Sheep Shearing as a Career? How good is it?

Sheep shearing is hard work – you need to be fit, strong and willing to put in long hours. If you’ve got the desire and commitment to make sheep shearing your career, however, the rewards can be excellent. Here are some facts to consider before making your mind up one way or the other.

Local Job Opportunities

Chances of getting a job as a shearer are good during the peak season – during summer and autumn – but only average during the rest of the year. In recent years there has been a shortage of qualified shearers. Shearing contractors reported in January 2013, for example, that they needed to bring in shearers from overseas to help cope with the workload.

Travelling Abroad for Work

There are many job opportunities around the world as a sheep shearer, from Norway to the United Kingdom to the United States. Finding work in multiple countries gives you the chance to travel and get a taste for different cultures, meeting a wide range of people and sharing unique experiences. There aren’t many better ways to work and travel at the same time.

A Lucrative Career

A canny sheep shearer can make quite a lot of money on a good day. Shearers can earn around $145 for every 100 sheep they shear, making it possible to earn decent money for a hard day’s work. Trainee shearers normally manage a couple of hundred sheep per day, while experienced shearers can get through 400 or more.

Seasonal Job

As a sheep shearer you’ll probably work for six to eight months a year, from May to mid-August and November to January. During the off season, you can either find different forms of work or head abroad for other opportunities. This gives you the chance for adventure and a change of scenery, keeping your shearing skills intact at the same time.

How to Make a Conventional Fence Last Years with Electric Fence Offset

Strong winds, bad weather, passing animals and careless humans can cause a conventional fence to bow over and fall, rendering it useless. While an electric fence may not provide much added protection against the wind, people and animals will be encouraged to avoid coming into contact with it. Here are some quick and easy tips on how to install an electric fence offset to give your conventional fence an extended lifespan.

Things You Will Need

1. Screw-in Insulators
2. Poly Wire
3. Drill

Installation is simple and easy. Mounting the electric fence on top of the conventional fence is a clever and cheap way to make a fence in even poor condition last as long as possible.

Installing the Electric Fence

Attach a 22 centimetre screw-in insulator to each fence post, and then string the polywire through the loops of the screws. This polywire will prevent animals from running into or leaning over the fence to get at pasture beyond. It will also discourage people from tampering with it.

The 22 cm insulator holds the electric wire far enough away from the conventional fence to stop animals getting too close. Polytape and polyrope are generally too thick to thread through the 7mm opening of the screw head. Screw-in insulators made from galvanised steel with a UV resistant plastic ring are ideal for the job. Position these about 80 cms from the ground to make sure they’re effective against both sheep and cattle.

Things to Check Before and After Installing the Electric Fence

• Before installation: If the conventional fence uses wooden posts for its support, check to ensure that the wood is still in good condition and not rotting. This will ensure that the screw-in insulator will be held in place securely.
• After installation: After the screw is put into place on the support, check to ensure that it is stable before threading the wire. 

Keeping Livestock Healthy

Having a healthy population of livestock is an important part of the farming process. Here are some useful tips and tricks to help you keep both you and your animals healthy and happy.

Keep Your Equipment Clean

Disease can spread easily due to the use of poorly maintained equipment. While it may not be feasible to use a separate shearing comb for each individual animal, simple alternatives such as maintaining clean and sterile equipment can go a long way toward preventing the spread of infection.

• Ensure that equipment is cleaned on a regular basis to prevent rust and harmful bacteria from accumulating on the combs and clippers.
• Refrain from allowing farm visitors from handling crucial equipment. Since harmful bacteria can spread from just about anywhere, allowing a select few to handle the shearing equipment will lower the chances of spreading disease to your precious farm animals.

It is important that extra attention is placed on cleaning the sheep shearing clippers and alpaca shearing equipment. This is especially vital when you think about how close the equipment may be brought to the skin of the animals. Any accidental nicks can result in bacteria coming into contact with the sheep’s or alpaca’s blood and potentially spreading unwanted disease.

Keep Livestock Safe

Good quality fencing is equally important in ensuring that your livestock remain healthy. By preventing your animals from wandering into unknown territory, you can be sure that wild animals or neighbouring livestock do not come into contact with them and possibly spread disease through bites and other injuries.

Keeping your animals within your property will also ensure that they do not drink from contaminated rivers and streams. Bacteria from such sources can cause bad diarrhoea which can severely weaken your animals.

For more information on how to keep your livestock in the best possible condition, contact the experts at Shearing and Fencing today. 

Stress Free Shearing

Want to guarantee that your shearing day proceeds as smoothly and successfully as possible? Here are some tips designed to make the process less stressful.

Make Sure You have the Right Equipment

Having the right tools for the job is crucial to ensuring that the shearing operation proceeds without a hitch. Cattle shears might not be ideally suitable for shearing sheep, so it pays to be prepared. Check the day before that you have got the right combs and clippers in place and put them somewhere safe, ready to grab in the morning.

Clean and Oil the Equipment Beforehand

The day before shearing, ensure that the handpiece is well cleaned and oiled. This will ensure that it doesn’t jam during shearing. The use of clean equipment also ensures that the wool isn’t contaminated by any dirt from the equipment, making less work with the cleaning and packing of wool.

Keep Spare Parts Nearby

Make sure you have spare parts available to guarantee a continuous and problem-free shearing operation. Extra combs and cutters can be stored in a felt bag, kept in your trouser pocket or on a nearby shelf. The fewer times you have to interrupt yourself, the quicker the shearing gets done.

