Tried this again this year, and I used a Premier 1 Spirit & Spitfire comb and cutter combo on my Amazon clipper. BIG difference. I was able to do our Icelandic ram with no problem at all - it went just as you show in the video. The Suffolks however didn't cut as well and fought being haltered so I jsut got the big sections on the back and didn't even try the arm pits or neck for fear of cutting them. Will keep trying.
Never seen someone shear a sheep this way. In Ireland you knock the sheep so they are sitting down and immobile. Also shear between 30 and 50 per hour.
Thank you. This will be my first time not hiring someone to do the shearing as I bought the sheep shearing equipment myself. I do use a different wormer which is the sheep drench durvet ivermectin, but same injection for vaccination you do. I was apprenticing the Bowen method and will be doing them standing for the first time for as much as possible and if needed I will sit them down to get underneath and odds and ends. The advise I have gotten ,due to the fact I do it for the sheeps comfort and not for wool, is to take my time, not try to keep up with my old sheerer who could whip out a sheep in minutes, but they were treated like large rag dolls and had cuts on them.
How many sheep do you shear before the blades become dull? I only do like half a sheep before the clipper gets caked with gunk and I have to clean it. Very time consuming especially when you have a whole herd to do. Then you have to change out the blades for the next sheep and so on.
I can make it through my 18 ewes at least twice without changing them. I usually clean them in hot soapy water after every one wile I catch the next and oil the blades before starting the next one.
I tried to shear a Suffolk ewe as you show above, and it never worked right. Took me an hour to do half of the poor thing, then (I'm guessing) the blade got dull and wouldn't cut the rest. Trying to find a shearer to come finish the job.
@@mattheslingafarms3186 I def like the 13 better, someone suggested 20 and that was a waste of tme, Im returning the 20! we did 13 on 5 angoras w heavy and matted hair, 4 left, still figuring it out. Thank you
You make it look so easy!!! I’m scared I’m gonna cut mine. I also need to get a different style halter bc the one I have does not fit well and came up around her eyes when she pulled down on it. I use a collar and clip them to the side of my shed until I find something better… What if I didn’t want to cut close to the skin, would the shears still work? Like if I left an inch or 2 so I know I wouldn’t cut them up too bad?
The only thing I saw that you could maybe try is trying to buy a guard for your clippers. Not sure how short it would cut it because I’ve never tried that. I e also been shearing sheep for roughly 20 years. It wasn’t as easy in the beginning. If the skin is pulled tight enough there’s less chance you will neck them. Hope that helps 😊
My professional shearer has done worse than I have ever done. He would whip those sheep around and he was doing it for time to be fast and get as many done as possible with a powerful machine. I doubt the machine you bought has the motor (usually up to $2,500 for a professional machine) and unless you will be doing 20+ sheep you don't have to worry as much about dull blades. The issue is the same as shaving your face/legs. Sharp blades may leave little cuts (doubtful if you aren't rushing), but dull blades (like doing a full 20,30,40+ sheep in a day for shearing) is when you get the large cuts that I have seen and need to be treated with topical ointments and such. You will feel your blades change from being sharp and easily going through the wool to not easily going through the wool and kind of tugging on the sheeps skin. I always have an extra set of sharp blades in case I need to change out. My blades are well lubricated so they don't overheat from friction. Many sheep shears have different settings so mine have a 1 to 6. 1 to 3 is for delicate areas like the face and sensitive curves where the full rpms are not going and I can move the sheep to create as clear of an area as possible to glide my shears through. 3 to 6 is full rpms for the wool on the back and body where it is thick and I will just glide the shears along. You care more about your sheep than professionals I have hired to shear and I got so tired of my sheep getting cut up, even around the face and one had a cut on their eyelid and the professional did not care, onto the next sheep. You can likely do far better than some professionals I have met. So lubricated blades and clean machine, sharp cutting equipment and spare set of blades if doing more than a few sheep, you are much more concerned about the welfare of your sheep than many other people so just hold along side the body and try. I know you can do it. What you think is the "clipping" part is actually the long comb to hold the wool upright and comb through so it kind of has a built in guide as long as that bottom comb is run along the skin. You will get a feel for it in no time.
