The January lambs are sheared
The shearer came on Monday to shear the mother ewes who gave birth in January and their lambs. It was good timing because the next day saw high temperatures well into the eighties. In the photo you can see lambs before, during and after the process. Before shearing the lambs have their gray “baby” wool and after their nice white regular fleece is exposed. Scott and I used to shear the sheep ourselves but the shearer is a professional and does a much, much better job. He is fast, taking only about 3 minutes per sheep and could do them faster in a competition. He is easier on the sheep when holding them. Plus he is able to take the fleece off in pretty much one big piece. This keeps the wool cleaner and easier to stuff into the wool bag. You can see the burlap wool bag in the background. It will hold several hundred pounds. The wool has little value. In fact, the shearer buys the wool and we still end-up paying him for his services. Our breed of sheep (Suffolks) are much more a meat breed than a wool breed.
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