Before and After

On Saturday, we had a shearer come out to finish up a few sheep who didn't get sheared on March 30.  Kora, a pied (spotted) black and white Finn ewe, was still too short-fleeced to shear back then, having been sheared in Fall 2009-- and there are people who really want that Finn fleece for spinning.

So we waited , and now before it gets really hot, we asked Jake Sirek to give her a haircut. Driving 40 miles to shear one ewe seemed ludicrous, so we asked Jake to clean up a few more ewes who couldn't be sheared well earlier, being "in the rise".  You non-Shetland folks, I can't explain that, because I don't get it myself.  I just know the shearer can't get under the lowest inch of wool, then, which turns into big mats of wool, later. 

Here, Kora and her twin lambies wait their turn for lamb vaccinations and Kora's haircut.  They licked clean the bin where alfalfa hay is stored.

After shearing, Kora actually looked a little thin.  But very, very comfortable.

This is a family picture of Finn ewe, Lassi, her ewe lamb Leila, and her ram lamb Lukas.  I still don't know about Finn colors;  whether this is what the Finn breeders would call plain "brown", or "fawn"-- being brown with an Ag "graying" gene, or what I would call a modified brown.  The finn breeders are rather new at colors, and therefore, at describing them.

Here, we see Mari the white Finn ewe and her white ewe lamb;  my old Little Red Oak Yarrow hiding in the corner, freshly shorn;  front and center is Leila again, and front right, Kora's ewe lamb, Heidi, is scooting past-- the lamb who had selenium deficiency last month.  She'd just gotten a pink ear tag and her Cdt shot.

Terri Drimel will take Leila home in a few weeks.  Her experience, this month, with losing another little brown Finn ewe made me want to bump up vaccinating the lambs against "overeating disease"-- clostridium?  So we took advantage of the cool, indoor lambing barn and ear tagged half (ran out of tags) and vaccinated and wormed all the lambs.  It felt good to get ahead of schedule this summer.  Now, we'll only have half as many to tag when our Scrapie Program vet tech comes out on July 9th, when we will give booster shots-- and know the lambies are protected.

I laughed until I cried

Okay, it was late, and the hilarious tremens often set in after midnight, right?

But I caught a link on another's blog and clicked, and read... and laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks.
So give it a try:
http://www.cakewrecks.com/

I'm going to add the link to my blog roll at right, for future guffaws.  It helps to offset the fierce seriousness with which some sheep breeders are taking our favorite critters, lately.  The arguments are sounding like those fought over religion or politics, here in North American Shetland land.  Not about animals, not sheep.  Maybe about being right.
I hope you find a smile in the Cake Wrecks, instead, as I did.

Soon I will post photos of lambies available for out-placement to good homes.  I took a quick dash through the list of ewes and babes this weekend and managed to, mentally, sell, HALF the sheep.  But that means 24 of 48.  Not enough.  Will keep working on this.
Still, plenty of brown and other lambies for everyone.  Take two!

Two polled ram lambs this year, both musket.  You can have ONE.  I will keep the other.

More to follow.
Laugh yourself silly.

Bluebell and her twinners

My old friend, Highland Hollows Bluebell is what, 6 this year?  We just counted up the 5 sets of twins she's had for us at Little Red Oak Farm, so, yes. . .
and for the first time, she stopped leading her babies away from us.  She came over to my bench in the shade some days ago and asked to be petted.  Her little POLLED musket boy, Forrest, wants the same-- but we don't pet ram lambs, here--
and her little white ewe lamb, Forsythia, hangs back shyly.  They plopped down to rest awhile.

(As always, double click on photos to biggify.)


Next, I pulled together a photo of one of Yarrow's ram twins;  he has good head splashes--and will throw spots, I'm quite certain.  His horns are strong, so I'd rather he move to another farm.  The only picture I had also happened to have Emily with the ever-friendly Kimi and her babies in it.

Kimi's spotted Finn Ewe lamb-- and more Finns.

For Terri to see! I see the photo's a little fuzzy, but so is she!
Here is proud Mama Lassi's (finn) with her brown ewe and ram lambs.  The first of 3 lambs didn't make it.  The little spotty ram may go to live in New York.

And another of Kimi's two ewe lambs: