Our flock of 450 Suffolk cross ewes and their growing lambs were brought down from the Eversfield meadows this morning to begin the annual spring shearing, filling the farmyard with a chorus of bleating throughout the day!
Wool grows constantly to protect the sheep from wind and rain. It grows very thick and is naturally oily making it waterproof and very warm. A sheep will naturally shed its fleece during warmer months, but using shears is a quicker and kinder way to relieve them of a hot woolly coat in summer.
How do you shear a sheep?
A team of 4 shearers and 2 handlers under the management of our farm manager in our woolshed started the first ewes at 7.30am at the start of a very long day which finishes around 7pm.
The ewes and lambs are first moved in small groups into the catching pens where the lambs are separated and given a basic health check before being allowed out into the yard – we bring them back in late summer to shear the soft lamb’s wool.
Each ewe is then moved down into a small holding area, and taken out one at a time by the shearers to receive their haircut!
The wool is removed efficiently in under 3 minutes using machine operated shears. The shearers expertly restrain each ewe during the short procedure which is completely harmless, starting in the belly area first then around the legs and entire body to completely remove the fleece in one piece.
Each ewe is also given a health check with particular attention to their feet before being reunited with her lambs and a chance to show off her new ´look´ to the rest of the flock.
The fleece itself is thrown flat onto a sheet to be checked, trimmed and graded before being rolled and packed into large bags for transportation. Our Eversfield Organic wool is sent to the Wool Marketing Board where it’s processed and sold as a raw material.
