Last week we had the sheep sheared for the first time. We were lucky to have a wonderful shearer named Nancy Meyers who was willing to talk to us and give us tips, etc. She said the sheep were looking good, and except for all the vegetable matter in their coats, the fleece was gorgeous. We knew we had to set up a different feeder style so the hay doesn't sit on their necks and so the rams cannot sleep UNDER the feeder, making for hay monsters in the morning. Here is a quick look at some of the shearing.
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| Maxine, pre-shearing |
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| Arwen - pre-shearing |
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| Sam being sheared |
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| Nice crimp in this fleece |
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| Rosie was the least happy of all of them |
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| Arwen shorn |
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| Maxine shorn |
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scraps of fleece showing the colors of the fleeces
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After the shearing - as in three days later, Maxine gave us a beautiful set of little black hst twins. Drew arrived for morning feeding and chores and they had just been born. The ram is Aragorn, and the ewe is Eowyn. They are doing well - eating, gamboling about the pen, and sleeping well. We put them in little sweaters as Saturday was raw and windy and we wanted to help them keep warm. They are the remainders of a felted sweater I made slippers from this winter, but the sleeve remnants were the perfect size. They are cut in such a way that it looks like they are trying to be super heroes. I just call them Super Ram and Super Ewe.
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| Just about an hour old |
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| Aragorn |
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| Super Ewe in the foreground and Super Ram behind |
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| Eowyn is not going hungry |
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| Arwen, still VERY pregnant - we are hoping for triplets from her, and a little worried it might be quads. |
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| Our noble Elrond, always on guard |
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| tired little lambs |
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| King of his corner |
