Random Pictures ...

Lambs on the Loose @ Wild Rose Farm!

We were out shopping and had just come down the driveway … Hey! What are those sheep doing under the cherry trees?!?  Mr. Wild Rose Farm walked up & into the barn to get some feed while I stayed out here to head off anyone who might break in this direction.  I needn't have worried.  The lambs scampered back in through their gate into the pen.  It's where they were safe & where they get fed!  By the time I got my cell phone out to take a picture, you can see the last lamb just outside of the gate heading in to safety … Whew.  We've had the donkey loose on the lawn before, but never any sheep. And of course, the donkey thinks it's a game, high steps, and kicks her heels when you try to catch her, lol.

Rambouillet Ram Lamb Turned in With Breeding Ewes

Breeding season started here on November 26th. We turned a young Dorset ram in with the Dorset & crossbred ewes. We also turned in this triplet registered Rambouillet ram in with a separate group of  Rambouillet ewes.  The ewes know where to go and had headed down the runway, but the ram turned back around to look at me … not sure of what was up!  You can just see the green marking paint on his chest. As of today about 1/2 to 2/3rds of all the ewes are marked.

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillets - Ram Looking Back

Super Sheep?!?

Wild Rose Farm Ewe #141

We had just moved the sheep back over to the Loafing Shed after replacing a couple of ear tags, when this ewe caught my eye.  Hmmm, who is this somewhat short legged, chunky little ewe?  I had to creep up on her quietly to see that she was #141. She's a Dorset x Rambouillet cross and her records show that she's had 4 sets of twins. We'd already made the decision to retain her ewe lamb this year based on her growth - she's the only x-bred ewe lamb that we're keeping. It's tough since we're keeping 5 ewe lambs (3 Rambouillet, 1 Dorset) & we could only keep one more.
I'll try to get a picture of her one of these days ...
We have some really nice twin x-bred ewe lambs for sale that would really be nice to keep. We've sold a Dorset ram lamb & a horned Rambouillet ram lamb in the last couple of weeks and it would be great if some of the ewe lambs went to a new farm!

Fall Chores ...

Wild Rose Farm Ewes on the Move!

With the shorter & cooler days of fall, the sheep are always nice & frisky!  Here they are rushing past on their way in to graze down the hospital pen. We're sorting through the ewes and planning the breeding groups for this season. We'll have a group of Rambouillet ewes with a Rambouillet ram and the Dorset & crossbred ewes with a young Dorset ram. That smaller sheep in the picture above is a crossbred ewe lamb. She was born late and we just separated her off of her dam last week. She's been running with the ewes all summer … it just seemed easier to leave her out there and she did quite well!
We've had some folks looking at lambs lately & we have some really nice crossbred ewe lambs for sale + 2 commercial Dorset ram lambs & several Rambouillet ram lambs.  We were skewed towards rams this year and ended up with only 5 Rambouillet ewe lambs - we sold one and are keeping the other 4 for ourselves. They're all twins and one is a triplet. :)

Show This Weekend!

Wild Rose Farm at Pioneer Craft Days

Yes, we're still out and about here at Wild Rose Farm!  We had a replacement window and siding project on this old farmhouse over the summer. Lots of other family activities and travel and now 2 shows recently. This weekend we are at Pioneer Craft Days at Beaver Creek State Park.
This show features all homemade/handcrafted items and antiques.

Antiques & Wool Quilt Batts

The antiques were good sellers today and the table thinned out by the time I remembered to take a picture. The antique Canadian sock form got a lot of attention as a curiosity to the non-knitters in the crowd … We also have an antique Pearce wool blanket & a nice Pendleton red plaid shirt available.
Come see the show tomorrow if you're in the area!

Soaking Black Walnuts For Our Next Dyebath!

We sold some lovely brown combed top dyed with black walnuts at the shows and we're sold out of indigo dyed combed top at the moment. A fresh walnut dyebath is soaking as we speak … it will be next up followed by a batch of indigo.

Antique Coverlet - Pearce Blanket - Pendleton Shirt Jacket

1st Place Rambouillet Fleece

Seen At The Auction!

Words of Wisdom!

Here's one bit of commentary that I wanted to post … I spotted this farm supporter at a local auction & had to take a picture!

Lambs & Ewes Out Grazing ...

Wild Rose Farm X-bred Lamb #152 Nibbling ...

One thing is for certain … this has been one of the wettest springs/early summers on record. The pastures are growing like crazy. We've seen some hay that's been rained on & still plenty of fields after the 4th of July not cut yet. Here's what it looked like in June at Wild Rose Farm!

Dorset Ewe #118 Surrounded by Lambs

Grazing in a Sea of Grass! 

