When do you guys shear?

[Wisconsinsheep]

Well, I've always sheared my ewes in the spring. But a lot of people also shear in the fall to ease with lambing. This seems like a better way of doing it, but I wanted to see what you guys think.
Also, for you northerners, how much wool do you think your ewes should have by Thanksgiving. Or in other words, when is to late to shear?

[EmsoffLambs]

I shear around the first of June. Others have tried to convince me to shear in the fall, but it just makes sense to me to have less wool in the summer and more in the winter. We now have enough ewes that they don't all fit in the barn, so only those with lambs get the barn. I want enough wool on the others to offer good protection from wind and snow. Also, with my black face ewes, they don't have enough wool around their udders or backside to cause any problems. It's not like a longwool ewe with six inches of wool.

[meyersshowlambs]

Same as Crystal. Sheared on June 9th this year.

[ewemama]

Same as Crystal - we sheared June 6th.  Gives them a little more protection in the winter and a little more "air" in the summer.  With black face ewes I don't have alot of wool around the udder but if there is I can always tag them.

[Don Drewry]

We live in Minnesota and lamb in an unheated barn.  For several years I did fall shearing and I liked that a lot as they had enough wool that they'd spend time eating a lot of hay but short enough to stay clean during lambing.  Last year I AI'ed a lot of ewes and they wanted them sheared about a month before so we sheared right about now.  That was much better than I thought and I liked wintering the ewes with that much wool.  However, this year I plan to go to September as I've got too much going on the next two months and our shearer is good enough that I'm not concerned about shearing them when bred.

[ColdCreek]

Mid June and again in late November.  Like having short wool during lambing. 

[shadowran]

we sheared in the fall last year and hope to every year but where we live I could shear in the middle of winter and it would be ok

[Jimmy Davis]

April, July, and November

[EmsoffLambs]

Jimmy, you shear all your ewes three times a year? Just curious... Why?

[Jimmy Davis]

Usually shear lambs in early April, so normally shear ewes then too. Gives shearer more work and keeps him happy, (He's a good hand and they're hard to come by). We shear in July to prepare for both flush work and natural breeding. We shear again in late October or early November so ewes are in shorter fleece during lambing. Our experience is that ewes in shorter fleece tend to stay under barn during rain and snow which makes for a dryer shed. And to be perfectly honest, I don't like to look at sheep with a year's worth of wool on them. I know this wouldn't work in a lot of places due to weather conditions, but works well in our part of the country. Most people down here shear twice a year.

[Betania]

We shear in June most years to keep them from overheating. This year, it was the end of April/beginning of May for the Dorsets, because it got hot really early and they were not wanting to eat grain even or do anything so I got scared and didn't wait till time to shear the lambs. So I went out with sewing scissors and sheared them over a week or so.  We know people whose lambs have flopped over dead from overheating, so I get scared when it's hot, and the sheep haven't been sheared. Then we also shear in September, for our fair. Yes, we show "old ewes." The Junior Fair has a class for every age of ewe, from 2 months to two years and above.