Why Do Sheep Need Shearing? It’s About Welfare, Not Just Wool

If you've ever watched a sheep being sheared, you might have wondered why we do it. Is shearing really necessary? Does it hurt? And what would happen if we simply left all that wool where it was?

The short answer is simple: most wool sheep need to be sheared for their health, comfort and welfare.

Here on our family farm on a remote Scottish island, shearing is one of those important jobs that comes around every year. Of course, we're rather fond of wool and finding useful things to make from it, but producing wool isn't the reason sheep need their annual haircut.

We shear our sheep because they need to be shorn. The wool is what we have afterwards.

Why Do Sheep Need To Be Sheared?

Most domestic wool sheep need shearing because their fleeces continue to grow and they don't simply lose all that wool by themselves.

Humans have kept and selectively bred sheep for thousands of years, including breeding animals for their useful fleeces. As a result, many of the sheep breeds we know today produce a substantial fleece that needs to be removed regularly.

For most adult wool sheep, that means being sheared at least once a year.

Leaving a heavy fleece on indefinitely can cause welfare problems, including discomfort, problems with parasites and an increased risk of flystrike.

So shearing isn't simply about harvesting wool.

It's an essential part of looking after sheep.

Don't Sheep Naturally Lose Their Wool?

This is where domestic sheep are rather different from their wild relatives. Our pure Boreray sheep for example often lose part their fleece before shearing, wheres our shetland cross sheep rarely lose any.

Wild sheep and some primitive or shedding breeds naturally lose much of their coat. Many of our familiar domestic wool breeds don't.

Their fleece keeps growing, which is wonderfully useful if you happen to like wool (we do), but it also means that we have a responsibility to remove it.

Think of it as an annual haircut that can't really be skipped.

Does Shearing Hurt Sheep?

This is probably one of the questions people ask most often.

Proper shearing should not hurt a sheep.

The fleece is removed using electric shearing equipment and, in experienced hands, the process is rather like having a haircut. The wool is cut away close to the skin without cutting the sheep.

Good shearing is a skilled job. A professional shearer knows how to hold and move a sheep carefully whilst removing the fleece efficiently.

Occasionally a small nick can happen, just as it can when clipping other animals, but careful handling and skilled shearing minimise the risk.

The aim is always to get the fleece off safely and with as little stress to the sheep as possible.

What Happens If You Don't Shear A Sheep?

Leaving a wool sheep unshorn isn't simply a case of ending up with an exceptionally fluffy sheep.

An overgrown fleece can become heavy, dirty and difficult for the animal to manage.

There are several reasons regular shearing matters.

It helps keep sheep comfortable

A year's growth of wool can produce a substantial fleece.

Removing it at the appropriate time helps keep the sheep comfortable and makes managing them through the warmer part of the year easier.

It helps reduce problems associated with dirty fleece

Wool can collect dirt and moisture, particularly around the back end of a sheep.

Keeping sheep clean and managing their fleece properly is an important part of good flock husbandry.

It helps with flystrike prevention

This is one of the more serious reasons for keeping a close eye on sheep during warmer weather.

Flystrike happens when blowflies lay eggs on a sheep, often where fleece is damp or soiled. The resulting maggots can cause severe injury very quickly.

It's every bit as unpleasant as it sounds.

Shearing doesn't remove the need to check sheep regularly for flystrike, but good fleece management forms an important part of keeping sheep healthy.

When Are Sheep Sheared In The UK?

Most sheep in the UK are sheared once a year, usually as the weather becomes warmer.

Exactly when shearing happens depends on the sheep, the farm and — this being Britain — the weather.

You don't want to remove a sheep's lovely woolly coat immediately before several days of cold, wet and windy weather. 

Also the sheep's fleece starts to naturally separate or "rise" when it is ready to be shorn. Waiting until this point makes shearing a much quicker job and easier on the sheep and the shearer. 

You need a dry night before and a dry morning to get the shearing done, so we have close eye on the forecast when deciding when to shear. Shearing wet sheep means the wool will stay wet and rot before we can use it. 

