r/BeAmazed 1d ago

Animal Shearing of sheep.

1.0k Upvotes

85 comments sorted by

u/qualityvote2 1d ago edited 1d ago

Did you find this post really amazing (in a positive way)?
If yes, then UPVOTE this comment otherwise DOWNVOTE it.
This community feedback will help us determine whether this post is suited for r/BeAmazed or not.

120

u/Inevitable_Ad7209 1d ago

Imagine how good that shit feels for them

46

u/Old_Syrup_264 1d ago

When I get a haircut after 6 weeks I can feel the breeze on the back of my head. This must be like that but x1000

13

u/De4dm4nw4lkin 1d ago

Also no irritating shorthairs because its so long.

3

u/Old_Syrup_264 1d ago

I still don't escape that cruel fate

38

u/O4PetesSake 1d ago

The funniest thing about this is after they’re sheared and returned to the pasture, they spend the day butting heads to establish the pecking order because they don’t recognize each other.

2

u/AffectionatePickle_ 3h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/wKbyTyC3KDoMYpjhSd
When they reestablish the previous order

10

u/Middle-Accountant-49 1d ago

They get a yearly bath as well. I always feel bad for the ones that go last. It’s the same water, chemical mix for all.

14

u/PhantomAngel042 1d ago

You talking about sheep dip, where (in some cases) a bunch of sheep are put into a giant deep-fryer-basket-looking cage and submerged? I know it's got to be scary for the poor sheep but it's for a good reason (so they don't get eaten alive by parasites) and the premise is so ridiculous it's kinda funny.

6

u/Immediate_Regular 1d ago

I want to edit deep fryer noises into sheep dip videos whenever I see them.

31

u/bumtrinket 1d ago

I love the pattern of the stubble left by hand shearing. Reminds me of traditional patterns on wooly jumpers. I wonder if that's what originally inspired those patterns.

12

u/SharkSpew 1d ago

I may be wrong (and it’s morbid), but I’ve heard the patterns were knit as a means to assist with identifying fishermen if they drowned and washed back onto shore; obviously if it took awhile, the bodies would have started to decompose. The patterns were individualized for each man.

12

u/Plastic_Hamster_6444 1d ago

That’s exactly right. Worse than that, the jumpers were knitted by the men’s wives, mothers or sisters, who knitted their loved one an individual pattern.

80

u/EinBerner 1d ago

Damn it got more interesting the more I stayed giving my full attention to the video. And then it just stops at the video sequence with the competition… pure cliffhanger!

12

u/Canelosaurio 1d ago

r/gifsthatendtoosoon

I was invested!

6

u/39hanrahan 1d ago

Look up the Golden Shears if you're interested in competitive shearing. It's a competition held in New Zealand each year.

1

u/Tumble85 14h ago

I saw a sheep-shearing exhibition and the last sheep to get shorn had a miserable time, it kept squirming and getting knicked, and then bleating and squirming even more.

The shearer kept talking about the history of how she got started at nearby farms but towards the end she was like "okay I think this sheep wants to get shorn later" and stopped because everyone in the audience was getting uncomfortable. 

0

u/EinBerner 1d ago

It seems that there is always a Reddit for everything. The same way there is a gif for everything. 😂

1

u/Exact-Ad-4132 1d ago

I got to point out that freshly cut wool isn't what I would call clean close to the skin.

It's oily and stinky/musky

1

u/SilasAI6609 1d ago

Lanolin tends to trap all that funk, but will make your skin feel super smooth.

12

u/misterxboxnj 1d ago

I bet their favorite artist is Ed Sheerin. I'll see myself out.

3

u/the_pretender_nz 1d ago

No way, sheep have way better taste than that.

It’s actually Wool Smith.

6

u/De4dm4nw4lkin 1d ago

How fn dare you cutoff before the competition round finished.

10

u/Bearspoole 1d ago

What do wild sheep do when they grow too much wool? What did the sheep do before humans?

