Puppy Love, Nekkid Sheep, and Lambing about to Begin

The Cheviot is off her feed and if you have seen her, she is not one to miss a meal.  Today is the first day of possible lambs, starting with her to lamb first.  So I will keep this brief with words and leave you with some pictures.

Shearing went well.  The shearer that came due my regular shearer being injured, seemed to be pleasantly surprised with my Shetlands.  He raises Merinos so I will take a complement from him on their quality!

The puppies had their dew claws and tails done and are gaining well.  Rose is still a very attentive mother.  She is wonderful with people coming to see the pups, however has communicated with our other GSP Lucy that the same tolerance does not extended to other dogs.  Consequently Lucy has retreated to an upstairs bedroom the majority of the day and won't go near Rose or the pups.

Have to go do a barn check so here are the pictures:

Shearing Scheduled

Due to some extenuating circumstances my shearing date is pushed closer to lambing than usual.  It is set for March 19th starting at 10:00 am if anyone is interested in joining us, leave a comment or email me and I can give you the rest of the details.  If you come I may put you to work.  You will also get first dibs on fleece at a significant discount.  The shearer joking said he charges more for Shetlands in the rise.  I went out to take some photos to survey the situation.  Here is what I found:

 It is Zeus' mom!

Me Roo?  It is Storm I swear!

Certainly not us...well maybe Pearl!

Not just me...it is Violet too...where is she hiding!?

Shearing set for Sunday

Let me know if you want to join us for shearing or have a fleece that you are interested in.  If you email me, please use the yahoo address listed.  I am keeping Pearl's (grey), Marshmello's (white), Olympia's (fawn gully), a few katmogets (Opal, Carmel, and Zeus) and fleckets (Sprinkles and Dessie).  The reason being is that I still have white, grey, and fawn Alpaca to use up from my last visit to the Alpaca farm.  If you would believe it, I also have white mohair from when I had my Angora goats.  I also want to try to process the fleckets from start to finish on my own.  Which leaves 12 fleeces for sale:  Shetland musket (off white to oatmeal), various shades of moorit (brown), and black; as well as Corriedale grey, Cheviot white available for sale.  Prices for raw fleece range from 4 to 15 dollars pound... most about $10 a pound, which ends up about $40 for a fleece on average.  The Shetlands will give a 2 1/2 to 5 pound fleece.  The Cheviot 5 to 6 pounds and the Corrie 10 to 12 pounds.  Tax and shipping would be added.  If you want to join us for shearing and help skirt and bag, you will get a 10% discount.  Email for more information.