Shearing our Pygora fiber goat Norman

Norman is our year old buck. This video shows how we sheared him using our Premier-1 series 4000 shearer. Key steps : 1. Secure your goat using a stand that allows you to easily work on the goat while having the stand have control. This stand is homemade of wood with the head brace being a piece you can order from premier 1 supplies. We keep saying we are going to order the full metal stanchion; however we keep spending our funds on goat fencing and other goat supplies. 2. Have your equipment organized and ready. Your clipper blades need to be sharp. We have 2 blades and after every shearing we send the one we used in for sharpening. ( a nice perk of Premier 1 as they sharpen there combs / blades and send them back promptly for a nominal fee. 3. Have treats available for your goat. We use the unsalted, in the shell peanuts. Our goats will stop whatever they are doing when they see us with a peanut. 4. Team-up. You want to have a set of extra hands around. Denny is proficient with the shearer. I handle the goat keeping him occupied with the treat of a peanut. I use tricks like lifting one of his legs like I do when trimming his hooves. This forces the goat to use his other 3 legs for balancing. This helps him remain still. 5. Protect the fiber you are harvesting. Have a large bag to collect the full lengths you have sheared. Have a second bag for the real short cuts. You will likely have some of the fiber not desired for either bag. Norman was an active buck. His underside was stained; even though we gave him an afternoon at the spa with a shampooing and rinse. 6. Be ready with where the goat will stay for a while after he has lost his full warm coat. It’s still full winter here in ND. We are monitoring Norman and his buddy Buckeye. They get to stay in the climate controlled garage for a few days. This will give us a chance to monitor the 2 goats and make sure they keep the jackets we made them on there bodies.