No not the singing group… and no not real ones… I’m talking about sheep. Not just any sheep, my sheep. We finally had the shearer come out and shear the ladies (and ram) this weekend. They now have their summer Wool-do’s :). The last time they were sheared was last June I think so you are looking at a year’s worth of growth. It was probably 4-6 inches long maybe which is great for the winter time, but not so hot during the summer, or I guess technically it is HOT! It was time for a wool cut… not hair mind you :).
Here are the ladies when we called them in to feed them.
Muddy I think might have been counting them for me or something… LOL
This is the youngest of the clan. I thought this was a cute picture of her.
I think I actually interrupted her dinner.
Sorry Sweetheart!!
Gary got there and we got all set up. Now the ram, he’s tame as can be so I walked him up on Gary’s trailer and Gary got him in position. Now sitting on their rump like this doesn’t hurt them. In fact it’s rather relaxing to them believe it or not.
They sometimes even take a short nap, ok just kidding on the nap 🙂
The first place you start when shearing is the belly. On Rams (males) and ewes (females) that’s where all the valuable parts are so if you get them out of the way first you are better off.
One of the more trickier places is legs, but it’s not to bad. You just straighten their legs and buzz away.
If you shear it just right, you wind up with almost like a blanket of wool. It’s the easiest to pick up. Then he throws it in the bag there and I’ll sell it. It is worth nothing! Last year I had about 20 head of sheep sheared (same or so as this year) and I got $12 for one full bag. Nice huh 🙂
Gary gets into the bag and jumps the wool down so that more will fit in there. Then he put Tbug down in the bag to jump it down so we could get more in it. She absolutely loved it. Nothing scary or anything :). She was begging him after that to jump the wool down. He let her at the very end too. I wish we’d have gotten pictures. Maybe next year…
Here is what they look like after their wool is gone!
Bare and Naked!
PC had Tbug petting the ram. Actually it was her idea and so it was my idea to get a photo of it :).
There I am standing in the background. My job was to push the sheep through this shoot I’m holding on to so that they could run up on Gary’s trailer so he could get to them easier/faster.
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I’ll warn you now, the next photo isn’t for the faint of heart! I thought at First Tbug was going to scream or throw a fit but she made it through…. whew! :)… we did however have to get her some water.
If you don’t want to see turn back now!!!!
Don’t say I didn’t warn you…….
This is your last chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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If you are proceeding don’t blame me, I warned you
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She stepped in Sheep poop!
She has officially been dubbed into the farm life of Sheep 🙂
You aren’t officially a sheep person unless you’ve been pooped on, peed on, stepped in or covered in sheep poop or sheep snot… LOL.
Favorite line of all time by yours truly, I was at a show in high school showing a ram. Their’s comes straight out of their belly and a judge walked up and put his foot under the ram. I told him, “My ram sprung a leak.” I was trying to be nice and tell him if he didn’t want his boot peed on he better move it. He died laughing at me.
This is how my weekend started off. I have way more pictures and stories to show and tell. Although with my dSLR I shot in raw so dang, now I have to play in photoshop some more. I actually forgot it was set to RAW images. Thanks PC!! 🙂
A few weeks ago I went to Atwoods and they have their bulk candy bin. …
0 thoughts on “Bare Naked Ladies”
So what do you do with the wool? Do you spin it or sell it? (I can see you at your spinning wheel in one hand and Pioneer Woman blog in the other!) LOL!
If you can steal PC's Mac, iPhoto will let you manage the RAW images much easier and quicker than Photoshop. I export all my images for my blog anyway so I can make them smaller so it works well for me. If you need help, please let me know.
No I actually don't know how to spin wool. I've seen it done but to much work for me. I just have it sheared off and sell it. Actually Gary sells it for me and I get the check 🙂
And a lot of people are allergic to wool or don't like the itchiness of it so they prefer cotton. There is one type of wool off a Merano Sheep (mainly an Australian sheep) that is softer than cotton and doesn't itch.
So what do you do with the wool? Do you spin it or sell it? (I can see you at your spinning wheel in one hand and Pioneer Woman blog in the other!) LOL!
If you can steal PC's Mac, iPhoto will let you manage the RAW images much easier and quicker than Photoshop. I export all my images for my blog anyway so I can make them smaller so it works well for me. If you need help, please let me know.
Very cool post Nicole, I loved seeing how that all is done! Although, I dont envy Miss TBug with her poop experience,lol.
love it! what a great post, but i thought wool would bring in more money than that.
I have not gone to RAW yet, still researching and looking into it, I do love the shots you took though, gives me more to think about.
No I actually don't know how to spin wool. I've seen it done but to much work for me. I just have it sheared off and sell it. Actually Gary sells it for me and I get the check 🙂
And a lot of people are allergic to wool or don't like the itchiness of it so they prefer cotton. There is one type of wool off a Merano Sheep (mainly an Australian sheep) that is softer than cotton and doesn't itch.
Very cool.
I would love a pet sheep!!….is that weird? lol.
Yep, I'm allergic to wool! It sucks really, I love how warm and soft it can feel…but it makes me break out in red splotchy spots…not very pretty.
oddly enough, I'm allergic to wool too… call it crazy I know but I get the red splotches too!
I can't wear wool either. Some Merano, but I itch something awful! I'm itching just thinking about it. 🙁