Chris the sheep holds the record for the most wool sheared from a sheep in September, which is 41.10kg

Shearer John Alomes said her fleece was full of debris when she was shorn for the first time in six years

Her fleece weighed in at 21.79 kg after she escaped from farmer Derek Turvey and she separated from his flock

The ewe - dubbed Sheila - was found on the side of a dirt road in Tasmania last week after going missing since 2010

A giant sheep found with a massive overgrown fleece after she wandered off a farm has had her first trim in years


A giant sheep found with a massive overgrown fleece after she wandered off a farm has had her first trim in six years.

The ewe - dubbed 'Sheila the sheep' - was found on the side of a dirt road in Tasmania last week, yielding more than 20 kilograms of wool as she struggled to get back on her feet.

Her fleece weighed in at 21.79 kilograms but she failed to break the world record, set by Chris the Australian sheep in September 2015, who holds the most wool sheared from a sheep in a single shearing at 41.10 kilograms.

Sheila the sheep was rescued by Peter Jones, who recalled the moment he initially thought the sheep was dead until she winked at him when he approached her.

Scroll down for video

Sheila the sheep who was found with a massive overgrown fleece after she wandered off a farm has had her first trim in six years

Sheila the sheep (pictured) wandered off a farm about six years ago after she had become separated from a farmer's flock

'It winked at me!' he said, according to ABC News.

'Obviously it wasn't dead, so we pulled up and I tried to get it back on its feet.

'It was in the table drain, not a deep one, but a very narrow thing.'

The mix-breed sheep had escaped the shears from farmer Derek Turvey after she had become separated from his flock in 2010 and had wandered into the dense Tasmanian forest near Buckland.

Shearer John Alomes said her fleece was full of debris when she was shorn for the first time in years.

'The wool was very clotted, it was yellow up along her back line,' he said, according to ABC News.

'So down her spine, she had a lot of vegetable matter in there; a lot of gumnuts, sticks, bark and that type of stuff - dirt even - and that's from the conditions that she's been in.'

The mix-breed sheep had escaped the shears from farmer Derek Turvey after she had become separated from his flock about six years ago

Shearer John Alomes (pictured) said her fleece was full of debris when she was shorn for the first time in six years

Nearly 22 kilograms lighter! Sheila the sheep has had her first haircut in years after going missing from a farmer's flock of sheep

The ewe - dubbed 'Sheila the sheep' - was found on the side of a dirt road in Tasmania, yielding more than 20 kilograms of wool

Chris (above) was found wondering around in the bush with a massive unshorn fleece - causing alarm among RSPCA officials as it was both unable to see and as its coat can mask infections

Last year in September, Chris the sheep took the record for the most wool sheared from a sheep in a single shearing at 41.10kg, the Guinness World Records announced.

Spotted by a bushwalker in the Mulligans Flats area near the NSW-ACT border, Chris was carrying such a heavy load that animal welfare experts had feared he would not survive.

He was brought into the RSPCA's Canberra facility and trimmed by champion shearer Ian Elkins, who answered the organisation's call for help.

Elkins had to do the shearing in two layers and needed four helpers to do the job. He began shearing about 9am and took about 45 minutes to finish the first pass.

Elkins believes he cut seven years' worth of growth - double the sheep's body weight.

'I wouldn't say it is high quality, but you wouldn't expect it to be after so long in the bush,' Elkins said of the fleece.

'It's amazing it's survived all these years out in the wild,' he said.

Big task: The absurdly fluffy sheep lay on its back as four-time national shearing champion Ian Elkins and team began the mammoth shearing operation

Chris's fleece pipped Shaun from Tasmania (23.5kg) and New Zealander Shrek(27kg) - fellow rogue sheep who evaded the shearing shed for years.

'It's unlike anything I've ever seen,' Elkins said.

Chris was feeling fine after his makeover following his haircut.

'He's gone from a very shy sheep to one that wants cuddles now,' RSPCA ACT boss Tammy Ven Dange said. 'He's looking really good right now.'

The sheep could barely walk with the weight of the wool, Ven Dange said, and it had been feared its life could have been in danger.

The sheep must be feeling fleeced! Chris' whopping coat is piled up on the ground in the aftermath of today's epic shearing

Pictured in its own element, Chris (pictured) was found wandering around the Canberra bush, when its unavoidably large fleece was spotted by local residents

'He's a new man in many ways, he's actually moving really well, he's already eating, he actually came up to us for a cuddle,' Ms Van Dange told the ABC.

'He's a Merino sheep, and he needs to be sheared all the time, they're bred for that specifically, so if you don't do it this is what happens,' she added.

The average fleece weighs 5kg and takes just three minutes to shear.

Despite initial fears he would not survive, Chris has settled into his new home and is living happily in a farm in NSW.

Prepping for a stylish cut, Chris is seen in September last year awaiting its first shearing experience in a very, very long time

Watch the kilos fall! The sheep appeared much less intimidating after losing its humongous fleece

Digging in deep: A fleece of this humongous size causes health problems, said RSPCA ACT chief executive Tammy Ven Dange

The giant woolly sheep is pictured on the outskirts of Canberra - and it even turned the heads of kangaroos

It's not the first time Australia has witnessed a sheep balloon to its current size.

The RSPCA said there has been a number of cases where sheep have lost their flock and lived in the wild.

'If it (growing fleece like this) was done deliberately, it would be a cruelty case, but in many cases it's not, sometimes it's just a lost sheep,' Ms Ven Dange said.

In September 2014, a sheep named Shaun was discovered living in the Tasmanian bush after going missing for at least six years, according to the ABC.

Shaun's fleece weighed just under at 23.5kg and pictures at the time showed bruises and bleeding along the leg.

It's a rescue mission! Three RSPCA officers were required to carry the 'lost' sheep into the animal refuge in Canberra