What are your favorite sheep shearers?

[DancingArabian]

I’m getting into shearing and I think I would like to try offering the service to other people. I have a set of Oster ClipMasters but I’m not sure those are the best for sheep/goats. I’ve clipped horses and shorn alpacas/llamas with them without a problem.

So…what are your favorite electric sheep shearers?

[goodhors]

We had market lambs, Hamps and Sufflolk, with the very coarse wool. Have to say it didn’t cut well with the sheep head on my Clipmasters. We tried all kinds of sheep blades, goat blades, still had LOTS of problems getting the lambs clipped well to show until we got into a different 4-H club. Also a big problem with struggling sheep was cutting them with those long SHARP fingers on the blades.

That Leader had the kids wash lambs, dry them with towels, then clipped the lambs with #10 blades while damp. Lambs were standing on sheep stands, no wrestling them on the ground to kill your back! It was SO EASY to take the wool off with clean, wet lambs!! The coats looked wonderful, no lines, tight to the skin as wanted in the show ring. Daughter did her own lambs from then on, they looked very nice and my husband was quite relieved to NEVER have to shear the lambs again.

4-H Leader used the Leister Star clippers, and they did a good job. We have the Clipmasters, which I thought did an equally good job. This was using both models on Show Lambs.

I would recommend you get a sheep stand, to put the animal on, keep it still. For the most part, the animals stand fairly well, you can get around to all sides for clipping and NOT fight the animal while trying to clip it.

I also suggest you hunt around, to find a class in shearing, learn the Professional ways of doing things. Probably you will gain a lot of experience in handling varieties of breeds, sizes of the animals, learn speedy shearing, avoiding cutting the sheep during clipping. That will also expose you to different shearing equipment, like the cable driven clippers. You want to invest in what will work best for you in getting the jobs done fast and easily.

Some folks may recommend the hand shears, but your hands get tired after a few animals. There is a reason no Professionals use hand shears anymore!

Last would be to charge enough. DD does some shearing locally, gets a good price for that because they can’t find ANYONE to do the work. She has done all kinds of animals now, some Llamas too, which are usually pretty miserable to work on. You need to learn the “Llama pinch of death” and they will be quite respectful after that, MUCH easier to handle for shearing. Same pinch works on goats, who also act better after that. None of that “volume pricing” of a couple dollars the head. DD hauls the sheep stand to work with, saves her back not working bent down over sheep on the ground. Takes her clippers, extra blades. Dirty sheep mean your blades dull fast. Cool-lube for hot clippers, prevents blades overheating in use, dulling fast with that heat. Having 2pr of clippers will let you rest one set, cool off, then trade back.

You will provide a much needed service for the small flock or owner with 1-2 sheep. More power to you!