Hand Clipping Sheep

It's been a while since sheep have featured on the blog and I should say that these aren't mine! 

 

Some smallholder friends were struggling to get anyone to shear their sheep. The trouble is they only have 5 pet sheep. I lent them some hand sheers but I think a mixture of worry and lack of experience put them off. 

Rather than ask them if they wanted a hand I just told them I was coming to get the job started. I'm no expert, I've only ever had to hand clip a whole sheep when maggots have been involved! But it's better to get that fleece off than leave it on in the summer time (fly strike becomes a very real risk). I think part of the trouble was getting the sheep rolled over, Simon isn't a big guy and this are some seriously heavy (fat) sheep. 

Rolling sheep over isn't really about strength, technique wins out in the end - but often you need brute  strength to control the ewe while you learn it. 

At the end of the day it's not the nicest of jobs and I do sometimes wonder at what I get myself into, hard sweaty work. But it's good to spend time with friends, help each other out, have some exercise, enjoy a beer and some stories afterwards. 

We didn't get them all done, it got dark before then, so another dry night is needed.

When I started on my journey of self sufficiency I never realised how important I would find community to be. I always feel richer for having people help me and it's good to be in a position to do that to others when I can.