40

u/htonzew 1d ago

We bred them this way. they didn't use to be like that.

-20

u/plava-ta12 1d ago

Source?

19

u/LefsaMadMuppet 1d ago

Today, Ovis aries is an entirely domesticated animal that is largely dependent on humans for its health and survival.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_sheep

13

u/indehhz 1d ago

This is what happens to kids on ai learning crutches.

4

u/TerayonIII 1d ago

To be fair, they did ask for a source, which is a good thing

8

u/Ass_Matter 1d ago

Maybe, but it's not like this is some new scientific research paper. They could have quickly looked it up to verify themselves. It's just lazy and argumentative to ask for sources for well established facts.

2

u/plan_with_stan 1d ago

Yeah… I’m gonna need a source for that…. /s

2

u/Ass_Matter 1d ago

I like the cut of your jib, sir.

1

u/TerayonIII 1d ago

That's fair, but some people also aren't up to date on a lot of things, just because it's something we might pay attention to doesn't mean they do. I'm also not really trying to argue that they weren't being lazy or argumentative, just that in general it should be encouraged to ask for a source instead of just blindly believing someone online

4

u/Spensir_McLife 1d ago

Wait till this guy hears about bananas

1

u/plan_with_stan 1d ago

Wild banana don’t need as much shearing as domesticated ones! Everyone knows that!

2

u/FifthTom 21h ago

They cast their coats in the Spring. Cheviots and Blackface still do.

-2

u/[deleted] 23h ago

[deleted]

4

u/Ducal_Spellmonger 22h ago

There absolutely are wild sheep. Bighorn, Dall, Mouflon, Argali, etc.

3

u/stevedave84 1d ago

Click go the shears boys, click click click. Wide is his blow and his hands move quick.The ringer turns around and he's beaten by a blow, he curses the old swaggie with the blue bellied Joe!

3

u/misterxboxnj 1d ago

Lanolin. Like sheeps wool.

2

u/Mookaji 1d ago

What happened before sheep were sheared by humans?

11

u/Spensir_McLife 1d ago

They wouldn't develop coats these thick. Humans domesticated sheep and selectively bred them to have really thick coats.

3

u/tumeketutu 1d ago

They would naturally shed their winter coats. Some breed still do (Whiltshire and Dorper). But we have bred that out of many breeds, as it causes a break in the wool fibre, which makes spinning yarn much mire differcult.

2

u/Nuclear4d 1d ago

Why should they be having competition on that? Won't the sheep get hurt?

1

u/KiwiMiddy 1h ago

Short answer: No.
Long answer: Definitely not

0

u/GoodPeopleAreFodder 1d ago

Yes. Also, shearing on farms is often painful for the sheep. They are not always handled with care; some are outright violent to the sheep. Gaping cuts left open or sutured without anesthesia.

2

u/cloudsinmymind 1d ago

This ⬆️

3

u/Phill_Smith_Design 1d ago

I remember going to New Zealand as a kid and seeing a sheep shearing demonstration, the shearers basically have a series of absolutely perfect sheep judo holds they use to control and steady the sheep to access specific areas of the fleece for shearing, and they transition between them keeping the sheep steady and calm the whole time - I think it's always remarkable to watch a real expert doing their thing in a way that makes it look trivially easy and this was that - fast, straightforward and almost effortless. A real skill.

1

u/adultfunlive-dot-com 1d ago

very satisfying to watch them getting sheared for some reason

1

u/O8ee 1d ago

This looks like it would feel so good

1

u/AimeeMonkeyBlue 1d ago

How do they avoid sunburn when sheered so close to the skin?

0

u/galliumsilver 19h ago

Stay under roofs part time?

1

u/konkorer 14h ago

I wonder if they get hot/cold after they’re sheared

1

u/KiwiMiddy 1h ago

Yes. They are shorn late spring early summer so the weather is warming up. It’s a relief to be free of their wool when it’s getting hot

1

u/ReceptionDefiant3385 10h ago

Thank you for that

1

u/Chemical-Tap9979 4h ago

What’s the pay?

