If you are raising sheep on your homestead you will have to shear them at least once a year, but you may not know how to shear sheep when you first start out raising them. Like many things this is something you will either have to learn or have a professional do for you. While we recommend that homesteaders who are not going to be raising more than a few on their property have a professional come in to shear their sheep for them, some of you will want to shear your own sheep or not have services available to help you shear them yourself.
What Tools are Used to Shear Sheep
Sheep can be sheared with either traditional hand clippers or modern electric clippers. If you have the ability to use electric clippers where you are you should. Electric clippers are safer to use and easier to handle than traditional hand shears are. Additionally, there are some differences in how you work the sheep when using electric clippers over traditional hand held clippers.
For electric clippers we recommend something like this Anbull 550W shearer. With electric clippers you get what you pay for, so if you are going to buy some they should be a quality make and model. Many of the complaints we see online about people buying these heavy duty shears are from individuals grooming dogs. While this can work there, that’s not what these types of shears are designed for so it’s no surprise people have problems. Additionally, if you go the cheaper route you need to worry about overheating in devices. Cheap shears can overheat, which is bad for you, but worse for the sheep who can easily get burned or jerk away from the heat while you’re working.
If you’re looking for manual clippers something like these Zenport Shears will work, but they are slow, require a lot of care, and the blades need to be sharpened often and well. While they are not our recommendation, they certainly can work if you are off grid or prefer to work without electricity.
The Sheep Shearing Process
While we could give you detailed step by step instructions here, instead we are going to refer you to the University of Kentucky’s video that details the process very well. The important things to note are that you need to be in control of the sheep during the whole process and you need to be mindful of the sheep’s skin to avoid cutting them or causing any discomfort. Please watch the video below carefully to get a sense of what goes into the shearing process.
Please note that watching a video or reading instructions online is not sufficient experience to shear sheep yourself. You should get proper training or have an expert help you. While this is not the hardest job in homesteading, it is important to keep safety in mind for both yourself and your animals.
Where to Learn to Shear Sheep
First and foremost, in person demonstrations offer the best knowledge gaining experiences for shearing sheep. If you have a local farm nearby we highly recommend you reach out to see if they run demonstrations or training. Often a local farm will have teaching programs or demonstrations you can attend as that is how much of the skills are preserved and passed on to others. This is even more likely if you have an agricultural school or college nearby.
After you’ve seen the process firsthand a few times you can look into taking the next steps. Usually this means attending shearing school. Shearing schools are available all over the US, essentially anywhere where sheep are raised. We do not recommend any one shearing school over another, but you may want to look up a few and compare and contrast them. Some can be more expensive than others, but a certified school will typically cost you around $200-$300. Most are single full day classes and many offer cheaper refresher courses if you need to brush up on your skills later.
Where to find a Sheep Shearer
Professional sheep shearers are not too hard to find. Typically you will want to google “local sheep shearers” to find who’s actually close by, but you can also check the American Sheep Industry Association as they keep a directory of known certified shearers. This is often the best way to get a professional to come take care of your sheep. You can expect to pay a setup fee and up to around $50 per sheep depending on the breed and quantity of animals that need to be sheared. Some shearers are very affordable, but you won’t have a ton of choice or price flexibility.
AN alternative to getting a certified shearer is to reach out to your local 4H group. 4H groups often have individuals who are willing to shear sheep and have good experience doing so. While they might not be as professional they can help you get the work done for a low cost. If you go this route only work with people who you have seen shear sheep before and found satisfactory results.
A final option with the 4H route is to allow novices and trainees shear your sheep for practice as part of 4H. While we don’t recommend this as you do invite some risk, it is a way to get your sheep sheared, potentially for free, with a professional around guiding someone who needs training. We only recommend this as it is a way to give back to the community, but it is not a sure fire way to get the best quality shearing for your sheep.
Make Sure You Shear Your Sheep
There is no alternative for shearing your sheep. If you let the wool grow to large it becomes heavy and can endanger the animals health. In many cases that wool is a valuable product too, so shearing should be a joyous occasion when the fruits of your labor are collected. We hope this article helped you find a good path to getting your own sheep sheared in a timely, safe, and productive manner!
Go out there and get homesteading!