Shearing sheep is a “ewe-nique skill,” Kelsey Castro, founder of Ewe-nique Livestock Services has discovered. Most people aren’t quite sure how to shear their animals, but because this is a necessity to ensure animals are healthy, Castro decided to market her skills to help her community.
“I created Ewe-nique when a friend and I discovered how much of a need there was in our community for shearing sheep. Our experience came from showing sheep through 4-H and FFA. My friend and I both raised our own small breeding flock of sheep and had to quickly learn how to take care of them. This came with everything from feeding, trimming their hooves, preparing their lambs for market projects, and of course shearing.”
Castro has extensive experience in the sheep industry, raising and showing sheep since she was nine years old. “My dad was the big supporter of my projects with buying my market animals and breeding ewes to raise for myself and sell to others.”
So, it was all a natural process when an opportunity to shear a flock led to creating her own business. “We started in 2012 with Jim Clayton’s flock. We were in our second year of college at the time and were involved in the animal science classes at College of the Sequoias. We got asked to shear their flock and did this for two years when we decided to offer our services to others. My friend’s parents had a blade sharpening and clipper fixing business; the idea just seemed too perfect. Between the two of us and our connections in the community, we quickly spread the word about our shearing business. By the end of summer in 2014, Ewe-nique Sheep Shearing Company was born.”
Ewe-nique began with only sheep in mind, but since then, has grown into a more diverse operation. Through her journey, Castro has learned a lot about her business and what she hopes to do with it. She went away to college at Biola University in 2013 and found that business marketing was her passion. Using her skills, she was able to market Ewe-nique and gain more customers.
“Over the next year we got asked to do more than just sheep. We had angora goats, which were not too different from sheep. We also got asked to do some llamas and alpacas from a friend.
Things changed for our business in March 2016 when my friend decided to leave the business due to being busy with her new job. It was sad to have her go, but at the time my boyfriend, Kurren, was ready to step up to the plate and help me keep this dream going. He learned to shear by helping me with my own sheep and Jim Claytons flock.
I made the decision to change the business name from Ewe-nique Sheep shearing Co to Ewe-nique Livestock Services because we had expanded to include much more than just sheep. We quickly picked up more goats, Alpacas, Llamas and offer deworming, vaccinations, and hoof trims on those species. We trim teeth on Alpacas and llamas, as well. We also clipped show lambs and began to offer lessons. My first clinic was held in San Diego in 2018. It was small but it was the start of another goal I wanted this business to achieve. We ended up doing 2 more successful clinics in Bakersfield and Sanger with about 20 kids at each. I have continued those clinics each season since.”
Her current travel area runs from Modesto to the Mexican border, with demand for movement up north, but Castro is working towards her teaching credential in ag education, working her current job, and servicing customers already part of her clientele, so expansion is limited. However, she hopes to be able to grow in the future and meet demand.
Castro believes in her business and is proud of the services she brings to a community that needs it.
“I think Kurren and I offer something unique to the community because we don’t just shear your animal and leave. We try and tell you the reasoning behind what we do and why we do it. We educate our customers and they appreciate it. We also cater to a smaller niche market where large scale shearers won’t. We take care of the 1-5 head livestock owners who need a resource that’s reliable. We have also done up to 100 head in one setting as well, so we don’t stop at smaller limits. I also raise a flock of sheep and breed them twice a year for fall and spring fairs. I invest heavily in those who buy from me because I care about how they do and that they have a fun time with their project. Our main goal is to get those animals in a healthy state for the hot summers here in California and that’s satisfaction in and of itself.”
