how close to lambing can I safely shear without endangering unborn lambs? first official lambs are due April 15. thanks,
I don't really know becaue I don't shear pregnant ewes but logically the fetus is growing the most in the last month of gestation so sooner rather than later and I'd think an empty stomach would help too. How they're shorn might make a difference too. If you're taking the wool off while they stand on a grooming lift then I doubt it matters. Sat on their butts and rolling them about offers more chance of twisting a uterus or promoting a prolapse (I'd think!) Who shears for you or this a DIY job?
I am seriously considering tackling it myself this year...but the method I learned (and am VERY rusty at) is the sit 'em on their butts technique. Open the fleece down the belly, lay 'em on one side and shear, lay 'em on the other side and shear. I am concerned about rolling them around when they are heavy in lamb. This is not the time to jeopardize lambs/moms. The cost of custom shearing 80 odd sheep will be about the same as the cost of a new set of clippers...and I work for free of course. <smile> Most of my flock is Romanov or Romanov cross so the wool is 'contaminated' with hair so no market for the wool, it's a throwaway.
We sheared my ewe this way in January...and she had healthy, happy twins four days later. She did not seem to be in discomfort - just torqued off that we dared touch her in the first place. :haha: -Sarah J.
I've been shearing my ewes when they start forming an udder and their vulvas swell...I haven't had any birthing problems yet, except for 2 lincolns that lambed that possibly had problems, but I hadn't even sheared them yet. I find it easier for me as a beginning shearer to shear when they are swollen with lambs so that there aren't as many folds in their skin. I'm sit them up on their rump carefully (not just plop them down), and not hold them there for very long, but I haven't had a birthing problem because of shearing and I haven't had any sheep with problems from the stress of shearing so close to lambing. I'll probably do my ewes that are due April 15 around April 1. Leah
