Tuesday, August 14, 2007
We're playing in the dirt again, and update on lambs
This a quick post before our neighbor Clyde returns with the big tractor and post hole auger. He stopped by about a half hour ago and was off to return the box scraper and go to another farm to pick up the post hole auger.
This will get a lot of the really hard work done fairly quickly and also make the stable a lot more solid. We were digging holes the other day and hit hard pan at about two feet. We'd like to sink the posts at least 28 to 34 inches.
Last evening, another of our "mentors" came out for a consultation on our sheep. Linda is the owner of "R Ewe Spinning" and was the lady who sold us "Algernon", our ram. She and her husband spent nearly three hours with us, discussing the sheep, the wool, the markets, and the rest of our farm operation.
What a wealth of information!
We learned that our ewes are most likely all preggie (except Beulah, the matriarch) by Al, and we should start expecting lambs five months from when we brought the girls over from Dixie's. That would be the first half of October.
Now, that's just a little disappointing, but not clearly a set back, as we'll hit the Easter market for meat lambs. It also means we'll have to provide a bit more protection from our harsh winter conditions.
On the really positive side, they marveled at "Al". He's grown so much, and has really "beefed up". That's a trait he'll pass to the lambs. We had been down to their farm to observe some of his offspring.
Here's a picture of one of his offspring at three weeks and 30 pounds.
They also shared a lot of ideas about how to build inexpensive "handling chutes". I'm not interested in doing flying tackles as our girls are racing about the paddock. To me, sheep are docile and should be handled in the same manner. They share the same philosophy, so we'll be adding a few more "goodies" to their new pen.
We spent considerable time discussing the wool, and our potential markets. With the suffolk mixed into the Merino, our best market is probably "the rug market". That means I'll be targeting "fiber artists" more than "spinners". They too, were puzzled by the lack of lanolin.
I will definitely be contacting Texas A&M for some testing. First I need to see about a price list for their services.
On a closing note, Linda was so "in love" with the wool that I insisted she take samples of the triplets' wool, as well as a sample of Al's wool. I'll compile her comments along with the comments from the spinners, who graciously have worked their samples.
Ok, the tractor is about to arrive, so it's time to grab my hat and gloves and head into the Utah desert heat.
Labels: Around the farm, Sheep
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