Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Lambs For Sale

Wild Rose Farm Ewes In August
It's August and we've got ewe lambs & ram lambs for sale. All of the ewes have been separated off from the lambs and they've been grazing with Snow White ... see her in the upper right of the picture? Of course, they have been walking back & forth and she sees no need to follow them each time. Smart llama!
And why are they walking back & forth? We weaned the last 3 ewe lambs from their mothers the evening before this picture was taken. Those 3 ewes keep walking back to the gate to call for their lambs.  Occasionally, the rest of the flock follows them.  The 3 lambs are in the barn (penned up with the older lambs) and they keep bleating for their mothers. It takes about 2 days for them to settle down on both sides. Then it's peaceful & quiet again ...
Three Wild Rose Farm Ewes - Where Are Our Lambs?
Aside from working with the sheep, we were at the Hookstown Fair for several days. Here is the 1st Place wool hooked rug ... very nice entry again from this lady!
2017 Hookstown Fair - 1st Place Hooked Wool Rug 
Take a look at this massive heavy weight team from the Saturday morning draft horse pulling contest. They are from Florida and were on their way to somewhere north of here ... just "pull'in through" as they say!
2017 Hookstown Fair - Unhitching Heavy Weight Draft Horse Team From Florida

Saturday, August 26, 2017

2017 Lawrence County Fair

1st Place Rambouillet Ewe Lamb Resting 
After The Show
We made a trip to the Lawrence County Fair to see the sheep show. The Rambouillet ewe lamb that was picked up in late July seemed to be an old hand at showing and was resting calmly after the show.  It looks like she took the Penguin Stanley Cup Hockey theme seriously, lol!
We wandered around the grounds and spotted the Mercer County Spinners & Weavers Guild set up and doing spinning and weaving demonstrations. Their natural dye workshop sample cards caught my eye & reminded me that it's time to collect goldenrod & walnuts ...
Mercer County Spinners & Weavers Guild 
Natural Dye Sample Display Cards

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

New Ram Joins The Flock

Suffolk & Dorset Rams Ready To Unload
We traveled to the annual PDA Performance Tested Ram & Buck Sale on Saturday and brought home a new Dorset ram. Our friend went with us and got a Suffolk ram for his flock. It's always amusing on the ride home as passing cars, with both kids & adults, stare, smile, & point at the sheep.
Bidding Underway On A Suffolk Ram 
The auction picture above shows an interesting aspect of the sale ... the man seated on the stage is accepting internet bids while the Amish men in the front row join their English counterparts in the live bidding from the floor.  Hair sheep (Dorpers at this sale) seem to be getting more popular as sheep shearers are getting harder to find and year to year wool prices are erratic.  Also, meat goat bucks now far outnumber the rams being tested & sold. In watching the bidders, most of the goats were sold to folks from Eastern PA.
Dorset Ram Settles In At Wild Rose Farm