Sheep Shearing

We finally got our clipper blades back from being sharpened. The weather today was mild, so we started shearing the sheep today. We don't shear them the traditional way, flipping them upside down and all that. My back would never stand up to that.

Instead, we put the sheep on a shearing stand and shear them standing up. Even so, we're not very fast at it, so this afternoon we only got six sheep done (including hoof trimming each one as well as shearing).

The weather is supposed to be warm tomorrow too, so we're going to try to get as many sheared as possible before the rainy cold front comes in. I feel bad for the poor sheep, because we're shearing them a month later than usual, which means they have that much less time to grow more fleece before the truly cold weather hits.

On the other hand, it means that our fall fleeces are that much more abundant, having had an extra month to grow. Some of these fleeces are really exquisite!

This one is Teasle's. I think it is the softest fleece of the year. Absolutely heavenly.


As far as breeding season goes, it was definitely Paris who got bred last night, because she was still in heat this morning. I suspect that Nicholai and Pandora may have bred last night too, because when I came out this morning they were lying down right next to each other. Normally the ewes don't lie down next to the ram unless they're in heat.

Looks like a lot of our lambs are going to be born at once come April!