Thursday, February 02, 2012

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.  :)
 

1 comment:

Sharon said...

What a cute post! I had to laugh at the last picture because all the shorn sheep look happy and playful while the one long-haired sheep looked on. You could come up with a ton of captions! LOL!