• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

What Happens To A Sheep That Is Not Shorn?

Loquaciousness

The misuse of the word "fact" annoys me
Joined
Sep 3, 2011
Messages
1,327
Well here's your answer - meet Shrek the sheep who escaped being shorn for six long years. I guess that wool just keeps on growing....

sunnyskyz.com/blog/985/Meet-Shrek-The-Renegade-Sheep-That-Avoided-Shearing-For-Six-Years-By-Hiding-In-A-Cave
Link is dead. The article referred to an earlier article in Modern Farmer describing this case. See later post for the Modern Farmer story and photos.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Awwww bless his lil woolly socks :D Bet hes cold now

You need to get the Timmy Time boxed set. I have and Ive watched every bloody episode countless times with little Bradley :mad::eek::D

"Bradley! Its Bradley, hes a little lamb with alot to learn" :drink:
 
:eek:
Well maybe he escaped from them and is now on the lamb
 
Ewe must be baah-my!
 
Nah, i just talk a load of baaaallocks, now I'm feeling sheepish
 
Last edited:
What happens to a sheep that is not shorn?

Ultimately? Perhaps it becomes an apprentice cloud.

Cirrocumulus, if clean. Altonimbus if muddy.

Mythical mutton meteorology, weather ewe like it or not. This board is wooly easy to spin a yarn to, could fleece the lot, baah goodness!!
 
Last edited:
I hope Timmys fine too. Theres only two seasons (to my knowledge)...so I hope he didnt end up...:eek:
 
Timmy's in the Shaun movie. He does break down in tears, which was a bit unnecessary.
 

New sheep challenger for Shrek's woolly record
An errant Australian sheep that appeared on Wednesday wearing a mammoth coat will undergo a risky shearing operation in the hopes of saving his life.

The sheep, as yet unnamed, was found by a member of the public near Mulligan's Flat, on the outskirts of Canberra, and rescued by a team of five from the local RSPCA.

The team promptly put out an urgent call for a shearer.
 
Just shows you how intensive farming methods can create cash... er, cash sheep (not cows). Seems cruel, definitely not natural.
 
Feral sheep sheared of 75 pound fleece

The animal, named Baarack by rescuers, was spotted wandering in bushland in Victoria, Australia. His matted fleece — grown over at least five years — was weighing him down, blocking his vision and threatening his chances of survival.

But Edgar’s Mission, in Lancefield, took the stoic animal in and gave him a much-needed makeover.

Before
PRI_183811439.jpg


After
PRI_183811615.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ah, I see, one of those modern creatures who refuses to wear wool, claiming its `itchy`...
 
Well here's your answer - meet Shrek the sheep who escaped being shorn for six long years. I guess that wool just keeps on growing....

sunnyskyz.com/blog/985/Meet-Shrek-The-Renegade-Sheep-That-Avoided-Shearing-For-Six-Years-By-Hiding-In-A-Cave
Link is dead. The article referred to an earlier article in Modern Farmer describing this case. See later post for the Modern Farmer story and photos.

Here's the Modern Farmer article about Shrek ...

Will a Sheep’s Wool Grow Forever?
By Jesse Hirsch on July 24, 2013
Photography by REUTERS/Simon Baker

Shrek1.jpg

Take a moment to drink in the glory of Shrek the Sheep. Shrek really, really, really did not like getting his hair cut. So for six years, this New Zealand libertarian managed to avoid spring shearings by hiding in a cave.

By the time he was found in 2004, his owners couldn’t even tell he was a sheep. “He looked like some biblical creature,” John Perriam told the BBC. Or, to quote a member of Modern Farmer‘s editorial team, “Someone help that sheep, he is being eaten by some kind of dirty monster.”

When Shrek was eventually sheared (because man always triumphs over sheep), there was enough wool to produce 20 men’s suits. Just an abnormal, excessive, downright insane amount of wool. Which led us to some basic questions: If a sheep is left unshorn, will its wool grow forever? Is that healthy? Is this a glitch in the (wooly) fabric of evolution?

We turned to Dave Thomas, head of sheep studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who patiently answered all our pressing sheep questions.

Modern Farmer: Let’s get right down to business. Will wool just keep growing and growing if humans don’t cut it off?
Dave Thomas: For domestic sheep like the Merino [Shrek’s breed], the answer is yes.

MF: So domestic sheep have evolved based on the way we groom them?
DT: That’s right. Primitive sheep like Bighorns in the West still shed most of their wool every year. And domestic sheep, the ones raised primarily for their meat, will do some shedding. But for the majority of sheep, there is continual, year-round wool growth.

MF: Shrek was obviously an extreme case, yes?
DT: It’s very rare for wool to get that long. We do hear stories from people with just a few sheep at home, who have a hard time finding a shearer. [Ed note: See related Modern Farmer story for more on that issue.] They’ll often let ’em go for two or three years.

Shrek2.jpg

Shrek, shorn.​
MF: Are there potential health issues?
DT: Full fleece can be bad in very hot weather, sometimes leading to heat stress. There are also mobility issues: if a sheep with long wool lies down on a heavy incline, it can be impossible for them to roll off of their backs. In extreme cases, they can die.

MF: That’s wild. What about vision? It looked like Shrek would have a hard time seeing through that mess.
DT: That is what you would call “wool-blind,” when the sheep’s vision is actually impaired.

MF: Do most sheep hate getting sheared?
DT: Just like going to the dentist, nobody loves getting sheared. If only sheep knew how much better it makes things in the long run! It’s funny: young sheep will fight against shearing pretty hard, struggling and kicking. But older sheep are pretty docile — they know the routine, it’s not such a big deal. A good shearer will be done in three to four minutes, with no pain at all.

Shrek3.jpg

 
Think of the skincare potential; anyone with rough hands or dry feet would just need to run them through his coat.
 
Here's Edgar (formerly Alex) - another Australian sheep who was rescued and shorn after at least 6 years of never being sheared.
Sheep lost in the wild for six years sheared of 88 pounds of fleece

A sheep found wandering on an Australian mountain was relieved of a great weight when his first shearing in at least six years removed 88 pounds of fleece.

Pam Ahern, owner of Victoria animal sanctuary Edgar's Mission, said she recently received a call about a sheep found by a hiker on nearby Mount Alexander. ...

The sheep, dubbed Alex in honor of where he was found, had apparently escaped from a farm when he was only a baby and hadn't been sheared in at least six years, and may have escaped before even receiving his first shearing.

"He had 40 kilos of wool on him when he came to us," Ahern told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "He had urine, sticks, twigs and bugs all over him -- it was heartbreaking.

Ahern said Alex's wool was so matted she had to call in an expert to perform a shearing. ...

"When we finished he still needed help to stand but you could see his eyes getting brighter by the minute," she said.

Edgar's Mission shared video of Alex's transformation on Facebook. ...

Ahern said Edgar will have a new permanent home at her sanctuary. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/03/17/australia-sheep-sheared-88-pounds-of-fleece/3941647551201/
 
'Old' breeds of sheep tend to just lose their wool in skanky locks that fall off. I think I remember reading somewhere that this was how mankind first got wool, he collected it from gorse bushes and other prickly places where sheep went to scrape off their old coats in warm weather. The sheep that now need to be shorn, have been bred that way by humans.
 
Back
Top