The Sheep

UPDATE:  We sold the farm, but we will always remember our wonderful sheep.

We really are proud of our workers.  All of the sheep we raise have their own quirks and personalities.  Each one brings something special to our wool.  While we range between 15-20 sheep most of the time, we have a few outstanding members of the herd you should meet.

Clyde.  He is the head-honcho sheep in the heard, relishing his roll as the Big Cheese.  In fact, the rest of the heard looks up to him and gives him a dose of respect.  As the original herd sire, he is the grandfather of many of my sheep.  However, he is wethered now, so he won’t be fathering any more lambs.  

Clyde will eat anything, - he loves to eat.  When he sees me coming through the pasture at feeding time, he is the first to "Baa" out an announcement to all the other sheep.  When feeding begins, he muscles his way to the front of the line.  He loves to get a handful of corn and a nice scratch under the chin.

The wool he grows makes hime one of my favorites.  My most popular Thick -n -Thin yarn comes from this guy.  It is wonderful.  Being a Cotswold, his wool exemplifies all that make the breed so good.  It has long staple, is unusually silky, and posses high lustre.  I call him the Ram with the Golden Fleece.

Dude is my friendliest sheep.  If strangers visit the farm, he doesn't hold back and comes up to say "hi".  He seems to get along with everyone, and everyone likes him.  He is the next generation of herd sire, having fathered the next generation after Clyde.

He is a mixed breed and we aren't 100% certain his breed, he seems mostly Romney.  He was purchased as a small lamb and raised here ever since.  His fleece is closed with a shorter, tighter crimp that stays clean throughout the year.  Though he is one of my smaller rams, he grows a lot of wool for his size.  It produces spongy, soft roving.  I love working with it.

 Baby is the son of Clyde.    He is just a little reserved, and fairly laid-back.  He comes right up to you if he thinks Dude or Clyde are going to get a handout.  Oh, he got his name as a lamb, but now he is the largest of all our sheep.  He stands head and shoulders above everyone else, weighs over 300 lbs, and has earned a nickname of "The Horse."

And look out for his wool....it is fantastic.  Sharing the honor with his father, he ranks as one of my best wool producers -- the apple fell very close to the tree.  I get a lot of my Thick - n - Thin from him as well.

It is always a pleasure to run my fingers through is wool.  It has great, high lustre, inviting silkiness, and long staple.

Annie.  She is a pure-bred Border Leicester, and was bought from a small farm where a little boy hand raised her from birth.  He would only sell it to me on the condition I kept her name, "Annie."  So Annie it is.

Because she was socialized so much from birth, she is super friendly now.  She will run and greet anyone who stops in.  This year, she had her first lamb - a little ram named Spot.

She has classic Leicester wool.  It has long staple with close crimp, and is very soft.  This is my first year working with it (2012), and I am planning a new line of products featuring this premium wool.

Caesar is also a pure-bred Border Leicester.  He has a textbook perfect Roman nose - hence his name.  He is fairly friendly, as long as he thinks there is some sort of food reward involved, he will act like your best friend.  If not, he tends to stay back a little bit, being somewhat of a loner.  

His wool is long white ringlets, like kid mohair.  It's so perfect that I strictly lock-spin it, for combing it would be a crime!  As the new herd sire, he has already produced a pure bred and several cross-breed lambs.  I look forward to more.