Hello 2021!

Snow White & Ewe Flock Headed Back to Pasture

 It's been quite a while since we've posted here at Wild Rose Farm!  Our 2020 was pretty uneventful with all of the pandemic restrictions and canceled events.  No shows, no festivals, no wool pool, no Hookstown Fair ... nothing to report except sticking close to home!  We even had to cancel our last group of freezer lambs due to lack of processing capacity, grrrr.  The breeding season began on Thanksgiving weekend as usual and we've been grazing and waiting for the first lambs to arrive.  The ewes come up to the barn for feed each afternoon and we look them over.  You can see them above on a beautiful day headed back to a fresh section of pasture with Snow White bringing up the rear.

Rambouillet Ewe #333 With Ewe Lamb!

 Our frequent pasture checks paid off this afternoon! We found one of our Rambouillet ewes under the pine trees with a new ewe lamb.  Actually, I was looking closely at the ewes below the trees for signs of impending labor when I heard a lamb bleat! There she was standing next to the ewe up in the shade of the trees. Both are resting comfortably in the barn tonight.  

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!

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

Fleece At The Hookstown Fair!

Wild Rose Farm - 1st Place Dorset Fleece At The Hookstown Fair

It's fair season again and that means taking fleeces to the Hookstown Fair.  Here is a Dorset fleece from ewe lamb #118.  I can't wait to see what her 2 year old fleece will look like next spring.  Funny thing with the fleeces is that this is the only one we had to show.  The other Dorset fleeces were processed into wool quilt batts this summer by Zeilinger Wool.  This one eluded me, likely because it was the nicest Dorset fleece we had and it was in the "spinning fleeces for sale" group!

2014 Hookstown Fair Pics

Judging Of The 4-H Poultry Projects

We have a couple of pictures from the Hookstown Fair ... I forgot the camera for 2 nights.  Then we had rain storms on the nights when I had the camera, so it only came out in the larger buildings.  Friday night was a real mess, especially in the parking areas.  We went past the fairground this morning and the one of the back lots still had about 20 "stuck" cars ... oh yea, and 1 stuck "jacked up" 4WD pickup.  Didn't do "the boys" any good when they were flinging mud, but sliding sideways towards the cars.   Hoo boy!  Have to wait to tow all of them out now.    :(

Feeding Time For The Ram Pens

This is the first time that we've seen Tunis sheep at the fair ... their pen sign says "It's A Red Thing!".

Tunis Sheep

Southdown Sheep - Where's My Feed?

2013 Hookstown Fair - Over 'til Next Year!

Feeding Time At The 2013 Hookstown Fair!

Don't we all feel this way on the first day of the fair, wide-eyed & eager like the sheep above?  Excited and happy to be out & about checking the exhibits, the animals, and visiting with all of our friends?  The Hookstown Fair enjoyed fine weather for fair week ..... not too hot, just a bit of rain late one night, and cool enough temperatures that the animals were comfortable.  

Exhibits For The Fiber Folks & A Backstory .....

Here was a bit of serendipity in the fiber arts exhibits ..... right next to each other, entries from 2 people who have been Wild Rose Farm customers!  Norma & her husband bought a WRF ram years ago, and Maria came with her mother to buy yarn and combed top as a young person just learning to knit & spin.  Both of them are quite prolific with their entries and I was pleasantly surprised to see these 2 blue ribbons side by side. 

Fair Week .... It's Finally Over .... Whew!

We get a "season pass", so we're at the fair for all 5 nights watching the 4H livestock shows, checking all of the exhibits, visiting the Southside Historical Village, and bidding at the 4H livestock auction to support the kids and fill the freezer.  By the end of fair season in a few weeks, we'll be "all faired out", just like the piggy sleeping it off above! 

Hope you get to enjoy your local fair, even for a day!  

Best Use Of Wool - Part II !

Blue Ribbon Rug Hooking - Hookstown Fair

We saw this great rug hooking entry at the Hookstown Fair yesterday and immediately thought that it "looked familiar". Well, I looked back a couple of years and retrieved this fantastic entry by the same local rug hooker.  Very impressive work.  Too bad we couldn't move the framed needlework on the right to capture the whole image .........
Speaking of wool, Wild Rose Farm came home with 1 Dorset fleece, having sold the 2 Commercial fleeces to a hand spinner.   No Rambouillet entries this year ....... thanks to the folks who purchased our best Rambouillet fleeces at Waynesburg in May.  :)  We love it whenever they go to "good homes"!

