Going fast

The sheep are working on the grass. With the shortness of daylight and cooler weather the grass is resting for the winter. Moved the bred ewes to the front pasture that still has lots of green grass for grazing. If there is any grass at all my sheep will graze, and turn their nose up at the best of hay, goats will eat hay anytime of year. Goats can never get their fill of roughage, it's what keeps them healthy. Took me a few years to figure that out. If you keep hay out year round for goats, they will stay healthy. Goats are browsers, not grazers, and once the browse is gone, they need hay. Goats need more protein than sheep, browse has more protein than grass. Those trees, blackberry, honeysuckle, leaves, and wild plants have lots of good stuff in them. Just ask a goat.

A bond

There is a bond between Kay and her goats. Snapshot has been down in the bottom pasture for a few months after weaning her kid. Brought her up yesterday and sheared her, she has a beautiful dark brown fleece and somehow managed to stay clean. Kay is licking her in the morning sun, reuniting the bond and welcoming her back to her herd. Kay cries when I move one of her goats to another pasture, as if she has them counted and knows each one by name. Maybe she does. Kay is one of the best dogs I have ever had around mothers when kidding and knows to keep her distance but hang close by, then clean up after the doe and kids move on to fresh pasture. She is close to twelve years old now and has worked for me since she was 8 weeks old. A faithful employee working everday of the year, night and day, a dog that has lived her passion.

For the love of wool

Many thanks to all the spinners and buyers of my wool and mohair. Even the smallest sale will help keep the flock fed and continue on another year. Lots of small businesses are closing, breaking even is one thing, but loosing money is another. Supporting small farms and businesses will surely keep this country going in tough times. Consider giving a local homegrown, handmade or homemade gift before buying that junk that travels so many miles, and how much fuel is wasted on that, in more ways than one, and most of it ends up in the landfill, forever. Wool and mohair is renewable and easy on the environment and then will return to the earth, eventually. Most of my fleeces are grown on grass, sunshine and rain. The does and ewes that are bred and nursing lambs or kids are given a small amount of grain and top quality hay to keep them from using their body reserves. It's a cycle that started with the beginning of time and will continue after we are gone with the support of those that love wool.

Frosty morn

Frosty mornings give way to warm beautiful days. The weather is perfect, it's a shame the daylight hours are not as long as summer days. The sheep really enjoy this weather. It will be time to shear their wooly coats soon. The bred ewes will be shorn before lambing, probably late January, lambs should start arriving in March. Last lambing season the weather was almost hot. The cooler fall days brought the ewes in heat early this year,so the lambs should arrive before the warmer weather. There are several first timers to lamb next spring, so I used a very sweet Finn ram, very colorful and should have nice fleeces for handspinning. Finn sheep are small and have multiple small lambs making it easier on the new moms.

Something new

I love the luster longwools. It started with Cotswold many years ago and when Wensleydales were bred in this country I knew I would someday try them and that day has arrived. This ram lamb is big and beautiful with tight crimped curls and a sweet attitude, that may change as he is young. I will be using him next fall, he will have a year to grow and adjust to his new climate. Getting acclimated to the south can take some time.

Mother of all

Jewell is the last registered Cotswold I have left, and the finest fleece of any Cotswold I have seen. At eleven years old she had twins this spring, thankfully both are ewe lambs. As always she had no trouble birthing the lambs, but I was worried about her gettting around, she is getting real slow and thin. She earned her place on the farm as she mothered the other ewe lambs when they were weaned. Jewell was kind to them and let them follow and sleep with her, taking them into her flock, teaching them to graze and be wary of the dog. I turned Jewell and the ewe lambs in with the bred ewes today and they preferred to stay with Jewell, following her and eating with her, ignoring their own mothers. Jewell, Mother of all.

So far

I am so far behind. Didn't get my kids shorn before SAFF so I am playing catch up. The weather is still nice, beautiful, and the kids are fat. They have fared well over the summer. A goat in good condition and fed well with free choice hay and a good barn can take the cold nights. A goat that is in poor condition and not the healthiest could get hypothermia. You have to know your goats. This buck kid had a ton of hair and would not grow as well had he not been shorn until spring. Mohair is heavy and needs to be shorn when ready so new growth can begin. I always shear my does before kidding, no matter the time of year, nothing could help her more.