It is spring and the sheep need a hair stylus, manicurists and generally a day to shed the old out of date styles, to start a new style for summer. An email to Garrett's Shearing Service and a date was set for the end of April.
The day before, Garrett called and to confirm the sheep were in the barn and dry. Bad news, they do not shear wet sheep and my sheep were all wet from one of the only rainy spells in weeks. New date would have to be set sometime in future.
The requirement to keep the sheep dry when it is raining meant that it was time to build lambing jugs (Stalls). I needed to secure the rams and ewes together, but apart and still to have room for shearing. The pens were built and Garrett was able to fit me in on May 30th.
The day before, Garrett called and to confirm the sheep were in the barn and dry. Bad news, they do not shear wet sheep and my sheep were all wet from one of the only rainy spells in weeks. New date would have to be set sometime in future.
The requirement to keep the sheep dry when it is raining meant that it was time to build lambing jugs (Stalls). I needed to secure the rams and ewes together, but apart and still to have room for shearing. The pens were built and Garrett was able to fit me in on May 30th.
The sheep seem to like their pens and the ewes sleep in them and often go in during the day to chew their cud. They do not like to be shut in all day, as they were on May 28th as it rained on and off all day. The 29th was a matter of put them in when the clouds got dark and let them out when they lightened up. The morning of May 30th found the sheep locked in the barn dry and fasting. The shearer confirmed that he would be here at 12:30 pm and all was ready.
Garrett arrived right on time, setup in the barn and the five sheep were sheared, hooves trimmed and he was packed up driving out the driveway in exactly one hour.
It was our baby ram who was the most upset through this process and he was the only one not done. It appears that he did not recognize his newly trimmed mother at first. Our two Rams also did not know each other and had to go through a short process of re-establishing who was who.
All in all it was a pretty good day with everyone checking out each other's new hair style and expressing their pleasure or displeasure with the outcome.
Garrett arrived right on time, setup in the barn and the five sheep were sheared, hooves trimmed and he was packed up driving out the driveway in exactly one hour.
It was our baby ram who was the most upset through this process and he was the only one not done. It appears that he did not recognize his newly trimmed mother at first. Our two Rams also did not know each other and had to go through a short process of re-establishing who was who.
All in all it was a pretty good day with everyone checking out each other's new hair style and expressing their pleasure or displeasure with the outcome.