Rambouillet Yearling Ewes Foreground 

The yearling ewe lambs are in excellent shape this year. The one in the left of the picture above has a small set of horns ...

Yes, The "Middle" Spring Development Water is Flowing! 

Just Hanging Out!

Wild Rose Farm Ewes Resting 

The weather has been going from hot & sunny to hot & T-storms over the last week or so.  We've managed to get the grazed sections of pasture mowed, but it has been too wet to plow the garden area. Hmmm … not sure when we'll get any veggies, herbs, & flowers planted! The ewes and lambs have started to get out for grazing so we'll have some pictures of them soon.
We paid a visit to the Great Lakes Fiber Show over Memorial Day weekend to drop off and pick up our processed wool items. I'm starting to clean and put together the old Sears & Roebuck 6 harness Hearthside Loom out in the studio … it looks like I'll have to order a couple of reeds and then figure out what the first project will be. This will be fun (I keep telling myself)!

Wild Rose Farm Fleeces For Sale @ Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest!

Our skirted fleeces sold well at the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest. They are sold with a washed sample lock and the ewe's micron test ... there was a lot of interest in the Rambouillet micron tests this year. The hand spinners were comparing the tests and the "% of Fibers > 30 Microns". Fibers greater than 30 microns are the indicator of the comfort of the wool, since 30 microns is where the famous "itch factor" creeps in & becomes important!  I am planning to go to the Lawrence County Wool Pool next week to drop off fleeces that we don't need for processing this year. This pool pays the day of the pool and they will be grading each fleece out of the bag.

Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest Stuff!

2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest Shoppers!

Here's an idea of what our Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival customers found from the fantastic vendors!  Lots of yarn of course, but plenty of other goodies ...

Spun Bunny - Gorgeous Colorways & Fabulous Fibers!

Ridgetop Pottery - Porcelain Buttons
A Great Addition to the Pottery & Yarn Bowls! 

Earth Tone Fiber Arts - Hand Woven Shawls, Ponchos, Scarves, & Table Runners!

Anderson Hollow - Goat Milk Soaps & Lotions

2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest Booth Awards!

2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest - Best Craft Booth Award

Shepherd's Woodworking - North Fairfield, Ohio

David Shepherd

Here are the winners of the best booth awards from the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest!  David Shepherd of Shepherd's Woodworking took home the award for Best Craft Booth.  This is just a glimpse of his products … He will be at the Great Lakes Show in Wooster over the Memorial Day weekend, under the Grandstand if memory serves me!

Shepherd's Woodworking - More Stuff!

2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest - Best Fiber Booth Award

Windy Meadows Farm & Fiber Factory - Hamlin, New York

Jill Fielder

Jill Fielder of Windy Meadows Farm & Fiber Factory won the award for the Best Fiber Booth for her display in her first visit to the WS&FF.  Her double booth was stuffed with a huge variety of alpaca fiber goodies …

More pictures are coming from the festival! 

Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest Tomorrow!

2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest T-shirt!

Most of the vendors set up today for the 16th Annual Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest this weekend.

Wild Rose Farm will be in Building # 9.

Wow, are there some great new booths as well as most of our wonderful vendors from last year.  

Get over to the information booth in Building #8 for your 2019 t-shirt … not sure how the coral color shows up on your monitor, but it's really sharp!

More Fleeces Skirted!

Wild Rose Farm #153 - Dorset x Rambouillet Ewe & Lamb

The first fleece up on the blog post today is brought to you by WRF #153, a 2 year old crossbred ewe. She is a 50% Dorset/50% Rambouillet ewe.

Wild Rose Farm #153 - Skirted Fleece

We also skirted a group of nice Rambouillet fleeces to take to the 2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest this weekend …

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #554 - Skirted Fleece

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #555 - Skirted Fleece

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #556 - Skirted Fleece

& Barn Book With Shearing Notes!

Finally, we finished another x-bred fleece as it was getting dark outside!

Wild Rose Farm #142 - Skirted Fleece

The truck is mostly packed up and ready to go for the festival set-up tomorrow. In addition to the fleeces, combed top, yarns, quilt batts, etc., we've got a really nice selection of vintage/upcycled woolens this year.  Come check out the racks and stacks! Did I mention buttons?

Fleeces for the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest!

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #561 - Skirted Fleece

Here's one of the Rambouillet fleeces that we will be bringing to the 2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest this weekend.  All of the fleeces will have the ewe's micron test report with them in case you're as geeky about that as we are!

#561 Rambouillet Ewe Washed Fleece Sample

I grabbed the little sample in the top picture and swished it quickly with warm water & plain old Soft Soap over the kitchen sink … you can see the crimp in the sample. Rambouillet fleeces clean up well if pulled out in lock formation and washed by hand.

