We are doing shearing a little differently this year. I wanted to get all of the ewes sheared before lambing and the thought of shearing all 33 of them myself was too overwhelming 🙂 So, I called 6 shearers and left messages. In 3 days I heard back from 1! Why are sheep shearers and farriers so hard to get ahold of and all of them seem to be lacking in customer service. So, I called my friend, who is also the person that I got my first Jacobs from, Sheryl Zettle. She does a wonderful job shearing, but only likes to do 10-15 at a time due to an injury to her shoulder. I thought I would give it a try anyways 🙂 She very graciously agreed to do them on three different days and only charge me 1 setup fee. This morning was day #1 and she sheared 12 of them.
I love the look of freshly shorn sheep and I think the girls in the barn were a little jealous!
I love how clean they look and how black the black looks.
and the new girls that were so shaggy, look much better now! I can actually see what they look like without 2 years worth of fleece on them!
These 2 girls are sisters – Chevelle in the back and Liberty in the front. Their handsome brother resides at Mud Ranch.
Here they are as lambs, weren’t they so cute!
Unfortunately, shearing can also show you all of the bad things 🙂 This new ewe is just a little freckled. I had a feeling she was after looking at her fleece, but she has a few more than I imagined 🙂 oh well.
Not to be confused with freckles, poor Harley is starting to show her age and has developed quite a few age spots 🙂 I’m not really sure what the correct term is for these skin spots, but I have noticed that a few of my older girls are developing them as they age.
The other benefit of doing them in small groups is that I can skirt the fleeces before the next batch needs to be done! Part 2 is scheduled for Sunday morning.
Stories from the Farm 
Brrrr! They make me cold just looking at them! 😀 They are pretty though. I love that contrast of fresh black and white as well, always so contrasty. And Dub and his sisters sure were cute lambs! Oh my gosh were they adorable. I’m looking forward to seeing what their parent’s produce this time around. It should be a good year! 🙂
I have my sheep sheared in December. The weather around here rarely gets too cold for them, but last year the temps dropped below freezing the day after they were sheared. My poor huddled naked sheep. Anyway, I hung heat lamps in their covered pen and they hung out there for awhile.
I do want them sheared before lambing too, the little lambs like to jump in fleeces…and also, the fleece does not have all the birthing matter in it, and I don’t have a hard time checking udders. Of course, if I lived somewhere with harsh winters I would hold off.
Our shearer is a friend , and he lives very close, just across the highway. He comes with his helpful daughters and sometimes his wife, my friend. We visit in between fleeces and have a good time !
They are just beautiful… I have heard that there are so many benefits to shearing before lambing both for the ewe and lambs. I like to have them sheared in Dec/Jan also. I am looking for a new shearer this year. The one I used last year his name was Nick and that’s just what he did most of, nick all of my sheep!!! Kathy, maybe you could give me the phone number of your friend?
Whenever you see those gorgeous leg markings I would suspect freckling, they go hand in hand. Some people don’t mind so much because they blend the fleece anyway but some people hate them. I think its a personal preference although the breed standard says that excessive freckling on young sheep is a fault. My Sassy is very freckled and her first lamb Mercy was also freckled and her new owner sold her because of it. I can live with a freckled sheep as long as it is just a few in the flock. If they have other great qualities they stay. Again, just an opinion and you know what they say about them 🙂
Hey! I thought you did your own shearing!! 🙂 I do love the look of freshly sheared Jacobs. I’m just now putting my breeding groups together…should be done tomorrow. I wanted to have pasture grass starting to grow and a bit warmer weather before my lambs hit the ground….so hopefully it will be a good time to shear also.
Hah, Shannon you need to come over and help me shear the girls! They were sheared earlier this year and they look like they are already prepared for a serious cold front. They are so wooly!