One of the great things about Shetland Sheep is that they were bred to release their wool naturally by shedding. A lot of breeders have bred out this trait, since it is faster to shear a sheep than to roo it (pluck the wool). I was so happy when I discovered that Puddin was shedding her hair.
I started out with her on this plywood, but there was a breeze wanting to blow the wool into the dirt, and a bit hard on my legs trying to get down to her level. So I moved her to the stanchion. I never locked her head in the stanchion (she's to short), instead I tied her lead to the headpiece. She stood still, and seemed to really enjoy the process. I think it must have felt good.
There are 3 types of Shetland fleece. Her type is called Kindly. It means she has a fine, single coat with no guard hairs.
Although she looks like she has bald spots in the picture, she doesn't, it's just the way the sun shone through her wool in the picture.
She was left with a short fuzzy coat, but not as short as if she had been sheared.
My hands got a very heavy bath in lanolin. Sheep shears must have really soft hands.
The result was 2 cartloads of her beautiful fleece for me to play with (I think it weighed about 2 1/2 pounds), and a much more comfortable Puddin.
To find out more about Shetland Sheep go to the North American Shetland Sheepbreeders Association website.
Kimberly
4 comments:
Thank you. Had no idea about Shetland's shedding. You will have fun with all that fresh wool now.
Kris~
Your welcome.
I most certainly am. I got it all washed up, and I have already spin a very fine skein of yarn from it.
Kimberly
I've wanted Shetland sheep for a while now. My husband and I have talked about getting a few. But after having JUST gotten married and the fact that I'm still adjusting to things I decided to wait and we'll try next year to get some.
Hannah,
They certainly are sweet sheep. We have the standard size sheep also, and after shearing them, my Mom made it very clear that she DIDN'T want anymore of the big sheep, because they are so big and strong, harder to hold down to shear. The Shetland are so small.
I bought a DVD from the North American Shetland Sheepbreeders Association that was extremely in-depth, and informative. I would highly recommend it to anyone considering Shetlands.
Kimberly
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