Nothing is quite as frustrating as running out of combs or cutters in the middle of a shearing job. With the nearest shop often several hours away it can really cut down those productivity levels.

Clear the Area from Debris

Another way to reduce stress is to try and work in as clutter-free an environment as possible. Any debris lying around can be hazardous to everyone involved, since a slip here and there can put you off your stride and possibly even damage the animals.

For more tips and access to all the shearing accessories you’ll ever need, contact the experts at Shearing and Fencing today.

Planning for Farm Fencing

Are you planning on installing some fencing for your farm? Here are some tips and tricks which will ensure you get the job done successfully.

The Purpose of Adequate Fencing

The first and most important step prior to installation is to know what the fencing is meant for. Livestock protection and confinement are the most common reasons for installing fencing. Depending on the species, age, breed and production system of the livestock, the type of fencing required can vary widely.

Cattle

Most types of fencing can be used, so other factors such as cost, ease of construction and lifespan of fencing are usually considered. Woven wire and barbed wire are commonly used. The height of the fencing should be at least 54 inches.

Sheep

The minimum fencing height is lower than that for cattle, but it is important to keep predators out. Therefore, electric fencing is the perfect solution to keep dogs and coyotes away from the sheep. Avoid using barbed wire as this can result in wool getting caught on the fence.

Horses

Again, avoid using barbed wire as horses might tear their hide on the barbs. High tensile wire is not a good option either, as horses may get stuck in the strands. Board fences and woven wire are ideal as they are highly visible to the horses and provide the necessary level of protection.

Pigs

Strong fencing is required which should be installed close to the ground to prevent the pigs from escaping under the fence. Barbed wire helps to prevent rooting as well.

Save Time, Money and Anxiety

Electric fences can make the job of containment much easier to accomplish. These come on lightweight reels that can be unrolled and distributed across large areas quickly and easily. Solar powered energisers mean low maintenance and free power from the sun, with charges lasting up to 21 days.

For more information on how to meet your farm fencing requirements, speak to contact the professionals at Shearing and Fencing today. 

Tips for Sheep Shearing

Shearing sheep can be easy –or it can be complicated. All it takes is a little bit of planning and consideration to make sure the process goes smoothly and efficiently. Here are a few important tips that can help you achieve that.

Use Good Equipment

Have a good set of shears, cutters and combs ready and ensure that they are clean and well oiled. This will prevent them from overheating or becoming stuck during the shearing process and keep the job going nicely.

Keep the Sheep Dry 

Bring the sheep into the barn the night before shearing. Dry wool is much easier to shear and store, making the entire process simpler for you and less painful for the animals.

Refrain from Feeding the Sheep Beforehand

Shearing the sheep on empty bellies is an excellent idea because it means they’ll be a bit lighter and easier to handle.

Sort the Sheep before Shearing

Animals with different grades of wool should be sheared separately to simplify the wool sorting process. Thisalso ensures that you can get through a batch of animals without the need to switch cutters and combs every five minutes, saving you time and frustration.

Get Extra Help if you Need It

Sheep shearing can be made much more efficient when there are plenty of extra hands on deck. A good rule of thumb is to allocate one person per shearer and two to three others for tasks such as moving sheep and packing wool.

Prepare the Space for Shearing

Make sure the area to be used for shearing is clean and free of debris before shearing time. This enables you to shear in peace without worrying about what you might slip on or bump into. It also helps guarantee a steady work rate as you won’t have to keep stopping to move this and that out of the way.

For expert advice on sheep shearing or to stock up on your shearing supplies, contact the professionals at Shearing and Fencing today.

How to Change the Comb and Cutter on a Shearing Handpiece

As any shearer will tell you, sooner or later the comb and cutter on a shearing handpiece is going to go blunt. Sheep’s wool is not only thick but can be packed with dirt and debris, all of which tends to blunt the cutting edges as time goes on. Blunt blades won’t get you very far, though, so here are some quick tips on how to change the comb and cutter so you can get back to work.

1. Loosen the tension screw to slacken off the tension
2. Turn over the handpiece to access the retaining screws holding the comb and cutter in place
3. Use a shearing clipper screwdriver to loosen the retaining screws, just enough to be able to slide out the components but not so loose that there’s danger of them falling out onto the ground or into a pile of dirt
4. Gently remove the comb, and then the cutter, placing them safely to one side

Depending on the handpiece model, this is a good time to add a few drops of oil to the moving parts of the mechanism to keep it running smoothly and efficiently. If your model allows, place a few drops of oil into the oil hole on top of the handpiece.

5. Next, loosen the screws to allow the new parts to slide in easily
6. Slide the new comb into place
7. Turn over the handpiece and slide the cutter into place
8. Line up the cutter and fit into any holding mechanism
9. Move the throw so the tip of the cutter is on the right hand tooth of the comb
10. Adjust the lead to reach the required depth
11. Turn over the handpiece keeping everything in place and tighten the retaining screws
12. Tighten the tension screw until it becomes tight enough to stay in place without overdoing it

The comb and cutter that have been removed will be blunt and dirty. Clean them carefully with warm soapy water and then leave them somewhere safe to dry out. Once dry they’re ready to be ground to get them sharp again.

Combs and cutters that are too blunt to cut wool effectively are still sharp enough to do serious damage to hands and fingers. Take extra care whenever you’re working around any electrical tools, especially ones with blades or cutting surfaces.

Contact Shearing and Fencing today for more information on their complete range of shearing products and accessories.