Adult Supervision

Elsie watches her lamb Sassy try out a peanut or two.

Peat, Pecan, & Bucky's Big Day

 Peat, Pecan, and Bucky were sheared yesterday.  Why those sheep?  We chose boys (wethers to be exact) because we did not want to stress out any of the ewes so close to breeding season.  (They'll be going in with Timmy, our ram, in about two weeks.)  We also chose the ones with the biggest fleeces.

First up, Pecan.  A before picture from last year at about this time:

Some action shots:

He looks so much smaller now that he's been sheared!

Next up, Peat.  Here's what he looked like Friday morning:

Being sheared.  (Very surprisingly, he was the best behaved out of the three boys.)

Now, Peat looks like a tiny, silver sheep. 

That's his half-brother Bucky in with him.  I don't have any action shots of Bucky.  He was a little nervous, being sheared for the first time, and that made me too nervous to take pictures.  (In other words, he thrashed around a bit.)  Both of Henrietta's boys look so lovely that it makes me question not breeding her ever again...

From a quick glance, their fleeces look like they are in great shape.  I'm going to skirt them in the next day or two, take pictures, and list them on here.  I also have milled roving from our spring shearing (Tricot--black, Hazel/Filly--musket, Sandy/Peanut/Almond--white, and Theresa/Quartz--very light grey) that I will be listing.

It's Fighting Season, Too

Most of the ewes have been fighting among themselves recently.  It always happens this time of year, whether it's the cooler temperatures or the increased hormones.  It's not really fair to pick on Czadas and Peanut, but here are some scenes from their scuffle yesterday.

I was a little worried about Peanut as Czadas is a sturdy and feisty girl, but Peanut held her own.  (And the ewes never really hurt each other, unlike the rams sometimes will.)

I'm not sure what the cause was but perhaps it was hormones.  Czadas was checking Timmy out just a few minutes before it all started...

It's Coat Time!

The ewes are wearing their coats.  Some of the boys are, some are not, because we ran out of coats. 

Tiffany, wearing the same coat as usual.  It's the biggest coat worn by any of the ewes.

Henrietta, also wearing the same coat as usual... the same lamb-sized coat. 

Hazel's coat fits just right.  When her fleece grows, she'll need to go up a size.

All the ewes, along with Mesquite, Bucky, and Barack O'Llama.  Pawlonia is not wearing a coat in this picture because she managed to get completely out of her coat by herself--something that's been tried by many but never accomplished.

We've Moved!

We've moved from Tennessee to Pennsylvania.  For the most part, everyone is settling in nicely...

Elvira

...although the llamas don't want to be separated from each other just yet.

Snowball and Barack O'Llama

More changes are coming.  Sheep coats are going on as soon as possible. Mimosa (who is quite obviously biting the hand that feeds her!) and Pawlonia will be wearing coats for the first time.

Mimosa and Pawlonia

Breeding season is right around the corner.  (Timmy can't wait. He's been eyeing the ladies through the fence, and he seems to approve.)

Almond and Timmy

Henrietta is taking the year off from breeding.  I know, I always say that....

Henrietta & some chickens

It will be Molly (and Marble, Opal, and Beryl)'s first year, and we're excited to see their lambs. 

Molly