Off To A New Home!

Dorset Ram - You Say New Ewes Are Waiting For Me? 

Three sheep left this week for a new home. Our Dorset ram is off to new pastures where he'll be turned in with a new flock of ewes. We trimmed his hooves and put fresh raddle paint on his chest as an added bonus, lol.

Wild Rose Farm - Dorset Ewe Lamb

Two Dorset ewe lambs were selected and went along too. They are twin siblings born on May 11th out of our ewe Wild Rose Farm #117. We're keeping one Dorset ewe lamb & seven Rambouillet ewe lamb replacements for ourselves this year. Now all of the breeding ewes are in one group again with the Rambouillet ram. He'll stay out with them until some time in March. He's happier outside in a group and we don't have to take hay and water buckets to him every day in the barn pen.

Wild Rose Farm - Twin Ewe Lambs Loaded Up & Ready To Roll!

Pasture Scene ...

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ram & Ewes In Light Snow

There's really not much going on at all around the farm at this time of year. We had light snow early last week and now we've transitioned back to rain (again!). All of the ewes have been marked by the rams, so now we just leave them out there to clean up in case a breeding didn't "catch" … The Rambouillet ram above is enjoying his time with his band of 9 Rambouillet ewes. It goes without saying that you must exercise extra caution working around the sheep when a breeding ram is in the mix.

The Rams Are Busy Now!

Wild Rose Farm - Breeding Season Supplies ...

The sheep breeding season started the day after Thanksgiving here at Wild Rose Farm.  It was a little muddy around the barn with all of the rain we've had, but it was a relatively pleasant day.  The raddle powder is mixed with mineral oil and rubbed on the chest of the rams. The ewes are then marked on their rumps when they've been bred. That gives us a date to track so the we know when to expect the ewe to deliver her lambs in the spring. We also use the special spray paint to put each ewe's ear tag number on her hip. It's much easier to read the painted number than an ear tag from a distance! The paints weather or wash off over the winter. The little color remaining at shearing time is able to be scoured off of the wool. We also use the craft shears to trim up the back end of the ewes if needed, but everyone was pretty clean this fall.

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewes & Ram - Just Mixed Together

 This year we have our Rambouillet ram in with Rambouillet ewes & our Dorset ram in with the Dorset & crossbred ewes.  The 2 breeding groups are separated into different pastures. We also move the llama out of the pasture groups and into the barn with the ewe lambs.

Rambouillet Ram Panting After An Hour With The Ewes!

The first few hours in with the ewes are pretty exciting (and tiring!) for the rams.  The ram above immediately started following everyone and narrowed it down pretty quickly to one receptive ewe.
As of today, just under half of the ewes are marked and it's time to freshen the raddle paint over the weekend.

Indie Knit & Spin - A Fun Show!

Pittsburgh Indie Knit & Spin - View From The Wild Rose Farm Booth

We had a great time at the Indie Knit & Spin show at the Ace Hotel in Pittsburgh!  Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed shopping yesterday. The cold weather and dusting of snow on Saturday seemed to put people in the pre-holiday spirit. The room where the show is held is the old gymnasium of this converted YMCA building. It's used as an event center for receptions & parties and even comes complete with a disco ball(!).

Wild Rose Farm Naturally Dyed Yarn Before The Doors Opened!

 After setting up for the show, I took a few minutes to look around the hotel.  Such amazing old architectural details … heavy floor tiles, thick oaken handrails, and iron gracing the stairwell.

Pittsburgh Ace Hotel Handrails

Pittsburgh Ace Hotel Stairwell

Follow Us For Wool!

Wild Rose Farm #44 Ready & Packed Up For Pittsburgh Indie Knit & Spin!

We're all packed up and ready to go to Pittsburgh Indie Knit & Spin tomorrow!  We had our first snow of the season this morning and that should put everyone in the mood for wool.  We'll have our naturally dyed fine wool yarns, Rambouillet combed top, Dorset wool quilt batts, and some wool locks and llama locks for Santa beards and crafting.

Lace Weight Yarn Gently Simmering …

We finished up some dyeing earlier this week and got our new pencil roving packaged too.  The yarn is simmering in a stainless steel fish poacher that I found at a rummage sale this summer. Someone changed their mind & I don't think it was ever used - it still had stickers on it.  It's PERFECT for processing lace weight yarn since it tends to "felt" so easily if it swims around too much.
Let's leave you with a picture of the snow this morning on the roof of the new garage/studio.  When we get back from IKS, we'll unload all of  the yarn and wool into it's new home in the studio … finally!

1st Snow On The Studio Roof This Morning! 

What's Happening On The Farm ...

