From The Ground Up: Sheep Eat My Grass Part 2

The "girls" before shearing. The Katahdin's are in front.

Four weeks after purchasing two Icelandic and three Shetland sheep to eat the flourishing grasses on my property, I discovered that these "easy keeper" sheep weren't eating enough! At the rate that the grass was being consumed in the 150 x 150 pasture, the 10 plus acres of pasture on the property were not going to be eaten by my sheep and I would be back on the tractor mowing. Enter two Katahdin ewes a couple of weeks ago, soon to be followed by another half dozen. Katahdin sheep are hair sheep, meaning they do not have to be sheared. That means no wool but then the primary purpose was to have the sheep eat my grass rather than spending countless hours mowing. The plan was good. The number of animals needed was grossly underestimated.

With more animals on the way, I turned my attention to the task of shearing the Icelandic and Shetlands. Having no clue on how to accomplish the task, I did the sensible thing and looked around for a professional. As it turns out, there aren't that many people out there that hire themselves out as sheep shearers. I did find one on Craig's list, made the

They aren't nearly as big as they looked!

call and set the appointment for June 20th. The sheep I ended up with are, in the vernacular, considered very "light". Read that wild and crazy! There is no way to walk up to these sheep with a grain bucket and lead them into a pen for shearing. The only chance I had of getting these sheep sheared was to construct a pen out of 16' horse panels, using one side as a gate. But the problem of getting the sheep in the pen was still the issue. Using our novice herding Border collie wasn’t an option in that confined space so my wife and I did the herding. Using additional panels, we were able to funnel the sheep into the pen without too much difficulty. But five skittish sheep in a 16' x 16' pen still have a lot of room to get away from one person trying to catch them. So, turning the gate panel toward the inside of the pen allowed us to reduce the size of the pen making it easier to capture them. My wife and Jason, the sheep shearer guarded the gate thus preventing a mass escape, I was able to capture the sheep one at a time and escort them out to be sheared. That sounds simple but it probably would have won a "Funniest Home Videos" prize! I ended up on my back once, got pulled around a bit and had my feet stomped on numerous times. It wasn't pretty, but we got it done! The end result was sheep with their summer haircuts and 25 pounds of fleece. I have no hesitation in recommending Jason Dockter for shearing. He was very pleasant, helpful and his rates are quite reasonable. His primary profession is a farrier so for shearing or shoeing call Jason at 509 435 7275. Sheep Eat My Grass Part 3 will be dedicated to cleaning and carding the fleece and constructing simple shade shelters.