Penner-Up
Shearer's Cook
Shearing Shed Hand /Rouseabout
Wool Presser

Related Jobs or Working with these Jobs

The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a shearer. Shearers take the sheep from the pen and hold firmly while removing the fleece all in one piece. They select combs that are appropriate for the type of sheep and wool. If necessary they may treat skin cuts on the sheep. They then return the sheep to the pens. They also maintain their cutters and combs by cleaning and sharpening them. They may also be required to shear stud animals with special combs or cutters.

Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (a sheep may be said to have been "shorn" or "sheared", depending upon dialect). The annual shearing most often occurs in a shearing shed, a facility especially designed to process often hundreds and sometimes more than 3,000 sheep per day.

Shearers travel to shearing sheds on various farms to harvest wool  from sheep. In some situations, they travel from and to their home each day and in other situations they stay in accommodation (shearers huts or shearers quarters) on the property where they are shearing.

Shearing is a skilled occupation and shearers are considered specialised contractors. In a shearing shed, each shearer has their own stand (a place to work), an electrically driven machine handpiece (the tool used to shear the sheep) and generally a small pen of sheep, called a catching pen. Shearers take a sheep from their catching pen, position it at their stand and remove the fleece with a number of long strokes (called blows) with the handpiece.

ANZSCO ID & Description:  3612: Removes wool and hair from sheep, goats, alpacas and other animals. Shearers harvest wool from sheep using power-driven handpieces that are fitted with combs and cutters.

Alternative names: Peeler, Sheep Shearer, Ringer (Head Shearer or the shearer who shears the most sheep),

Knowledge, skills and attributes

A Shearer needs:

• to be physically fit
• to be able to work quickly and consistently with their hands
• to be able to work confidently with sheep
• enjoy working with sheep,
• to enjoy travelling from sheep station to sheep station where needed
• good hand-eye coordination
• to be willing to work and live in the country
• to be able to work as part of a team.

(Source: ABC News)

Duties and Tasks

Shearers may perform the following tasks:

• take sheep from catching pens and hold firmly while shearing fleece in one piece
• select shearing combs to suit the type of sheep and wool
• ensure the wool is harvested with the least possible stress on the sheep and in accordance with strict animal welfare guidelines
• return shorn sheep to let-out pens for counting and checking
• shear stud animals with hand shears or special combs
• clean and sharpen combs and cutters - may service, maintain and repair shearing equipment
• identify sheep with specific characteristics, such as black spots, as requested by the wool classer.
• catching and positioning animals for shearing
• shearing and removing wool and hair from animals
• identifying contaminated fibre and injured, infected and diseased animals
• treating skin cuts
• returning shorn animals to let-out pens for counting and checking

Working conditions

Expedition shearers work in a team and may be responsible to an overseer or shearing contractor. These shearers travel long distances from property to property to work. Others may work within their own district and travel daily to the shearing shed, returning to their own homes each day.

Accommodation is usually provided in shearers' quarters either on the property or in a nearby town. Shearers supply their own work clothes, combs and cutters.

The work is not as seasonal as it used to be, with work most of the year. The peak seasons are Spring and Autumn. The working day begins at 7:30am and consists of four two hour runs with two 30 minute breaks and one hour for lunch. The shearing is usually done in a tin shed in the country and conditions are usually hot, dirty and dusty.

Tools and technologies

Shearers need to be proficient with power-driven hand pieces that are fitted with combs and cutters. They often own these hand pieces and so need to know how to maintain them.

Education and training/entrance requirements

You can work as a shearer without any formal qualifications and get training on the job. Some shearers begin by being a shed hand in a shearing team. Entry into this occupation may be improved if you have a formal qualification in shearing. The Certificate II and Certificate III in Shearing are offered at TAFE Colleges and other registered training organisations throughout Australia.

You can also complete a traineeship. The shearer and shearer (professional level) traineeships usually take six to nine months to complete.

Shearers can learn their craft on the job, through mentors or industry training programs, such as those delivered by Australian Wool Innovation and the Shearing Contractors Association of Australia (SCAA).

