To Shear or not to Shear; That is the Question (and we get it every year)
Each year, I am asked why we shear the sheep at Farm Sanctuary when the practice involves so much cruelty worldwide.
Sheep wool has been used by humans for thousands of years; the first sheared sheep producing very small amounts of wool (just around a pound), while now the average sheep fleece is just over 7 pounds! Breeds such as Lincolns and Romney can have a single fleece weighing up to 18 pounds and Merino can have a fleece up to 25 pounds.
Picture of Merino sheep in Australia at a sheep sale yard by Jo-Anne McArthur. weanimals.org
In the wild, sheep naturally shed their wool and do not require the intervention of humans to shear them. Most domestic sheep breeds continuously grow wool and require at least annual shearing. Shearing is usually done in the spring to avoid them overheating in the warmer summer months. Sheep breeds used for wool production, have been genetically bred to produce more wool and unlike their wild ancestors they cannot shed this wool without being sheared. Sadly, the resultant excess skin and wool on many of these breeds only benefits producers who profit at the great expense of the sheep.
Wild sheep breeds do not require shearing and the thick coats they grow for winter shed out on their own.
One example of how wool excess harms sheep can be seen with the Australian Merino breed. Merino sheep and crosses of this breed have heavy wrinkles or folds in their skin including folds around their hind legs, where urine and feces sit and soak into the wool. The skinfold become moist and actually attract an insect called the blowfly.
This is the blowfly. No words.
They lay their eggs which hatch within 12 to 24 hours into maggots. These maggots actually eat into the flesh and muscle of the sheep which can quickly become fatal. This is called fly-strike. Fly-strike occurs of course because there is no real individualized care based on the sheer number of sheep in the average flock. If you have thousands of sheep you are not able to see each one or even noticed when there is a problem.
Australian Merino sheep in full wool.
Mulesing involves cutting flaps of skin from the upper thighs of the lamb under the tail to created a scarred area of skin with no wrinkles or wool. Lambs normally undergo this painful procedure, called mulesing, when they are very young – in addition to ear tagging, tail docking and castration.
Add to mulesing the fact that shearers, working at an average of two minutes per animal, often cut and injure terrified animals, and that most of the sheep typically end up being slaughtered, and the lives of these wool-bearers look even bleaker. It is for these and other reasons that we advocate for compassionate alternatives to products of such cruelty.
Millions of sheep die every year in Australia from fly-strike and millions of lambs continue to have the mulesing procedure done to prevent it. Individualized care can protect sheep from fly-strike without painful mulesing. Procedures such as crutching (keeping the wool sheared on the back end) regular monitoring and the use of fly sprays can prevent fly-strike on sheep. With herds of thousands, however, this is not possible so mulesing is the quicker and far cheaper alternative and as with many cheaper alternatives someone pays the price; in this case the lambs. New strains of Merinos were fewer wrinkles are being bred based on pressure put on the industry by animal welfare groups but sadly this procedure continues today.
Here at Farm Sanctuary we have many breeds of sheep, including Merino crosses, Scottish Black Faces, Cheviot, Romanov, Finn, Tunis, East Friesian, Katahdin, Suffolk and more. Each has different types of wool, and some grow much longer and thicker than others. There are fine wool, carpet wool, medium wool and long wool sheep as well as breeds of hair sheep, such as the Katahdin and Dorper breeds.
We perform extensive health checks on our sheep every month, so even when the wool is thick, we feel for lumps and bumps, weight loss and any other indicators that an animal is having a health issue that needs to be addressed. An annual part of this regular healthcare routine is shearing, which we do for many reasons.
Without shearing, sheep can get urine scald which of course leads to fly-strike and wool maggots. They get insects called wool keds (parasites that look like ticks) as well as lice. The wool also becomes heavy, especially when it gets wet, and is very uncomfortable since it fills with dirt, hay seeds and other debris. In the summer, sheep can easily overheat – even more so when they have full wool, so we remove it to keep them safe and comfortable during the hot months. The weather this past winter was unseasonably warm and days in the 50′s for sheep in full wool leads to panting and heavy breathing.
Thistle sheep was captured in a field after running loose for over four years. Her wool was so full of burrs and thorny sticks that her skin was left with painful scratches.
Thistle after the shearing (and what a relief that was for her!)
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