Sophia Bird: It's sheep shearing season in Jersey!

It's spring and amongst the jobs for farmers and those with small holdings is to shear sheep.

I had the opportunity to go and find out more in St Ouen where Jeremy Hughes was shearing his herd and the wool will go to Hamptonne to be used in a traditional method.

When I arrived it was between some heavy thundery showers. This month has been cold so one of my first questions was to ask why now?

Well, it is traditionally the time of year when the sheep need to be sheared as otherwise it becomes damp and hot in the summer and the fleece can end up infested which is harmful. They are only sheared once a year.

The sheep are sheared very close to the skin. Today (24 May), despite a cold day, the sheep felt very hot on its bare skin as it was sheared, but I also noticed how oily the sheep was - the lanolin easily transferable on my hands as I touched the wool and the sheep's skin.

Once the sheep was sheared it looked a little confused!

It smelt the skin and wandered back to look for her lambs. The lambs took a while to realise she was mum as she looked so different.

The wool was rolled up into a ball and put into a large sack.The shearer, Mik has flown in from the UK to shear the sheep and visiting many farms and private homes to work. He is here for 8 days. 

The other interesting thing to note is his footwear which is made out of fleece compacted into a felt and stitched. It means that it is flexible for him to move his foot around while gripping the sheep.

As well as keeping his feet warm in this unseasonably cold weather!