Wild Rose Farm Ram Heads Down the Road!

Speaking of crimp & micron tests, we sold our Rambouillet ram about a month ago to some folks who were specifically looking to get some finer "half-blood" wool from their commercial flock. He sired all of our Rambouillet lambs last year and this year and has a 21.5 micron fleece. It was good to have a ram go to another flock where he can help improve a future wool clip!

Wild Rose Farm Dorset Ewe #117 & Twin Ram Lambs

And who doesn't want to see another picture of lambs? Attentive Dorset ewe #117 has a nice set of twin ram lambs this year. They were sired by our performance tested Dorset ram. We'd like to se them go to a small commercial flock for breeding … they're filling out nicely now. 

Lambing, Llama, & Pasture Scenes!

Wild Rose Farm at Dusk - Snow White in Position!

Here are a series of pictures from the last few weeks at Wild Rose Farm during our lambing season. Our llama Snow White is in the pasture with the ewes. The entire group grazes while surrounded by movable electric net fence within our permanent high tensile electric perimeter fencing. You can see in the picture above that Snow White has taken up a position by bedding down in front of the ewes at dusk. They settle in uphill behind her --- sheep usually bed down "uphill".

A Llama & Her Flock!

Wild Rose Farm #152 With Newborn Twins - Snow White Nearby!

One of our crossbred ewes, #152 is shown above with her set of newborn twins. This is her first time lambing and she did a great job! Look who is nearby … Snow White is alert … you can see her tail is held up a bit.

Wild Rose Farm #150 & Twins - 11:30 PM Pasture Check

Snow White is There!

Finally, here's a midnight pasture check & Snow White is there again … even when she's cushed, her swivel head is 3 feet high!  She's too smart to look at the LED light I'm holding, lol!  You can see the eyes of one of the other sheep behind her.

2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival This Weekend!

Wild Rose Farm Will be at the 2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival!
FREE ADMISSION

Stay tuned for fleece pictures and an update on our lambing season that is just now winding down.

We had a set of Rambouillet triplets born on Mother's Day - now that's how to celebrate motherhood!

Shearing Done & Ready to Start Lambing!

Wild Rose Farm Ewes - Headed to Barn Before Shearing

We've had a lot of activity here at the farm over the last couple of weeks! Shearing was done on April 13th this year. Luckily the weather has been decent since then, but we still keep the ewes sheltered in the barn for a week or so if it is raining (or snowing!).  They adjust pretty quickly and by this time of year, they're ready to get rid of those winter coats. They also come in for shade if it is too sunny …

Shearing the Big Rambouillet Ram!

 We had one ram to shear since we sold the Dorset ram last fall after he completed his breeding assignment!  The Rambouillet ram was surprisingly "easy" to shear for our shearer, even though he is bigger than the ewes … he was calm and the only thing to watch was negotiating around the horns without hooking his arms.

Wild Rose Farm Ewes - Enjoying a Sunny Day After Shearing!

There are 8 yearlings retained in the flock this year, so we took 8 "side samples" of their fleece and shipped them to Yocum-McColl Testing Labs in Denver for micron testing.
Next up … lambing!

Time For Some Shade!

Wild Rose Farm - 25 Degrees in the Shade!

I looked out the window and noticed all of the sheep standing in the SHADE of the Loafing Shed.  I zoomed in on the ewes so that you can see them grouped in the shadow.  Folks, it's 25 degrees out there!  They can be lounging anywhere on the other side of the fence line and they choose to be in the shade where it's cooler.  With their wool fleeces, they are quite comfortable in the cold weather, just like the whitetail deer that you see bedded down in the woods. Just say'in for those that worry about the livestock … they could also be inside the Loafing Shed if they choose to be, but they aren't.

By the way, shearing is scheduled for April 13th this year!

New Puppy at Wild Rose Farm!

New Puppy Jake - First Look at Sheep!

We got a new puppy this winter, right in the middle of the polar vortex … yikes! It's not fun being a puppy and going through housebreaking in such cold weather and snow.  Casey, our 14 year old black standard poodle passed away in November. We weren't really thinking about getting a new pup until the spring. Surprisingly, a bit of searching turned up a nice litter of red standard poodle puppies that would be available in late January. I talked to Jen, the breeder, and we were set to get a new male puppy!

Walking Jake on the Ground Past the Sheep

 These pictures were taken on Valentine's Day & I forgot to download them, lol.  They show a nice healthy curiosity from little Jake towards the ewes after a brief introduction … 

Jake & Ewe Checking Each Other Out! 

We'll have to make a little journey into the barn to see the lambs and llama Snow White one of these days!