Crazy About Ewe

22/12/2025

Merry Christmas everyone! A bit of a yearly recap, (and an announcement about Crazy About Ewe’s future 😊)

It’s been an amazing year with of course the spring and summer being the focal point for the shearing year’s calendar. The sheep and lambs almost without exception have been in great condition with an abundance of grass at most places. With your help, I have been able to shear at over 500 different flocks from 1 to 150 head in between September and the 24th of December for the third year in a row. I have only been able to see about 30 new people in this time, but it’s been great meeting you!

Like previous years in amongst the long days, big fat sheep, weird sheep, badly behaved sheep, slow tough shearing sheep, heat – like a couple of weeks ago! - what has stood out has been the amazing people that I’ve come to know through my shearing run. All the friendly smiles, cold drinks, coffees and great chat about almost everything, have made this such a rewarding time. Many of you have been so easy going and relaxed, it’s put me at ease knowing this.

As some of you know my primary work background is engineering, and I now have my CNC machining workshop which I have been running with help at the same time as my shearing run for the last year and a half. This year coming will see this expand further and also branch into my other wheelhouse, which is fi****ms and related products.

Crazy About Ewe – I will still be shearing but as a full-time role of 500 plus clients to date, there won’t be enough time, so I will be switching to a part time role with around 275-300 clients, I will focus on healthcare centered work (with shearing included of course, and I may revisit healthcare plans) and also those who have stuck with me from the early days. I will work out how to structure this over the Christmas and New Year’s break and let people know from the back half of January. This won’t be an easy task but one which I now have to base on the sheep themselves and how frictionless the work is.

A tough one for me all this, but now there is simply not enough time in the day to get everything done.

Thanks again to all of you!

Thanks also to Cathy. She has kept the ship afloat behind the scenes where it counts on the invoicing front.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year with your family and friends, stay safe out there and I will see many of you in the New Year and beyond.

James

16/12/2025

Heat, holiday hours and final bookings for 2025!

I’m now booked out until January and am planning for the first time in 5 years to have time off from the 24th to early Jan. If your sheep have flystrike in this time clip the area or use copious amounts of fly spray, iodine, salt water, soapy water etc or a combination of all. If there is necrotic black skin and flesh showing that’s not good – penicillin is usually required to save the sheep at this point. If there are deep holes where the maggots have burrowed in past the dermis layer it will likely need to be put down.

With the heat there have been a lot of people worried about the sheep in the yards for too long this season. They will be fine. What is worse is running big heavy lazy sheep in straight off the grass and bending them into position for shearing. While many people think this is the kind option, this is not. 24 plus hours off feed for big heavy overweight sheep before shearing. They can’t breathe and can kick out violently when they have full stomachs.

Also please remember running around with big sheep 20 minutes before the shearer arrives will heat the sheep up more than it sitting in yard quietly for a few hours in the sun in 25 degree plus temperatures.

I’ll touch base just before Christmas to express my thanks to all this year 😊

James

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02/12/2025

Final countdown till Christmas! Am on track to get to everyone still, but have had the biggest bottleneck I've ever had from the second half of Oct thru till now 😃

Thanks heaps for your patience as some of you have been waiting a while, to give you an idea I had around 400 bookings come through in the last 6 weeks.

I am organizing the next 2 weeks today so I'll be in touch!

Fly strike is starting, remember to try not to use Zapp and Maggo or any of the cyromazines like Cyrex, Cyrazin KO etc as we will then have to delay the shearing.

See you soon, and again many thanks for your patience.

James

10/11/2025

November and December bookings, a bit of admin housekeeping and a few friendly reminders and boundaries 😊

It’s a very busy month, the busiest of the year on the shearing front!
I will be there when I can. Currently the Nov booking list is at 190 jobs, just to give some people a little perspective who expect me to be there yesterday after getting in touch also yesterday 😊

Hedging – I won’t tolerate this just as when I get messages asking me to beat their booked shearer to the work, as they have been held up. I am on the other shearer’s side.

On the friendly reminder front, please make sure the sheep are in the pen and have not been covered in pour ons like Zapp, Cyrex or Maggo (the list is long, please remember to read the labels).

Also please remember if you book your sheep in this is for your sheep only, not the neighbours up the road, another 10, 20, 30 which I didn’t know about. If I finish at dark most nights, I will not swap this work for other people that day who have waited patiently for me to get there and who have booked in previously.

I also can’t carry on with work that has a history of cancellations, specific date and time requests as this is just not reasonable or feasible for this type of work, asking to be paid multiple times, extensive messaging or non responsiveness, flakiness and rudeness, inadequate setups.

Most people that I regularly see are amazing! So, I bet if you have read this far you are, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

James

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27/10/2025

Something a bit different - Nigerian Dwarf goats! Very dramatic little guys and gals, sometimes the screams are enough to curdle your blood. Clostridial vaccine and a drench were on the cards for them.

