Shearing sheep is an important event that benefits not only the sheep breeder, but also the animal itself. You need to cut your pets regularly, observing the schedule and adhering to a certain pattern. How and when to do it right, as well as process technology and safety precautions - read below.

Haircut season

The season of the manipulation to remove excess hair from the sheep will depend on several key factors. The first is a breed of animal. Depending on the cloven-hoofed species belonging to a particular species, the wool will grow over the course of the year at different speeds:

• fine-fleece - 6–9 cm;
• semi-fine-crowned - 6–25 cm and even more;
• coarse-haired and semi-coarse-haired - 15-30 cm.

It is the length of the coat that mainly determines the timing of the haircut. In accordance with these indicators, the first 2 groups are trimmed once a year - in the spring . The second 2 groups are sheared 2 times a year - in spring and autumn . The Romanovskiy breed has to be sheared 3-4 times a year.

The next factor determining the timing of manipulation is the age of the sheep. Thus, in fine-woolen and semi-fine-walled lambs born in January-February, wool cover 4–5 cm long will grow by autumn. Shearing is carried out before winter only in lambs that are slaughtered. Those animals that remain on cultivation and will winter will not be sheared in the fall, otherwise the young animals will not be able to survive the cold. Lambs of coarse and semi-coarse-haired breeds are sheared at the age of 4 months for the first time.

Important! For coarse-haired and semi-coarse-haired breeds, natural shedding begins in the spring, so shearing should be done before it starts, if the plans include its further use in production. But even if the moment of browning is missed, a haircut must be done, otherwise the rams will suffer from the heat and will stop growing.

Another factor is the climatic conditions of the region in which they contain flocks . In the southern regions, tonsure is carried out in April; in the middle lane and northern latitudes, the procedure is postponed until mid-late May.

Preparatory Activities

One of the important steps to prepare for a tonsure is to keep your pets clean. The process greatly complicates the clogging of wool with seeds of feather grass and burdock. In addition, this significantly reduces the quality of raw materials. Throughout the season, from shearing to shearing, lambs need to be combed out, and in winter not to use sawdust as a litter in the shepherd, it is better to use hay for this purpose.

12-14 hours before the manipulation, it is necessary to withstand the flock on a starvation diet to prevent mortality from gut twisting. During this time, the intestines of animals will be freed from feces, which will greatly facilitate shearing.

The site for the manipulation must be prepared in advance. For this, it is better to choose an open area on the street, sheltered from the wind, clean it of debris and cover it with a tarp. You can carry out manipulations in the room. The main thing is that it is well lit.

Did you know? Sheep are animals with rectangular pupils, which is quite rare in mammals.

First, you should separate the lambs from the queens. Toddlers must be kept separate until the end of the event. If you are going to cut animals for the first time, you need to find an assistant.

Ways

There are 2 ways to shear sheep:

• manual ;
  

• machine .
  

In farms where a small number of sheep are kept, the first method is mainly used, the second method is more suitable for industrial farms, since manual shearing is highly energy-consuming and time-consuming.

Did you know? After birth, the lambs are able to recognize the mother by voice.

Manual haircut

It involves the use of special scissors (as in the figure), which allow you to conveniently position your hand. Manipulation is not carried out quickly, but qualitatively. Plus, the blades are positioned so that the risk of injury to animals is minimal.

Machine

It involves the use of mechanized equipment. The process with it is much faster. If manual shearing is used only in small farms, then shearing can be done with any number of sheep.

Animal Vulnerability Accounting

Both scissors and the machine can cause damage to animals. This risk must be considered during the manipulation. So, at the end of the procedure, each sheep should be inspected for cuts.

Any damage should be lubricated with a solution of creolin or iodine. It is strictly forbidden to sprinkle wound surfaces on the body of animals with earth. This can lead to blood poisoning and the development of tetanus.

Important! Immediately after the haircut, you need to trim the hooves.

Until the wounds heal, they should be regularly examined and treated with disinfectants. Otherwise, a meat fly can lay eggs in them, which will entail serious damage to the au pair.

