~Yoo hoo, Goth! Time to get a hair cut! Even big bad boys need haircuts once in awhile.~
~Hubby and I cornered Goth, and using his horns as handles, walked him to the shed for Dirt to shear him and the rest of the flock that were not sheared in January. And of course, it was cold and rainy today, so there are some pitifully naked sheep huddling together under the heat lamp tonight. In the picture above, Hubby is holding Goth's horn while Dirt starts shearing.
~Dirt is almost done with Goth here, but look at Goth's horns wrapped around Dirt's waist. Dirt made a comment about forgetting his Flak Jacket today......
~Here is another picture of Goth's horns tucked up against my Hubby. The horns are very pointy and hard and can cause a lot of damage with just a turn of the ram's head. Dirt knows what he is doing though and to my knowledge has not been hurt by any of my Jacob sheep while shearing them.
~Look at all the wool from Goth! He had quite a nice and plentiful fleece, not any more!~
~Anna , Bet and Lanny came along to visit while we skirted the fleeces . Anna is holding one of the lambs while it's momma is being sheared. Aren't they all 3 cute? ( Anna is the most sensibly dressed for the weather.~
~Oh how the mighty is humbled...and naked! And probably cold tonight.~
~" It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Andrew J. Holmes
" Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:1
14 comments:
A remarkable story!
Are you very busy with the fleece now? I would imagine you begin sorting and washing. Of course, that is only my guess. I have not had any experience with sheep.
And I have a question now, such as in Goth, do the rams have 2 sets of horns?
He sure does look a little humble. I'm glad all was done without incident. He is a beautiful animal; that Dirt sure can sheer!
Enjoy the day!
I am sure Goth will not want to use this particular photo of himself on a dating website!!!!!
Sure is interesting to get a peak into all that goes into caring for sheep and nice to see Anna and Bet with the little one's picture.
Hope you enjoy the day.
Thanks for the photos, I've never seen Jacobs shorn and always wondered how the shearer managed. Horns do make great handles but I have to be careful with my Shetlands x Romney's as the horns could break off. Something about the cross breeding weakens the horns.
truly interesting post - I feel in all honestly I kept thinking "better thee than me" when seeing the Goth horn structure up against human body structure. Goodness he provided a LOT of fleece and best thing for him to be humbled a bit - you know how pride goeth before a fall and that Ram - he seems prideful! LOL - have a lovely Sunday
Fun day. Wait a sec, properly dressed Anna was the one wanting to go inside!
How did Goth like the snow this morning? Brrrrr.
Mary, yes! I now have a lot of work to get the fleeces ready for carding and dyeing, and I still have 3 fleeces from a prior shearing to do.So I have 13 fleeces to skirt and wash...and I do this outside, just waiting for more sunny days.
Also, all Jacob sheep have anywhere from 2 to 6 horns.The males' horns just get tremendously bigger. I have a yearling ewe lamb ( girl) who has 5 horns. I prefer the 4 horned sheep and have begun choosing only 4 horned males and females to keep.
Mrs. D,yes, Dirt is wonderful and he tries to make sure he knows how you want the animals sheared. I am glad this was done without incident too!
Mildred, very funny! Goth is pretty sure of himself and probably has no room for thought of anything else but him in his little brain. ( too full of horns?)
But he was cold....and that kept him in own little shelter last night instead of ramming the fences..
Thistle Cove Farm, once in awhile I have a weak horned or scurred sheep and I never grab them or lambs by the horns....I have noticed other sheep crossed with my Jacobs do produce smaller horns, if any at all.
LindaSue, Goth does scare me, but only because I know he could kill me, and I have been bruised by him from just a turn of his head and the horns catching my arm or leg. The female sheep have very sharp horns and If I catch them just wrong they can inflict more damage than Goth. There is a reason it is more practical to commercially choose polled ( hornless ) animals.
And I put the prideful verse on the post because a ram is pretty impressed with himself.....
Lanny, now that you mention it, yes! She was pretty eager to get inside, and it was sooo cold. Took me a long time to warm up after shearing, the poor sheep, it SNOWED last night!
Just re read our comments - I'm always amazed how we humans vest our emotions and sins in animals! HA! I'm the prideful one - poor old Goth is just the hormone driven one with way better hair than mine! Glad you have so many fleeces to work on, Kathy- we'll all get to see some beautiful results. Too bad I can't send Goth a bit of sunshine - finally came out after 4 days of overcast - woo hoo~
I have to smile every time I read about Goth the Destroyer. I am SO thankful no one was injured during the shearing, although I'm sure if Goth would have been given the chance he would have done just a bit of shearing of his own. Even without that heavy wool coat he is a fearsome beast!
This was lots of fun to see! Goth is a 'haircut boy! '
I thought the first photo of Bet was Steffie! What awful weather to take the sheeps coats away! Maybe you could wrap them in blue tarps - the flag of our town?
Miss Linda, yes, if given the chance, Goth would have done a bit of destroying and skipped the shearing...but we are still in charge and a shepherd makes sure the flock gets what is best for them in spite of what the sheep think!
LindaSue, Goth might just appreciate some of your sunshine given the fact that he is NAKED now!
AJoy, too bad Goth spends so much time punching holes into tarps instead of appreciating the rain and wind protection features of tarps. He also does not seem to appreciate that it is a matter of pride and identification, the whole tarp thing.....
Dirt did a great job. Goth does look a little humbled, but those horns look even bigger on him after he is sheared! He is beautiful.
Aha ha ha ha ha! Poor Goth! He looks so embarrassed and humiliated in that last shot. It's like he is in a cartoon. Kathy, this post made me laugh. Thanks. :D
HA HA! The word verification for this comment is "chear"--is that a cross between the word shear and cheer? :D
The fleece is beautiful!
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