Today was shearing day with a new shearer: Scott Harding. We were a tad nervous after last year when we lost Saturn two days after shearing but aside from Mercury looking like she might get a bit ‘spitty’, the alpacas remained calm and quiet and we got all six sheared without any of them getting too upset. Next up were the sheep but unfortunately they proved not at all ready in that the wool was just not lifting. Having started Mrs Brown, Scott finished her but he said it was hard work and he had to really bite into the fleece, rather than the cutting blades gliding through!!
Despite a potential risk of fly strike, it was better to leave the sheep! Shearing before the wool starts to life never leaves a good finish on a sheep plus it’s much harder work for the shearer. We are going to leave it two weeks and see what they are like then.
In the meantime we have some very smart alpacas and moreover, all were declared in good condition with no sign of any mites!!