Saturday was a huge success!
Saturday morning was spent trimming hooves, vaccinating and worming. Everyone complied fairly well. We took a break for lunch and then the clippers and wool started to fly!
Here’s the setup. Not sure who snapped these little panoramic pics, but I thought they were kinda cool and captured a bit of the setup inside the shed. We have bags labeled for each ewe for their primo wool, and we have shopping bags for the second cuts and skirted wool which will be saved for non-spinning projects.
We have plenty of paper towels, because you can never have too many paper towels.
We have bandaids for Mommy, because the kids know that Mommy can be a shearing clutz and cut her fingers and thumb on her left hand. But alas, Mommy had a new weapon in the fight against left-hand cuts this time, which she will reveal later!
There’s also plenty of clipper lubricant and cooling spray, and, for when Mommy is a clutz and nicks one of the sheep, we have magic veterinary wound adhesive — skin super glue — ready and waiting. There are also a couple of water bottles for thirsty shearers.
You know the routine, girls…You’ve been through this before!
“Please,” says Bruna, “Do we REALLY have to go through with this?”
Age before grace. Millie, our matriarch, goes first, to be an example to the youngest girls, last year’s ewe lambs. Here she is before…
During…
And after…
A bit of clipper cleaning and lubricating in between…
Who will be next?
You can run, but you can’t hide!
But for now, you’ll be spared, Laverne and Shirley!
We like to get all of the white sheep done first, so as not to contaminate their wool with colored fibers. Esther is next.
She was very accommodating.
Before…
After…
Daisy…
Then Fatima, who we affectionatly call “Mini Millie”
And here I share my secret to a happy left had. A glove! Worked like a charm!
Ok, Bruna. Here we go!
And lastly, the squirrelly girls…
Shirley…
And Laverne…
This afternoon we’ll shear the rest…expectant mommies and then the boys…stay tuned!
Morning Star Meadows Farm 