Wild Rose Farm Ewes Grazing

The cooler weather means that the sheep are happy and frisky now! There's a flush of fresh cool season grass to munch on too.  It also looks like we'll be able to schedule a fence repair "finally". I didn't mention it here on the blog, but for the 3rd time in 3 years, our fence above the Loafing Shed was hit by a car. It happened in late September and after yet another call to the driver's insurance agency, "the check is in the mail".

Fence Damage Above Loafing Shed

Luckily, the gate post wasn't hit. If it had been, there would have been more damage to the electrical wiring and a deeper post to pull and set. After running over some large stones, again even more fortunately, the driver wasn't hurt - the police report didn't say what caused the accident.

Fence Brace Knocked Off - Top "Hot Wire" OK.

Red Switch Open to Cut Power ...

Once we have the check in hand, we'll call our fencing contractor and get this repaired. For now we have welded wire panels secured in place to close the gap.
In other good news, we have almost completed the finishing touches on the "studio" above the new garage. I'll move the wool and yarn, plus the floor loom, in after the show this weekend. No sense moving it twice!  Come see me and another 25 vendors on Sunday, November 11th at The Ace Hotel in Pittsburgh for the November Indie Knit & Spin show!  Scroll down on the link and check out all of the older posts too to see what everyone is bringing!

Field Trip For Wool Growers!

Wool Intake Warehouse At Mid-States Wool Cooperative

Last week, I went with a group of sheep & wool producers on a field trip to Mid-State Wool Growers Cooperative in Canal Winchester, Ohio. The trip was set up by the Washington County Sheep & Wool Growers to help foster our relationship with the wool pool buyer. We got a great tour of the facilities from intake, through grading, and on to the shipping floor filled with packaged wool.

Stanley Grading Fleeces - Mid-State Wool Growers

The wool sacks are emptied by producer lot number and are fed up a conveyor where each fleece is individually graded and weighed. Each fleece travels in an individual basket and is conveyed to the appropriate graded bin … all tracking is computerized and the total is summarized for each producer.

Wet Wool Backlog - That's a Problem, Folks!!!

Conditions this year have led to an unusually large amount of wool that is wet and that's a big no-no! Anyone who has sheep sheared knows that they aren't to be sheared when they're wet. All steps must be taken to preserve the sheared fleeces in a dry state. These bags will be laid out over the weekend with fans blowing on them to dry them out, but the wool will likely be down graded due to the poor handling.

Discussion At Mid-States Graded Wool Bins

We had two young students on the tour and they asked some really good questions - both are sheep owners! The final stop was the shipping floor where the wool is weighed & the core testing is done. The wool core samples are sent to Yocum-McColl Testing Lab in Denver where they are evaluated for yield and micron test results. Each bale can then be shipped to the buyer, usually in semi-loads or half semi-loads.

Fine Wool Packed & Waiting For Core Test Results

Bottom line after our tour? Any wools that are 27-28 microns and higher are discounted in the current domestic wool market. Merino & Rambouillet wool @ 19-21 microns was valued at $1.20/lb. Columbia & Targhee type wool @ 22-23 microns was valued at $1.00/lb. Polypay & Corriedale type wool @ 24-25 microns was valued at $.80/lb. Then the price really dropped at 27-28 microns for $.30/lb. The Hampshire, Suffolk, & Dorset type wool @ 29-33 microns was paying at $.15/lb.
We're not even getting into the longer luster wool breeds favored by hand-spinners. Wool is a specialty item for a select group of shepherds. Targeting hand-spinners can get earn $5-$50/lb. for good clean & skirted fleeces.  The fine wools have a market as a commodity through the wool pool returning between $1-$2/lb. to the sheep producers.  That wool goes into the domestic, "next to the skin", Made In America socks & clothing that is so popular now.  The middle grades of wool are having a hard time finding a buyer … Oh yeah, natural color or black wool was 2 cents/lb. on the commodity market.
Interesting …  

Growing Wool ...

Wild Rose Farm Ewes At Feeders

Growing and shearing a quality crop of wool takes some effort. Standing there dead center in the picture above is one of the sheep that seems to have a natural talent for finding any burdocks or cockleburs in the pasture! It's an ongoing battle to find and remove the plants before they set seed, but a few plants are all it takes …

Here She Comes … Burrs & All!

The best thing we can say is that burrs & vegetable matter on the head & legs will be sheared off as scrap wool & tags, lol.  Properly skirting a hand-spinning fleece means that any of this will never make it to the spinner, or to the mill if we're having yarn or combed top made for sale. Speaking of wool for sale, we're waiting for a shipment of our wool pencil roving to arrive any day now!
We'll have it in time for our next show in November.

Snow White - "You say there's wool pencil roving coming?"

Unusual Visitors To The Show!

Abe & Mary Todd Lincoln Stopped By & Visited Wild Rose Farm!

