Sweet Pea was pretty cooperative.
She looks funny with half her fleece gone.
Almost done.
Hey Honey! That weird dog with the horns is back!
Nebula was a lot less cooperative. We had to push and drag for a good 5 minutes to get her on the stand.
Once up there, she was pretty good though. She had a thick fleece!
We got a late start and it was after dark before we finished, but they both got sheared and their hooves trimmed.
This will be our last sheep shearing here at Whistling Wind Farm. Someone is coming to get the sheep tomorrow. I've been thinking about selling them for 4 months or so. And decided after the shearing it was time to. I haven't really enjoyed the sheep. I can't catch Nebula without help. And Sweet Pea can be rough on the goats. The goats we have now know how to avoid her, but with babies coming in a few weeks, I didn't want to take any chances. I'm a little sad to see them go, especially Sweet Pea. She really is a nice sheep. But I know in the long run it will be best for everyone.
11 comments:
I am sorry to see Sweet Pea go also. ButI agree with you that it is best for everyone they leave, especially with new babies on the way. Glad you finally found someone to take them.
I can understand how sad it is to have to part with one of your animals, but if I had to choose between goats and sheep, I'd take the goats, too ;).
The sheep shearing must have been quite an experience. You'll have some nice wool now.
Looks like your shearer knows the job...no cuts or nicks that I could see...very interesting job and a lot of hard work.
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Very interesting to see the sheep get sheared. One day we think we want sheep, so it's good to learn from everyone else. Gopod luck with the kids when they come!
~Lynn
Sweet pea is leaving you guys. That is sad, she was such a sweety. Well I am sure that where ever she is going will be a good place for fer... I just noticed I called sweet pea a sweety! hahaha jpk
I love how freshly sheared sheep look. Sorry to see them go. We have thought about getting some sheep for a while, but haven't figured out how to work out the logistics with them sharing a field with the goats.
What do you do with the fleece?
The sheep were picked up this morning. It is sad to see them go but good too. Now I can get more goats and we really like goats a lot more. Our friend did a good job with the shearing, no nicks at all. It took about an hour a sheep though.
Polly - having them share a pasture with goats isn't a big deal, we did that the whole time we had them. The only tricky part is goats need more copper than sheep. So we set up a mineral feeder where the sheep couldn't reach it and put a stool for the goats. It will be nice to just have 1 type of animal to worry about though.
Christy, on the last part - your goat minerals have copper in them? or are you uing cattle minerals? I'm just learning about copper so why I am curious. The goats are not to chew the copper either but the copper needs to go directly to the stomach? I just gave my goats some copper capsules down their throats. We keep the goat minerals available all the time.
Joanna, I do use goat minerals with copper in it. Most goats need copper in addition to what is in the minerals. I give mine the copper rods 3 times a year. I put them in a marshmallow and they swallow those pretty fast! I found a study that said marshmallows were just as effective as getting the copper rods to the right place as the capsules are.
That's an interesting shearing table. I've never seen anything like it, but it looks very convenient.
I understand about the sheep, too. Our situation is different in that the two sheep get picked on by our Angora goat all the time. And I honestly don't enjoy the coarse texture or greasiness of the sheep wool. Both of my sheep are very sweet and were hand raised, so are tame and easy to handle, but, like you I just don't enjoy them as much as I do our goats and llamas (especially the fiber of the llamas and angora for spinning).
So, I'm hoping to find a new home for my sheep this year, too.
~Lisa
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