Warm Winter Means Early Shearing

As the weather starts to get warmer going toward Spring, it is important to get the sheep sheared.  Their wool will begin to lift off or rise on its own and makes it hard to shear the sheep and also is not very good for the wool.  We also like to get the sheep shorn before they lamb.  The birthing fluids can ruin a large part of the fleece.  We have had a very warm winter with just a few cold days thrown in here or there.  Also, I will be having surgery next week and I am trying to take care of details on lots of things that need scheduled.  So, the sheep got their yearly haircut today.  We could not catch one of the ewes, so she still has her long wool on.  We will have to try and catch her another day and then take her to the shearer.  Here are some pictures from the day before they were sheared and today.  

Here is the lone ewe making sure she is not anywhere near us to be caught. 

She kept coming around and peeking into the barn, but still she kept far away.  :)

The shearers also trim their hooves for us. 

Who could not love this sweet face?

This is the underside of a brown fleece.  I LOVE the brown ones. 

Here are the naked sheep with the one ewe in the background.  :)

 

To Shear or not to Shear...

It is shearing time again. We like to get them sheared before they lamb and before they go to the butcher. Only some of my sheep are being sheared this year. All of last years lambs are half Shetland and half Katahdin, which is a hair sheep instead of a wool sheep. Their fleece will not really be any good, plus all the lambs are going to the butcher. The seven ewes were supposed to be sheared this past Monday, but due to the big storm, it got put off. I am trying to make it work for next Monday. Here are some good before pictures.

I will be sure to get some good after pictures as well.

Like Sheep to the Shearer...

Many of you asked me about how the sheep do during shearing. Do they struggle, etc. My friend who gave me my first two sheep has shared with me before about this. In fact her daughter and her do a Sheep To Shawl presentation and tell about this. I was going to have her write something up, but she is swamped scheduling shearing for her sons and their crews. She gave me another brief synopsis over the phone and I will try to write it out here.

Once they sit the lamb back on its rump, you can pretty much do anything to it that you need to and it will sit there and let you do it. I have Shetlands which is one of the more primitive breeds. That just means that they have not had their natural instincts bred out of them for production purposes. The Shetlands will struggle a bit more at first than other sheep, but they too will end up just sitting there against the shearer. They don't make any noise. They will even let you bleed them out and they will just sit there silently. This is the only animal that does that. They often have to tie down the alpacas or llamas they shear because they will not sit still or be still.

Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.

Jesus was that perfect lamb. He went to the slaughter without a word for my sins and your sins. I love the pictures that He gave us in nature.

Four Naked Sheep!!

The sheep were sheared on Saturday. John and his brother Sardis came and trimmed hooves and sheared them for us. They did a great job. Sardis is on the beginning end of being a shearer, but has already done quite a few and been to sheep shearing school twice. Here are a few pictures of the young men shearing and trimming hooves.

If you saw their picture a couple of days ago, you saw how fluffy they were. Now, they look like little lambs again. All four are showing an udder, so they are bred. Now, I am anxiously awaiting lambs.

Someone asked on the last sheep post on what we do with the fleeces. We have sold some, given some as gifts, spun some, had some just made into roving to spin.

Here are a picture of the cows. Buttercup who is off by herself is due to calve in May. I am ready to have that good jersey, grass fed milk again. Clover (the spotted Jersey... YES, she IS a jersey) is due in September. She is a heifer, so this is her first calf. Molasses, the darker one is due in October we hope. We are not sure she if she is bred or not.

Here is a picture of the cat sleeping on top of a birdhouse on my front porch.

Sedum and Hyacinth

Here is the flowering Crab Apple tree. The leaves are really coming out on it. I hope our plants make it. Today we had snow off and on. :)

This is the Bradford Pear tree.

Here is a picture to show you how fast those Orange Day Lilies grow. They are almost as big as the daffodils now.

Hyacinth

The tulip out back has 3 buds. It should be blooming soon.

Here are the buds on one of our apple trees.

I love this little patch of Daffodils. The centers are a bit darker than the outer part.

We were looking out back in the garden area. We are always scouting for asparagus. We found a few onions that we must have missed last year. :)

I was helping Michael move the sheep fence, so I placed the eggs in my pockets. Here is one side full of eggs. I am always afraid I will forget and have scrambled eggs in my pocket. I have done that before.

Joshua and Brittany were here for a bit on Sunday. I had strawberries and a wonderful recipe to try. Brittany made the crust and I made the rest. It was/is delicious!!! I will post the recipe separately. I have another recipe to share as well.

Eight Naked Sheep =)

Today was sheep shearing day. My friend's son comes each year and shears my sheep for me. This year his younger brother came along to help. I always giggle when I go out and see the naked sheep for the first time. These first three pictures are the sheep in their full wool.

Here are three of those big sheep and how they look now. It makes them look like little lambs again. It is already 50 degrees here and the sun is shining. The little bit of fuzz they grow back in a couple of days will keep them warm even if it dips back down . Also, you will notice the nicks on the one sheep. The lanolin that is on them is a natural healing salve for their cuts. The cuts are worse looking on the picture than they are in real life. It is just a very surface type wound.

Here are some pictures of the wethers.



Here is some of their wool all put in bags. I am going to send some away to be made into roving.

I would like a sweater out of this beautiful brown.

This is Sunshine's snowy white wool.

With all the snow we had and now the warm temperatures the snow is melting causing rivers to flow in our yard.

As you can see, we still have snow cover. It has been in the 40's for the last few days, so it is amazing there is still this much snow left. You can see the remains of one of my snowmen in the pictures as well.

Here are the tracks from where Michael took the tractor back to the sheep shed trying to make a path for himself through the deep snow.

Here are what the hay bales are looking like.

This is looking out to the back of the property. You can see the pond is really full. I am sure as the snow melts down, it will overflow its banks.

Star was blazing a trail for me.... =)

This is the north side of the house. The snow is pretty deep still on this side.

Look what I spied on the east side of the house. Daffodils are coming up!!!!

Here are some crocus coming up as well.

Well, I hope you enjoyed todays tour of the farm.