Readying for this Weekend’s Shepherds’ Harvest

May9

I’ve been working towards the Shepherds’ Harvest weekend for months now, but it wasn’t until this morning that it turned out I will be in my own booth.  I’m not sure where that will be.  The North Star Farm Tour was ousted from Building A so we are dispersed to the commercial buildings and out-of-doors.

Five of my fleeces are entered in the Fleece Competition and Silent Auction: 2 dark gray Babydolls, 1 off-white Babydoll, 1 super black Finn x Doll, and 1 bright white Finn x Doll.  All of these are from animals that wore protective coats for much or all of the year leading up to shearing.

I will  be bringing additional skirted fleeces, rovings, top, quilt batting, and yarn – all natural colors. I’m throwing in a photo of myself and Sasha, my livestock-guardian-dog-in-training so you will recognize me when you see me this weekend.

 

Calvin’s first fleece – intense black but smaller

Tammy’s fleece (will be in competition) – gorgeous grays and SOFT!

Becka’s fleece will be in competition. She is half Finn half Babydoll.

A sampling of the fiber that will be for sale next weekend (or any day on-line). It does not include items yet from this year’s shearing, like super black lamb and a wool/alpaca blend.

Natural Babydoll Lambswool – Olivia.

Me and my new LGD Sasha.

Bottle Babies Find a Loving Home

Apr14

The story didn’t start out so happy.  I found little Dylan almost frozen – neglected by his mother and left to die at 1 day old. I’d checked his mom and it wasn’t a matter of no milk to be had, but that was the past – he needed help FAST.  I tube fed him with some nice warm milk replacer and bundled him in towels.  It was a work day so he and all the paraphernalia was bundled into a box and off we went to work. He never picked up much steam that day – even his sucking response was weak and he wasn’t on his feet as he had been right after birth.  A good friend and fellow lamb lover brought over some hot packs to microwave to wrap him with to help bring up his temperature.  His mouth got warm, but he didn’t seem to have much will to live.

After work, in one final effort to save him, I gave him 2 ounces of milk with a syringe (no sucking required).  Low and behold – about 2 hours later he began to hold his head up and ask for food!  He was walking within 4 hours, but because he had been so close to death by starvation, I needed to feed him little meals each 2-3 hours. The following day I was excited that he had made the 2 day mark – when they get their ear tag, tail band, and registration mug shot.  I weighed him and his brother and noted his brother had lost weight since birth. I watched him closely. He was persistently following mom around and had an arched back.  Against strenuous objections from both mom and baby I added the second boy, Duncan, to the bottle baby routine. He had strong sucking response so it wasn’t for lack of trying that he’d gone hungry.

Dylan in with the older lambs and moms.

Duncan, king of the straw bale… for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next two nights the temperatures were down in the teens so I set up a lamb camp in the basement inside my dog pen.  The new routine was to leave them with the older lambs during the day if I was at home and bring them into the house at night.  If it was a work day, they’d hang out in the bed of my pick-up and get fed their mid-day meal on the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as they graduated from 4 to 3 feedings a day, I received a call asking if I had any bottle babies for sale.  This woman’s niece was interested in being part of a 4H project where she needed to care for a bottle baby for 2 or more weeks.  Eureka! With more than a few texts and phone calls we arranged for the 2 boys to be picked up the following day. Going to a new home in Iowa meant they needed health certificates from the vet.  Vets are incredibly busy people this time of year, but I was able to book a time and took the boys over in a medium dog carrier and they checked out.

The boys charmed their way into the hearts of their new Aunt and Gramma and soon were on the road to their new home and lots of snuggles to come.  …and they lived happily ever after… under assumed names.

 

Preparing for Lambing & Shearing Invitation

Mar14

Right off the bat I invite anyone interested to stop in to watch (and perhaps take part in) the annual shearing event this Saturday, March 17th at Prairie Plum Farm.  Shearing will start between 10 and 11 a.m.  Actual starting time is a little fluid as the shearer has one farm to attend to before me.   Come early (9:30?) … I’ll have hot beverages, you can see the flock in their heavily padded “before” state, AND I already have lambs to cuddle. I’ll be serving lunch afterward in the greenhouse.

