Shearing Day

First of all: I have received so many nice comments lately and I haven't had time to answer. Thank you for reading my blog folks. Please know that I appreciate your comments, and I enjoy reading your blogs every week. Since I enjoy other people's stories too, I would like to recommend the links on the sidebar. Shepherds everywhere are having beautiful, unique lambs born and if you like lamby pictures, you really should visit these other blogs too. One can never drink in too many lamby photos! :)

Anna has not lambed. Nor does she seem to be the least bit inclined to do so. It is almost 60 degrees here and she is out there blandly chewing her cud. Next year, when she starts looking full term, I will simply count out another 30 days and then mark the calendar. I won't even pretend to think I know due dates anymore.

Yesterday was Shearing Day. Everything went very smoothly. Only a couple of sheep received very tiny nicks. I really appreciate how careful Byron is with the sheep and their underparts. He does swear a blue streak, but he does such a good job that I can handle it. Truthfully, Shetlands are very wiggly and not the least bit cooperative when set upon their rumps. At least mine are. I'm pretty sure they test his patience. I just feel very fortunate to have a good shearer close by.

I am always nervous to see what kind of condition the sheep are in under all that wool. This year I supplemented quite a bit because of our mineral deficiencies. The sheep finally look as good as I would like them too. The rams received no extra feeds, though, and they still look great. Rachel, who is built like a Holstein cow, was the only one that looked skinny. She always does. And I know she got her fair share of the grains this winter. So she either needs extra or she is just old and dairy cow shaped. Either way, she will continue to get supplements until she fills out a bit more.

As for the lambs on the ground, I am happy to say they all seem to be thriving now. Nadin is steady on her feet and likes to bounce around the jug. Asa named his ram lamb, Bam. He is such a confident little guy the name suits him very well. Isaac named his white ewe lamb, Vyvyan Bloem-which means "white flower." He came up with that all by himself! It's a pretty name for a pretty little ewe.