'Slow shearing' at New Zealand sheep station puts animal happiness first
Mozart, mattresses and "slow shearing", sheep at the Lake Hawea Station on New Zealand's South Island might just be the most pampered in the world. The farm's owners have put animal welfare above speed, believing it to result in a higher quality product. "We felt that it was better for the fleece" explains Justine Ross, who bought the farm in 2017 with her husband.
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00:00 [Music]
00:24 We decided to look at shearing from the point of view of the sheep and to reward the shearers for slow shearing,
00:32 rather than to subscribe to the rapid throughput method.
00:37 We felt that that was better for the animal in terms of its adrenals and so that the calmness of the sheep could be valued.
00:46 We felt it was better for the shearers themselves because there wasn't the pressure in the shed to have to get your numbers,
00:53 your rate up and we felt that it was better for the fleece.
00:56 [Music]
01:14 [Music]
01:29 So look at Lake Hawea Station we are all about having happier sheep, calmer sheep
01:34 and that starts with the way that we treat them in the shed when they're donating their fleece,
01:40 year after year, respecting those animals is absolutely imperative to us.
01:46 There are some stress points that can compromise sheep that are outside of our control, like the weather,
01:52 but there are many things that we can control, like their adrenals, like the quality of feed that they have
02:00 and like their experience when they come into contact with us in the shed.
02:05 [Music]
02:08 Working with them nice and quietly and letting them flow.
02:13 The shearers, because they've obviously got to catch the sheep, how they actually physically catch the sheep
02:19 and bring it out onto the boards and then shearing quality, so skin quality, nice slow, nice tidy job.
02:29 Sheep nice and relaxed at all times and then the final step of just the last bit of putting them down the chute
02:38 and they go down onto the nice soft mattresses at the bottom and they've had a pleasant experience.
02:45 [Music]
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