their path! We got the call that our time was rolling around too. We know it's coming, but every year it seems like we are caught scrambling to get everything ready in time. This year was no different. Unless you count the fact that the sheep were loaded on trucks and brought back to pastures closer to our lambing grounds the day BEFORE the call came in. So on top of gathering paint, brands, applicators, food coloring, wool bags, tags, coveralls and all the other things that need to be packed to the site...we needed to move the sheep.
Keep in mind that shearing typically takes place only a couple of weeks before we start lambing. Trailing a herd of sheep from one location to another takes longer when they are pregnant and they tire easier. Plus we were still fighting deeper than normal snow drifts. We just spent all that money to truck the sheep to the right place at the wrong time! If only that call was made the day before. We could have re-routed them right to the corrals that we needed them in to be able to shear them. Luckily the shearing crew was able to work with us and pick up another client while we took the three days to trail the sheep to the right place.
We finally got the herd into the shearing corrals and the crews got started right away. The sheep are run though a series of narrowing alleys that line them up to be pushed into a chute. The chute can be used for loading trucks or, in this case, loading the shearing trailer. The crews bring an enclosed trailer with everything they need to shear a lot of sheep in a short amount of time. They show up with several camp trailers for the crew to sleep in and usually one bus or trailer to be used as a kitchen. Along with the campers is one, maybe two, shearing set-ups. Once the trailer is opened up the sheep are loaded into a raised deck to wait their turn for a haircut. Under the deck is an opening for the shearers to push the pelt out. Across from the deck there is a line-up of shearers with ceiling mounted electric clippers on swing arms. The front of the trailer holds the generators to power it all up. Each shearing stall has a door at floor level to let the sheared sheep back out into the pens. The opposite side has a door on pulleys that can be lowered for the shearer to grab a fresh sheep. They drop the door, roll the sheep onto her bottom and proceed to strip the long-johns right off. The belly wool is removed first and scooted out under the deck to handlers that sort and pack the wool. Then the rest of the pelt is removed in one large piece. All of this is done in just about ONE minute. The pelt is scooted out to be sorted and packed as well. Along with the shearing crew is a man or two that runs the packer. They start by sorting the pelts by course and fine fibers. The two are packed together separately from one another. The wool packer is a hydraulic press that packs the wool tightly into nylon packs. The wool packs, or bales, are then branded and loaded onto the trailer to be delivered to the warehouse to be sold.
Amazingly enough the whole process is done with our herd in one day...weather permitting.
Remember I said they call when they are headed our way? We typically don't get a lot of advanced notice. Weather is a huge factor for their schedule. Sometimes they call (only a couple days ahead) and are then held up by weather and don't get to us for a week. Sometimes they show up, get started and have to hold off due to rain or snow. This year they were able to wait for us to move the sheep. They came in on the morning of April 30th, set-up and set to work. Towards the end of the day, with only 90 head of ewes left, it started to snow...lightly at first, and we were able to finish shearing. We finished packing up the last bale and cleaned up. The weather report called for 1-2" of snow that evening so we turned the sheep out of the corral and instructed the herder to let them find their own shelter. Animals have better instincts than we could ever hope to have. They will find the best shelter and usually be just fine. Sadly, our 1-2" turned into 16 inches of wet heavy snow on top of freshly shorn and handled animals. We prayed through the night that the herd would all be ok. The next morning we thought that everything had turned out ok despite the weather. It wasn't until three days later that the snow finally melted and settled enough for us to see the damage. Approximately 50 head of sheep did not make it through the night's terrible storm. That's an estimated 100 lambs that never hit the ground either.
The shearing crew was also stranded on the place for another six days, due to weather, before they were able to pack up and head to the next herd. I sure hope next year is much more forgiving.
Look for more catch-up posts soon!
I'll be baa-ck!
Lola Wooly