Employment Opportunities

ABC Landline Shorts

https://youtube.com/shorts/QN8mA8A-fB0?si=5LqF0DCKI5JJ0No8

Old Shearing Shed near Crookwell, NSW

Did You Know? Taken directly from ABC News 11 July 2023 Year 9 student Jay Knight spent the week at a shearing school in Crookwell NSW (ABC Central West: Tim Fookes) A new program has begun to teach high school students in New South Wales about shearing and wool handling. The Department of Education and TAFE NSW have launched the Shearing Schools across the state in an attempt to encourage young people into an industry always on the lookout for new workers. The first of the week-long training courses involved 12 students and was held on a property run by the Australian Agricultural Centre near Crookwell on the NSW Southern Tablelands. Students will be able to find work in a shearing shed after attending the intensive week-long training. (ABC Central West: Tim Fookes) Year 9 student Jay Knight said he virtually grew up in the shearing shed and was keen to improve his skills. "My whole family are shearers and I want to be able to work with them," he said. Jay said he had picked up some tips that would help his endurance. "I've been learning about how to take all the weight off your body when you're shearing because it's physical." "It's a great atmosphere in the shearing shed. You get to spend time with your mates and you can make some good money." The training is hands-on to give students a taste of life in a shearing shed. (ABC Central West: Tim Fookes) Qualified to shear After a week of training in the shearing sheds, students receive qualifications in basic wool harvesting skills. TAFE NSW's Rob Harris said the training would allow participants to find work in an industry that was always in need of more workers. "The worker shortage has been dire in recent years with the industry losing a lot of shed staff," he said. "It's the lack of consistent work that can be the problem, but also the generic problem with people not wanting to work in particular jobs that are physical." Mr Harris said shearing was hard work but once someone had learnt the skills it was something they could carry with them. "If you have a fair crack at it, you do an honest day's work in a shearing shed." Year 12 student Emma McCormack is interested in a career in wool handling. (ABC Central West: Tim Fookes) As well as learning to crutch and shear sheep, students who undertook the training were also taught about wool classing. Emma McCormack, 17, said the training gave students the chance to see what life was like in the real world. "We're seeing that it's hard working. You've really got to want to do it," she said. "When you're young you mightn't know what you want to do so spending a week in a shearing shed might show you something you want to do and you stick with it." Students at the shearing school learn about basic shearing techniques, crutching, and wool handling. (ABC Central West: Tim Fookes) While the initial shearing school was in Crookwell, other training schools will be held in southern and western NSW in the coming months. Free courses attract new workers It is not only high school students being wooed into the industry. Last year, the NSW government made TAFE Certificate IV in wool classing fee-free. Emily Morton saw it as an opportunity to expand her skills at Wagga Wagga TAFE. Already working as a roustabout, Ms Morton had studied shearing but knew extra qualifications would help her job prospects. Emily Morton says she saw learning wool classing as a way to upskill in the wool shed. (ABC Riverina: Lucas Forbes) "We have massive demand for shearers, wool classers, and wool handlers and you can get a job almost anywhere when you've got the right attitude," she said. TAFE Wagga Wagga primary industries centre head teacher Rob Harris said demand for the course had soared since the fees were dropped. "Enrolments have increased about 40 per cent on last year but more particularly there's been a definite increase in the number of women doing our course. More than 50 per cent of the course studying wool classing are women," he said. Money in shearing    Worker shortages have plagued the shearing industry for years. During COVID, it was particularly challenging when New Zealand shearers were either unable to, or chose not to, travel to Australia due to border restrictions. It is not uncommon for experienced shearers to make in excess of $1,000 a day in the shearing shed, and it is hoped the lure of strong earnings will bring more younger people into the industry. Year 12 student Katelyn Woods says there are a lot of opportunities for young people in agriculture. (ABC Central West: Tim Fookes) Year 12 student Katelyn Woods from Crookwell is enrolled in animal studies at TAFE and completed the week-long training to improve her skills as she looks for work. "There are so many opportunities in agriculture for young people," she said. "I had no experience in shearing before I came to the shearing school … now my back hurts but it's a great experience." Students get to grip with shears at Crookwell woolshed through TAFE (Source: Goulburn Post)

The penner-up is responsible for keeping the pens in the shearing shed full of sheep, ready for the shearers.

