Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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Avoid making second cuts — that is, going twice over the same place to
tidy up on overlapping your strokes.
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Roll fl eece properly, and tie with paper twine if you're selling to a wool
dealer or in a wool pool. (See Wool Sales to Handspinners, page 336,
for the proper technique for rolling fl eeces. If you plan to market wool
to handspinners, storage techniques are discussed there too.)
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Skirting the fl eece (removing a strip about 3 inches [7.6 cm] wide
from the edges of the shorn fl eece) is proper, especially if you're selling
to spinners. A slatted skirting table makes this easy and enables any
second cuts to drop off if the fl eece is thrown onto the table with the
sheared side down.
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Be sure you shear black sheep and white sheep separately, sweeping off
the fl oor between each. Do not combine white fl eece with dark fl eece.
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For spinning wool, expect top dollar for quality (clean fl eeces without
manure tags, skirtings, or vegetation).
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For lower-quality fl eeces, charge lower prices and explain the reason for
the price to the customer. These fl eeces may be quite adequate for quilt
batting, rug yarn, or felting.
Local Shearing Services
Learning to shear your own sheep can sometimes lead to a part-time seasonal
income because shearers are scarce in many areas, and some sheep raisers
have to wait until the heat of the summer before they can hire one. For fl ocks
of only four or six sheep, professional shearers may not want to spend the
time to travel some distance for the small fee that could be charged. Another
reason a commercial shearer would not want to do a small number of sheep
is that facilities are seldom ideal — often there is no good method or arrange-
ment for catching the sheep and no electricity for his shearing equipment.
When you shear with hand shears, which are so convenient for a small
number of sheep, you don't have to worry about electricity. Shearing in your
own vicinity obviously eliminates distant travel, and you can make an agree-
ment ahead of time that the owner will have the sheep penned when you
arrive. You can either charge for your service or trade shearing services for
wool. If you're charging for your shearing skills, then the person for whom
you work expects you to shear the fl eece carefully, especially avoiding making
second cuts.
When you shear as a sideline job, you can expand your service to include
trimming the hooves and worming the sheep, but for this you should negotiate
