We had some local young gentlemen come by and shear our sheep. They were really great, even though they said they were "just starting out" and charged a very low price. They certainly earned our business and recommendation going forward.
Bah bah black sheep have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, two bags full! according to the pics anyway!
Wife and I went to a sheering exhibition at a fairgrounds not too far away a few years ago, and man, the guys that do that for a living are FAST! We had one sheep for a while and had it sheered by a young guy who cut us a deal for the same reason. Wife just wanted the wool. Sheep farm/ranch about 25 minutes from us just had theirs cut down recently. They look much smaller once trimmed.
Hope this isn't too disgusting, every summer, I get the offer from 99 lbs that she will have my back hair for the summer! Usually starts out with something like "Aren't you going to take that sweater off before you go swimming?"
You really shouldn't be singing their praises quite yet. They really butchered that fleece by taking a second cut. The fibers are too short to be spun. Unless you sorted it out before you bagged it, a wool buyer would really dock you if you were selling it. They'll learn eventually, but unless somebody tells them, how will they know?
I noticed that too. It looks like they are using a hair-shearing head (for goats and such) instead of a 13-tooth wool-shearing head. Sorry to be so critical.
You can always felt with second cut wool. I am interested in what they charge. Not to be nosy but my sheep shearer charges a $30 farm call, then $5 per head to shear, then an additional $1 to trim hooves. Me and my father can both shear, but as hard as it is on our backs, for $6 per sheep, I'll have a cute 22 year old girl do it for me and "supervise". Normally we just throw our wool out, but are now looking into having Bartlett Yarn put it into roving for us. I did not know this, but they are less than an hour away from us, yet are the last Mule Roving Mill left in the country. Still use machinery from 1821...
1) Wife wants this batch of wool for felting. Supposedly, Spring wool from Icelandics is lower quality and coarse and usually used for felting and/or carpets, etc. The Fall sheared wool is the prized wool for spinning and knitting. 2) Thanks for all the feedback. We still have a lot to learn. We paid about what you all are saying you pay for pros; however, the wife priced out a bunch of pros around here and they wanted substantially more. ???? 3) Wife is signed up for a shearing class through the U of Maryland Extension but apparently it was overbooked this year so she couldn't do it. It's supposed to be a pretty decent course. In the end I'm sure we'll be doing it ourselves. You know, "If you want something done right, you better do it yourself."
Yes shearing is just hard on the back, that is all. Wool fiber is also very complicated, and depends on what you feed the animal. I have brittle wool as this used to be dairy farm land so all the grasses are in high protein type grasses, like alfalfa, orchard grass, timothy and clover since dairy farmers get paid a premium for high protein milk. Good for milk checks, not so good for wool quality.
Oh the memories this brings back! Had a small flock (usually 15-20 animals) through my youth and shearing/hoof-trimming was a 2x annual chore. Your shearmen definitely have a bit to learn yet but so long as everyone is alive and uninjured, and the wool is acceptable to the Mrs, all is well. I used to block and fit (groom to non-livestock folk) for show and I had a "meat" breed (Suffolk) flock so speed was never my strong suit and we seldom saved the wool as it was far from the primo quality stuff most wool breed sheep put out. Things have changed a little with the equipment too! The old Oster Shearmaster power shears are nearly extinct now in favor of lighter, cooler running, and quieter tools. I never had a stand type setup with the long flexible driveshaft like the high-volume pros use.
