Sheep shearing

Today was sheep shearing day. More accurately, it was E. learns to shear sheep day. I hired the shearer who came last spring to come and teach me how to shear, with the idea that she would help me learn on one, then I would shear the other three over the next couple of weeks. At its most basic, this is exactly what happened. I'll start with the sheep I sheared. 

First a before picture.


Pay close attention to Kaspian, the sheep in the middle. He is the one I ended up learning on. 




The skin side, which is also the projected, clean side, of Kaspian's fleece.


And the naked boy after being sheared. It gives you some idea about how much wool the sheep grow. 


But what about the other three? We'll, it turns out they won't need to be sheared. I'm thrilled! Shetland sheep are considered a primitive breed, which means that they maintain genetic traits that more domesticated breeds no long have. Among these traits is the one that creates a break in the wool so that the sheep effectively can shed its wool. Practically, for the modern shepherd, is that the fleece can be removed through roofing, which is pretty much plucking off the fleece. This is much easier than shearing because there are no sharp blades involved. Nor skill. 

Here are the three samples we were able to pull off each of the other three sheep. 



This also explains why I have had so much trouble processing the lamb fleeces that we sheared last year. We unknowingly sheared below the wool break which caused the wool to break as I was processing it. It has been... frustrating... and I'm thrilled to know it was not a skill issue on my part. 

Since all four sheep were put up on the stand, G. took advantage of it and trimmed all their feet as well. It was a productive afternoon. 

Timmy

Fred

I guess we didn't get a picture of Clark. 

_________
Now for a sheep related advertisement. In honor of sheep shearing season, I'm having another sale. This one is sheep related. I'm offering Sheep and Fiber retreats for $10 off for each participant. The retreats are for adults and are three hours long. We visit with and learn about the sheep, learn about wool and how a raw fleece becomes yarn, and I teach you to spin with a spindle. So get a couple of friends together and have fun together learning a new skill and hanging out with sheep. For two participants it is normally $90 each, so with the sale would be $80. For three or more participants it is normally $60 each, so with the sale would be $50. There is also a $15 supply fee which pays for your spindle and fiber. Retreats need to be booked and paid for by the end of April, but can happen throughout the summer. 

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