My flock of Icelandic & Shetland sheep has finally got big
enough, and I've finally got skilled enough in the basics of handling the animals, selling the wool etc that I am ready to level up my sheep shearing skills.
BUUUTTTTT, I live in Alaska, there is nowhere nearby that I am aware of to go and train with a sheep shearer, and also it is my understanding that the primitive breeds are more difficult to shear in the typical style of flipping them on their backs (mine sure seem to be a lot more feisty than the fluffy white things in youtube videos).
Currently I catch em, halter em, secure them up on my milking stand, and use hand blade shears. It takes me 30-70 minutes per animal, some seem to go waaayyyy faster than others. I'm starting to appreciate the importance of sharpening the blades between each animal, and this might be a big part of how fast I can shear. I am realizing that shearing them on the stand means the fleece hangs over the area I'm working on where the traditional, flip em on their back method has the fleece falling away from the area you're shearing.... hmmm but again, I have the issue of feisty sheep being held on their backs for 30-70 minutes and squirming around while under the blade.
My quest:
Find education resources specific to shearing feisty primitive sheep. A book would be great, youtube videos might be ok, but I don't really want to budget time to watching someone ramble and such is the nature of editing on youtube. This is where I'm hoping some
permie folk out there may have been-there done-that and can point me to resources that are actually relevant.
Thanks in advance to the flocksters taking a break from lamb wrangling, shearing, fencing etc to help me on my quest.
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