ANZSCO ID: N/A

Alternative names: Penning-up Worker,
  
Knowledge, skills and attributes

• An interest in being active is a must, as is enjoying working with animals. The penner-up is working with sheep all day, everyday.

• Fit & healthy

• Attentive

• Work with machinery
  
  
  

(Source: ABC News)

Duties and Tasks

Sheep generally move best up a slope and as a mob. They have a strong ‘follower’ instinct. Sheep don’t like changes in light, changes in flooring or noise. Some sheep will pen up relatively easily. Lambs and rams are often the most difficult to work with.

Some ways to make penning up easier include:

• Turning sheep to create a leader / follower in required direction.

• Using a draw sheep

• Eliminating obstructions and noise when possible, especially sunlight, noise from the stands like radios and light shining from below the grating.

• Use gates as a block and a force

• Use penning aids like dogs and shakers / rattles.

• Use sheep behaviour to create movement. When the mob starts to move, keeping the flow going.

• Attempting to use of excessive force without using sheep behaviour to assist makes the penning up role very difficult.

(Source: Farm Weekly)

Care must be taken not to injure sheep when penning up. The main ways sheep are injured or killed are smothering from penning at too high a density, broken or gapped grating that will break legs, using biting dogs and using excessive force. Lambs in particular need to be penned at lower densities.

Never leave sheep penned in a sloping ramp. The mob will gradually work their way down the slope and smother sheep at the rear.
  
If dogs are being used, they should be restrained when not being worked. Many sheep have been smothered with dogs working sheep alone and forcing the mob into corners without shed staff being aware.

Dogs that use a lot of force by biting should be muzzled.

Before the start of the shearing:

• Check that gates swing both ways to allow easy access for shearers.

•  Adjust and lubricate hinges so gates swing freely and close easily

• Check on the orientation of the pen gates and downtubes to enable shearers to walk backwards to the shearing position, limiting the requirement to turn the animal through angles greater than 90 degrees.

•  Remove all obstructions between pen gates and downtube.

•  Examine the inside of pens and gates for protrusions prior to each flock being worked through the pen and repairs made.

• Inspect all boards prior to each shearing so loose and/ or rotten boards can be repaired.

•  Make provisions for one or two stands in each shed to cater for left-handed shearers.

•  Latch pen doors after catching each sheep

• Remove any contaminants from wool you see while penning up. Wire, twine and ‘devils claw’ are sometimes seen.

• Notify the woolclasser and shearer of black, fly blown, shedding breeds and excessively pen stained sheep.

• Notify shearers of classer’s order of shearing preference e.g. shear black sheep last.
  
  

AWI Shearing Shed and Consultation Project
https://youtu.be/Y3vQxpYBfkg?si=4sVgpHdx-uJkN8r6

Working conditions

Due to the nature of penning up, the major risks of injury include slips, trips and falls due to either reducing the requirement to “push” sheep into the contact with sheep or pen barriers, butting by filling pen, sheep, crushing of fingers, cuts from protruding.

In some instances, poorly designed and maintained sheep pens, races and gates expose workers penning-up to an increased risk of injury. This includes trips, slips and falls which may result in back injuries and fractures. Additionally, in sheds where there are sharp edges, protrusions and splinters; workers penning-up are at an increased risk of receiving cuts and sharp objects embedding in the skin.

(Source: Wool)

Tools and technologies

Penning Up Merinos In A Modern Shearing Shed
https://youtu.be/915M8jpVcsY?si=BJSPCP6xvaGN0fYT

Education and training/entrance requirements

As with many of the roles in a shearing team, the penner-up is a role that is learned on the job.

Employment Opportunities

The number of sheep that need shearing is massive in Australia. However, it takes a certain type of person to be on the road for months on end while shearing season is happening.

Shearing shed hands assist wool classers and shearers by performing routine duties in shearing sheds and handling the fleeces after they have been shorn from the sheep. Wool Handlers regulate the flow of sheep to be shorn, keep the shearing shed clean and tidy, and assist with wool clip preparation.

ANZSCO ID: 841517

Alternative names: Shearing Shed Worker, Rouseabout, Rousie,

Specialisations: With experience and sometimes further training, it is possible to become a shearer or a wool classer.

