clipping days

Kale is seen here surveying the view on an early morning gather, the mist is just beginning to lift and the sheep away in the distance are heading in, having been whistled of and some directed with the dogs they know what the score is and are beginning to rake themselves in to lower ground.

Once we are happy that all the sheep have set themselves in to the lower ground they are then bunched together and driven towards the steading (farmyard)being steered by dogs which are flanking either side of the sheep and some which are pushing on behind the flock.

Once in the sheep pens the flock finds itself being shed off from one another. Lambs are shed in one direction, ewes another and the gimmers (clipped hoggs) run in another direction. To do this they run up a race and hinged swinging shedding gates can change the direction the sheep have to run enabling the shepherd to seperate off whatever he wants in any of three directions. Right, left or straight on. All hill farms have shedding races, when handling big numbers of sheep you don't want to find yourself having to catch and manhandle them into different pens, that's far too time consuming, tiring and stressful on the sheep.

The lambs and gimmers find themselves left in the sheep pens, sometimes overnight depending on whether their mothers find themselves housed overnight waiting to be clipped the following day. So long as the sheep pens are sound, no broken rails or dodgy gates all will be well although the sheep must have plenty of room.

The ewes are housed in a shed waiting to be clipped, they may have had a spell in the pens letting the wind and sun dry them off before being run into the shed. Ewes housed overnight can sometimes be a little bit wriggly the next day but then there is no winning as sheep with full bellies can be equally as awkward and actually more likely to do themselves harm if they fight against the shearer with a belly full of grass.

Once the clipping gets underway the sheep run up a race with doors to catch them out of, there are a variety of devices used, this particular race is a permanent fixture in the shed. Contract shearers use clipping trailers of a variety of designs which are portable and can move from farm to farm. There is no doubt though that the most labour saving device is a race such as this where the sheep run along on the level, the trailers find sheep having to run up a steep race and they don't take to that too kindly, needing someone on hand permanently to push them up the ramp.

The shearing which Shep does is mostly clipping alongside the farmer or shepherd such as this photo depicts. Gathering, dosing, housing, clipping,keeling, taking sheep back at the end of the day, can be fairly typical. True contract shearers roll into the farmyard and expect everything ready for them, sheep waiting patiently all the shearer has to do is shear. These fellas usually like to be clocking up 200+ a day each, the logistics of which can be difficult for the farmer to handle especially if they have many sheep running in smaller groups, I guess that's where I come in useful, we clip what is manageable for us in a day bearing in mind there is often the before and after work to be done as well.

Once clipped the ewes are keeled ready to return to their cuts on the hill, this is the stock mark of that particular hill or even farm, not everyone keels after the clipping as the sheep will all be properly keeled in the back end but it can be a useful management tool to recognise your sheep very easily.

Some sheep have a long hike back home,these in this picture have a couple of miles ahead of them, their lambs are waiting at the far end in the sheep pens as they were brought to the clipping shed without their lambs, it is far easier to drive them without lambs bouncing around and getting mis mothered, it is probably kinder on lambs and ewes in the long run. Moss is standing back surveying the scene, the ewes have a steep climb up the hill and are being given their time, letting them go at their own pace so as not to tire them out too easily.

We catch up with them on the level and push them on slightly, the ones in the front went off like a rocket was behind them, desperate to return to their lambs and their home ground, some of the others were keener to graze and view the scenery so a little bit of encouragement was needed to get them on their way.

Once the ewes are adjacent to the sheep pens the lambs are let out to join them, they take no encouragement to rush out of the pens and join their mothers. The noise is phenomenal as lambs and ewes are blaaring and bleating frantically trying to make verbal contact with one another.

Ewes and lambs are reunited and rush into an enclosure where they will be held overnight prior to being set back out to the hill. They may well have been seperated for 24 hours but they soon get mothered up and are only too pleased to be able to return to their home ground where they can resume their quiet peaceful way of life without too much interference.

All of these photos were taken away out bye, the dogs and I enjoy clipping out there better than anywhere else, we get to gather, view the lambs and work away merrily. They may be long days but they are happy days. It is a far more personal approach than just rolling up in a farmyard and clipping all day.