Sheep shearer

[sheep-sheer-ing]

A sheep shearer is a worker who uses (hand-powered)-blade or machine shears to remove the wool from domestic sheep.

History

During the early years of sheep breeding in Australia, shearing was carried out by shepherds, assigned servants, Ticket-of-Leave men and free labourers using blade shears. As the sheep industry expanded, more shearers were required. Although the demand had increased, the conditions had not, and shearers had to contend with terrible working conditions, very long hours and low pay. In 1888, Australia became the first country in the world have a complete shearing, at Dunlop Station, finished using machines. By 1915, most large Australian sheep station shearing sheds had machines that were powered by steam engines. Later, internal combustion engines powered machines until rural power supplies became available.

Sheep Shearing today

In most countries with large sheep flocks, the shearer is one of a contractor's team that go from property to property shearing sheep and preparing the wool for market. A workday starts at 7:30 am and the day is divided into 4 “runs” of 2 hours each. “Smoko” breaks of a half hour each are at 9:30 am and again at 3 pm. The lunch break is taken at 12 midday for one hour. Most shearers are paid on a piece rate, i.e., per sheep. The shearer collects a sheep from a catching pen, positions it on his “stand” on the shearing board and operates the shearing hand-piece. A shearer begins by removing the coarse wool over the sheep's belly, which is separated from the main fleece by a rouseabout while the sheep is still being shorn. The remainder of the fleece is taken off in one piece by following an efficient set of movements.

In the case of powered shears, the movements were largely devised by Godfrey Bowen approximately 1950 , by or the Tally-Hi method. In 1963, the Tally-Hi shearing system was developed by the Australian Wool Corporation and promoted using synchronised shearing demonstrations. Sheep struggle less using the Tally-Hi method, reducing strain on the shearer and there is a saving of about 30 seconds shearing each sheep. When finished, the shorn sheep is removed from the board via a chute in the floor, or wall, to a counting out pen, efficiently removing it from the shed.

The latest shearing patterns which are used by some of the most efficient shearers around the world, world record holders, world champions, etc. have less blows due to better sheep control and positioning. These patterns ensure that there is less strain placed on the sheep and the shearers due to the advanced techniques used.

A professional or "gun" shearer typically removes a fleece without badly marking or cutting the sheep in two to three minutes, depending on the size and condition of the sheep, or less than two in elite competitive shearing. Shearers who “tally” more than 200 sheep per day are known as “gun shearers”. Gun shearers using blade shears can achieve much lower numbers, about 50 to 70 a day.

In 1984, Australia became the last country in the world to permit the use of wide combs, due to previous Australian Workers Union rulings.

Records

On 10 October,1892, Jackie Howe set a record of 321 sheep shorn in seven hours and 40 minutes, using blade shears. He had previously set a weekly aggregate record of 1,437 sheep over a total working week of 44 hours and 30 minutes.

While Howe's weekly aggregate record remained until at least 2005, his daily record tally was broken using machine shears by Ted Reick in 1950. In competition sports shearers, using blades or machine driven hand-pieces, can achieve short-term rates that are greater than for day shearers.

Dwayne Black holds an incredible six world records, mainly in the endurance or marathon events. In April 2005, he spent a gruelling nine hours shearing 513 merino ewes, six more than the previous world record

On 2nd March 2007, Broomehill shearer Brendan Boyle set the world 24-hour sheep shearing record by shearing 841 full wool merino sheep, and in the process raised over $20,000 for the fight against prostate cancer. It was the first time a record has been set in 24 hours sheep shearing. A great effort, but for the record to be officially recognised, it needs to be overseen by the World Sheep Shearing Records Committee. This committee has a set of rules, and official referees in three member countries for the specific purpose of ensuring records are set under the same rules and consistent referees in these countries.