Becka with babies all tagged and with tail bands are free to roam the south end of the greenhouse.

New for 2018… Like many newer animal farmers, I’m expanding my flock with each season.  I’m expecting to have between 28 and 31 lambs this year compared with 19 last year.  In a pinch, the 2017 feed bunkers would do, but the girls are really big right now with their full fleeces and growing babies. They want their space. To oblige and reduce ranker and stress, I constructed 2 6′ feed bunks (based on Premier1 plans.) Thank you, Carol, for your help!

Another addition this year is a chute for handling flow of the sheep – (purchased from Premier1) to aid me in doing more with the flock without help and to reduce stress and hassle – especially on shearing day.  If such a system can keep Bets Reedy and Diane Crane farming sheep into their 80s, sign me up as well!  

All 14 expectant ewes dining at once. The new chute is in the upper right.

I’ve invested in improved electrical service to the barn.  This will be helpful for shearing, but also powering the various tank heaters and, possibly, heat lamps.

Something to improve my comfort with extended watches in the barn, is a composting toilet.  This will be situated in the upper barn in close proximity to the lambing activity.  It should be ready for this weekend’s shearing event! (No more chemical toilets!)

Also arriving this weekend is a 12 week old Pyrenees x Anatolian Shepherd guard-dog-to-be. I’m hoping to have this little lady help me ward off the coyotes that abound in the area. As I move the larger flock to pastures further from the house, the opportunity for the surrounding packs to poach a few lambs could be irresistible.

Stop by this Saturday – and feel the fluff!  RSVP would be appreciated.

New Ewes in the Breeding Flock for 2018

Dec20

I haven’t lots of images of my recent additions, but here are a few along with brief descriptions of their traits.

Bashful my youngest breeding ewe living up to her name and avoiding the camera. She is Hattie’s daughter and is fading early to a lovely light charcoal already for her second fleece. She reminds me of a panda with her distinct black eye rings which keep her from being a fuzz-face. No trimming around the eyes was necessary in recent worming/trimming session. Though not determined to be pregnant with the ultrasound, I expect just a single and it may be quite late in the season.

Head profile shot of Grace showing darker mousy tan nose often seen in Babydolls.  I’m excited to see what her babies (2!) will look like!

Maisey, another recent addition from Nebraska.  She has a history of twinning and nice leg set.  She is, however, QR at codon 171 so may produce some lambs that will be discounted (unless they are to be wethered). Blood tests will be done to determine gene status of all lambs sold for breeding.  She is expecting twins again this season.

North Star Farm Tour

Sep21

I will once again be taking part in this very enjoyable event.  Carly, Brea? and I, along with wool and fruit products will be traveling to Melodee and Hugh Smith’s Clearwater Yak farm outside Welch, MN for the weekend of September 3oth/ October 1st.  I just got back a bunch of roving that I will be selling.  Hope to see you there!

http://www.northstarfarmtour.com/

 

Olivia’s off-white Babydoll rovings. More off-white besides her’s will be available.

Tammy’s rovings (Babydoll).

Fergie’s rovings (Babydoll) Warm light brown.

Finn x Doll twin combined rovings. (greater portion of their fleeces were sold as coated raw fleece). First fleece and luxurious! Brighter white than Babydoll.

Penny’s rovings. Darkest Babydoll.

Moonshadow, the Shetland’s, pindrafted rovings. Beautiful silver!!

Hattie’s Babydoll rovings. Cooler lt. brown.

