Page 24
The INDEPENDENT, April 1, 2004
How many sheep can a sheep shearer shear? See answer below
How many sheep can a
sheep shearer shear if the
sheep he shears are shy? It
turns out the answer to this
tongue twister is, about six
sheep per half hour and all
sheep are shy.
Timber Road residents San-
dra and Charlie Rogers recent-
ly had a professional sheep
shearer come visit Sonny and
Cher, Ebony, Thelma and
Louise, plus Rambo, a friend’s
ram.
The sheep shearer, Eddie
Dunham, is an Australian who
Left, Eddie Dunham at work
shearing a sheep while sus-
pended from harness.
FARMWOMAN’S
NURSERY
The Best Little Nursery Around
Finally you can see the inside of that big barn.
On April 1, Farmwoman’s Nursery
Opens the doors!
learned to shear on his family’s
ranch. “I was 17 and helping
the shearing crew on my fami-
ly’s ranch and the shearer told
me I had the right potential for
it,” Dunham said.
Now, Dunham lives in the
Lafayette area and shears in
Oregon and Washington from
January through April. Then, he
works his way east through Ida-
ho, Utah, New Mexico, Texas,
and New York by the end of Au-
gust. The rest of the year is
spent shearing in Australia. He
shears sheep and alpacas in
the States, alpacas only in Aus-
tralia.
Dunham started this sched-
Above, sheep look like this
after Dunham is finished.
Ashley
Happy 16 th
Birthday
Love,
Grandma & Fran
ule in 1997 and his experience
and efficiency show. He arrives
in a pickup with canopy along
with his apprentice, son Jethro.
They pull out equipment, hang
a harness from a handy beam,
using a metal arm Dunham de-
signed, and he is almost ready
to go to work. He changes into
mocassin-like (no hard soles)
shoes so his feet won’t hurt
from the rolling they do while
positioning the sheep. Now
he’s ready to start the dance he
performs when shearing.
A sheep is brought in, flipped
onto its back between Dun-
ham’s feet and the electric
shears start. Working first on
the sheep’s stomach, then
around one side, around the
legs and head, over the back
and around the other set of legs
to finish on the opposite side of
the stomach. Dunham rolls and
positions the sheep, using one
free hand and his feet, so that
the movement, like a dance,
doesn’t stop until the finale.
The coat of wool falls off in one
piece, the hooves are trimmed,
and the sheep is released.
Okay, bring in the next one.
Dunham will do this dance
about 40 more times that day,
depending on travel time to the
rest of the day’s stops.
After the six sheep are
sheared, everything is packed
back in the truck and the Dun-
hams are off to the next stop
and the next small flock of
sheep or alpacas. To contact
Eddie Dunham, call 503-864-
4240 or e-mail him at <theshea
rer@macnet.com>.
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