Sheep shearer
A shearer cuts with electric hand clippers from the winter fur of the sheep. Originally, this work was done with hand shearing of sheep. In some countries shearers is an independent professional who is trained in special schools such as in Queensland. The profession of shearers developed by the division of labor, which was caused by the mass production of mutton and sheep wool. The roots of this profession are in Australia, where in 1800 the sheep began with the sheep farming pioneer John Macarthur and the subsequently developed for mass production. Today there is this profession primarily in Australia and New Zealand, in Germany it is rare and is exercised as a sideline occupation.
History
With the domestication of sheep, the shepherd trained professional. Shepherd is one of the oldest agricultural occupations and the sheep shearing was originally part of their work. In Australia, sheep farming became an integral part of agriculture, as developed in addition to mutton sheep wool into a major export item. The sheep grew innehrhalb short time on tens of thousands of animals, and in this context, the profession of sheep shearer developed. The early Australian shearers worked under poor working conditions in sheds and low wages. In 1891 there was a shearers ' strike of about ten thousand unionized shearers against the poor working conditions and wages. A second shearers ' strike followed in 1894. Australia in 1888 was the first sheep shearing station, the Clippers began. 1915 sheep station was built with steam-powered machines.
Presence
Most sheep there are in New Zealand and Australia. In Australia in 2004 there were about 13,000 professional shearers and 125 million sheep; Germany in less than 2 million. Even today, the shearers are paid according to the number of sheep shorn. There are different techniques such as by Godfrey Schafscherens Bowen 1950 or the tally Hi method. The Tally -Hi method was developed in 1963 by Kevin Sarre and the Australian Wool Corporation, because in this application defend the sheep with this method during shearing and less effort for the shearers is less. In Australia there are trainers for the shearing of sheep. In 1983 the Australian sheep shearers went on strike for 10 weeks.
Germany
In the GDR were about 3 million sheep. Sheep shearing was then a regulated apprenticeship. There are no regular profession for shearers in the Federal Republic. In one embodiment, the animal host a field of sheep is listed, " Schur different methods and full and tail Chur perform " in the training content.
In addition to national championships in sheep shearing in Brandenburg and Thuringia there are German championships, while sheep are sheared in a period of just over a minute, with integrity, Schur technique and precision are evaluated. The less than 2 million sheep in Germany are mainly used to maintain the landscape of heathland and dikes or used for meat production. The wool today is only a by-product, as it does not seem economically exploitable for cost reasons. To summarize the interests of the German sheep farmer, has been around since 1934, the " Association of German national sheep breeding associations (VDL ) " and recently became a " club German shearers ' formed which counted 21 members in 2009, resulting mainly from Brandenburg and individual from Schleswig -Holstein and Thuringia come. This association, whose members practice the profession of Schafscherens sideline, will organize training courses and also courses in the shearing of sheep.
The place Schorlingborstel in Lower Saxony is named after shearers. Shear Ling or Schorling is the Low German name for shearers.
Competitions
Since there are competitions in sheep shearing, the record holder develop their own pattern, while a sheep is shorn, for example, in two to three minutes and competitions in under 30 seconds. Those shear the sheep at day 200, Gun called shearer. This shearers wear it 50 to 70 blades a day. In their work, they wear special clothing that protects its front end and legs.
Sheep Clipper competitions in Ireland, UK, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, but also in Germany, instead. In Wales, the competition is part of a big show, the Royal Welsh Show.
The largest such event, the Golden Shears Championship will be held in 1961 in the Wairarapa district in New Zealand for several days. There the work of the competitor when cutting fine and long wool and a second sheep shearing is evaluated. This competition is held each March each year, the competition was held in 2010 for the fiftieth time.
Records
On October 10, 1892, Australian Jackie Howe sheared 321 sheep in 7 hours and 40 minutes. Kevin Sarre was the most successful shearers in the 20th century, who applied the Tally -Hi method in Australia. His daughter put on a woman ever and shaved 392 sheep in a day. Henry Salter won the first competition in the sheep shearing, which was held at Pyramid Hill in 1934 and he in 1953 Scherer best machines in Australia. Dwayne Black held six world records and Brendan Boyle held the world record in the 24 -hour scissors with 841 shorn Merino sheep. The World Championships in sheep shearing in 2010 will be held in Wales.
In the outback there since 2001, the Australian Shearers ' Hall of Fame and Museum in Hay, New South Wales.
The profession in art
The activity of the Schafscherens is also found in artistic representations as in painting and sculpture, such as the sculptor Rudolf Schweinitz in his work The Oder again. Known is the image of Jean -François Millet " The shearers ," which was inspired by Van Gogh and is exhibited at the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh in Amsterdam.
Book Illustration: Man and woman in sheep shearing (14th - 15th century )
Oil painting: Händisches sheep shearing in Australia by Tom Roberts ( 1890 )
Book Illustration: Clean the wool after shearing in Tibet ( 1905)