We had a great weekend at Pioneer Craft Days and got to meet lots of interesting folks. Everyone was surprised to see Honest Abe & Mary Todd with her parasol strolling the grounds on Sunday!
The kids (and their parents) were flocking around for selfies. After they all took a picture, Abe gave each child a "picture" of himself … a bright shiny new penny fresh out of a roll from the mint. The kids were delighted!  They had to be roasting under those costumes. Temperatures were in the mid-80's and it was humid …

Some of the Outdoor Vendors - Beautiful Setting!

Wild Rose Farm @ Pioneer Craft Days!

Wild Rose Farm - Set-up For Pioneer Craft Days October 6th & 7th!

Here's a chance to come see Wild Rose Farm this weekend at Beaver Creek State Park and enjoy Pioneer Craft Days!  Follow the signs to the Pioneer Village. We are set up in the middle of the covered bridge & I expect to see a vendor on either side of our booth by Saturday morning. We just got a shipment of our Dorset wool quilt batts in September … we have Queen, Full, and now, by request, a new Lap size at 45"x72". Stop in and see us and all of the other hand-made craft vendors!

Coverlet & Blanket

We're also allowed to offer up to 20% real antiques at the show ("no flea market items"!). The persimmon & white antique coverlet will be for sale. Provenance is Sewickley, PA. I'm keeping the Welsh wool double woven green multi queen blanket for myself, lol …

Snow White, Ewes, & Garden Sunflowers

Finally, a look around at the farm! We've had downpours of rain on and off over the last couple of weeks. In the picture above, the garden sunflowers are in full bloom and they're top heavy.

Wet Ewes & Garden Sunflowers AFTER Storms

A week or so later, the sunflowers were decimated by the rains. We've pulled the electric net fence around the garden and interestingly, the sheep munched on the remnants of the sunflower heads. They also grazed off the parsley & nibbled the basil ...

Lambs Ready To Go!

Wild Rose Farm - Sorting Ewe Lambs 

It's time & the lambs are ready to start leaving the farm now! Here we were above, sorting through some of the ewe lambs at the beginning of August. We have Dorset/Rambouillet crossbred ewe lambs and several Dorset ewe lambs sired by our performance tested Dorset ram available, as well as one registered Dorset ram lamb. We're planning to keep several of the registered Rambouillet ewe lambs for our own flock, but we do have a couple of registered Rambouillet ewe lambs and and ram lambs for sale.
We had good weather last week for the local Hookstown Fair and now it's back to focusing on the chores here … we have a routine farm visit from the veterinarian scheduled this week. Glenda & Snow White get their annual shots and a check-up, plus we review the lambs for sale in case health papers are needed to sell across the state line. Unfortunately, it looks like a hot week with temperatures in the 90's … yikes!

Thank You Shoppers!

Wild Rose Farm Naturally Dyed Yarns

COG Mini Farmers' Market

We met a nice group of folks today at the Beaver County Council Of Governments "Town & Country: Connecting The Places We Love" event hosted by the Community College of Beaver County. Wild Rose Farm was invited to be part of a "mini farmers' market" at the meeting, representing agriculture & the rural part of the county. We were set up between the Independence Conservancy and Broadrun Farms.
Thank you to the buyers of our yarn today, including a Pennsylvania COG representative from the Harrisburg area … she spent time texting back & forth and sending pictures to a yarn loving friend at home. Now that's a true friend!

Just Curious ...

Wild Rose Farm Snow White - Now What's Going On? 

Maybe it's just me, but I'm amused by the curiosity of our animals. Looks like big do'ins if you're a llama!

Snow White Intently Watches Gate Hinge Adjustment

Llama Snow White Studies The New Garage

The next day, after a bit of rain, I caught Snow White above staring at the new garage. Keep in mind that she has not been in this pasture since the construction started!  Then in the picture below, she turned her gaze to study the big dirt pile in front of the house …

Llama Snow White Turns Her Attention To The Big Pile Of Dirt!

Do the sheep notice any of this? Of course not, lol.

Summer Activity ...

Wild Rose Farm - Snow White & Ewes Ready To Join The Flock

We've had some really hot weather in July & a group of ewes have been under the barn shed roof with Snow White. This week we weaned the last two sets of twin lambs, so the barn ewes went out to join the other ewes who've been hanging out at the Loafing Shed.  We sorted off & dewormed the ewes and the llama.  Deworming is particularly important for her to prevent her from picking up the deer meningeal brain worm (disgusting, I know!). The garage project continues as you can see in the background. I swear the roof was put on during the hottest day of July at 96 degrees!

Sheep Oblivious, Snow White Concerned!

The concrete floor placement (note to readers - you pour milk & you place concrete!) was underway when we headed for the pasture. The ewes were so excited to be munching grass that they were oblivious to the trucks & activity.  Snow White was not so sure that she liked this! You can see that in her ears as she was watching & side stepping …

Wild Rose Farm - Fencing Around The Garden

The funny part was that the sheep kept on grazing across the paddock, but Snow White stayed nearer to the driveway munching and swiveling her head to watch the activity ...

