Auto Shearer
Complete guide to the Auto Shearer in Starsand Island, covering how to unlock this Expert Rancher automation station, blueprint cost, placement in barn enclosures, automatic wool and fiber shearing from sheep and alpacas, collection mechanics, textile crafting integration, and strategies for efficient ranching automation.
Overview
The Auto Shearer is an automation station in Starsand Island that automates the shearing of wool from sheep and fiber from alpacas. It is an Expert Rancher unlock, available alongside the Auto Milker as one of the final ranching progression rewards. Once placed inside a barn enclosure containing sheep or alpacas, the Auto Shearer collects wool and fiber automatically each day, removing the need for manual shearing and freeing up your daily routine for other activities.
How to Unlock
The Auto Shearer blueprint is unlocked by reaching Expert Rancher rank in the Professions system. This requires completing the full Rancher questline, which involves raising various animals, producing animal products, and fulfilling specific tasks at Green Pasture Ranch. Expert Rancher is the highest tier and demands significant time invested in animal husbandry.
The blueprint costs 15,000 coins and is purchased from the ranching vendor's terminal, the same vendor where you buy the Auto Milker blueprint. Both blueprints become available simultaneously upon reaching Expert Rancher.
Crafting and Materials
After purchasing the blueprint, the Auto Shearer is crafted at Worktable II or higher:
Material | Quantity | How to Obtain |
|---|---|---|
Steel Plate | 3 | Process Steel Ingots at the Cutter |
Rubber | 3 | Crafted from Rubber Tree Sap at the Furnace |
Sharpened Blade | 2 | Crafted from Steel Ingots at Worktable II |
Ancient Gear Parts | 2 | Analyze Common Ore Chunks at the Ore Analyzer |
Copper Wire | 4 | Crafted from Copper Ingots at the Cutter |
The Sharpened Blade components are the shearing mechanism. Copper Wire provides the electrical wiring for the automated trigger system.
Placement
The Auto Shearer must be placed inside a barn enclosure that contains sheep, alpacas, or both. Like the Auto Milker, it cannot function outdoors or in enclosures without compatible animals.
Placement rules:
Must be inside a barn enclosure (not outdoors).
The barn must contain at least one sheep or alpaca.
One Auto Shearer services all sheep and alpacas in the same enclosure.
If you have separate barns for sheep and alpacas, each barn needs its own Auto Shearer.
Can be placed in the same barn as an Auto Milker if you keep cows alongside sheep/alpacas in a shared enclosure.
How It Works
The Auto Shearer operates automatically on a daily cycle:
Each in-game morning, it checks all sheep and alpacas in the enclosure for shearing readiness.
Animals with fully grown wool or fiber are sheared automatically. Animals that were already sheared or have not regrown their coat are skipped.
Collected wool and fiber are stored inside the Auto Shearer's internal inventory.
Interact with the Auto Shearer at any time to collect the stored materials.
Wool comes from sheep and fiber comes from alpacas. If you keep both species in the same barn, the Auto Shearer collects both material types. The quality and quantity of wool/fiber depend on animal happiness, health, and breed, not the collection method.
Wool and Fiber Production Factors
Factor | |
|---|---|
Animal happiness | Higher happiness increases yield per shearing session |
Animal health | Sick or underfed animals produce less or nothing |
Feed quality | Premium feed improves output quality |
Breed | Different sheep/alpaca breeds have different base yields |
Regrowth timer | Wool/fiber takes 2 to 3 in-game days to regrow after shearing |
Barn cleanliness | Dirty barns reduce happiness, indirectly lowering yield |
Wool and Fiber Uses
Wool and fiber are key materials for textile crafting and serve multiple purposes in the game:
Product | Station | Input | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
Yarn | Crafting cloth, clothing, and decorative items | ||
Fine Thread | Alpaca Fiber | High-quality textiles, premium clothing patterns | |
Cloth | Yarn | Furniture upholstery, curtains, clothing | |
Premium Fabric | Fine Thread | Luxury furniture, formal clothing, quest items | |
Dyed Wool | Dye Station | Wool + Dye | Colored textiles for decoration and fashion |
Selling raw wool and fiber is profitable, but processing them into Yarn, Cloth, or Premium Fabric through the textile crafting chain significantly increases their value.
Storage and Collection
The Auto Shearer has internal storage that holds several days' worth of wool and fiber. Because sheep and alpacas only need shearing every 2 to 3 days (wool/fiber regrowth time), the machine collects less frequently than the Auto Milker. Check it every 4 to 5 days to stay ahead of storage limits.
When you interact with the Auto Shearer, all stored wool and fiber transfer directly to your inventory. From there, move them to a storage chest or feed them directly into a Spinning Wheel for processing.
Comparison with Manual Shearing
Aspect | Manual Shearing | Auto Shearer |
|---|---|---|
Time cost | Must visit each animal individually every 2-3 days | Zero daily time investment |
Wool/fiber quality | Same as Auto Shearer | Same as manual shearing |
Missed sessions | Animals wait until sheared; no wool is lost | Machine collects automatically when coat regrows |
Setup cost | None | 15,000 coin blueprint + crafting materials |
Large herds | Tedious with many animals | One machine handles entire enclosure |
Complete Ranching Automation
The Auto Shearer and Auto Milker together form the complete Expert Rancher automation package. With both machines installed in your barns, the entire daily animal product collection cycle is automated:
Machine | Animals Served | Product Collected |
|---|---|---|
Auto Shearer |
With both machines running, your only remaining barn duties are feeding animals and keeping the barn clean. This frees up a significant portion of each in-game day, especially if you maintain large herds across multiple barns.
For players who also use the Expert Crafter robot automation system (Mining Robot, Logging Robot, Gathering Robot), combining both automation suites creates a highly efficient endgame routine where most resource collection happens passively.
Strategies and Tips
Buy both the Auto Shearer and Auto Milker blueprints at the same time when you reach Expert Rancher. They cost 15,000 coins each (30,000 total), so save up before unlocking the rank.
If you can only afford one blueprint first, choose based on herd size. If you have more cows, buy the Auto Milker first. If you have more sheep/alpacas, buy the Auto Shearer first.
Place the Auto Shearer before expanding your sheep or alpaca herd. Managing 6 or more wool-producing animals manually is time-consuming.
Check the machine every 4 to 5 days. Wool and fiber regrow slower than milk production, so the machine fills up less quickly than the Auto Milker.
Set up a textile crafting station near your barn for a streamlined production chain: Auto Shearer collects wool and fiber, you transfer it to the Spinning Wheel, then to the Loom.
Keep both sheep and alpacas in the same barn enclosure if possible. One Auto Shearer handles both species, saving you a second machine.
Process wool into Cloth or Premium Fabric before selling. The profit margin on processed textiles is significantly higher than raw wool or fiber.
Continue feeding and cleaning your barn regularly. The Auto Shearer automates shearing, not animal care. Neglected animals produce less and lower-quality materials.