Question about sheep shearing

simu

What time of year are sheep usually shorn in Ireland or is there a secific time of year for this?

Thanks (serious answers too please)!

Pighead

simu wrote:

What time of year are sheep usually shorn in Ireland or is there a secific time of year for this?

Thanks (serious answers too please)!

Simu being a country boy I can say with absolute conviction that the hot summer months are the time for the fluffy sheep to be sheared.We're talking your Mays Junes and Julys.
Anyway Pighead was chatting to Andrew Corrigan the other day and he reckons having sheep shearing on your CV is a ticket for travel, especially to New Zealand and Australia.

Shearers have become very scarce in both countries.

The Irish Sheep Shearers Association can help organise work for Irish shearers who wish to travel to New Zealand and Australia.

Oriel

Spring?

Pighead

sinecurea wrote:

Spring?

Yeah we're both right sinecura.From what Andrew was telling me wool is normally removed from sheep during the early summer. However, it can be done in very early spring or in winter soon after housing. The majority are shorn for the first time at 14-15 months old, and then annually. Wet, windy and cold conditions can result in severe chilling, and in some cases, death. It takes 7-8 weeks for the coat to grow sufficiently to protect the animal. Winter shearing has been widely adopted in some areas, particularly south west England, as a consequence of winter housing. Initially, the main benefit was the reduction in pen and trough space requirement.
Pigheads interesrting fact of the day:There are 1 billion sheep in the world.

padser

winter??

Pighead

padser wrote:

winter??

Hey ya padser you're obviously not from this fair island of ours.
Winter is the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox.All I can say to you in the way of advice is wrap up well buddy,its gonna be a cold one.Enjoy your stay

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I would have to say May or June...July is pushing it a bit. The poor fkers would be baked.

netwhizkid

Sheep can be sheared into August and September, it usually depends on the individual farmer and the time they were sheared last year as If they were sheared say last September 2004 they're wouldn't be as much wool if they were to be shorn again in May. Sheep are generally quite happy to be shorn might i add, They get a closer cut when shorn on an electric shears, Manual Shearing doesnt give the tight clip as by electric. They generally cost between €1.50 to €2.00 to shear by electric and a good (electric) shearer can shear between 30 and 50 in an hour.

Pighead

netwhizkid wrote:

Sheep can be sheared into August and September, it usually depends on the individual farmer and the time they were sheared last year as If they were sheared say last September 2004 they're wouldn't be as much wool if they were to be shorn again in May. Sheep are generally quite happy to be shorn might i add, They get a closer cut when shorn on an electric shears, Manual Shearing doesnt give the tight clip as by electric. They generally cost between €1.50 to €2.00 to shear by electric and a good (electric) shearer can shear between 30 and 50 in an hour.

Regards netwhizkid,are u having a laugh?An estimated one million Australian sheep die every year of exposure after shearing. Shearing is on a piece rate contract (shearers get paid more money the more sheep they shear) so there is no incentive to handle sheep carefully. Stories of mistreatment and cruelty are common. Pighead worked as a sheep shearer for a couple of years and I can safely say the shearing shed must be one of the worst places in the world for cruelty to animals. I have seen shearers punch sheep with their shears or their fists until the sheep's nose bled. I have seen sheep with half their faces shorn off, no stitches ever being applied, not even as much as an antiseptic.
Now imagine the poor sheep hearing about these horror stories day in day out.Do you really think they are generally quite happy to be shorn?Pighead says NO

Pighead

Adblock wrote:

I would have to say May or June...July is pushing it a bit. The poor fkers would be baked.

Oh you'd HAVE to say would you?Well maybe Pighead would HAVE to post up this link to disprove you.
http://archives.tcm.ie/kildarenationalist/2000/05/05/story7586.asp
Listen buddy i'm not just spouting the first thing that comes into my head here,i'm an experienced man of the world.I know whats what.Thats all,take it easy