Knowledge, skills and attributes  

To become a shearing shed hand, you would need:

• to able to work quickly for long periods

• good physical stamina

• teamwork skills

• to enjoy manual tasks

• to be willing to travel and live in remote areas

Shearpower Shearing
https://youtu.be/LLLKaHBtlFM

Duties and Tasks

Shearing shed hands may perform the following tasks:

• assist station hands to pen sheep for shearing

• pick up the fleece after it is removed from the sheep and throw it onto a large table for 'skirting' (process to remove stained or coloured pieces and skin from the wool)

• remove inferior and stained wool from fleeces as directed by a wool classer

• grade wool that has been skirted off fleeces

• roll the fleece into bundles and pass it to a wool classer for classing

• sweep the shed floor around the shearing and wool handling areas

• to help keep the fleeces clean and to avoid contamination

• identify and remove belly wool from the shearing area and place in relevant packs.

Did You Know? From Elsie's Diary - the Shearer's Cook "Now the rouseabout. These poor unfortunates must pick up the wool as the sheep is being shorn, run with it to the tables, throw each fleece so that it remains in one piece, dash back to the board and sweep all dags and other bits of wool away before the shearer gets another sheep out — no mean task, believe me. Then, should a sheep be extra restless and get a bad cut, there is a yell — ‘tar!‘ The rousie then rushes up with a can of disinfectant and a brush, or if need be, the shearer stitches the cut with a special needle and thread. Should the sheep by fly-blown, it is also the rousie’s job to come running for the particular stuff used for flies. Wool Fly-blown (Source: NSW Govt) Big sheds have up to four or five rousies, but the average, six shearers, is two." Read the rest of Elsie's story of the Shearer's Shed here

Working conditions

Shearing shed hands may need to travel long distances from property to property to work. Accommodation is usually provided in shearers' quarters either on the property or in a nearby town. Some work within their own district and travel daily to the shearing shed, returning to their own homes each day.

Education and training/entrance requirements

You can work as a Wool Handler without formal qualifications. Some on the job training may be provided. A course in wool handling might be helpful.

ProWay - 6 Stand Shearing Shed
https://youtu.be/KzLa7gGTO0E

A wool presser transfers the fleeces and other wool types into wool presses to form solid bales. They weigh the bales; brand the completed wool bale with the farm brand, a description of the wool, the wool classer's stencil and a bale number; and keep records of all bales completed.

ANZSCO ID: 842321

Knowledge, skills and attributes

• able to work quickly for long periods

• able to work as part of a team

• knowledge of how to operate and maintain wool-pressing equipment

• knowledge of different wool types

• knowledge of export packaging standards

• excellent organisational skills

• practical skills

• animal-handling skills

• basic maths skills

• willing to travel and live in remote areas

• able to undertake manual work

• able to cope with the physical demands of the job.

AWI Wool Handling - Pressing
https://youtu.be/7hhTKHIHoMU

 

 

 

Duties and Tasks
   
Wool pressers may do some or all of the following:

• place empty wool packs in wool-pressing machines

• load shorn wool into the wool press

• pack the press with wool

• operate the press to push the wool down tightly to form bales

• clip the bales closed

• mark bales with numbers and other details

• record details of bales in the wool book

• remove the bales from the wool press area and stack them

• fill the shearer's pen with unshorn sheep

• keep the mobs of sheep separate

• blend different types of wool

Working conditions
   
The work can involve picking up fleeces, sweeping the board, skirting and rolling fleeces, penning up sheep, pressing wool in bales. While most of the work is done in shearing sheds you can expect to encounter both hot and cold conditions. Sensible footwear and clothing is essential and dependent on the location of the shearing shed food and or accommodation may be provided at a nominal cost. You must be reasonably healthy as there is a fair bit of running / walking while picking up and delivering fleeces to the wool rolling table. Always take a large water bottle as well as adequate food.

Education and training/entrance requirements

You can work as a Wool Presser without formal qualifications. Some on the job training may be provided. A course in wool handling might be helpful.

