Sheep | Hatchtown Farm

Maryland...now a memory

By Pam, on May 23rd, 2010

Usually it takes me a few days to recover from Maryland…mostly it’s the long drive that gets to me. But this year wasn’t normal… it was SUPER HOT! Considering that it was snowing in parts of Maine on the day I left, the heat was kind of like a punch in the gut. All that aside — the festival was as wonderful as ever — although it is becoming very BIG. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people there…

The main boulevard into the fairgrounds was well travelled all day Saturday -- and take a look at that parking lot in the background!

I participated at the American Coopworth Registry booth again and our members brought together a wonderful selection of Coopworth products…a lot of talent in this group! The booth was well stocked with everything from handmade woolie greeting cards and pins to hats designed with tons of woolie locks knitted in and looking like a wild head of hair…and lots of beautiful yarn, roving & fleece of course. (photo by Martha)

Our booth was busy...serious fiber folks don't let the weather get them down.

This year our group was invited by the Festival Committee to participate in the Breeds Display Barn…just 2 weeks before the Festival — yikes! Luckily, one of our junior members was bringing sheep so that was one big hurdle taken care of…and our member who does the Coopworth Breed Display at Rhinebeck jumped right in and volunteered to take this on. And here’s the result of their efforts — WOOHOO to Kris and Erinn!!

A beautiful selection of Coopworth products and loads of photos of our members' sheep.

The judges awarded us Champion of the Wool Breeds Division & Grand Champion overall!

Didn’t do much shopping this year — picked up a book for a friend and a replacement part for my Woolee Winder. I was tempted by some beatiful fiber but behaved myself. Mostly, I spent a bunch on water, lemon and limeade and a couple of very tasty lamb lunches enjoyed with friends in the shade of a big old tree.

Ewe Attitude

By Pam, on April 22nd, 2010

Maybe it’s because I know our sheep so well but I can tell exactly what these girls are thinking…

Ears back...I'm in the dog house.

This is usually because I’m taking too long to put out the morning buffet. And here’s Tatum doing her impression of Queen Victoria. Actually, I believe she was Queen Victoria in another life. Oooo — the body language!

WE. are. not. pleased.

What a character!

More Shearing Day

By Pam, on March 26th, 2010

And now a little creative piece from Jim. Enjoy!

Shearing Day(s)

By Pam, on March 23rd, 2010

Look at the lustre!!

Whew! Shearing for this year is done! We’re so lucky to have sheep that make such beautiful fiber and a “sheep whispering” shearer. Mother Nature smiled upon us and gave us the most gorgeous day on Saturday. She even brought on the sun just as we gathered to finish up on Sunday.

Thanks to all who came to help, everything went smoothly. The skirters — experienced and newbies alike — did an extraordinary job. One of our CSA shareholders came from Florida via NH and she even had her husband skirting before too long! I’m betting there’ll be very little for me to do when I get back into the fleeces. And we must not forget the sweeper who keeps the shearing floor clear of debris… and those who got down and dirty in the sheep pen. Without them the sheep wouldn’t make it to the shearing floor at all! And then there were all the folks to came to cheer us on…thanks everybody! What a fun day we all had!

Here are some photos. Jim was having flash issues so some are a little blurred but hope you enjoy them anyway.

Emily gets started on the first sheep and the skirting crew waits to get their hands into the nice warm fleece.

Penelope stands ready with her broom. That floor is so clean you could eat off...well, maybe not!

Little Minh has his broom and is ready to help Penelope.

Kathy became an expert fleece picker-upper/thrower. Here she dives right in! The skirters await her throw...

Our oldest visitor (80+) and one of our youngest look on as Emily shears.

Many hands at the skirting table make light work.

The skirters roll up a pretty grey fleece.

Serafina opens a sheet for the fleece to be wrapped in.

Emily, our "sheep whispering" shearer is calm and relaxed even after 5 hours of hugging sheep.

Only a few more to shear and the girls are starting to hint that they'd like their hay.

After the sheep are fed, we head to the kitchen for a well-deserved nosh.

See Spot's Spot?

By Pam, on March 17th, 2010

Oh my — time flies — not sure I’m having fun but I’m really looking forward to our shearing weekend. Jim and I have been busy getting the barn ready. You wouldn’t believe the amount of “stuff” (being polite here) that can accumulate in a big old barn during the winter months! There’s always more to do but I think we can shear without tripping over ourselves or each other now.

While I was cleaning around the skirting table today I found a tag from one of last year’s fleece bags on the floor. It read “Spot ??” I had to laugh! Spot is a sweet little white ewe with a lovely fleece…and a mystery.

Here’s a photo of Spot as a lamb…you can see why she’s called “Spot” —

Little lamb, Spot, shows her spot.

Here’s Spot after she was sheared last year…notice something missing?

After her first shearing...no spot!

I haven’t looked under her coat recently. Wouldn’t it be funny if her spot has reappeared? Well, even if it hasn’t, she’ll always been known as “Spot.”

There are many mysteries when it comes to raising sheep…and somehow there aren’t any less as we learn more. That’s because Mother Nature is involved… and she always has something new and interesting up her sleeve! I do think we learn to roll with the punches over time. And hopefully, we learn from all the punches and from each other. BUT…there’s always a “but”…genetics is another ball of wax entirely. We would have to file the mystery of the disappearing spot under “genetics”…and more specifically “color genetics.”

I know this is hard to believe but color genetics in sheep has just begun to be studied. That’s because for a bazillion years, all black (colored) lambs were “done in” before they could make more and usually the poor parents of the black lamb were also killed. It was all about white! I mean, what the heck were you to do with black wool? You couldn’t dye it or anything, right? (Wrong!) Of course, if the black sheep had been around long enough for its fleece to grey or silver out, those folks who were all about white would’ve discovered all the fabulous colors that could be had from overdyeing shades of grey. Oh well… at least they got to enjoy a lamb dinner now and then. Back in those days, you could lose your hands or tongue or something for eating anything other than a sheep that was no longer productive. No wonder mutton got a bad rap…

Anyway, I may just send these photos to someone who might know what happened to Spot’s spot …but I’ll wait until after shearing just in case it’s come back.