Shearers and Wool Classers
Remove and classify wool and hair from sheep, goats, alpacas and other animals.
Day two in the woolshed
You are a shearer on a travelling team, working a long day in a woolshed with five other shearers, a classer and a few pickers. It is 6:30am. The first run of the day starts at seven, the sheep are in the pens and the owner is nervous about the weather. Your hands are already sore from yesterday.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Morning. Yesterday's tally was a little low and the owner noticed. We need a good day today. I know you are doing your best, but can you go faster and not worry so much about the cuts? We can fix them later.
Go faster and not worry about nicks, since the shed boss said it was fine and the owner is watching
The tally lifts, but a few sheep are nicked and the owner sees them being treated. Speed at the expense of care is noticed. Cutting corners with animals is never acceptable in a shed.
Tell Glenys you will keep your pace steady, because rushing leads to cuts and the quality of the wool
Your tally stays about the same and the sheep stay calm. Glenys accepts it, but the shed total is still low. An honest answer would have been stronger with a suggestion for how to lift the day.
Ask Glenys what is holding the shed back and offer to adjust your own routine
Glenys notices the sheep are being brought to the wrong side for two of the stands. A small change evens things out, and the tally improves without nicks. The shed works better as a system.
This fleece has something stuck in it, like a burr or a seed, all through the back. Should I put it in with the rest of the line, or leave it out? I have never seen so much of it before. Glenys is busy.
Put it in the main line, since the buyer may not mind a few seeds
The buyer finds it in the bale and marks down the whole line. A single contaminated fleece can spoil a lot of good wool.
Set it aside, show it to the classer, and ask where it should go
Rosalind classes it into a separate line and explains why to Pip. The main lines stay clean. Setting aside a doubtful fleece is the right instinct, and asking the classer finishes the job.
Tell Pip to throw it out as waste
The main line is safe, but the fleece still had value in a lower line, and the grower loses it. Waste is easy to throw away, and a better home was available.
I have noticed a couple of the sheep look a bit lame coming out of the pen. I am thinking of shearing them last so they do not hold things up. Is that a sensible plan, do you think? You know more about the handling than I do.
Say that is sensible, and leave the lame sheep until everyone else is done
The sheep are looked after and the run flows. But you did not look at their feet, and one of them has a problem that needs treating before shearing at all.
Tell Angus to shear them like the others, because delays cost money
A lame sheep struggles on the board, and it is stressful for the animal and dangerous for the shearer. Putting a sore animal through the same routine makes the day worse.
Take a look at their feet, suggest Angus separates them for treatment, and shear them last once they have been checked
Angus sees what you mean and treats the sheep before shearing. They are shorn calmly last, once the rest of the shed is done. Looking before deciding helped the animals and the shed.
How it went
The shed finishes the day with a good tally, clean lines of wool and calm sheep. Shearing and wool classing are physical, skilled and team-based, and the work moves with the seasons. Does the idea of working hard with your hands as part of a travelling team appeal to you?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The bale that held up the whole clip
A fictional case set in a fictional woolshed on a sheep property during shearing, with a board, a wool table and a team of six.
The situation
Rosalind was the wool classer at a shed on Burrawong Station. On the second day, she noticed a few fleeces with a strong smell and a slightly stained look near the belly, which the pickers were putting into the main lines. The owner, Angus, was keen to get the clip pressed and loaded before the weather turned, and the shearers were working hard to finish.
What they did
Rosalind pulled the stained fleeces aside and showed them to Angus, explaining that mixing them into the main lines would lower the value of the whole bale. She asked the pickers to skirt the stained parts more carefully, and made separate lines for the pieces. She recorded the bales and the reasons in the clip documentation. She explained how she would label them for buyers.
How it turned out
The main lines were clean and sold well. The separate lines were small but sold for a fair price. Angus said he had been about to say that all of it was fine and to press it, and was glad he had not. Rosalind taught the pickers what to watch for on day three.
What would you do?
- How would you tell a grower that his wool needs more care than he thought?
- Why might one bad fleece affect the value of a whole bale?
- Would you enjoy a job that follows the seasons and moves from shed to shed?