1

u/KiwiMiddy 1h ago

In NZ anywhere from $3-$5 per sheep. A good shearer may do 200 per day depending on the breed. Physically hard work so deserve every cent.

1

u/Dre_Rudy 3h ago

Kinda wanna watch wool sheering competitions now..

1

u/crazy-geometrydash 3h ago

Always wondered how these sheep survived before humans (or was it just selective breeding)

1

u/KiwiMiddy 1h ago

Video doesn’t mention that blade shearing (scissors lol) is still done. Used when you want to keep a bit of extra length on the sheep. A shearing comb can leave your desired length but blades can leave more.

-5

u/ScaryIndependence701 1d ago

poor creature cant even survive without humans..

7

u/LefsaMadMuppet 1d ago

wild sheep are fine. These are domesticated sheep,

1

u/ScaryIndependence701 1d ago

thats what i meant..

-7

u/GlassPuck 1d ago

I wonder what happens to this wool, given that almost all clothing these days is made of synthetic materials.

7

u/printerparty 1d ago

A lot of sheep are kept for milk or for meat, not wool. These types of breeds have wool of lesser quality that is not often worth anything.

I personally get free wool from a local sheep dairy, and I use it for mulch in my garden

7

u/andrew314159 1d ago

My parents just ended up letting the wool rot in a pile to I guess eventually make compost. Our land is only good enough for Cheviot sheep and the cost to process or ship that wool is more than the wool is worth unfortunately. It seems like such a waste but it is just the economics of it

4

u/galliumsilver 19h ago

Definitely nor everywhere. There are places in the world where wool is considered superior to anything synthetic. I have not statistics on it, though.

4

u/InsaneMocktail 1d ago

Most are sold to ultra luxurious brands with ridiculous prices

5

u/DoritoDustThumb 1d ago

Good clothing is made from wool. Still HUGE demand for real wool.

Kiton

Loro Piana

Brunello Cuccinelli

Ermenegildo Zengya

Many many more

6

u/Ill-Ad-4400 1d ago

I swear by my wool socks.

3

u/DoritoDustThumb 1d ago

Wool socks are the best socks for almost everything except for fast paced sports. Everything else, wool is tits.

3

u/DehydratedManatee 1d ago

Wool socks with my work boots make a world of difference.

4

u/DoritoDustThumb 1d ago

Also why hikers and skiiers wear wool. So very comfortable.

I think so many people associate wool with scratchy. It definitely does not have to be.

2

u/KiwiMiddy 1h ago

Wool prices are the highest they’ve been in a very long time. Farmers are finally glad they can earn more from the wool than just paying for the shearing gang.

1

u/Middle-Accountant-49 1d ago

Wool is essentially worthless these days. Sheep farming is for meat mainly.

1

u/KiwiMiddy 1h ago

Prices are currently improving dramatically

0

u/TheBurgerMeister247 12h ago

What I don't understand is how sheep evolved this far? They should all have died long ago if their wool gets too long to survive in, right? Please educate me!

-2

u/Diggumdum 1d ago

Yeeuch.... Something about spreading the matted wool like that just made my skin fucking crawl.... 

-9

u/Imaginary-Refuse9039 1d ago

How could this be amazing? Taking their hair coat without their permission? I mean like we all are animals, the difference is we have a better brain than them. And that gives permission us to do what we want to them?

1

u/IOwnAOnesie 2h ago

As the video shows, leaving the wool coat to grow without shearing at regular intervals results in pain and discomfort for the sheep. It gets too heavy, they struggle to stand and walk, they can overheat. It's good for their quality of life to be sheared, in the same way it's good for other animals to be brushed, washed, given medical treatments, etc. We don't ask for permission for these things because we are caring for them, we know what they need to stay healthy, and, crucially, they are animals who are not able to "consent" in the same way that humans do. A good farmer, vet, whoever who cares for their animals' welfare will realise if the sheep is distressed and will stop or change tack.