Shearing the Flexigraze Sheep

Spent today helping Stephen Coomber and Jess the sheepdog from Flexigraze shear sheep at two sites: Whittle Dene and Clara Vale. The flexigraze sheep are part of the larger grazing action project (GAP) scheme that uses traditional grazing to cut down grass and scrub allowing wildflowers and the ecosystems that come with them to develop.

At Whittle Dene there are Swaledales, a traditional hill breed, and Manx Loaghtan, a rare primitive breed. Both are quite small which as a good job as they all wriggled like nobody's business whenever myself, Stephen or Alan (another volunteer) tried to handle them. Typical, as when the manx were down at Tyne Riverside they were tame as anything coming upto the fence of their enclosure whenever anyone went past. The end result was a bit of a battering for all of us especially from the manx on the right who was determined to wap his horns in my knackers.

The end result was a series of much skinnier sheep.............

Before.......................................During.........................................After


But free at last!

As well as the shearing a number of butterflies made an appearance and one spectacular hummingbird hawkmoth that appeared and dissapeared when I didn't have the camera to hand...poo!

Then on to Clara Vale, a great little reserve where 4 Hebrideans had been working on scrub bashing. Unlike the Whiitle Dene lot these came over to say hello when we netered the field but then scarpered when Jess made an appearance.

Obviously they had decided that they were fed up with waiting for a haircut and had already started shedding to get a fashionable reversible mohican look.

Once again a quick number one and we had


and a pile of lovely chocolate brown fleece



Now I just need to get those wool combs sorted out.............................