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Sheep shearing at the neighbor's
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Posted by valleyrimgirl 2b (My Page) on Sun, May 4, 08 at 22:16
| Today was very interesting. I felt like a elementary school kid going on a school field trip.
Our neighbors have 150 ewes and 5 rams. They had them sheared today. My DH and I (and my camera, of course) went down to see what was happening.
The first thing I saw were all the ewes. They were expecting for about 2 weeks from now. Sheep have between 1 and 3 lambs but they only have 2 teets so when there are 3 they have to share.
The guy was busy in the barn shearing when we got there. He hung from a harness attached to the roof. This made it easier on his back although he said he had been doing this since he was young so he was used to it.
Here is one almost done. When he flips the sheep on its back it can not get up. This is one reason that they shear the sheep when they are close to delivering. When pregnant and in need of a shave they can not get up if they were to ever fall down onto their back. Also, they shear them now so that when the ewe delivers she doesn't lay on her newborn lamb(s). If not shaved she would be unable to feel the little lamb underneath her.
They put a ram as the lead in the chutes because all the ewes will follow the ram and so, his job all day will be to stand there. Rams are a lot harder to shear because they weigh a lot more and put up a lot more fuss. This one will be the last to be done in the day.
The border collie doing his job. There is a lot of eye contact between the dog and the sheep taking place.
All done!!
In a few weeks we are going to go back and see the little lambs. With 150 ewes there should be close to 300 little lambs running around. That will be quite the sight to see!
Think I will bring my camera along again!
Brenda
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Sheep shearing at the neighbor's
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| That's so cool Brenda! I used to live in England on a farm with lambs and I couldn't decide if they were more adorable or delicious... what a dilemma, LOL. The shaved ones sort of look like they wonder what just happened to them. |
RE: Sheep shearing at the neighbor's
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| I bet you this was quite interesting to see in person. Shelley |
RE: Sheep shearing at the neighbor's
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| I think that we will enjoy the lamb when we get one from him. He has 4 or 5 that the truck didn't have room for last fall that he has still at the farm. One of them has our name on it. Yum! Gil, if you grew up in England, what brought you to Canada? Do you have the English accent too? Any special lamb recipes for me???? The wool on the sheep was about 4" deep. So thick and warm!! You felt like just digging your hands into it. Another thing I learned was that sheep have baby teeth or milk teeth but each year they get 2 adult teeth. They have no teeth on the top in the front, just thick gums so that they pull and tear off little clumps of grass with. First the two front bottom incisors come the first year, 2nd year one on each side of those, 3rd year one more on each side of those again. I think this happens for 4 years, until they have 8 tiny adult teeth and then about 4 years from then, they are literly ground down and they slowly start to lose them. They do have molars a way back in the jaw that they grind the hay, alfalfa or grass sideways with, not up and down like we do. As a former dental assistant I found this very interesting. Brenda |
RE: Sheep shearing at the neighbor's
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| When they grind that jaw they can really do damage to your fingers if you put them inside the mouth. YOW! If a sheep lays down facing uphill, it cannot get up, if it rolls onto it's back it could just lay because it can't get up. We raised them and I love the babies and their wool reminds me of wolly thyme. Also another reason for shearing is flies. Easy to get maggots buried in that wool... They have some strange health issues you have to be up on and give them shots for. Wonderful pictures, haven't seen shearing for awhile. The wool is really nice to touch and leaves your hands so soft but stinky. LOL I used to have to be the one in the wool sack stamping down the wool, my bare feet felt so nice afterwards, but it's a hot job. |
RE: Sheep shearing at the neighbor's
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| They rolled the wool into a large armful and then put it into a round machine type tube that would push the roll of sheep wool tight and then would make it into a bale. Then these bales went somewhere in Ontario to be sorted, cleaned and processed. He said that with selling the bales of wool it wouldn't even pay for the guy to come and shear the sheep. He just had to look at it as a necessary thing to do when raising sheep. Any recipes for me to try later??? Brenda |
RE: Sheep shearing at the neighbor's
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| Brenda, nope I was born here but my Dad's from England and I have gone back and forth a few times. I lived there for a year after high school which is when I lived next to the sheep farm. I have an awful Manitoba accent. I have a couple of ideas for you:
GREEK LAMB KLEFTIKO
2 lamb chops (I prefer shoulder chops for this)
2-1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium clove of garlic, slivered
salt & pepper
1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp lemon juice Preheat oven to 400. Brush 2 pieces of foil (parchment paper is traditional but I use aluminum foil) with olive oil. Score meat and stud with slivered garlic.
Sprinkle remaining ingredients over meat. Close foil over meat and roll edges tightly to seal. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and cook 40 minutes more. Another good one is Scotch Broth Soup, I don't have a recipe but if you make soups you should be able to figure it out... lamb, turnip, pot barley, carrots, onions, salt & pepper, celery seed, bay leaf, rosemary. For those who don't have a friend with a farm, Superstore sells bags of frozen cubed lamb which is about 1/3 meat, 1/3 fat and 1/3 bone and it makes excellent soup. You have to boil it for several hours, pick out the bones, cool and skim the fat, and you have a great meaty stock to make soup or stew. |
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