 

 

Did You Know? Old hand shears Jackie Howe was known as the greatest Shearer who ever lived. Read about him here. In 1892, an Australian wide competition was held to see who was the greatest shearer in the land. On the 10th October 1892, at Alice Downs Station outside Blackall, Jackie set the record for hand shearing 321 sheep in just seven hours and forty minutes. Later he went on to set the machine shearing record of 237 sheep. (Source: Jackie Howe Ancestry) The Canberra suburb of Macarthur has street names relating to the wool industry. Jackie Howe Crescent is the main street!

 

 

 

 

 

Five days a week for most of the year, sometimes toiling in primitive kitchens, often in remote districts of Australia's sheep belt, far from towns and supermarkets, shearer's cooks prepare up to 100 meals a day. They spend much of their lives on the road and in shearers' quarters close to the station cookhouse.

The Shearer's Cook provides breakfast, smoko [morning tea], lunch, afternoon tea and dinner to the shearers.

 

(Source: The Gundagai Independent, Saturday 23 January 1904)

The Shearer's Cook
  
I must chop up me joints for soup,
An' then boil up me bones,
For when it comes to knife and fork
These shearer blokes ain't drones
Now, you offsider,
fetch a tin
Of water from the river:
It's gettin' time to boil me leg,
An' I must fry me liver;
I got to roast me shoulder, too,
F'r the ringer and his pals;
They'll troop in 'ere
to-night an' feed
Like flamin' cannibals! - FLIP

 

ANZSCO ID: 351411

Alternative names: Station Cook, Babbling Brook, Baitlayer, Water Burner, Cookoo, Silly Look,
  
Specialisations: Permanent Station's Cook, Itinerant Cook,
 
Knowledge, skills and attributes

• Proven experience as a Cook or Chef

• Ability to cook a variety of meals

• Excellent time management and organizational skills

• Knowledge of food hygiene and safety regulations

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team

• A positive, friendly attitude with a willingness to be part of the team and culture.

• Suitable fitness level to carry out required tasks.

• Strong communication skills

• Valid driver’s license

• Current first aid certificate

What does it take to be a shearers' cook? | Landline | ABC Australia (13.55mins)
https://youtu.be/Tn8FwPK7V08?si=b9kxfCU6UDNYHJbc

 

Duties and Tasks

• Pre-planning and cooking nutritious, hearty meals for the station team or shearing team including breakfast, smoko, lunch, afternoon tea,and dinner. Also catering to station visitors as required.

• Plan weekly menus and ensure variety in meals

• Manage food inventory and ordering - preparing store orders for scheduled dates, and rotating stores to ensure no food is wasted.

• Liaise with the station butcher and gardeners to ensure all available meat cuts are utilised, and garden produce is incorporated into cooking whenever possible.

• Encourage a welcoming, homely environment in the kitchen/dining for the station team and guests.

• Maintaining a high standard of hygiene and cleanliness in kitchen and adjoining dining/living areas.

• Washing up

• Adhere to health and safety regulations

Working conditions

Mostly, the cook is provided with accommodation or they can live in their own caravans. All meals and utilities included. An opportunity to live and work in a unique and beautiful environment moving from place to place with a contractor.

Regardless, conditions are difficult, with the cooking often being done in a tin shed with a wood stove going flat out, however hot the day. The cook starts at 5.00am for a hot breakfast at 7.00am, and finishes at night when the kitchen is clean and the bread set to rise for the next day. A bread oven can be found in many of the old shearer’s kitchens from station times, while today it is more likely to be a freezer if power permits.

The shearers live in the ‘quarters’ and a cook is employed for the duration of shearing to cook the three meals, and two ‘smokos’, each day for the whole team.

The demands are rigorous, with meals having to be served ‘on the dot’ to the whole team, which can number up to 60 people. Smokos are carried to the shed in baskets and buckets, while meals are eaten in the shearers’ dining room. There must be plenty of food, with as much variety as possible.

A poorly-organised cook, no matter how tasty the meals, is soon moved on. In some sheds the shearers employ the cook and can sack him without notice on a vote. The good shearers’ cooks are top class, multi-skilled workers for whom there is little praise or thanks. They have been the butt of jokes and ribald songs since the trade began 200 years ago. Praise is rare, and one farmer’s wife [the cook] tells how for years she treasured a passing comment of one of the shearers…‘that was a good feed missus.’

Like an army, the shed runs on its stomach.

