Shearing Sheep & Llamas

This past Sunday I had the aforementioned opportunity to be present while my Grandparents sheared their sheep & llamas they have on their farm. For clarification, my grandparents did not shear the sheep & llamas themselves, they hired a woman named Jenny to do the honors. We were very lucky to have great weather the day of shearing, which I learned was necessary, if it were raining or their hair was wet from it raining recently, we would have had to reschedule. Apparently you can not shear when the fleece is wet, it will actually felt and then the hair is unusable. 

Shown above are two of the llamas that were to be sheared, there were to be 3 llamas sheared all together.

And here are 3 of the 5 sheep that were to be sheared.

This was my first experience with shearing any animal and I only had one expectation, that Jenny would take out electric shears at one time and start cutting off the hair. My one expectation was quickly met. I also learned that I had a lot to learn about shearing sheep!

The llamas were first. Being tall & large animals, Jenny had to strap the llamas head to a rafter of the barn. One llama was stubborn and wouldn't let her tie her up tight. This llama took the longest to shear, she kept 'getting away'.

Llama #1 to get a haircut.

My Aunt Kay showing off the llama hair.

I can't help but think that they look a little cold now...

Then it was the sheep's turn. They were a little easier overall, Jenny was able to hold them on their backs and shear their fleece outside of the barn. Ventilation is very important when you are shearing many animals in one day, you don't want to inhale too much of the hair as it can be bad for your lungs.

Ready to start.

Almost done, it was fascinating to watch this tiny little lamb emerge.

A whole fleece after it has been sheared.

After all 3 llamas and 5 sheep were sheared, we have so many fleece's that we will be busy cleaning, carding & spinning it for awhile now. 

I can't say that my knowledge of actually shearing the sheep has increased; met with an animal that wanted to loose it's winter coat, I would still turn and run the other direction. But, I have a new found appreciation for people who can shear. Jenny started shearing as a business in middle school and is still going strong. This is not my cup of tea, although I have great respect of those who can do this!

My excitement grows as this journey of learning where my yarn really comes from continues.

The Nanny That Knits