What are the precautions for sheep shearing?
The hot summer season has arrived again, and everywhere has reached the production stage of sheep shearing. Sheep wool is an excellent textile raw material, and in the high summer temperatures, not shearing off a sheep's thick coat of wool will affect its growth. What should be noted during the shearing process is important for farmers. Let's take a look at the precautions for sheep shearing below on Qinnong Web.
1. When preparing to shear, stop feeding and let the sheep fast for 24 hours. Fasting here means no feed and no water. If rainy weather occurs during shearing and the sheep gets wet, the wool must be dried before shearing can be done. First, wet wool is difficult to shear and can easily injure the sheep; second, wet wool is not easy to preserve after being sheared off, reducing economic returns.
2. When shearing, be sure to keep the shears close to the skin and shear the wool evenly in one pass. Do not leave high stubble. If high stubble is left, do not shear it again, so as to avoid second-cut wool, which causes unnecessary waste and is also unfavorable for the wool to regrow.
3. Shearing must be fast and gentle. The shearing time must be quick, and dawdling is prohibited, because when shearing sheep, they must be restrained to prevent struggling. If shearing takes too long, it will cause discomfort, making them move around and affecting the shearing. In addition, when shearing, the movements for turning the sheep must be gentle to prevent bloat and intestinal torsion that could cause undue losses.
4. Prevent skin injuries. Some parts of a sheep's body are extremely sensitive and the skin is relatively soft, making injuries easy, such as the prepuce and scrotum of breeding rams and the udder of ewes. Extra care must be taken when shearing these areas to prevent cuts. Once a cut occurs, disinfect it promptly, apply medication or suture it, to avoid bacterial infection or tetanus that would harm the sheep's health.
5. When shearing, do it in a clean and spacious place, not in a cluttered place or in the sheep shed, as this will mix manure, soil, weeds and other debris into the wool and affect wool quality. Keep the wool as intact as possible, which is beneficial for wool grading and classification.
6. When shearing, be careful about grazing on lush grassland. Before shearing, the sheep has already fasted for 24 hours. At this time, if grazed on lush grassland, it is easy to cause the sheep to overeat, often leading to indigestion, and in severe cases can lead to death. In addition, after shearing, also pay attention to climate changes and avoid strong light exposure to prevent skin burns that make regrowth of wool difficult; they must also not be exposed to cold, as they are prone to catching colds.
The above are the precautions for sheep shearing brought to you by Qinnong Web. That is all for the introduction on what to pay attention to in sheep shearing. For more information, please stay tuned to Qinnong Web.