Dealing with shearing wounds

A number of different things contribute to shearing injuries, including sheep factors (Merino with the wrinkles and thin skin, Poll Dorset and Texel kicking), gear, human factors (fatigue, experience, stress), and environmental (sheep properly prepared, good shed).

There has been a small amount of research on what it is about shearing that is stressful to the sheep. Important factors include being isolated from their mob and being tipped up. I would argue that when you look at it from the point of view of the sheep, a fast job is better than a slow one, because that is less time the animal is isolated and tipped up.

Very good shearers inadvertently cut sheep from time to time. So when we do get unfortunate cuts we often get farmers wanting to know from their vet how we should deal with the wounds.

There is some varying information. For example, NZFAP requires the use of topical antiseptic on shearing wounds. We don’t actually know if that improves the rate of healing or reduces the rate
of infection.

Many of our farmers operate under antibiotic-free schemes. I have reviewed the fine print in all of those schemes. All of them specify that you should not withhold antibiotic treatment to an animal that needs it in order to be able to claim the antibiotic-free premium. If an injury requires antibiotics, then antibiotics should be used.

The legislation clearly says that anything below the skin surface counts as a significant surgical procedure, which makes it vet-only. So if you (or a shearer) are stitching up wounds, you need to stick to the skin surface. That means never close deep wounds, or wounds opening into another space (abdomen or tendons for instance). Also never close dirty wounds. They will get infected and the sutures will break down and these cases tend to have a poor outcome. In theory, you could get your vet out to treat these (we have successfully treated completely ruptured hamstrings for example). In practice, economics dictate many of these will need to be euthanised. Again, this is for the farmer and not the shearer to decide.

You should have an area in mind where injured animals can be put – this can be a challenge in a busy woolshed, so it is useful to think about this in advance. Obviously, don’t put an injured animal in a pen by itself.

In terms of pain relief products, these are only available under a veterinary prescription, so you need to have a chat with your vet in advance of shearing to have these available.

We get many questions about disposable sterile staplers. These are not appropriate for fine wool, because of the risk of contaminating the wool clip. If they are used for other wool types, they do need to be removed after the wound has healed so that they don’t cause a handpiece lock-up next year. They can be a suitable option in some cases.

Talk to your vet before shearing, talk with your shearing contractor about your expectations around identifying injured animals, and think about how you want these to be managed on farm. The goal is a better outcome for these animals without compromising the smooth and efficient running of the woolshed.