Shearing sheds

Shearing sheds are buildings in which sheep are sheared. In countries where there are thousands of sheep on one station or ranch the buildings used play a very important role. Great attention will be paid to the set up to ensure high efficiency.

In North America there are many retrofit shearing sheds in existence on many ranches. Anything from a fully decked out building to tarp covered pole sheds or a lean-to can and do serve the purpose.

The important factors are having a covered place to keep sheep dry, having a well laid out, covered shearing floor and a handling system to enable smooth flow of animals throughout the day.

Although the wool harvest can be done outside it is necessary to have a place to keep the flock dry should rain threaten. You do not want to shear or store wet wool. Wet wool can mold.

If you are hiring a shearing crew, it will make their life so much easier if they have a warm, covered, well lit and roomy place to work in.

At Dog Tale Ranch the building we use is a long and narrow, hoop style, canvas tarp building erected on a four foot wall, originally purchased to store grain. It's our goal to find out just how many sheep it can hold!

At one front corner of the building is a raised plywood shearing floor with lights above it to illuminate the area. Ropes dangle from above for the purpose of hanging wool clipping machines.

An old, borrowed large flat bed wagon sits across from the shearing floor, It will hold the backlog of fleeces during the shearing process and to serve as a platform to later store bags of wool off the ground.

At the back of the building is a holding pen and a pen to keep rams and wethers together as a separate group from the ewes.

Leading from the holding pen is a guillotine gate and a long alleyway called a race. The sheep will single file along this race and up to the shearing floor.

All of our handling system is comprised of portable, welded, steel, sheep panels.

There are various ways to set up your shearing area. Look around and try to make do with what you have first. The main focus in your set up should be livestock flow since if the sheep willingly move to where they are needed the day will go so much more smoothly.

The following links take you to resources for design and more focused detail of set ups. Don't be put off by the large scale elaborate designs but glean the necessary information that is feasible for your operation.

• Shearing Shed Design - Sheep Storage and Movement
• Shearing Shed Solutions

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