Shearing DIY videos

A few years ago, I would not have guessed how much I would enjoy leaving my 12 year old in charge in the house and going out to shear a sheep on a nice day. If you try shearing your own sheep and are frustrated or afraid you will get injured, find someone else to do it. Your sheep should bring you joy.

Fawn, about to get her annual haircut. Video credit: Rachel, 8.

 

Gem getting a rollover so I can shear her other side.
A quick clip of actual shearing. I always start with the belly and discard that wool before working on the main fleece. If I were trying to maximize my wool yield, I would start lower and leave some of this wool with the fleece. Gem gets a little ticklish/squirmy for me in this one.

Shearing 2019:

Below: Brutus, about to be shorn; Me with a black yearling in my lap for shearing; Emily trying hand shears with before and after shots of Dolly; Flopsy, freshly shorn; skirting fleeces; our clippers; Frank rocking the pitchfork.
2022 update: This will be my 4th year shearing all the sheep myself. I like this job even though some of them give me a bit of a rodeo.

Sheep and Lambs: Pasture Life

Sam and Emily with Callaway, mini stud, and Diego, flock sire
We tried using bells on the ewes one summer. This is Quarter with a nice, solid-looking set of twins.
The flock getting let out into fresh grass.
She was so excited when lambing season started on her birthday!
Corn snack in the snow
Yearling ewes
Rachel with Snowball and her twins
Most of our ewes are in the 19-21 inch range.

Ponies at work:

Wool:

Here are a few pictures of Millie and Tillie’s yearling fleeces start-to-finsh. This was my first attempt at shearing. It took about 2 hours each with the hand shears.

Milk and Cheese:

In 2015, Ben and I milked 10 ewes for a month.  Close to weaning time, we separated the lambs from their mothers during the night, let the ewes out to graze, and put them all on pasture together after milking in the morning.  Babydolls are not a milk breed, and yield was only 1-2 cups per ewe per day, but it gave us insight into which ewes in our flock have the best udders and ability to produce milk.  I didn’t take any pictures of the actual milking process, but here are some of the things we made.  Yogurt (not pictured) with honey was the kids’ favorite.  On its own, the milk itself was sweet and mild.

Farm Life

A few pictures from both our farm locations:
Our hay is made from prairie grasses.
Who’s leading who?
Don’t eat the chicken scraps, Dusty and Jasper!
Mother/daughter 12 mile trail ride
Jack the cat and homespun yarn
Grandma’s place – a cowgirl’s paradise!
The grass is greener…
A black lamb named… LILY!
Remus lost his mom and was raised on a bottle.
Baby James meets baby Lily.
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