Coats Off!

Katie at work ~ gotta love 4-H!

Oh, my! It was shearing day for the ewes on the farm, and also for Russell, the once-imposing-looking Dorest ram. I had never seen this done (except for in the Australian TV drama/addiction McLeod’s Daughters), and I was so impressed. Steve hires a brother-sister team, Katie and Russ, who travel the region in the spring, shearing. They do it lickety split and with truly amazing skill. Though the sheep were certainly excited and anxious waiting for their turns, there was much more drama than trauma.

Katie and Russ used electric clippers with great finesse, taking extraordinary care to remove every bit of wool without nicking the sheep. And the sheep, for the most part, kept very still, seemingly trusting their handlers. (Okay, I do not claim to be an expert in sheep psychology, but some things are obvious.) Each animal was shorn in about five minutes. Yowser!

The ram, Russell, put up the most fuss, and the very last ewe did a Houdini and disappeared from the barn, attempting to blend in with the shorn sheep in the paddock. Uh, no go. Here’s a photo of Steve with the drama queen, awaiting her turn with the beautician.  If you’d like to see a short video of Katie shearing a ewe, including a glimpse of Russell “under the clippers,” click here to go to my You Tube channel. While you’re there, you might want to check out the longer video of Katie shearing a different ewe. It really does look like magic!

Here’s a photo of the mighty Russell in his skivvies. How embarrassing! Then again, it might feel good to download that itchy, heavy coat. After all, summer’s coming!

There was a great deal of baaa-ing during the shearing operation, as you would expect, but really no more than at feeding time. The lambs were alone in the paddock for a bit until shorn ewes began to join them. The little ones seemed at loose ends, not sure what was going on or what they should do (or if they would get their next feeding). Click here to see a short video of them milling about. At the end of the clip, one of the lambs calls the others over to look inside the barn at their moms. No worries, lambkins, you’ll get your lunch!