Starting to pick up the pace on the bookings now. If you are waiting on a date and time, thanks heaps for your patience! I’ll start to send out a lot in the coming few days for the first 10 days of November.

Looking forward to catching up with you all as always!

James

08/10/2025

Wrinkly wriggly tight wooled Arapawa weathers!
Starting to crank through a few days now each week as lots of bookings are coming in!
Sheep in general are looking OK, some average shearing fleeces out there as we all wait for the warmer weather to come 😁
See you soon!
James

03/09/2025

Lamb marking!

Here’s a quick video of how I dock lambs when I’m by myself. If you have a second person to hold the lamb it can make it easier.

Testicles – if it’s a male lamb I always start with these as if it’s a smaller lamb the prick in the neck from vaccine, the tail ring or the ear clip can make them pull up. Put the ring over the sack with the plier points facing away from the animal. This means that when you pull the pliers off a sideways flick is all that is needed not a drag back over the nuts which can mean they or one can pop back through. The ring goes just above the teats. Once in position squeeze your forefinger and thumb into the crutch, don’t be too gentle – while the pliers are open of course. Once BOTH testicles are in the sack, release the pliers and twist them off to the side. If the lamb is kicking sometimes increased pressure between your legs can take enough wind out of its sails to stop it wriggling.

Tail – same again, make sure the pins are facing out. Leave enough length on the tail so that the caudal folds aren’t cut. Also remember a bit of the tail dies close to the ring on the animal side. I tend to leave a bit of extra length on the tail. Once in position twist the pliers off to the side.

Vaccine – this goes just under the skin behind the ear - subcutaneous. Best into loose skin. The needle should aim just into the skin not making a beeline for the spine. Sensitiser from 2 weeks for 5 in 1 (excepting lamb vaccine). Booster 4-6 weeks later.

Bookings are starting to come in quickly. Look forward to catching up in the coming weeks and months.
J.

23/08/2025

*Important announcement and a few changes for the upcoming season*

I was hesitant about doing this but read on. Please note that I realise the below doesn't apply to the majority!

Before the season starts, I need to draw a few lines in the sand, due to ongoing issues around payments, cancellations, inadequate setups, not being ready on the day and conversation heavy bookings.

Please note the following:

- I am closing my books to all NEW CLIENT enquiries of ALL flocks of 4 SHEEP or less as of today – I will still be there if you are currently booked in though!
- 5-20 flocks NEW CLIENT enquiries I can do still if there is healthcare included like drench, vaccines, flystrike prevention etc.
- Existing clients – if we have gone through cancellations or date changes and or not being able to yard the sheep on several occasions then you will need to find someone who can accommodate those things, I am unable to carry on with this.
- Late payments – if there is a history of being asked several times for payment then I will be unable to continue shearing your sheep.
- If there are large gaps in communication, sheep being left more than 12 months between shearing and consistent heavy dagging taking place due to no prewinter visit, then you will either need to increase the frequency of shearing or find someone else.
- Hyper kicky obese pet sheep where I have asked these to be emptied out – when you take the animal’s access to food up until minutes of my arrival as more important than the safety of myself and the sheep as more important. You will need to find another shearer.
- If the booking process becomes a multi-page negotiation around a day, time, pictures of what I think about this sheep and that sheep and ’so and so is bringing a sheep up from 5 streets over so it needs to be after xyz pm’, you definitely need to find someone else.

My attention is still 100% in this when it needs to be, but please realise I have a lot going on outside of Crazy About Ewe in between January thru early October which is ever increasing.

Tomorrow, I had 6 jobs booked, albeit it looks like rain however, 4 bookings have cancelled. This is an increasing issue with the worst being 9 jobs booked 7 cancelling last November.

Late payments. This is one that is black and white. If Cathy has contacted you once already due to no payment and you have not replied, and no payment has been received – you must stop doing this. Every time this happens, please realise there are indirect and direct costs to me. The only option now is to either – put the prices up again for everyone which I don’t want to do or start letting clients go and passing costs on vehemently.

If you’ve been with me for a while, and there are a few of you now! Please heed the above, this does apply to you also. I feel that with SOME people, familiarity is leading to a relaxed relationship where there may be a ‘doesn’t apply to me’ mentality.

And at the risk of sounding sanctimonious – all of our time is very important, it’s all we got 😊

Righto, that being said…

Look forward to seeing everyone in the coming months! And again – I’ve got the sheep’s interests at heart. I’m still enjoying this journey.

See you soon, James

19/07/2025

Hi everyone, I’ve been a bit quiet of late, but I’m still here!

Aside from a run of pre-lamb shearing in May and the usual work from January thru April, I’ve been extremely busy with my other business this year. I will still be aiming to do a pretty full season come spring and summer this year. I’m out and about a bit at the moment doing healthcare, docking, vaccinations and the odd bit of shearing still.

