Jamie shearing
When I told folks that we were shearing sheep, the usual reaction was, “Whoa! Isn’t it a little early?”
It’s true that most of the sheep are shorn in late April (if all goes well), right before they lamb. Since we raise our own rams, we have two farm flocks of ewes–one Rambouillet and one Hampshire. These ewes lamb mostly in March. It helps a lot if they can be shorn before lambing. If a ewe feels a chill, she will take her lambs to seek shelter. If her belly is bare, it is easier for the lambs to find her nipples and get a first good meal of colostrum.
Shearing is always risky if the weather can turn cold. In 1984, a quarter of a million sheep in Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas died after a long and severe April storm. A few days wool growth offers some protection. Our shearer, Cliff Hoopes of Hoopes Sheep Shearing, came with his shearer Jamie and nephew Kyle, wool handler. Cliff and Jamie used course blades, which leave some extra wool on the sheep.
We were blessed with several days of warmish weather, and got through with a good shearing. Thank you, Cliff and crew!
Meghan and Oscar bringing up the unshorn ewes
whiteface ewes waiting for the blade
blackface ewes waiting for the blade
Seamus on the job
Oscar at the chute
Time ropes the escaped wooly ewe
It’s not easy!
Back to the woolies
Siobhan and Raelyn capture the ewe
Siobhan: they went that-a-way
Siobhan, Maeve and Raelyn taking a break
The bucks were shorn too. (The red powder is their working clothes.)
The Hoopes Shearing Crew and the Ladder Ranch Crew
Ladder Ranch
