Shearing Day

Sheeps & Peeps6 Comments

National Hug A Sheep Day was celebrated in grand style here at the farm.  Yesterday was shearing day and there was a whole lot of sheep hugging going on.  Forty-nine bags of beautiful lambs wool now just waiting for she who seeks wool and works willingly with her hands (to paraphrase Proverbs). 

As usual our shearers, Joe and Melvin, did an amazing job.  We are so grateful for their help and friendship… as we are, also, to our catchers, throwers, baggers and sweepers!

A cold, thick fog moved in last evening and hasn’t moved an inch. As you can see it really hasn’t fazed those naked lambs a bit. They were lying right out in it, chewing their cud as if it was a sunny, sixty-degree day.
Like everyone else in the Mid-Atlantic, we are preparing for the big storm headed our way.  Snow predictions range from 4 – 24 inches, wind gust predictions up to 60 mph – we’re battening down the hatches hoping for the best.

Belle and Liam

Sheeps & Peeps3 Comments

Breeding season is beginning a little early this year.  Belle, one of last year’s market lambs, has been moved into the back paddock with Liam.  This is an experiment, of sorts, to see what kind of lambs we get from crossing a meat breed ewe with one of our Border Leicester rams.  We are curious to see how fast it grows, its rate of gain, and if it reaches show weight by the time the Buckwheat Festival rolls around next year.
We usually don’t begin this early because we like to lamb in the warmer early spring weather and after the pasture grass begins to grow.  The rest of the ewes will be brought in early to mid-November.  For now, Liam gets the early nod.  He is equipped with a marking harness, so we will be able to calculate the approximate birth date.  Already we’re curious… what will the lambs look like… what will their wool be like… dozens of questions floating through our minds.  We’ll see what answers very, early spring brings!