We sheared the sheep on Easter morning this year.  There are no true holidays on the farm and we were lucky to get a weekend time since then we can get more friends out here to help. 

Here are the very wooly sheep outside at the hay feeders before being brought into the barn.  This was Friday morning.


On Friday afternoon, storms were moving in.  So the sheep, two smaller sized water tanks and some small basket type hay feeders were moved into the barn.  The ewes had the run of the main part of the barn.  The rams got a nice roomy pen in the hay room.  The sheep need to be totally dry for shearing. 

Friday morning, we fed the sheep again.  Then on Saturday, they started their 24 hour fast. (Not for Lent, but for shearing.)  It takes 12 to 24 hours for hay to be transformed into poop.  Some people only fast them overnight.  But I know from past experience that my sheep seem to have a lot of hay stored in their bellies from the day before and it takes about 24 hours to empty them out.  Then on Saturday night, we took away their water.

The reason for doing this is not only to maintain the quality of the wool, but also to be humane to the sheep.  Sheep are ruminants like cattle.  Nature has designed them to eat a high roughage diet that is difficult to digest.  When they first eat grass or hay, they quickly take in food which is stored in the first stomach called the rumen.  Later it moves to the second stomach called the reticulum where acid and bacteria break it down to make "cud".  These are the little wads of partially digested hay/grass that the sheep later bring up and rechew. 

A long time shepherdess once told me that a sheep should either be eating or chewing their cuds most of the time.  That is one sign of good health.  (This is because one of the first signs of a sick sheep is poor appetite -- even if she still stand next to their flock with her head in the hay feeder, just staring at the hay.)

Once the cud is swallowed it moves on to the omasum and the abomasum for further digestion before entering the intestines.
Here is a link where you can read more about it, if I haven't already told you way more about sheep digestion than you ever wanted to know... the digestive system in sheep from Purdue University.

This storage of large amounts of hay/grass in the rumen is why a sheep looks so round (and IMO cute).  They aren't fat, they are just full of grass/hay.  And because of this round shape, they don't bend or fold very well.  Imagine eating a huge Thanksgiving dinner and then being asked to do sit ups.  It wouldn't feel good and probably wouldn't be very good for you either.

Sunday morning, as the shearer was unloading his equipment and setting up, we moved the small fence panels in to make the pen for the ewes/wethers/lambs a lot smaller.  Being a flock animal, sheep are calmed by "togetherness".  Plus there is not enough room for a nervous sheep to run.  This makes it easier to catch them and they whole mood stays much more peaceful.  We also took off all the jackets.

I also move very slowly and smoothly and talk to them the whole time.  They are used to this and it seems to reassure them.


Here is our shearer, David Kier, shearing a sheep.  I am fairly certain this sheep is Elias, a wether who is our oldest sheep at 8 years old.  Elias is a "fading black".  (A genetically black sheep that has turned grey over time.)  We are so lucky to get David every year.  He is professionally trained in New Zealand, is kind to the sheep and helps us produce beautiful fleeces.  If you have gone to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in the past few years, David does their shearing demos and also teaches a workshop on using a modified technique to shear a standing sheep yourself.


Our friend Amy and her niece Becca (a pre-vet student enjoying a break from college) work on the first skirting of the fleece.  This is to remove dung tags and serious filth.


Colored sheep done; white ones left to go...


All done!  Time for hay and water.  An Easter feast for sheep!


This is the same tight pen the sheep were in during the previous photos.  We were still cleaning up and hadn't give them full access to the barn again yet.  See how much extra space there is with no wool?  This is why when planning for how many sheep will fit in a barn or around a hay feeder, you must take into account whether or not they have fleece.  Amazing huh?

I was able to hire a friend's daughter to help me do the final skirting of the fleeces over her spring break.  I still need to finish boxing them up, addressing and weighing them.  I just need for other things to need my attention less and then I will be all done to ship them out!