What Happens if you Don’t Shear a Sheep?

As a professional sheep shearer for over 30 years, I have come across my fair share of sheep that have had overgrown fleeces on them. Some may have missed last years shearing while others like Chris the sheep had 5 years worth of wool growth on him and was still going strong with 40kg of wool to be shorn off.

If you don’t shear your sheep the wool on the sheep will continually grow at about 100mm per year and adding 5kg of weight per year depending on the breed. This makes it hard for the sheep to walk to food and water. The sheep will be at higher risk of getting flystrike from urine staine. The sheep has a higher risk of dying if left unshorn.

It is not uncommon to see overgrown fleeces on sheep in remote parts of the countryside. On larger farms with thousands of acres, one or two sheep may escape the mustering for shearing or other sheep husbandry activities. If the sheep are cunning enough they will hide when they hear the farmer coming and may avoid shearing for several years. They may think they are clever but, a sheep is much healthier and safer if they get an annual shear.

The Story of Chris the sheep and watch my mate Ian Elkins shear him.

Increase of Death Due to Flystrike.

If you miss shearing your sheep annually the sheep will have an increased chance of dying due to Flystrike. The wool around the vulva of a ewe and the pizzle on a wether or ram can become stained from the urine and remain wet. This can eventually cause an irritation on the skin which can create a perfect environment for the blow fly to settle in and lay her eggs which then hatch out into maggot lavae.

These maggots will then start to feed on the irritated skin of the sheep around the urine stain. The long wool of the sheep will be a safe haven for the maggots. Protecting them from direct sunlight and extreme heat or cold. Untreated, the maggots can eventually break through the skin and into the flesh. At this stage the sheep will become ill very quickly with it’s temperature rising quickly and severe pain from the maggots eating away at the flesh. She will die in a matter of days.

Maggot infestation caused by urine stay.

The Shear Weight of the Wool.

Wooled sheep will keep growing their fleece year after year regardless of whether or not you shear their fleece off or not. Some breeds like the British Breeds of sheep grow about 2kg to 4kg per year while the Australian Merino can grow 5kg to 10kg of fleece every year.

If a sheep was to grow 5kg of wool each year and they grew 100mm in staple length each year, after 5 years of not being shorn, the sheep would have 25kg of wool and it’s staple length would be 500mm long.

If the sheep should happen to survive like Chris the sheep, who was found after 5 years of roaming free, unshorn, then they would be a very uncomfortable animal. Imagine carrying around an extra 25kg on your back day in and day out with the belly wool touching the ground making every step difficult to take.

The sheep would become less inclined to walk any distance to graze and drink. In dry hot summers this becomes an issue to get to good fresh water and high quality grasses and in winter when it is wetter the sheep becomes more weighed down as rain water would be absorbed into the wool making the fleece much heavier.

Wild Animal Attack.

As a sheep’s fleece gets heavier, bulkier and more cumberson, they become slower. They can’t keep up with the mob and become tired quicker. Sheep are a herding animal and they find safety in numbers. That is why they tend to “mob up” when you go into a paddock to check on them.

In many parts of the world sheep have natural predators and some unatural predators. Even in more densley populated areas sheep can be attacked by a predator, whether it is wolves, wild cats, dingos or even the domestic dog. If a sheep is not shorn and has overgrown wool it will be slower then the rest of the mob and at a much higher risk of being caught and killed by the predator, The wool will just weigh the sheep down and make it easy prey.

Lambing Time.

Even with a super long, overgrown fleece a ewe can still get in lamb. Hard to beleive I know. But where there is a will there is a way. If a ewe with an overgrown coat of wool, that is not shorn off annually, has a lamb, then the lamb can be in trouble right from the beginning.

The lamb will instictively go looking for a drink of milk from mum within minutes of being born, to get that first feed of cholostrum into her. If the ewe has long wool covering her udder then the lamb will defineately have trouble finding the teets and feeding properly.

The lamb may suck on a long bit of wool hanging down past the teets and never get a suckle of milk. If the lamb does not get any meaningful milk into it, then the chances of survival are minimal and the lamb can die within a day or two.

Shear your Sheep Annually.

It is very good farming practice to shear your sheep annually. This keeps the sheep healthier and happier. In my belief it is an animal welfare issue if you don’t shear your sheep annually.

Your sheep will be able to walk to fresh water and grass, therefore eating and drinking more of what they need to stay healthy. They will have more weight on them as the wool won’t be dragging them down and leaving them hungry.

If you get a sheep shearer in to shear your sheep ensure you give them plenty of notice. Professional sheep shearers are in high demand and there are not as many shearers as there use to be. Look after your shearer and they will look after you and your sheep.

Alternatively you can learn to shear your own sheep. There is nothing more enjoyable and satisfying then knowing you have shorn your sheep at the same time every year so they won’t get overgrown fleeces and be more susceptible to an early death.