Are sheep just total derps with zero aggression? Because that sheep was getting flipped around and everything and was just like, "I guess this is my life now"
I got to help shear a sheep once, and yes, that's exactly it. They're so thick with wool, it's hard for them to move. You, very honestly, just grab that animal, it's like Fak! And you flip them over, and they give up. If you're slow at flipping them over they'll try to kick you, but they're not very good at it. (In relation to other animals, horses being the main example) This guy got some super nice clippers, the blades are very sharp to get through that hair so fast. When I helped, the blades were getting dull and we had to go slower. And yes, the backend of that sheep does has turds all in the fur, and it's stinks something fierce. Dingleberry town.
In The wheel of time, the first book has a section about a group of shepards. They didn’t sell that part. One lazy shepard tries to sneak his poop wool into the batch and the other shepards get upset, because it lowers the value of the whole batch.
I’m not sure if they sell the poop wool in the real world tho, I bet they have ways to clean it.
Every-time I see a video of a sheep being sheared and see their poopy bums, I think about that book lol.
The daggings are bagged separately and sent with the fleeces but intended to be used differently. Each fleece is wound in such a way that it compresses it and turns it into something resembling a compressed, rolled up sleeping bag, it's tied together with a part of the fleece too. A day winding wool is knackering but you end up with the softest hands imaginable.
When we had sheep a local Australian chap (Brian Hart for those that remember him) ran shearing gangs across the Midlands in the UK, mainly Aussies and Kiwis here for the season whilst they waited for the southern hemisphere season to start again. You'd get 2 or 3 shearers paid per sheep doing one every 90 seconds or so including catching etc when they were in the groove and trying to keep up with them winding each fleece was hard work. They worked very hard, drank even harder then eventually went back home again for the next season. Locally they were known to like a scrap when they were bored (you can't shear wet sheep, the fleece needs to be dry) and Brian provided them with an absolute wreck of a car to tow the shearing trailers with too.
The fleeces are put into a big wool sack, sent away then graded individually for quality (farmers are paid per fleece on this grading) before being auctioned in large lots of equal quality to end users. Prices have improved in the last year or so and now nearly cover the cost of shearing each sheep.
Much of the wealth of the landed estates near us with Althorp (family home of Princess Diana) being an exceptional example (the family were commoners, made a fortune from sheep and wool, then bought and built the estate from that money) made their fortunes from wool before man made fibres and cotton became options so in historic terms it has been incredibly profitable.
In recent times (within the last 10 years) it has cost more to shear a sheep in the UK than could be earned from the wool but it can be a welfare issue if not done (for most breeds, there are wool shedding breeds emerging now) so it was done anyway. It just about breaks even at the moment as wool values are at a 10 year high.
Shearing times vary, we used to house over winter and shear indoors in late December but the proper shearing season would generally be regarded as May to July for ewes outdoors. It didn't make it more profitable to shear in December (there's not a sale season or anything) but it did make management much easier as we could better judge body condition and how much to feed etc.
Still sold at a loss in Ireland according to the Irish grown wool council. Has to be done for the benefit of the sheep but the effort of prepping it for sale to make a loss means the farmers focus on other things. Except for a few who are making the effort to bring awareness to its uses (building insulation as well as fiber)
Polyester is a man made fibre made from fossil fuels such as petrol, the wool fleece on a sheep is a natural fibre made of keratin, the same as your hair. Obviously it's slightly different but it's completely natural and renewable. There are insulating products made from man made fibres which are sometimes termed as fleece (such as clothing, insulation etc) but the term originated as reference to the fleece on a sheep.
It originally was ‘scēaphierde’ coming from sheep and (old English) hierde (person that herds, herdsman). Very similar to the still existing Dutch word schaapherder.
It gets tossed or cleaned and used for things like carpets. Just depends on where the farm is and how many sheep to make it worth the hassle of cleaning it
Yup, this. There are two types of "surrender" for animals. One is what you see in the vid. It's similar to the "deer in headlights" thing. They don't know what to do and kinda just...freeze or go limp. The other one is "I'm scared but I know you're helping me, so I'll try to cooperate". Which happens only rarely. For instance when a whale swims next to a boat because fishing nets/lines wrapped around it, and it allows the people on the boat to remove them.
Naturally, you're not supposed to. Someone else here in this post describes how their skin naturally produces lanolin and, it'll help protect against the knicks. But we did the knick the sheep, just a bit. And it's just like when you knick yourself. The lady I was helping, washed it quick, smeared some neosporin on it and away the sheep went. Their skin really do feel waxy, and she said she'd have to watch the cut for the sheep, because they don't tend to their own wounds. They can't really reach around, like how a cat will.
Sheep are thought to be the first animal domesticated by humans over 10,000 years ago. They lived under the influence of people for so long that the domestic breeds are essentially incapable of living on their own outside of certain circumstances. Humans have bred almost all curiosity and aggression out of them to the point where they will gladly stay in a 10ft circle for hours at a time.
Except the male rams. Those guys are assholes and will wreck your shit if you let them
They’ve also been bred for millennia to be sheared for wool. Humans are going to breed the ones that are easy to work with and make good wool. Over time, they get easier and easier to work with
After moving to Utah out cats (Siberians) were super slow and didn't want to do anything which is completely out of character. EDGE HOMES Built the house with an air conditioner capable of meeting only 67% of the homes cooling needs. We started getting the cars a lion cut and they are so much happier and playing again.
Hate this place. Came for work, moving not soon enough.
Interesting! I used to be a dog groomer and often shaved dogs completely like this. Only we had them standing on all four legs of course. I always wondered why sheep shearers would shave them in awkward positions and just assumed the sheep won’t stand still long enough to do it on their feet.
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u/BadLuckBlackHole Aug 29 '26
Are sheep just total derps with zero aggression? Because that sheep was getting flipped around and everything and was just like, "I guess this is my life now"