Hookstown Fair Opening 2012!

Hookstown Fair Merino Rams

Wild Rose Farm has been at the Hookstown Fair this week enjoying the food, exhibits, & 4-H Livestock Shows.  Of course we've run into many of our friends and local farmers.  Maybe we'll see you there tonight at the Beaver County 4-H Stockman's Club 39th Annual Livestock Market Auction! 

Hookstown Fair Oxford Sheep Under Cover!

Some of the sheep in the show pens are covered to keep them clean ..... it makes for an unusual look if you've never seen this before!

Hookstown Fair - Waiting For The Show

Hookstown Fair - Southdown Sheep

Southdown sheep are a smaller framed meat breed.  This breed is required to be shown as "slick shorn" in order to be properly evaluated to breed standards. 

Hookstown Fair - Relaxing 4-H Rabbit!

There seemed to be more 4-H Rabbit Projects this year.  It's certainly a good entry point for young people showing animals and you don't need a lot of space to house these projects. 

2011 Fair Wrap-up

2011 Hookstown Fair

Wild Rose Farm got in a couple of fairs this summer.  The Hookstown Fair had great weather & we got some good pictures of the 4-H kids showing market lambs.  What was the new catch phrase this year from the judge?  As readers know, we're alert to new trends in livestock judging and the show ring this year did not disappoint!  In separating a 1st place lamb from the 2nd place lamb, the judge indicated that "my second place lamb would have had to have been a couple of clicks better to win the show tonight" over the first place lamb.  Love it! 

Good Sportsmanship - One Click Better!

We got shut out of the bidding on the market poultry pens at Hookstown - prices went way up - so we ended up at the Big Knob Fair the following week.  We successfully bid on a market hog that we are splitting with friends.  It's a great opportunity to support the 4-H youth who work hard on all of their projects.
Our final shot is from the Canfield Fair.  It was really hot on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, so we got there early and were leaving by 1PM.  Whew .......
The Largest Squash contest is always impressive, but if you look, the weight was down this year.

2011 Canfield Fair - Grand Champion Largest Squash!

Wool Winners!

Here are the Wild Rose Farm fleece placings from the Hookstown Fair.  Fleeces are judged on Friday afternoon, so we wait 'til near the end of the fair to get our results.  This year, one of our 2 year old Rambouillet ewes out of the Colorado Schaffer ram had the Reserve Grand Champion Fleece in the wool show.  Her fleece is what we're looking for ..... fine with a longer staple length!  Her fleece tested at 20.2 microns.  This fleece is available for sale.  Let us know if you want more details or a sample. 

Our Dorset x Rambouillet crossbred fleeces (aka the "Commercial Class) won the 1st & 2nd place ribbons in their class.  The 1st place fleece is from #29.  Her fleece has been purchased by handspinners in the past. 
Finally, the Dorset fleeces also got 1st & 2nd in their class.  These are nice lofty, bulky fleeces! 

All in all, we're pleased with a very good showing.  :)  Contact us if you're interested in any of these fleeces.

Another Hookstown Fair closes for the record books!  Oh yeah, that Grand Champion market hog from one of our previous posts sold for $4.50/lb at the 4-H Livestock Auction on Friday night .....
AND, Wild Rose Farm successfully bid on a pen of chickens at the auction.  The 3 birds were delivered to our freezer this evening.  We believe in supporting 4-H and we get a chance to enjoy some great meals this winter! 

Best Use of Wool!

Here is a super quick post from the Hookstown Fair to share this great wool hooking.  Be sure to read the border and note the real dog tags on the collar ..... double click on this picture to see the detail.

Quote Of The Night!

Are you impressed?   This market hog was the first place winner in his heavy weight class at the Hookstown Fair and then went on to be named Grand Champion Market Hog over the whole 4-H market hog show. 

