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[Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

I don't shear my own. I have in the past, and decided that I will pay 
whatever it takes to have someone else do it. My new ram is well over 
500 pounds and doesn't want to be sheared. I do have hand shears and use 
them to clean up the girl's faces and udders when needed. Fortunately it 
only costs $5 a head to get them sheared...for $5 each, I not only get 
the wool and comfortable sheep, I get to watch a handsome, well-muscled 
man wrestle with my sheep; way better than TV :-)

Lynn Wigglesworth

bob ford wrote:
> Do you use the big shearing scissors like I've seen in shearing contests 
> from Australia, on the discovery channel? ....bobford
> 
> 
> --- On Fri, 10/24/08, Lynn Wigglesworth  wrote:
> 
>> From: Lynn Wigglesworth 
>> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Dorpers, was Hatin'  (Sarah) Palin
>> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
>> Date: Friday, October 24, 2008, 4:10 PM
>> I have woolies and I love them. Mine are mostly Romney. The
>> biggest 
>> problem I have with wool sheep is that they don't seem
>> to understand how 
>> big they are in full wool. They crowd me and can knock me
>> down without 
>> even feeling it.
>>
>> I actually use the wool; I make flokati type rugs. In
>> Greece the 
>> flokatis are made with wool yarn (tied around the warp
>> threads) that is 
>> allowed to untwist to make a shag. I skipped a step and tie
>> the wool, 
>> unspun, around the warp. It's slow going, but the
>> Romney fleece makes 
>> beautiful rugs. The white (cream, actually) wool is nice,
>> but gets 
>> boring. I only have one black sheep--I'd like to get
>> more that are 
>> different colors.
>>
>> My ram died last year and didn't do his job, so I
>> didn't have any lambs 
>> this spring. I bought a new ram (the biggest Dorset
>> I've ever seen) in 
>> the spring, and my ewes bred out of season. So far I have 2
>> ewe lambs 
>> and a boy I call "Easter dinner". Looks like
>> there might be more coming.
>>
>> Lynn Wigglesworth
>> Tioga County, PA
>>
>> Lynda wrote:
>>> But . . . . they are such a pain in the patooty to
>> keep up.  AND shearing a 
>>> Correidale is such a PETA.  AND, there is really no
>> market for wool anymore 
>>> (thank you New Zealand and Australia ).
>>>
>>> Dorpers are pretty good sized.  They are beefier than
>> the other hair breeds.
>>> That said, when the kidlets first showed sheep, we
>> bought lambs up outside 
>>> of Jenner from a rancher that raised wool.  He bred
>> all his Columbian ewes 
>>> to Suffolk and Hampshire rams.  We could buy January
>> and February lambs and 
>>> have no problem making weight for the June fairs!  The
>> lambs were nice and 
>>> long in the loin, nice flat topline and had a lot of
>> twist to the thigh. 
>>> Those lambs finished at an easy 165 pounds!
>>>
>>> However, again, at least to me, the woolie breeds are
>> inclined to be more 
>>> toward the mutton end of the taste scale and I prefer
>> my lamb on the milder 
>>> end of the spectrum.
>>>
>>> But, if you like the look of the Corriedales, then buy
>> them.  You'll 
>>> probably be able to find a local spinner that would
>> pay for the shearing and 
>>> you'd have your lamb to eat.
>>>
>>> Of course, you have to take into consideration that
>> you generally are only 
>>> getting, at most, 50% on woolie breeds.  You'll
>> get 67% on St. Croix and 
>>> around 59% or higher on Dorpers.
>>>
>>> Lynda
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: 
>>>
>>>
>>>> I'd like to get a little more size out of my
>> wethers. Do you have any
>>>> idea if they work drastically differently?
>>>>
>>>> I will confess that I really want some
>> Corriedales...(hangs head and
>>>> confesses)...just because they are pretty.
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