New to our Farm: Leicester Longwool Sheep

After many, many months of really wanting these sheep and thinking I wouldn't be able to find and/or afford this breed, I found some locally that we could buy! The sole registered breeder for this breed in Utah decided to liquidate her flock. Unfortunately, we missed out on being able to purchase the other ewes, but were able to buy a 2 yr old ewe and her wether/ram lambs and a very pretty silver yearling ram. The breeder's husband delivered them to our house on a very sunny, warm day. It was funny seeing them drive up to the house because you could literally hear them while they drove down the hill. Sheep in a trailer are LOUD!

First thing that I noticed with these sheep (after their loudness) was their WOOL! Oh my holy wooliness, they are the quintessential fluffy white British Isles sheep! When they arrived at our farm they had at least 6-8" of wool on the adults. The babies even had a nice 2-3" on them, and they're only 2 months old!

I honestly wish we'd started out with these sheep instead of the Soay sheep we bought first. They are much more docile, better on the eyes and because they're critically endangered it's a worthwhile effort to keep a small flock of them going just to help maintain and expand their numbers in the US.

Shearing Day

It was a fun Thursday morning here on our little farm: the shearers came to buzz our sheep! The sheep were a little upset and/or confused at why they had to be penned up and then manhandled by some very large men with buzzing metal contraptions, but overall handled it fairly well. At 9:30am the shearers called us up to let us know they were here and I let them back into the area we had the sheep penned so they could set up their equipment. I can't say enough positive things about this shearer. He and I have been playing phone tag over the past month trying to figure out a day that would work best for both him and us in getting these sheep sheared. Unfortunately, in Utah it seems like it's pretty hard to find a shearer. People just don't have a lot of sheep here, at least in Northern Utah. Central Utah is a different story, where there's plenty of sheep and shearers. He was very gentle with our sheep and even the ram, who was less than enthusiastic about being shorn.

About half way through the shearing our nanny brought the kids outside to watch. They were fascinated by the entire process, and also a little confused at why there were people in their backyard.  In the end our haul was 2 absolutely gorgeous fleeces from our ewe and ram. After this shearing I definitely want to add at least 2, maybe 3, more sheep to our flock to get not only some more genetic diversity to our flock, but also for the fleeces! It's motivating me to brush up on my knitting skills and learn how to spin.

Our newly shorn sheep actually glisten in the sunshine. Their wool has a luster to it, just like silk! Honestly, I wasn't much of a fiber enthusiast prior to this shearing, but now I have to say I'm sold. These are some gorgeous sheep. Even the shearer was impressed with these guys - he kept commenting on how he wanted to get himself a few of these sheep because they were just so nice.

Moving the Coop

Because of my run-in with the business end of a skunk the other day - and the fact that our henhouse was kind of a disaster allowing said skunk to get in way too easily - I enlisted the help of our intrepid nanny (aka 'the muscles') to help me clean out/move the coop. Since I'm still recovering from the c-section and can't lift/push/whatever more than 10 lbs it's been a little frustrating trying to keep up on chores around here. So, stuff like moving coops that's been on my list forever hasn't gotten done - until today. :D

Now to just worm/de-louse/de-mite these hens and we'll be in business. The muscles will be helping me with that one too!

Skunk in the henhouse

Yup. We've got skunks. Again. Can I say I don't like skunks? Nope. I dislike them with a passion. We had another skunk casualty last week - one of our RIR hens was attacked and killed by one. Last year we had a skunk kill our other RIR hen. I think this skunk must just like RIR chickens. How do I know it's a skunk? I caught it red handed going after my hens. I see hens scrambling outside in the dark, very upset. So I tell my husband something is after our hens and head out to see what was going on, thinking MAYBE it wasn't a skunk (but knowing it probably was...). I look in the coop and see a BIG skunk eating 2 eggs. After he couldn't catch a hen he decided eggs were the next best meal. Stupid, stinky skunks.

Meanie pants rooster

He's GONE! A couple of very nice people came and picked him up on Friday, so no more picking on my rooster. Mr. Roo is still in hiding and a little leary of being in the coop, but hopefully that goes away. The other two roos are letting him eat and not picking on him, so I'm hoping he'll get over his exile soon. YAY!

Today I get to strip cloth diapers (lucky me). I usually buy the Rockin' Green ammonia detergent, but since I'm out and don't feel like buying another bag I'm going to try boiling them with a little dawn dish soap. I heard it works pretty well. We haven't been using the cloth diapers as much because our inserts just stink. Here goes nothin'...