In Norway, most sheep are shorn 2x a year. Once during the spring, they are in-lamb (pregnant) and again, when they come down from the mountain in the Autumn; it's roughly 6 months between, give or take.
When the sheep are first brought inside during the autumnal months they are the best to shear. Out of the two seasons, the wool in Autumn is of better quality and this is reflected in the farmer's wool pay check. The Spring season shearing usually starts in February and our team usually finishes in April. Shearing a Spring season in Norway is said to make or break a shearer. The ewes are big, heavy and in-lamb (pregnant), also known as: angry, very angry. As a shearer, we have to be especially careful for unexpected explosions (the ewes will literally be sat still and then suddenly go wild - for no obvious reason), the milk vein can start to be present as the pregnant ewes prepare to feed lambs, increased skin around the belly area, along with the general areas to watch for. To add, the sheep have usually been inside for at least 4 months; that's 4 months of no rain on their back, an insulated warm shed, limited movement compared to the mountains and regularly fed good quality grass food; this means the wool is what a shearer would describe as 'sticky'.
I've been unfortunate enough to shear plenty of sticky sheep and it's true what they say - you've got to shear the bad to shear the good and I definitely felt a difference in my shearing after my first spring season. To those unfamiliar with the term 'sticky wool' I guess it can look like a thin layer of earwax-like substance on the skin of the sheep - exactly in the area you'd like the clip the wool away from the skin, this waxy, sticky stuff clogs your handpiece, the wool and often sticks to the back of your shearing comb. This means you need to physically push your handpiece through the wool rather than letting it glide like on good shearing sheep. To help clip with more ease often a shearer will use a 'winter' or 'spring comb' these are much thinner and pointier (can push through the stickiness) but therefore are much more likely to cut the sheep. It took a full 12 months of shearing before I felt truly comfortable shearing with a thin comb.
*To those who shear - I spent my first spring season in Norway with only chargers (and thick ones)… looking back I honestly don't know how I managed, didn't blow a wrist or lose the plot entirely, anyway, it means I appreciate my thinner combs all the more so now!
Shearing in the autumn tends to be more enjoyable: the sheep aren't so big after summering in the mountains and feeding lambs, the lambs are only 5-6 months old so are actually lamb-sized, they're not so sticky - all of these add up to make it less stressful on a shearer's body too! To help, it's not so cold and isn't yet completely dark in the day. My first year in Norway I remember getting really lethargic and confused as to what was wrong with me, a friend suggested taking vitamin D and I couldn't believe how fast I bounced back after one tablet (had to check the tablet contained only vitamin D!).
My first shearing season in Norway I had been shearing a grand total of 2.5 months. Usually shearers come from the UK as seasoned 3-4 years under their belts. Shearing these big sheep was so difficult as a beginner, I couldn't find a sweet spot to get them to sit still and as a result of this, I developed a very good technique for shearing them lying down. I was very lucky for the farmers to 'let me shear their sheep': when they're used to having klippers (Norwegian word for shearers) who are capable of shearing 300+ sheep a day, they're used to a fast standard. My top tally was I think 154 at this point and even that was on very good shearing Scottish Sheep during summer - much smaller and more manageable than the NKS ewes. However I had my standards instilled in me from the beginning - shear the sheep cleanly and calmly, which means no cuts and stay calm. When a sheep is going crazy and you're being kicked in every place imaginable it would be easy to lose your temper. I think this is one of the reasons why I enjoy shearing, it's as much of a mental battle as a physical one. My mindset is based on - if I try to fight the sheep 1) I'll likely lose (a lot of NKS ewes are 100kg+ and I'm only 60kg!) and 2) there is no way I have the energy to fight 100 sheep all day everyday. So I knew that I'd have to find another way to get around it. I've been told that the farmers were happy for me to take a bit longer to shear their sheep and I'm still often commented on how respectful I am to sheep who go crazy whilst I'm shearing them. More so than other countries I've been to, Commercial Norwegian Farmers really love and care for their sheep, it's important to the farmer that their sheep is respected.
* Video from my first shearing season in Norway, notice how many times the rams jump away mid-shear and I have to get them back to the stand, always nice to see how far I've come!
コメント