Introducing Billy.

This is an old photo of Billy, our ram, he is now 4 years older and not quite so pretty.

Billy, like the Shetlands (he is not full bred Shetland, a bit meatier for lamb production) does not need to be sheared as his wool kind of drops off. It is a slow process and he gets quite itchy so round about this time of the year he becomes very happy for me to tug it out.

He stands, leaning against me, even if there is food on the ground, while I pull off his fleece. If he was a cat, he would purr. The other Shetlands are not happy to be pulled manually so I leave their rugs to drop off in their own time. Consequently they look a little wierd with skinny necks poking out of a ragged rug.

It costs a lot of money to have them sheared, even commercial farmers don't always bother as there is no market for the fleece. In flocks that are a bit more intensive than ours and perhaps where they are in a more sheltered environment, the fleece can encourage fly strike, where a nasty fly lays eggs in the fleece which then burrow into the skin to feed.

We have never had a problem with our hardy little band of Shetlands. They may not be the most productive so definitley fit the "Low in-put, low output" expression.