How to Hand-Shear a Sheep

Proper positioning ensures easy shearing. Proper positioning ensures easy shearing.

To shear sheep today, many sheep farmers use electric shears. But before electric shears were invented, they used hand shears. Hand-shearing is common in areas where electricity is limited. A hand-sheared sheep will produce more wool than an electric-sheared sheep. Hand-shearing is not an easy task; it takes practice to ensure the task is completely safe and minimally stressful to the sheep.

Preparing the Wool
1 Wash the sheep thoroughly, removing any debris that may get in the way. Pick out the larger chunks.

2 Hold the sheep's mouth closed with your hand under the jaw and around the nose. Stand over the sheep and position him so that his bum is on the ground and his back is against your legs. The sheep will naturally slump into a concave position, belly up.

3 Trim any discolored hairs on the sheep's belly by the scrotum or udders. Pull taught as your shear; the belly area is sensitive. Shearing the belly first will make the rest of the process easier. It will take up to three clips of the shears to clear the belly.

4 Hold one hind leg and, with one or two clips, trim the inside of the back legs. Roll the sheep slightly to shear the outside of the legs and tail. Three clips on each leg and three on the tail will shear it.

5 Shear the topknot wool on the back of the sheep's neck in one or two cuts.

Open the Fleece
1 Open the fleece at the neck with one or two cuts to clear around the ears and behind the head. Shear the shoulder, the leg and as high as the shoulder blade goes.

2 Lay the sheep down and shear over the shoulders in long cuts up the hips toward the neck. Start at the hip and go up the neck.

3 Keep working up the backbone.

Clear the Sheep
1 Clear up the top of the face and work down the neck, rolling the sheep as you go. Shear down the neck, off the shoulder and off the leg.

2 Bring the head up and continue down the body and out the leg.

3 Clear off whatever is left over the bum and you're done.

Shrek, The Sheep Who Escaped Shearing For 6 Years

Shrek was just your ordinary Merino sheep living in South Island, New Zealand. That is until the year 2004 when he sky-rocketed to fame over his GINORMOUS wool coat.

Usually Merino sheep have their coats sheared once a year, but Shrek the sheep hated nothing more than having his coat removed. And so he devised a plan to avoid shearing forever, he was going to escape and run away.

For 6 years Shrek’s escape proved successful after he got out of his enclosure, and made a break for it, spending his time hiding in local caves. Eventually, Shrek was discovered, although he looked NOTHING like the Shrek his owners remembered. John Perriam, Shrek’s owner, describes Shrek, “He looked like some biblical creature.”

Some breeds of sheep naturally shed their wool each year, but Merino sheep, typically raised for meat, never shed their fleece. Hidden behind cave walls, far from any shearing blades, Shrek’s wool continued to grow, and grow, and grow some more.

In fact, after 6 years without any haircuts, Shrek had enough wool to produce 20 suits for men, large men. Each year Shrek continued to grow the normal amount of hair for a Merino sheep, but since it was never shed or cut off, he was found with 6 times the average amount of Merino fleece. His fleece in total weighed around 60 pounds!

This caused many to ask if sheep fleece would continually grow forever without being sheared. Dave Thomas, the head of sheep studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, says that the Merino sheep will forever continue to grow incredible amounts of wool without being sheared. Almost all year long this type of sheep continues to pack on the fleece.

So is it ever dangerous to have so much fleece? Dave Thomas admits that all of this wool can become a health and safety concern for sheep. Especially if they are in very hot conditions, in which case heat stress can become a real issue. Also, if a sheep’s wool becomes too large they can get stuck on their backs, unable to get up.

Shrek is not the only sheep to hate the shearing process, although it’s a quick and pain-free ordeal that sheep get more and more comfortable with as they age. Baby sheep tend to have the most disdain for shearing, causing a lot of commotion the first few times they experience the process. Once they learn it is not painful and doesn’t negatively impact their life, they tend to become docile about it. When done by an experienced individual, shearing only takes around 5-10 minutes max.

Shrek hardly looked anything like a sheep with so much fleece–in fact, his eyes appeared to be completely covered. People couldn’t get enough of the cute little rebel, and so when he finally was sheared, it was broadcasted on New Zealand’s national television for all to witness. Shrek was also famous enough to meet the Prime Minister of New Zealand at the time, Helen Clark.

All of Shrek’s fleece was auctioned off to support medical charities for children. Shrek has since been depicted in children’s books and made his fair share of charity appearances. Under a watchful eye of course, after all, Shrek is a run-away rebel sheep at heart.

2 years after Shrek was first sheared on national television, he was sheared for live TV again, this time floating on an iceberg, just off the coast of Dunedin, New Zealand.

Sadly, the adorable and rebellious sheep passed away in 2011, he was 16 years old. RIP Shrek, you will be loved and adored forever!

The History of Sheep Shearing

The process of removing the wool from a sheep is known as sheep shearing. The wool is clipped by skilled shearers once a year from the sheep. Raising and shearing sheep is one of the world's oldest industries, thriving for thousands of years. The many uses of wool are the reason for the huge success of the sheep shearing business. The fleece removed from sheep is spun and woven for carpets, clothing, yarns, insulation, blankets, felt and crafting.

Domestication

    Sheep were first domesticated over 10,000 years ago and raised as a food source in Central Asia. Shearing sheep did not begin until 3500 B.C. when man learned to spin the sheep's wool. The production of wool is the oldest trade commodity known to man. The wool industry is mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible and was the first widespread international trade throughout ancient civilizations.

New World

    Most of the explorations organized by Queen Isabella of Spain were financed through her wool trading business. In the 1400's, she paid for the voyages of Columbus and the conquistadors with profits from sheep shearing. The sheep were also used as a food source for Columbus and he left sheep in the New World when he sailed to Santo Domingo and Cuba. These sheep, known as Churras, became the ancestors of American sheep and were bred by the Navajo tribe for food and wool.

American Colonies

    England attempted to prevent breeding and shearing sheep in the American colonies of the 16th and 17th centuries. The colonists, however, continued to smuggle sheep into America and established a lucrative wool business in the colonies. By the mid 1600's, the Massachusetts General Court required all children to learn how to shear sheep, spin the wool and weave the wool.

    Colonial Americans exported the wool from over 10,000 sheep and England forbade the wool industry in America to continue. The consequence of being found guilty of participating in the wool industry was severing the right hand of the guilty party. One of the causes of the Revolutionary War was England's outlawing of sheep shearing and wool exportation.Australia

    In 1788, 29 sheep were successfully transported from Cape Town, South Africa to Sydney, Australia. Ten years later, 13 more sheep, known as Spanish merinos, were added to the Sydney's flock of over 2,000 to help produce a finer grade of wool. The sheep shearing industry of Australia went on to become one of the largest in the world.

Australia

    In 1788, 29 sheep were successfully transported from Cape Town, South Africa to Sydney, Australia. Ten years later, 13 more sheep, known as Spanish merinos, were added to the Sydney's flock of over 2,000 to help produce a finer grade of wool. The sheep shearing industry of Australia went on to become one of the largest in the world.

Today

    Most of the wool today is provided to manufacturers from sheep farms in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The wool of Australian sheep, which is finer in quality than American wool, is used to manufacture clothing. New Zealand wool is coarse and is used in producing carpeting, draperies and industrial products. American wool is also coarse wool for manufacturing carpet pads, insulation, tennis balls and baseballs.