Post by farmwench on Jul 20, 2015 17:05:12 GMT -5
I'm finally getting my sheep sheared; 1/3 of the way done so far. Swore I wouldn't get so far behind like last year, but...oh well. We're having a miserable heat wave right now; temps in the upper 90s(F), high humidity, and a heat index over 100 degrees. My sheep are not comfortable, and I can really tell the difference in stress level between those few lucky shorn girls and those still carrying all that wool. So yesterday afternoon I chose to shear, for my 3rd sheep of the day (I use hand shears, halter the sheep, & tie them to a fence post, so it's a slow process), one of my yearling ewes I kept and plan to breed this fall for the first time. She has always been a poor doer, a disaster lamb from the first. Slow to get going, a poor nurser, though mom had plenty of milk & was attentive, I finally realized she doesn't hear well (not sure if she hears at all). Because she doesn't hear them, she has a hard time keeping track of the flock, and she was always a loner until this year's lambs started playing with her. She's always been thin, never had a good appetite (I have tried to feed her extra; no dice) & her wool has always looked like crap. She should have been a cull 10 times over, but... her mom lambs easy, has plenty of milk for twins, & is easy to work with. All my baby boys end up in someone's freezer, so I give more of my baby girls a chance to prove themselves than might make the best business sense.
I was going to finish shearing my mamas first, but I decided to shear this poor little girl because she looked so sad, so pathetic, and I thought less heat stress might help her gain a little weight; every time I've laid a hand on her back to check her weight I've felt way too much spine . So I started trimming, & she started fighting, which she pretty much kept up for the whole long process, and what I found as her wool came off was.... that she looked GREAT! She is lovely! Not too thin! Lean, but not bony! She is beautiful. She's a little narrower in the rear than I'd like, but time will tell how she breeds & how she mothers & how she nurses. I plan to put a bell on her, so I can keep track of her, and so her lambs will be able to keep track of her, since she will have only her eyes to keep track of them.
I was going to finish shearing my mamas first, but I decided to shear this poor little girl because she looked so sad, so pathetic, and I thought less heat stress might help her gain a little weight; every time I've laid a hand on her back to check her weight I've felt way too much spine . So I started trimming, & she started fighting, which she pretty much kept up for the whole long process, and what I found as her wool came off was.... that she looked GREAT! She is lovely! Not too thin! Lean, but not bony! She is beautiful. She's a little narrower in the rear than I'd like, but time will tell how she breeds & how she mothers & how she nurses. I plan to put a bell on her, so I can keep track of her, and so her lambs will be able to keep track of her, since she will have only her eyes to keep track of them.