Normally I do a newsletter or two in-between summer and the spring shearing but I’m not going have time and I think I’ve written as much as is needed to be said in the past 😊

A few quick points pertinent to the moment that may be of use to some people below:

Dog attacks – unfortunately there have been a few lately with several clients’ sheep being affected. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do to prevent them, the only solution is found once the dogs have done the damage and are then euthanized by the council or by firearm on site. Many people are unaware of the frequency of these until it happens to their stock, but they are a fairly regular occurrence.

Lambing – make sure your ewes have enough grass, kikuyu root doesn’t count, it’s not got enough energy this time of year. Sleepy sickness and BP worm overburden can have similar symptoms, this time of year both these are a direct result of not enough feed. There are pockets of BP worm affecting the occasional group of young sheep, young rams and lambing ewes still. It’s getting late for BP worm, but I suspect it’s a direct result of stock being run too hard and a summer where the grass didn’t get enough time to recover fully, and it being fairly warm till late.

Docking – remember to leave their tails with enough length, the band goes below the caudal folds. Castrate all males unless you have a good way of keeping these separate from the other sheep come summer. If you vaccinate, the first gets done at marking time, then the booster 4-6 weeks later. If the ewes have been inoculated pre lamb correctly, the lambs still need both shots, the sensitiser and the booster to ensure they reach a good level of immunity.

I hope everyone’s sheep are doing well and lambing well! There are some good-looking lambs out there so far. Weather looks good for a wee while, so fingers crossed a few more arrive in this window!
Look forward to catching up with you all in the coming 5 months.

James

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21/04/2025

This picture was taken a few moons ago when the first digit of my age was under 3 and the second was under 5 😆

On the subject of a few moons ago, it seems like summer has fallen into this category!

I have been a bit absent on my FB comms and email of late but I’m still here! I have had a bit of other stuff to take care of along with sheep!

It has been a good summer for sheep in general, no flystrike to speak of, no facial eczema, good sugar rich, dry grass which they needed after the last 2/3 years of wet water laden pasture and warm temperatures. Scald has interestingly been an issue this summer, particularly in Valais Blacknose, Dorper and X and also fat, (gravitationally challenged sheep), also known as obese. Also, sheep that have spent too much time in one area may develop scald.

Barbers Pole worm has been an issue also but only peaking after rain on young stock. Type of drench used is key to control this and also stocking rates – on a small block this should be kept to a minimum.

I’m starting to compile my lists for prewinter shearing – excepting all those who have already had their sheep shorn or booked in already! So please get in touch ASAP with a plan of how many and when you’re thinking of, especially in my outermost areas.

I look forward to catching up as always!

I’ll be sending out a newsletter in the coming fortnight to all engaged clients!

Talk soon

J

02/01/2025

Cost of business, cost of living, price increases and transparency.

As promised, I didn’t put the prices up this season before Christmas, but what that meant was working as efficiently as possible and a little harder to take the slack up with extra expenses incurred. As everyone knows the cost of most things is going up on a regular basis.

From the 1st of Jan 2025 I have made 2 main adjustments that will affect everyone’s invoice, one being the call out goes from $70 to $80 and shearing per head goes to $8.50 excl. GST from $7.50. This represents around a 7-8% increase on my average invoice over the course of 2.5 years. The individual drenches, dips and vaccines – if these have not gone up in the past 2.5 years, I have not put these up.

Crazy About Ewe is a registered company with real expenses and allowances and significant outgoings in the form of time, material costs and behind the scenes costs like admin and the necessity to pay for any benefits enjoyed by a PAYE employee like Kiwisaver, sick leave, holiday and stat pay 😊

I will send a reminder out that the prices have gone up for the next 6 months in your booking text – I can send through a full list of prices if you ask for one. I will also endeavour to update my mailing list and get these out to everyone via email in the coming weeks.

I look forward to another amazing year in 2025!

I hope everyone has had an amazing Christmas and start to the new year!

James

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22/12/2024

And thus concludes another crazy season, and Merry Christmas!!!

It’s been my pleasure to see all of you, beginning with the work on this season’s lambs in July/August, thru to tomorrow, all sheep sizes from 2kg to 200kg, the good, the bad and the ugly. I have seen the most people and sheep ever this season.

All of the cold drinks and coffees made each day get-through-able but what makes me want to continue doing this is the people I have met. Exceptional chat and stories, kindness and inspirational business advice from those who have excelled.

Also, all the animal stories and knowledge from those who have bred them for years, I have really enjoyed learning about all sorts of things about horses, goats, dogs, birds, cats, alpacas and the list goes on!

I'll be around in between Christmas and New Year for 2-3 days on sheep, and moving forward into Jan - I expect the flystrike may be bad this season, so give me a shout if there are any issues.

Thanks again and I look forward to another great year in 2025!
Safe holidays and travels to all.

James

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