Lambs Just Hanging Around ...

Wild Rose Farm Weaned Lambs

We've been preoccupied lately with the garage/studio construction project going on here, so blog posts have slowed down …
Most of the lambs were weaned and they're in the middle of the barn just hanging out. They have the advantage of shade in there except when we throw the doors open and they get the glare of sunlight like in the picture.
Interesting note in the pic above. The lambs with the drooping ears are the registered Rambouillets - it's a breed characteristic for many of them.

To The Wool Pool!

2018 Wool Pool 

Washington County Sheep & Wool Growers Association

Stomping Fleeces Into A Wool Sack!

We packed up all of our uncommitted wool fleeces and took them to the wool pool at the Washington County Fairgrounds last week. Generally speaking, "wool pools" are the farmers' outlet for their wool. Wool pools solicit bids on their anticipated wool "clip". The winning bidder is chosen as the one whose overall prices and terms are most favorable to the association. Bids are based on current domestic & global demand for the various grades of wool, as well as what the bidder expects to get from each pool based on the recent history of the pool.  Fleeces sold through the wool pools are considered a commodity product.
This wool is dropped into breathable plastic wool sacks and stomped down to pack it tightly! As the shearing is being done, once the wool gets high enough, usually a kid or young adult steps in and stomps the wool. Pack, stomp, repeat until full, and sew or tie the bag shut!

Unloading Wool Sacks & Adding Producers' Lot Number For Tracking

Each wool sack is logged in and a lot number is assigned on each producers' receipt. The wool sacks (or 3 mil plastic contractor trash bags for those with fewer fleeces) are then loaded onto the waiting semi truck …

Skid Steer Loads 2 Sacks At A Time …

Mid-States Wool Growers Co-op Manager Oversees Loading Semi-Trailer

The wool will be weighed and graded at the buyers' facility. The producers will be paid by checks based on the quoted $/pound by grade agreed to on the bid.  Many pools have gone to selling their clips "ungraded" because of the difficulty in finding wool classers or wool graders to man the pools on drop off days.
Keep in mind that the prices for commodity wool are much different from those that specialty wool growers get for our "curated" fleeces! In fact, most of the long luster wools, double coated wools, and natural colored wools are severely docked in price at the wool pool. Jacketing sheep and selling pristine heavily skirted spinning fleeces is an entirely different market!
Examples from the 2018 Bid: 
Fine Staple wool, aka Merino, Rambouillet, Columbia bid price $1.70/pound
Medium or 3/8 & 1/4 Staple wool, aka Dorset, Suffolk, Cheviot, Texel bid price $.46/pound
Fine & 1/2 Clothing wool, aka fine wool sheep crossbreds bid price $.80/pound
Natural Colored wool, aka anything but white bid price $.02/pound (yes, 2 cents per pound!)
Heavy Vegetable Matter bid price $.12/pound.
That's your sheep wool economics lesson for the year … whew.
Keep in mind that not every fleece is a show fleece or a high quality hand spinner fleece … many specialty wool producers process their wool into yarn, top, roving, batts, etc. to maximize our wool marketing!

Off To The Races ...

Wild Rose Farm Ewes & Lambs Coming In!

It looks like "off to the races" alright … a stream of ewes and lambs lined out & coming back to the barn after grazing!  They're going past the garden that we've had to protect from them with electric net fencing. Hopefully the fencing will also deter any pesky groundhogs or rabbits.
We weaned most of the lambs and they are separated & housed in the center of the barn.  It was really noisy for about 24 hours, but things have settled down now.  The weather cooled off from the 90's down to the high 70's for a few days … much better for all now!

Moving Pastures

Wild Rose Farm Horned Ewe #134 & Twins

We're in the process of moving the sheep from the pasture nearest the barn over to the pasture connected to the Loafing Shed. We lamb close to the barn, but we've now rotated through all of the grazing in sections. We'll probably wean about half of the lambs later this week after the temperatures drop a little. We're having 2 or 3 days in the 90's and there's no sense in causing additional stress in that kind of heat. You can see by the picture above that the lambs are getting pretty big now!

Hay Season Returns!

Cool Overcast Day to Haul Hay

It's that time of year again when the fields are cut, raked, & baled into hay.  We've had some good weather between days with thunderstorms or days when thunderstorms threatened.  Local temperatures have already hit a high of 89 degrees & we've had the window air conditioners running ... then a day came along like is pictured above. We're wearing our sweatshirts and it's overcast and windy!

Wary Heifers & Steers ...

We were watched by a small group of young Holstein & dairy cross heifers & steers. They are pastured in the field surrounding the barn where the round bales are stored.
Here they are below on day two, out in the sunshine & cautiously approaching the truck, lol.

Looks Scary - Don't Get Too Close!