There is a lot of buzz around a new campaign against shearing sheep. It claims “sheep should never be sheared because it is cruel and inhumane.” It is actually inhumane NOT to shear a sheep each year. And here’s why:
Wool grows much like our own human hair. If you do NOT shear a sheep, it continues to grow and grow and grow and grow. Turning into matts/felting that tangles so much a sheep may not be able to walk properly. This opens up opportunities for predators to move in since the sheep cannot run fast enough. Flies also take advantage of an unshorn sheep. They lay their eggs in the wool and when they hatch very painful things happen to the sheep. Believe me, it’s ugly and awful. If wool is not trimmed around a sheep’s eyes they can go ‘wool blind.’
Remember Shrek the sheep? Who evaded shearing day for 6 years or so? He was a wonderful fellow who went on to be a service sheep. You can read more about him here, with lots of reasons to shear sheep and what it is like for the sheep. The photos are amazing!
http://earthporm.com/shrek-sheep-escaped-shearing-6-years/
There is also a lot of great information about wool here:
https://woolinschools.nz/about-wool/
You can read up on our thoughts about shearing here at the Homestead here…
Smooches from the sheep!