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!

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 …  

Shearing Done For Another Year!

Getting Set Up For Shearing @ 7AM

If you have sheep, you know what a relief it is to have the shearing done for another year. This year, our long time shearer of 20 years retired from the business. With his own flock of ~175 sheep, give or take, it was time to back off.  We were fortunate to find Luke, a tri-state area native who has sheared in several areas out west, including South Dakota & Wyoming. The good news with that is he has experience with fine wool sheep and has done quite a few Rambouillets.

Luke Shearing - Note the back support.

We had 45 ewes to shear and we got started at 7:25AM on Saturday morning.  It was damp & cloudy, but the temperature seemed to be just right. Seven of the ewes are yearlings, so I took the 2" square side samples of wool from them for their individual micron test. The samples will be shipped to Yocum-McColl Testing Labs in Denver for testing as soon as we get the ewe registrations back ... and I get the time to fill out the forms, lol!

In Action With X-bred Ewe #136

  Things went pretty well - we're always trying to "perfect" the system of penning/catching the ewes, getting them set up for shearing, and bagging each fleece complete with a label & notes in the Wild Rose Farm flock barn book. 

Now For The Clean-up!

Shearing was done by 11:55 ... a great job with steady, quick work, & minimal second cuts. Next up is the skirting process in the barn once we get some warmer weather.

Snow White Surrounded By Yearling Ewe Lambs

After spending all winter in the barn with Snow White, the 7 ewe lambs stick pretty close to her once we turn everyone out together. They'll all spend the next week or so in the barn to keep them out of the rain ...  

25 Done, 17 Still To Shear ...

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #412 Being Sheared

We got a little over half of the ewes sheared yesterday.  Our shearer, Don, had some ewes lambing right now, so he finishes with morning chores before coming here to work on our sheep.  He left the shearing machine hanging here overnight and he'll pick up with the last 17.  We left the ram for today & usually all three of us participate in that since they're usually a little to large to just flip around like the ewes.  It's the "hold, shear, & roll" method!  :)

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #332 - Another Nice Fleece!

I try to jump in and take a few pictures.  We bag each fleece individually with the ewe's ear tag number and I also pull off a 2" square side sample of the yearling fleeces.  Those samples are sent to Yocom-McColl Testing Laboratory for micron testing.  We micron test all of the sheep. 
So here we are ... part way through shearing!

Wild Rose Farm "U" Sheared With Friends!

Time For Ear Tags

Hey - We All Have Ear Tags, Right?  Nope - I See A Right Ear Without A Tag!

We did a little work today catching up with the flock ear tags on the yearlings.  We had 4 crossbreds and 2 Rambouillets to tag, so it didn't take very long.  The first step is gathering all of the ewes up and then picking out the young ewes without the permanent flock tag.  A few days after the lambs are born, we process them & put in a flock Scrapie ear tag.  The ewes lambs get a tag in the left ear & the ram lambs get a tag in the right ear.  It makes it easy to separate the 2 groups without up-ending & checking each one, especially when someone comes to look at the lambs.  Technically, they don't need one of these tags until they leave the farm, but this keeps everyone in order & they're ready to go when we sell them. 

Yearling X-bred Ewe - Scrapie Tag 0299 - Soon to Be WRF #128 In Right Ear

The yearling ewe above is a twin out of x-bred WRF #50.  Without checking the records, she's at least 75% Rambouillet & you can see it in her fairly dark, greasy fleece.  She got her flock tag, WRF #128 today.  Now that they have their flock tags, we'll register the 2 Rambouillets.  When the registration papers come in, we'll ship the fleece samples that we collected at shearing to Yocum-McColl Testing Labs for their micron test.  We test all of our sheep, not just the registered Rambouillets. 

Sheep Shearing Tomorrow!

First Group Of Ewes Sheared ......

We'll be finishing off the shearing at Wild Rose Farm tomorrow.  Wouldn't you just know that we're supposed to have rain & cooler weather?  What's that we hear about the "S" word for Monday?!?  After all of this warmer weather, that won't be any fun .......
The second group to shear is mostly the yearlings, but also the ram & the less "bagged up" ewes.  They're in the barn tonight staying nice & dry for shearing.  We'll be taking fleece samples from the yearlings for micron tests from Yocom-McColl Testing Labs.  We do micron test all of our sheep as yearlings at their first shearing.

PA Ram Sale This Saturday!

If you're in the market for a new ram or Boer buck, Wild Rose Farm heartily recommends the PDA 2010 Performance Tested Ram Lamb & Meat Goat Buck Sale  scheduled for Saturday August 7th in the State College area!  If you remember, from our point of view, we had a great success bidding & bringing home a registered Rambouillet ram last August.   And now here's the latest on him ....... we just got the results from Yocum-McColl Testing Labs on his micron test from our spring shearing.   His fleece tested at 19.8 microns (!) with a standard deviation of 3.2 microns and .7% of the fibers greater than 30 microns.  The fibers greater than 30 microns are where what is referred to as the "itch factor" comes into play.  In other words, if your wool fibers are higher than 30 microns, the wool feels itchy next to the skin.  These are excellent test results for what we are trying to achieve in breeding fineness of wool and longer staple length for our fleeces.  He was Lot #162 in the 2009 sale catalog. 
In particular, if you are looking for rams to sire meaty lambs for your farm or to add scrapie resistance, this is the place to get a ram.  Check out the 2010 Sale Catalog  for complete test results on the rams to be auctioned off on Saturday.  IMHO, this is the way for beginners & experienced shepherds alike to buy a ram with known performance & genetics..... NOT through your local sale barn!  :) 
Based on the numbers, WRF has a prediciton on the high selling ram on Saturday ........ hmmmm.  See if you can find him.  Clue ..... he is white-faced.