So that the animals do not get injured during the haircut, do not rest the knees on the belly of the pets, turn them over the back to the other side or cross the belly over the edge of the table. All these manipulations can lead to peritonitis and death of animals. The fact is that the sheep have a very delicate digestive system, and the slightest pressure on the stomach leads to a violation of its functionality.

You need to be more careful when handling females. It is necessary to carefully cut the abdomen, so as not to make cuts directly next to the nipples.

Rules and technique: sequence of work

Regardless of which equipment was selected, manual or electric, the technique of work will be the same:

1. Place the animal on a flat surface on its left side.
2. Cut the sting. Walk in the udder area, covering the nipples with your hands. Remove the coat from the inside of the limbs - immediately postpone the raw materials obtained separately from this area.
3. In one pass, cut a solid line between the right pair of limbs - make a movement from the back to the front.
4. Cut the abdomen and chest along the longitudinal lines, moving from the hind limbs at the ram, from the udder - at the female.
5. Cautiously help the animal rise, lay it on its other side, and fix it.
6. To face the pet’s belly, grab it by the left hind leg and shave along the longitudinal line of the croup, moving to the left shoulder blade.
7. Next, cut the lower back, side and withers with solid longitudinal lines. Move from side to spine. The rams should be fixed so that under the weight of their own weight, the wool layers fall to the floor themselves - if one shearing works, then you need to use a rope to fix it. It needs to be wound around the body under the front legs, so that the animal could not gnaw the latch during the cutting process.
8. Again, help the animal stand up and lay it on its left side. Change your location to be in front of the belly of the pet.
9. Cut out the croup, right shoulder blade, side and back with solid longitudinal lines.
10. Go to the neck and head. Cut the right side, making passes perpendicular to the ridge. Raising his head, cut the left side of the neck.
11. Move the fur away from the sheep, release it outside the corral.

Sequence of sheep shearing:

Important! When making a haircut with a machine, do not stay long in one area, otherwise you will get a lot of cuts (small hairs up to 1.5 cm long), which will significantly reduce the quality of the rune.

Collection and laying of the fleece for storage

The fleece is weighed, laid out on a trellised surface in a topographic order (sides, back, legs) with the staples up. Then the sheepskin is shaken off from dust, dirt. Separated by yellowed areas, turn, dressing, shred, ocher and kizyachny part.

Before storage, the raw materials are washed. To do this, prepare a solution of soap and soda - 6 g of hot water (+45 ... + 50 ° C) add 100 g of soap and 50 g of soda. The prepared concentrate is combined with 8 l of water of the same temperature. In such a solution, the raw materials are washed three times. Then rinse in clean water, carefully squeeze and dry. After drying, they are placed in bales of natural fabric in a well-ventilated, dry room.

Tool care and handling

Clipping equipment requires careful care . Otherwise, it will quickly become worthless, and with its further use, the risk of cutting animals will increase.

If the haircut is done manually, then the scissors should be washed with cold water after the procedure and dried with a towel. Then grind thoroughly and grease with machine oil. Store in a cardboard box in a dry place to avoid corrosion.

Important! If you have to make significant efforts when promoting a clipper, then the knives should be replaced or taken to a sharpening workshop.

After using the machine, a series of the following manipulations should be carried out:

• clean the knives from the remnants of the pile using a special brush that comes with the equipment;
• wipe all metal parts of the tool with a soft cloth;
• treat all components with machine oil;
• put knives in special cases.

The power tool must be stored in a well-ventilated, dry room and not be used to trim other animals.

Recommendations after cutting

The sheep experiences quite a lot of stress with the shearing itself and the fact that it has been on a starvation diet for a long time. In this regard, the first 3 days the flock should be allowed to graze in medium-nutritional fields. The fact is that after a hunger strike, an abundance of succulent food can cause bloating.

After removing the wool cover, you need to carefully monitor climate change. During extreme temperature changes, trimmed lamb can suffer from hypothermia or sunburn.

In this regard, the herd should not be grazed too far from the shepherd, so that animals have the opportunity to take refuge there. In regions with a hot climate, it is better to graze in the first month only in the morning and in the evening.

Breeding sheep involves regular seasonal shearing. To do this, you can choose both manual and mechanized method. The main thing is to observe the technology of the process and carefully handle the animals so as not to cause them damage.