Shearing Done!

Hannah is the first one due to lamb -- on April 4th. For those of you who watch such things, notice her blue eye reflections. Being moorit, we would expect red reflections. She's an F2 Holly, a dark moorit ewe, with a few small moonspots. Bred to a mioget, I am hoping for modified ewe lambs.

Lanora looking good after shearing. Colored BFL ewe on the left in the foreground.

Lucy, our little grey katmoget ewe lamb. Not sure if she's pregnant this year...Dot is the white one behind her. I'm not sure who the black one is.



A Babydoll Southdown wether taking time out from the hay...

Look at the round tummies. We have three that already have some nice bags.

Dougal, the white BFL ram shorn.

Shearing for 2008 is completed. There was some blood, but no major drama. The girls look to be in good condition. The whole affair was pretty laid back this year - with just me and the shearer and Ozzie, our Australian Shepherd. Ozzie loved cleaning up the hoof trimmings for me.
Now that we have a pole building to shear in, everything went so smoothly. It was snowing out so I locked the girls in the building. When the shearer arrived we squeezed them into a 10 x 10' area. I had the colored BFL ram and his Babydoll buddies in a catch pen. After each sheep was finished, it could wander about the pole building and nibble on hay. Little Dot was so cute, coming up to the shearer to see who was in his grasp at the moment.
After all the ewes were done is was time for the white BFL ram and his Babydoll buddy to get done. They would follow a bucket of alfalfa hay to the moon if needed. It is so easy dealing with the polled boys.
Now I have 22 fleeces to skirt and wash. Lots of types of fiber -- BFL, Shetland in lots of luscious colors, and the Babydoll fiber too. What a blast! Almost as fun as dreaming about the lambs that are due in about a month. :-)