As the temperatures rise into the mid 80s today at the Hampshire College Farm, a few creatures are grateful for the haircut they received this morning.
Kevin Ford rolled into the farmyard at 7:30am with a small wooden box of tools. He is a professional “blade shearer” trained in the art of carefully cutting away the wooly fleece of a sheep with only a pair of scissors.
This traditional method of shearing is popular in New Zealand and Ireland, however most commercial or large scale farms around the world now implement mechanized or electric shearing practices to increase efficiency. Unlike commercial shearing, which removes all of the wool from the sheep, blade shearing leaves 10mm of wool which protects of sheep against the cold and sunburn, reduces the stress on the animals, and increases wool growth.
Kevin was trained in Ireland and is certified by a New Zealand sheep shearing association. Blade shearing requires practiced ability, strength, and intuition. The Hampshire College Farm hires him to trim Dodge the ram, Austin the Llama, and various other wooly animals depending on the season. Dodge seemed to enjoy having his winter coat removed. Austin, pictured below, was a little more nervous.
There were no whirring electric blades this morning, just the quiet clip of the shears, the gentle rhythm of animal breath and the occasional bleating of the goats in the barn. The livestock summer work crew helped Kevin with the animals and learned about the blade shearing technique.
