LESLIEVILLE, Alta. – A naked ewe is a happy ewe, which could be why the ewes at the Turuk farm don’t kick up more of a fuss when the sheep shearer comes knocking.
Harvesting wool is a byproduct for lamb producers Rod and Jacquie Turuk, and they are happy if the money they receive for the wool covers the shearing costs.
However, Jacquie Turuk said removing a year’s growth of fleece is a necessary step for the Turuks’ 130 ewes, whose new lambs are due in early March.
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Ewes that are still wearing their wool will seek a cooler place to give birth, resulting in tiny lambs arriving into a cold bed of snow. Liberating ewes from their coats encourages them to seek warmer birthing sites, such as the shelter of a barn.
The annual shave also allows producers to assess their animals’ body condition, which is more difficult when ewes are buried under an eight-centimetre layer of wool.
This year, the Turuks are trying a new way to shear their sheep.
They hosted the Alberta Lamb Producers annual shearing school earlier this month, bringing current and prospective sheep producers together to learn from a man who was only eight years old when he sheared his first sheep.
Born on New Zealand’s north island, Laurence Read moved to Maple Creek, Sask., 21 years ago as part of an international agricultural exchange program. He now keeps his own flock near Silver Valley in northwestern Alberta, supplementing his income building custom fences, shearing sheep and teaching his skills to fellow producers.
In his best year since arriving in Canada, Read sheared 14,000 animals, earning today’s equivalent of $65,000.
It’s hard work, however, which is why the Turuks don’t shear their own sheep. Both have old injuries that make it difficult to spend the time required to sort and shear all of the animals in their flock.
Using electric sheep shears provided by the Calgary Stampede for the two-day course, Read split his class of 10 students into pairs.
He showed them the ropes and then had them sharpen their skills on the Turuk flock.
Students received a safety lesson after someone left a clipper dangling from the cable that connects it with the motor.
Already deadly looking with its long metal teeth, the clipper is capable of inflicting significant injury if someone were to accidently start the motor while it is hanging from the cable, Read said.
To make his point, Read started the motor and watched as the clipper spun on the end of its cable like an electric piranha, looking for something to bite.
The clipper’s blades have to be sharpened from time to time, but in the hands of an experienced shearer, the lanolin produced naturally by the sheep’s wool keeps them well lubricated.
Read said the shearer’s main job is to get the wool off the sheep as cleanly as possible. Mill operators don’t like wool that’s been cut twice because the first cut was too far off the animal’s hide.
While competitive shearers can do the job in less than a minute, it’s best to take the time needed to do a proper job. Read’s best time is 45 seconds, while the world record is 23 seconds.
Turuk said it’s inevitable that some animals will be nicked from time to time, but farmers don’t want to see their animals suffer stress or injury and they especially don’t like their flocks heading back to pasture looking bedraggled.
The Turuks are looking forward to making the shearing class an annual event on their farm.
Turuk said hosting the school was worth the effort, considering it costs $4 per ewe to hire a shearer.
