Shearing the sheep in the Fall is disturbing and controversial to many people. People want to know about it – why we do it and how we handle it. I want to help.

Whenever we share the sheep and the shearing process, Maria and I are both contacted or e-mailed by people who worry about our sheep. Will they be cold? Do they suffer?

Two kinds of people contact us.

Readers and animal lovers who are concerned about the welfare of our animals and ask in a civil and legitimate way. They are just curious. People who read the blog know we will not likely to subject our animals to cruelty or neglect. Newcomers on social media tend to often shoot first and think later.

These people call themselves animal rights activists and are rarely civil. Talking to them about it is eerily similar to arguing with an oak tree or a political extremist on either side – pointless. I am foolish enough to try it occasionally and fail every time. People get very angry with me for arguing, and it is stupid,  but that’s life in America. I am no saint. I get angry with people who suggest I am an animal abuser.

I don’t mind anyone asking me if our sheep get cold, and I try to answer every inquiry. I do mind being accused of ignorance, callousness, and animal cruelty. Call me sensitive.

Since there is a lot of interest, I wanted to share what Maria and I know about sheep and shearing and cold weather. You can make up your mind since the issue is clearly never going to go away.

If you live in upstate New York and have animals – we have had animals on the farm for nearly 20 years and sheared sheep every one of those years but one, usually in late Spring or Fall, for various but important reasons – you need to understand how to keep animals warm for most of the year. We take our animals’ health very seriously and have never lost a sheep or other animal to hypothermia or seen any symptoms of it – and believe me, we check.

We have never knowingly put our sheep or any other animal in danger. Shearing can always be postponed.

Any animal – dogs, cats, donkeys, chickens, people – can be at risk in subzero weather without lots of food and natural shelter, plus daily surveillance.  We are stewards of our animals, and our job is to keep them warm, safe, fed, and healthy. We take it very seriously. It can get awful cold up here.

For me, the bottom line is simple: yes, shearing in cold weather can be dangerous if the sheep are not watched and treated with care. We have never shorn sheep in the winter.

Early fall is not considered deep winter up here, and the sheep have plenty of time to grow thick wool coats for the real cold. But sheep can definitely suffer, even die, if the temperature is too low and they don’t have proper nutrition and shelter from the wind or rain, even in November.

I know only one shepherd in the area who lost a sheep to bitter cold after shearing. They did not have shelter from the cold wind right after shearing.

We make sure they have extra food and shelter. What follows is what the experts say. Thanks for asking about this in a courteous way, those who did.  You deserve an answer. I’ll save this post for next year and use it in lieu of arguing with people or getting weary of being asked.

Online, minding other people’s business is no longer considered rude but a sacred right and obligation, like guns. I disagree, and I never do it to anyone else. But asking someone with animals what life is is quite understandable. Most Americans never get to do it any longer.

Do I believe I have more important things to do than reassure strangers that I am not cruel to my animals? Sure. But that’s life. Nobody forces me to do it, and I love my life.

If you follow the odds, which I do, you can learn that sheep around here are more likely to have an airplane fall on them than die from being shorn in November. It can happen, but it rarely does up here.

Accidents involving drunken drivers are far more likely and dangerous, and yet we drive every day. There is no such thing as life without risk, not for people, not for animals.

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(Robin, one day after shearing, at dusk on a chilly night. She spent the night out there.)

Here is what our favorite sheep owners association says about sheep and cold. It’s one of the best summaries, and I’m happy to share it with you.

“While sheep are not necessarily cold during shearing, they can develop cold stress afterward. Sheep wool keeps the animals insulated from the elements; shearing the wool removes some of their natural protection and makes it harder for them to self-regulate their body temperature. A cold sheep, after shearing, risks death from exposure to the elements, so keeping sheep warm is critical.

Sheep And Sharing In The Cold, according to the U.S.  Department of Agriculture:

“Newly shorn sheep are can suffer from hypothermia in cold weather. Sheep can suffer from extreme cold after being shorn. Hypothermia can also be prevented.

The shorter the period after shearing in which the cold weather occurs, the greater the risk of death from hypothermia. Recently shorn sheep may only have about three millimeters of insulating wool remaining, which can cause a three-fold increase in heat loss. Although a couple of weeks of wool growth does offer some protection, high mortalities have occurred in mobs up to four weeks after shearing.

Risk time: Sheep shearing in late winter or spring or if the sheep have been exposed to cold weather before shearing and are not acclimatized. This acclimatization takes about two weeks to develop and lasts about two months. Once acclimatized, sheep are less likely to die from hypothermia, even if a cold spell occurs immediately after shearing.

Sheep that have been shorn in summer are conditioned to hot weather, and if cold weather occurs shortly after shearing, they are at greater risk of dying from hypothermia.”

I hope that is helpful.

If you have any further questions about our sheep or our shearing, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected], and I will do my best to respond.

Anyone with a farm who lives with animals knows there is always the risk of illness or death. I make sure not to present our farm life as a paradise without loss of challenge. Quite the contrary, loss, trouble, and danger are a daily part of life here. To be honest, I think shearing is about the safest thing we ever do with our animals. And one of the most pleasurable.

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