 

Tools and technologies
  

The kitchens are varied in their capacity, the cooks could be faced with woodfires, or an oven; cold store; some times air-conditioning.

Education and training/entrance requirements

It’s possible to work as a Cook without a formal qualification, however, many employers require a vocational qualification such as a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery or a Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery). It’s also recommended you hold a Food Handler’s Certificate.

Employment Opportunities

 

There are many shearers throughout Australia needing to be feed. A shearer's cook will need to apply to a Shearing contractor to get a position.

 

 

Did You Know? Here are some phrases you might hear in the Australian shearing shed. Babbling Brook ‑ Shearer's cook. Baitlayer ‑ Another name for the shearer's cook. Blue‑tongue ‑ Young shed hands, named so because they were accused of spending most of their times 'catching flies'. Bluey ‑ A shearer's bundle of possessions, usually wrapped in a blanket or swag. Big Turks ‑ Wethers Cobbler ‑ A sheep which is difficult to shear, sometimes left until last. Commercial Travellers ‑ Rams Cracker ‑ Old sheep with not many teeth left. Cut‑out ‑ When shearing at a particular shed has been completed. Darling Shower ‑ A dust storm that fills the wool on sheep with sand. Ducks on the Pond ‑ A warning yelled out by shearers to cease profanity when a lady is about to enter the shed. Dungas/Dungarees ‑ Shearing pants. Flea Taxi ‑ Sheep Dog. Grass Parrot ‑ Station hand. Gun ‑ The top shearer, or the best shearer in a shed or gang. Usually able to shear more than 200 sheep per day. Guesser ‑ Wool Classer. Humping your Bluey ‑ To carry your bundle of possessions in search of your next wool shed job. Jacky Howe ‑ A navy or black singlet worn by shearers, cut from under the arms to almost the waist to allow them to move freely. Named after the gun shearer John Robert "Jacky" Howe who in 1890 set a long‑standing world record by shearing 321 sheep in 7 hours 40 minutes (he is said to have worn a shirt with the sleeves cut off). Jumbuck ‑ A sheep. Lounge about ‑ Young shed hand boys. Mad Eight ‑ Reference to eight men who in 1923 shore 18,000 sheep in a fortnight at Williambury Station, WA using hand shears. Plum jams ‑ Lambs. Pony Boy ‑ Young assistant who carried the fleece to the classing table. Moccy's ‑ Shearer's shoes. Monkey's Eyebrows ‑ Short wool shorn from lambs. Quart Pot ‑ A very young lamb. Ringer ‑ Fastest shearer in the shed. Rosella ‑ A sheep losing its wool. Rousy ‑ Rouseabout. Sheep O ‑ More sheep needed in the catching pen. Snagger ‑ Shearer. Tongs ‑ Sheep Shears. Turkey Feathers ‑ Wethers Underwear for Angels ‑ Soft, fine wool. Water Burner ‑ Another alternative for shearer's cook. Wool Spider ‑ Prickle in your skin. (Source: Quality Wool) The volunteers out to save Toganmain, one of Australia's most important woolsheds  ABC Landline Australia  14 July 2024 (14 mins) https://youtu.be/qyj6AMmG_p8?si=u9c6G0BrRBV2p8Up

 

 

Related Jobs or Working with these Jobs

Livestock Farmer	Sheep Farmer	Rural Contractor Shearing Contractor Under Woolshed Cleaner	Wool Classer
Wool Buyer Wool Broker

 

 

 

Job Cluster: Wool

 

 

 

Materials sourced from
Jobs & Skills WA [Shearer;];
 Wikipedia
Look 4 NZ [Wool Presser; ]
Shearing Contractors' Association of Australia [Wool Harvesting Jobs; ]
Good Universities Guide [Shearing Shed Hand]
Job Search [Wool Jobs; ]
Learn about Wool [Career Booklet - PDF; ]
Wool.com [Shearing Sheds - PDF; Four Pillars of Wool Handling - PDF; ]
Macquarie Dictionary [Ringer; ]
Aghealth [Woolshed Safety; ]
Jora [Station Cook; ]
The Sheeps Back Museum [The Baitlayer; ]
ABC News [What goes into feeding a shearing team; ]
Your Career [Shearer; Wool Handler; ]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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