Shepherding

A Shepherd shears sheep and stores the wool. They only work sheep that are kept in a pen, so wild flocks are left alone.

Getting A Shepherd

A loom is the shepherd’s job block. An unemployed villager who claims one takes up shepherding.

The Pen

Sheep must be inside a Livestock Pen for the shepherd to shear them: a fenced enclosure with a fence gate and a hay block. See Catalog for the exact requirements. The shepherd checks every pen in the village and goes to whichever has sheep ready to shear.

What The Shepherd Does

1. Take the shears they carry. Vanilla shears and any modded shears in the common shears tags work.
2. Walk to a sheep with wool and shear it.
3. Carry the wool to storage. Any chest near the pen will do, and a Wool Shed is the proper place: a room with a loom, some wool, and storage.

When their hands are full, or no sheep is ready, they take what they have to the shed and come back later. Sheep regrow wool by grazing, as in vanilla, so a pen on grass keeps the shepherd busy.

Each shearing counts as tending the flock on the shepherd’s career record, and the Chronicle notes a village’s first flock.

Keeping Them Busy

Sheep in a pen, shears in the shepherd’s own inventory, and a place to put wool. The shepherd does not fetch shears from storage, so hand them a pair. When any of the three is missing they stop and go back to the loom.

Shearing does not appear on the Order Sheet. A shepherd always shears what is ready.

Shepherding Yourself

Your own shearing counts toward a Shepherd career of your own. Every animal you shear earns the same credit a villager gets, and the animal does not need to be in a pen. See Careers.