This Year sheep shearing took place when all of the island school children came to help.

It was the kick-off event for “Sheep to Shawl”

An Art Project for the kids to weave a shawl for their spring puppet show puppets from shearing the sheep through the entire process of washing, carding, spinning, dying and weaving their shawls.

The Day We Have All Been Waiting For:

Another year has gone by.  Once again it is the day to shear the Sheep.  A lot of preparation goes into this day.  It is the culmination of an entire years work.  It is the day we harvest our crop, Wool.

We hope for a dry day and night before so that the sheep can stay outdoors.  You never want their fleeces wet or snowy before they are sheared.  I get up extra early to make sure all of the supplies are ready, the coffee is made and go out to bring the sheep into the barn.  The closer the enclosure the easier they are to catch and sort.

A shepherd works for this all year.  We make sure our flock has adequate hay and grain and minerals when needed.  We keep the thistles and any other prickly weeds from our pastures.  One thistle can ruin an entire fleece with its persistent barbs that flake and spread thru out   their coats.  If water is insufficient, the individual fibers of a fleece will have weak spots in its growth pattern.  It will cause breaks when it is processed and spun. 

Our current sheep shearer is Jim Peterson.  He does construction work most of the year but in the late winter and spring he takes on his avocation and travels about the northern part of the state clipping sheep.  He will do flocks of three or three hundred.  He will let you keep your harvest or will broker it for you through a large mill.  He does market sheep, milking sheep and in our case a small flock of fine woolen blends for hand spinners and weavers. 

These men and women are not easy to find.  There are fewer and fewer who will take the time and effort to travel and care for such a reasonable price.  They have to be quick and efficient.  They have to be gentle but firm and they really must like working in an under lit, crowded space full of animals that would much rather be somewhere else that day.

It takes a crew of six to keep the shearer busy.  One of our crew catches a sheep and starts trimming hooves.  Another does record keeping and gives vaccinations.  We check their teeth and their general over all condition.  There is scoring system we use to make sure they are not too thin or too heavy. We check for the older girls who are starting to have trouble competing for food in the flock.  While all of this happens, two others start skirting or trimming the fleeces that are done. The next volunteer determines which flock to turn the finished rather humbled sheep out to.  Then the next in line goes to the shearer. 

He works steadily and rarely takes a break except to sharpen and oil his clippers.  An occasional comment or joke is bantered about.  Soon the discussion turns to the ultimate question.  Who is pregnant and who is not.  Which leads to, who will lamb first and when, how many twins and triplets we will get and , and how long lambing season will last.  The stories are always a joy and make the time fly by. 

Soon, it is time for lunch.  You have to feed the shearer well and tips don’t hurt either.  In addition I have to ask our shearer to come across the ice road or take the ferry to get here.  You can’t get too many vets to do that.  Thank goodness for some it is still an adventure.

 

After a long day the piles of gorgeous fleece in a myriad to natural shades lies skirted and ready for the next step.  The sheep aren’t too happy but we give them lots of extra feed a make sure they all have shelter out of the wind and the night should it turn cold.  Now the waiting begins for the first lambs to be born.