Chip, our 22 month old Horned Dorset ram,
with Jillian, Dorset/Romney ewe in front,
also 22 months. He is a single, she is (was)
a twin. Different parents.
Tess. Our guard llama.
She has to check out every pile of hay
and every group of sheep, before she will eat.
December 26th and we still have mud...
And, if you can see in the pig pasture in
the lower picture at the top of the picture
it is flooded from all the rain we had
before Christmas.
The sheep are still cleaning up from
the wet packed bale put out for them
early in the week. They go through it
quickly, but they waste none of it.
Poor Lola still looks scruffy.
She was born on the farm, but lived on
another farm for a while. She came back
to live with us last year. For some reason
the rest of the ewes are pushing her out of
the grain. So, she has been getting fed by
herself. Unfortunately her fleece has been
affected by the stress of the other sheep. And,
hopefully she is pregnant by Chip.
This year's fleece will go straight to compost.
Chip loves his female human.
For some reason, not so much the male human.
I think mainly because Jerry did not handle him
the whole time I could not get in the barn after
my broken ankle. I rub under his chin and keep
his head held up. But, I also smack his across
the nose and tell him 'No!' when he acts up.
This is the 2nd year of no coats.
So, the fleeces will have VM in them
as well as mud. There are no lamb fleeces
available from our farm this year as we sold
every lamb last spring. THANK YOU to
all of our lamb customers!!!
There are 30 ewes that have been exposed to
3 rams (2 fertile, 1 old) since August 1st.
We should start lambing anytime. Provided
Chip did his job. Jeremy's (Dorset/Romney) lambs
should start dropping the first week in February.
As far as I know, all of the lambs have already
been spoken for. If something falls through
with someone, I will post it here and on Face Book.
I have posted some of the 2017/2018 fleeces available
on the farm's fleece blog.
I will continue to inventory what we have available and
I will try to update the fleece blog at least once a week.
With all the ice in the farm yard, and being down to one
vehicle, I will not be leaving the house much. So, I have
plenty of time to work on fleeces, and updating the blogs.
I did get 2 Icelandic fleeces washed yesterday. They
are downstairs drying near the wood/coal furnace.
Next I need to wash some alpaca fleeces, and then 3
white Dorset/Romney lamb fleeces. I have red-brown
alpaca that will be blended with the different shades
of brown Icelandic fleeces. And, I have a white crimpy
alpaca fleece that will be blended with the white lamb's
fleeces. I also have silver alpaca and silver Romney, both
already washed, ready to go. And, black alpaca and black
llama that may just become roving on their own. I have
3 different black Shetland fleeces, all washed, that will
also go to become roving.
When I sell enough fleece to fill the grain bin, I will
start putting money towards having these fleeces
processed by Sallie's Fen Fiber Mill in Barrington,
NH. She has alpacas and she KNOWS fine fleece.
Hopefully, I will have enough saved by the time we
shear in her area this spring to drop them at her mill!
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