Shearing Day 2024

Another shearing day is in the books. And boy was it a busy one for us!

We got the sheep in last Tuesday evening, and it kind of turned into a rodeo for us. The sheep were less than cooperative. We keep them in the barn for a day or three before shearing so they are dry. Thankfully they did dry off after the snow we had over the prior weekend.

In and staying dry

Since she is pretty wobbly on her legs, Miss Lucy was allowed to roam freely in the barn instead of being in the pen. Much better for her to not get knocked around. And I can give her breakfast without the others eating it. Plus, she is pretty easy to catch most of the time LOL!

We were pretty shorthanded this time around, only myself, my friend Laurette, my son, and the two shearers. Thankfully the shearers, a husband and wife team, were happy to work a bit slower so we could get the fleeces skirted before bagging.

When they shearers arrived, they got their equipment inside, and we all got everything set up, with tarps on the ground to keep fleeces clean, and the floors laid down.

They brought a portable ally/door system with them which made feeding them the sheep easier. Leo decided he needed to stand right in the end of it all day long. He was such a good boy just hanging out there and getting loved on. Plus keeping the other sheep behind him in what he considered the correct order.

Miss Lucy was first up so we could get her moved out of the barn and she could eat in peace.

The system we had going was this… Michael got coats off the sheep and fed them into the alley, shearers grabbed them out and got the nekked. I got the correct paperwork with corresponding sheep’s name/fleece for the bag. I then grabbed the finished sheep, Laurette and I doctored any cuts, and got them back into the pen. Laurette then grabbed the fleece and started skirting. I came behind and did sweep up work and helped Laurette skirt and bag.

It all went well until one sheep was anxious to get back into the pen after being shorn, and me not picking my feet up enough to get over the tarps we put down. Sheep pulled, I tripped, and down I went onto my fake knees, almost put my face into the steel bar end of the ally, just missed and went down on my arm. Thankfully my air bags are big enough and prevented me from planting my face into the dirt.

Oh, and I didn’t let go of the sheep either. Laurette ran over and grabbed her while I figured out if I broke anything important and got myself up out of the dirt.

My right knee took the brunt and I’m sporting a nice big bruise on it for its efforts. When we got done with Douglas the ram later in the day, he decided that the bruise was not good enough yet and gave me a nice big head slap to ensure it would be a lovely shade of blue, purple and green.

That picture doesn’t really show just how vibrant the color is. Pardon the hair on my leg, some is from Misher dog and one from me since we both are shedding at the moment.

We had another fabulous helper this year. Our shearers little guy, Owen, a mere almost 3 years old, is the most industrious sweeper ever! He spent almost all day in the barn cleaning up and supervised the bagging of scrap fleece. I say almost, because he did have a nap break, and I wish could have joined him on that one! Thank you Owen for all your hard work!

We broke for lunch around 2pm and everyone enjoyed ham, potato salad, green beans with bacon and onion, marbled rye bread, cheese, brownies and lots and lots of water. All in all it was a great feed this year.

Got back to shearing after our lunch hour and ended the day around 7pm. Needless to say we were all pretty exhausted by that time. And the copious amounts of ibuprofen had worn off too.

Fleece!!!!

The Brickmans, our amazing shearers, brought with them a few of their Targhee cross fleeces. They are looking to get into the hand spinning market with those and their Rambouillet fleeces. They are beautiful natural grey and blue colors, gorgeous crimp, super soft, low lanolin content, and will be a delight to spin. I wish I had gotten pictures of them but completely forgot after being captured by those fleeces!

The Brickman’s are a true blessing to us this year, being able to come out and shear for us at the last minute. They are so gentle on the sheep and willing to pitch in other ways, along with being slower so we could keep up with our part of the work. I cannot thank them enough for their wonderful skilled hands!

Skilled hands at work

Hot showers, adult beverages, and putting up our feet for a while to unwind before bed ended the day.

I am still sore from it all even now. Hopefully that will go away soon. Michael was sore for a few days also, and I would guess Laurette and our shearers are too.

The sheep will stay in the barn this week considering our weather turned cruddy again. This will give them time to acclimate themselves with no big load of warm fleece on. It will also give me the time to fix coats for them. Next Friday and Saturday we will trim toes, give vaccine’s and get coats on them before we turn them back outside. A couple of the sheep are in a body condition that necessitates them staying in the barn for a bit to get themselves back into better shape. I’m on the hunt for a medication called Corid for them since I think coccidiosis is affecting them. So far I can’t find it locally and may have to have the local farm store order in some for me. They are roaming in the middle of the barn right now with free choice hay and they are getting mash in the morning the same as Lucy.

I am grateful for the hard work of everyone involved to help get my sheep ready for another fleece growing year. Thank you, I could not have done this without your help!

Now to get fleeces ready for sale once I get the taxes delt with.

Blessed Be!