Here on a remote Scottish island, you'll probably not be surprised to hear that the weather gets a vote in quite a lot of farm decisions.

Down south in England, a lot of farms will be shearing in April, whereas we never shear before July. 

What Happens To The Wool After Shearing?

Once the fleece comes off, another job begins.

Wool is an extraordinary natural material. It's renewable, biodegradable and grows again on the sheep.

Traditionally, of course, wool has been used for clothing, blankets, carpets, knitting and countless other things.

But wool can be useful in the garden too.

Sheep wool contains naturally occurring nutrients and can hold a remarkable amount of water. As it breaks down, it can also help improve soil structure.

That's one of the reasons we turn wool into useful products such as our Garden Wool Pellets.

Rather than thinking of wool simply as something to wear, we like finding practical ways of making use of this natural material.

From Sheep To Garden

Our Garden Wool Pellets are made on our family farm using 100% sheep wool.

The wool is processed into pellets which can be mixed into soil or compost.

Once there, they can:

• hold up to 10 times their weight in water

• slowly release moisture back into the soil

• help reduce watering frequency

• create small air pockets as they break down

• naturally add nutrients to the soil

• help deter slugs and snails when used around plants

They're packed in 3.5 litre compostable bags, too.

It's a rather satisfying journey for something that started life keeping a sheep warm.

Is Sheep Shearing Cruel?

When shearing is carried out correctly by a skilled person, shearing is an important sheep welfare practice, not simply a way of obtaining wool.

In fact, mature wool sheep need their fleeces removed regularly.

That's an important distinction.

Our sheep aren't grown simply so that we can take their wool. They grow wool naturally, they need to be sheared as part of their care, and we're then left with a wonderful natural material that deserves to be put to good use.

Is Wool Sustainable?

Wool has some rather impressive natural credentials.

A sheep grows a new fleece. We shear it. Then the sheep starts growing another one.

It's renewable and biodegradable, and there are all sorts of uses for wool beyond the ones we're most familiar with.

For us, making useful products from wool is also part of trying to make good use of what our farm produces rather than treating a natural resource as something without value.

So, Why Do Farmers Shear Sheep?

If you remember just one thing from this article, make it this:

Farmers shear wool sheep primarily because shearing is an important part of looking after their health and welfare.

The fleece we get afterwards is the bonus.

And when you've spent a year watching a sheep grow it, it seems only right to find something useful to do with it.

Even if that something ends up helping your tomatoes grow.

Sheep Shearing: Quick Questions

How often do sheep need shearing?

Most mature wool sheep are sheared at least once every year. Some breeds in the south will need shearing twice. 

Does shearing hurt sheep?

Proper shearing by a competent shearer should not hurt the sheep. It's comparable to removing hair rather than cutting the skin.

Why can't sheep just keep their wool?

Many domestic wool breeds don't naturally shed their entire fleece, so it continues to grow and needs to be removed.

What happens if a sheep isn't sheared?

An excessive fleece can cause discomfort and contribute to welfare problems. Fleece management is also important when protecting sheep from problems such as flystrike.

Why are sheep usually sheared in warmer weather?

Removing the fleece ahead of warmer conditions helps with comfort, but timing is important. Newly shorn sheep need protection from cold and wet weather, so farmers take weather conditions into account.

What is sheep wool used for after shearing?

Far more than jumpers! Wool can be used for clothing, carpets, insulation, felt, crafts and gardening products. On our farm, some wool is made into natural products including Garden Wool Pellets or felted rugs.

Are wool pellets good for gardens?

Wool can retain large amounts of moisture and naturally contains plant nutrients. Our wool pellets are designed to help retain water, improve soil aeration and slowly feed the soil as they break down.

From Our Farm

Shearing day is an important part of the farming year.

There's a great deal more to wool than the finished ball of yarn or cosy jumper most of us picture when we think about it. It begins on a sheep, and removing that fleece each year is first and foremost part of caring for the animal.

What happens to the wool afterwards is where things get interesting.

On our little corner of Scotland, we think something that takes a sheep a whole year to grow deserves to be useful.