That's what my shearer/farrier said today when he tipped Brava - ha! (He has "big whites.") Yes, Brava and Dinah were sheared today; I spared Inky the manhandling. Her fleece is rooing so I will work on her as I have time. I can feel the old gal's bones under her wool in spite of the extra concentrates she gets; I'm a little afraid to see what she really looks like underneath!
Back to my final two "sausages." Here's what they looked when I turned them out this morning:
What is under those coats? Why, clean, debris-free wool, of course!
Brava was a bit "sticky" to shear, but Dinah's fleece came off like butter. After the "after" photos, below, they got fresh (smaller) coats and went back to their confused lambs. I think everyone will agree now that Brava is musket, no? (And yes, both are "well fed." They should share with Inky!)
I took side samples from both girls before shearing; I now have samples from all my adults and will send them to Texas A&M tomorrow for micron testing. I am very interested to see what I have in my flock. Regardless of the numbers, however, I know how much I LOVE to spin fleeces like Dinah's and Brava's!
That's it for now at . . .
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9 comments:
Wow. What a difference! It's like they were washed and put in the dryer. ;-)
Now I can see why people use coats on their sheep, so much cleaner. Lovely fleeces, I bet you will have fun spinning them.
What a great quote by your shearer! And how old is Inky?
Wow! What brand of coats do you use?
What a difference the coat makes. It certainly is worthwhile to put a coat on the sheep's coat. LOL I bet it is much easier on them too as they will not get their wool tanngled on branches and things. I bet they will feel very frisky with all the weight of that wool gone.
Karen, Inky is eight years old and has had lambs every year of her life - a total of 17. When I got her I knew she was in tough shape, but wanted to take a chance on her. She is such a sweetheart, with hardly any white fibers in her black, black fleece, and I love her head shape and big eyes. She gave me two fabulous lambs this year; hurray!
Sarah, I used Rocky Sheep Suits; they're the best!
Nice fleeces =- are you going to enter them at Black Sheep? T.
Gorgeous fibers!!! Looks like a dream to spin!
Our shearer says to keep putting some apple cider vinegar in the water to help with that "stickiness" in the wool. We have a couple that have lovely fleeces, but hard to shear due to it. :)
I sure hope Miss Inky is OK - she's quite the ole Gal, isn't she. :)
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