A
ll the ewes have lambed by mid May and the lambs are growing well on the plentiful
grass. By June, they have quadrupled in size and are robust enough to be gathered in with their
Summer Marking & Clipping
mothers for marking. It is only then that the shepherd will know how successful a lambing he/she has had as all the lambs produced from each heft will be counted and tagged with the farm’s unique code.
Clipping is a highly skilled job that requires much practice to
Wool clipping (sometimes known as shearing) begins in June with the hoggs (the one year old
perfect. The trick is in keeping
female sheep that are too young to reproduce)
the sheep comfortable at all
first in line. The hoggs have had an easy time
times otherwise they will struggle - making it a very difficult and exhausting job indeed!
compared to the ewes as they haven’t had to produce and rear lambs. This means they start to grow new wool more quickly. This layer of fresh new wool between the skin and the old