When you watch animals being judged in livestock shows, the judge gives a set of "reasons" when he places the animals in winning order, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.  Having taken a 3 credit class in livestock judging at Penn State, your blogger is always tuned in to the reasons.  From year to year, there are fads & changes in the phrasing of reasons and you'll hear certain comments repeated at different shows.  Examples include things like describing a hog as "a free-wheeling kinda hog" to praise structurally correct freely moving feet and legs.  Lambs are described as "tight- hided" when describing smoothness of skin over properly muscled shoulders, etc. 

Tonight a new quote in livestock reasons has dazzled Wild Rose Farm!  The judge described this hog, praising his structural correctness, freedom of movement, outstanding muscling, and uniformity of finish.  He just liked the "total package".  The quote of the evening was when he praised the young man showing this hog by saying that in comparison to the rest of the class, "He brought a gun to a knife fight"!  

Yowza!  We love that oratory!  Well, maybe it's just me, but here's another view of the star of the showring:

Hookstown Fair - Day 1

It was standing room only (2 deep) around the tent when the judging began for the 4-H market poultry classes.  Not sure how this got started, but when you show poultry, you get to wear a long white coat.  Here is the judge examining a 4-H'ers bird in the Senior Showmanship division.  These chickens were all given baths earlier today .... now that would have been interesting to watch.  A lot of care must be taken when you're grooming a chicken! 

Later we were off to the 4-H market lamb barn where we're proud to show off some of the best dressed lambs in Beaver County.  The spandex tubes help keep the lambs clean and keep their skin smooth and tight to their body.  These tubes used to be rather boring, but now the kids are having some fun with the colors.  Aren't you glad that you tuned in to the blog to see the unique Wild Rose Farm view of the fair?  We teach you things that you'd never learn anywhere else!  

LOVE THE COLOR COORDINATED WATER BUCKET ..... !

The lamb in the background shows off a tube with bling .... see the sparkles?

Hookstown Fair Starts Tomorrow!

The Hookstown Fair starts tomorrow and you know that we have our season passes! 
We show the fleeces, not the sheep.  Sunday was spent skirting & tying up our fleeces for the wool show.  We dropped them off with all of the other show fleeces and on the way home, we spotted this poster in the corner store window.
See you at the fair!

Mystery pic

You'll just have to wait on this ....... The Wild Rose Farm fleeces were dropped off at the Hookstown Fair on Sunday. They will be judged on Friday. If you'd like to see wool from different breeds, go to the fair and you can get a good close look at all of the fleeces. The entry tag tells you the breed of the sheep. Two of our best fleeces - they would have been entered in the wool show - were sold already. One sold at the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival, and one sold here at the PASA Summer Local Farm Tour. Next, we will be sorting off the Rambouillet fleeces that weren't entered in the show to have them made into yarn later this year. It's a lot of work, but the yarn is beautiful ...........

Here's the "demo" fleece .....

Here is a shot of the fleece that was tied up in the "demo" blog before the fair. This fleece from ewe #103 placed first in it's class of 5 Dorset fleeces. This particular ewe has had the 1st place fleece in her class for several years. It's a classic Dorset fleece. The 2nd place fleece above it comes from our #108 Dorset ewe and is a finer micron fleece ...... also not quite as heavy.

Getting fleeces ready to show!

Today I got 5 fleeces ready to show at the Hookstown Fair. The selection and preparation of show fleeces actually begins on shearing day. As the sheep are sheared, we take notes on the condition of the fleeces and note which fleeces are suitable to show. Each fleece is stored in a separate bag and tagged with each ewe's ear tag number. Potential show fleeces are set aside and are then heavily "skirted" right before they are taken to the fair. In the bottom picture, we see the fleece from our Dorset ewe #103 as it was dumped put of the bag. The fleece is opened up on the sorting table and areas of heavy vegetable matter, dung tags, and short belly wool are sorted off or "skirted" from the fleece. Note the pile of dirty "scrap" wool in front of the skirted fleece in the picture second from the bottom. The fleece is then rolled up and tied with paper twine for the show. In a well skirted fleece, quite a bit of wool can be skirted off to provide the cleanest possible wool for hand spinning or washing. Finally, we see the same fleece tied inside out for judging in the wool show.

This year Wild Rose Farm is showing 5 fleeces ---- 1 Rambouillet, 2 Dorsets, and 2 Commercial or crossbred fleeces. They were dropped off today at the fairgrounds, but they won't be judged until Friday August 22nd.