 

Shepherd’s Harvest Outcome

May17

It was a wonderful time at Shepherd’s Harvest in Lake Elmo, MN this past weekend.  Unlike last year when I borrowed mittens, both days were warm and sunny.  The fleece competition went about as well as could be expected.  Three of my four fleeces got first place ranking (blue) and the 4th got 2nd place – because it was competing against one of my other fleeces.  I was especially happy about receiving 2 ratings of 19, 1 of 18, and 1 of 17 out of a possible 20 pts. for cleanliness and purity.  In all, I sold 8 plus 2 halves out of 10 fleeces taken to the event, so I am very satisfied.  One customer already reported back that she spun some from one of my fleeces “in the grease” and loved it!  I got to talk sheep and wool the entire 2 days, plus was able to see friends and the other exhibits.  It was great!  I’m looking forward to seeing some of the folks who stopped at the both at the North Star Farm Tour September 30th and October 1st.  I’ll be at Clear Spring (Yak) Farm with a couple of this year’s lambs and more wool.

The display got a little sparse towards the end. Note the ribbons displayed on the card/rovings rack.

 

Shearing Day at Prairie Plum Farm

Mar19

It was a super busy day at Prairie Plum Farm on Saturday.  Guests pitched in and helped shear the flock – learning as they went.  There were also 2 new arrivals – ram/ewe twins, tentatively named Calvin and Calista from Hattie and 5 lambs were reserved to go to new homes.

Steve Johnson showing good form holding Beck a in the on-deck circle.

Naomi Johnson and Ken Heidlebaugh taking a break after cornering Bashful and removing her coat for shearing.

Brent Winslow in the middle of shearing, Carol Wiegrefe and Moonshadow watching. He’s hoping for an opening so he can make a jail break.

Kari Jovaag awaiting fleece to scoop up, Lilly contemplating next coat to hand over, and Carol discussing some random sheep with Sara West.

Larisa Walk and Hailey working out the intricacies of the bag holder for storing the new fleeces.

The newly shorn ladies in their new spring attire.

The first morning for Hattie’s twins. Watchful mom to upper right.

Twin sisters (Fergie’s) cuddling in the corner of their jug.

Woodworking for the Flock

Mar14

Lately I’ve made time to repair or build a few items to make the sheep wrangling go more smoothly:  

The canvas sheep coats will now be sorted and out of the perpetual road dust in their new coat closet.

The young ewes had their hay bunker repaired and bars installed across the ends to discourage entry and soiling the feed.  

The new feed bunkers have a removable bench piece to expand seating during Saturday’s shearing open house.

Fantastic Fleeces

Feb18

I’ve become super excited about this coming season’s shearing!  This week I was out changing up coats on the flock to keep ahead of growing wool and got to see and feel their fleeces – up close and personal.  They so impressed me that I’ve decided to enter a number in the fleece competition at Shepherds’ Harvest fiber festival this May.  If all goes as planned, here is the line-up:

Sheep          Division                  Class                Breed

Olivia           Purebred                 Medium         Babydoll Southdown

Adrien         Purebred                 Medium         Babydoll Southdown

Becka          Colored                   Medium?       Babydoll Southdown X Finnsheep

Bro              White                      Medium?       Babydoll Southdown X Finnsheep

Below are a few close-up images of the wool beneath the coats.  Nina’s fleece is always longer than most, but she was only coated since November, so Olivia’s, who also trends longer, will be entered.  She’s been coated since last shearing.  The Finnsheep crosses may be fine enough that the judges will move them to the fine category.  There they would be up against Merinos who have very fine textured wool.  Since cleanliness is highly weighted, I’m thinking they should do fine anyway.   I am planning – time permitting – to post pictures/ weights of fleeces and offer for sale on this website.  The fleeces exhibited at Shepherds Harvest will be auctioned off there (unless I get an “offer I cannot refuse” 😉 ).  I am also planning a shearing day open house (March 18th) where newly shorn fleeces can be purchased.  My coat provider, Rocky, was telling me that it’s been a good wool growing year with some flocks growing into sizes of coats they’ve never had to use before.  Click on each image for a close up look at their crimp!

Nina’s back wool – luscious and long!

Adrien’s back wool – still nicely dark.

Bro’s back wool – perhaps 4″ long!