Shearing photos of choice

It is a chilly 40 degrees and raining here today. Yay for the rain, but wishing the temperature was about 10 degrees warmer. I want to be curled up on my couch today under about 4 blankets, with the dogs and a latte, watching good movie.
I will have to settle for turning up my space heater at work and putting my coat back on.

I thought about spreading these photos out over a few posts. But they were ready to go and I figured you always have the option of leaving, should you get bored. So here are some of my favorite pictures from shearing day, which was week ago today.
This is Pearl at the beginning of the day. This is the "before" photo. The "after" photo can be seen at the bottom, (in case you don't want to see the multitude of sheep pictures in between)


If there is ever a sheep magazine photo contest, this will be my entry. I am ready...I hope there is one someday.

The shearers have a lot of clipper blades, and they go through all of regularly and have to sharpen them.

Holly loves shearing. We aren't sure why, but she really enjoys it.













And this is Pearl at the end of the day. I wanted to do the same thing.

Shearing Day

This will be long, but there are lots of pictures. Just warning you... Monday we finally started shearing. Shearing revolves around weather and getting the shearing crew to show up. After several attempts we finally managed to combine a partly cloudy day with the arrival of the crew...make that half the crew. This post will go through the shearing process for you, in case you haven't had the opportunity to experience it firsthand.

First we gather everything the night before and hold them off water and feed. This makes it easier on the shearers and the sheep. You always want to hold sheep off water when you're hauling them, and ideally when you're working them. I can't remember why, but allowing sheep to drink before a long haul will result in several of them dying during the trip. Here they are in the corral, awaiting their turn.

A smaller group is moved into another pen, then into a smaller pen and up the ramp into the shearing trailer (a picture of the trailer is coming up). Those 3 on the left are bait. Sheep like to go places in a bunch and seeing those 3 gets them into the pen easier. When shearing, the ewe's either run up the ramp and it's easy or you have to physically manhandle each and every one at this point. This year they ran right up, but we were prepared with lots of help because it really wears people out pushing, dragging and shoving several hundred 260 lb ewes up a ramp.

Up they go. This is my brother. At the top they enter the shearing trailer.

This is the shearing trailer. Important things: The alley on the right is where the sheep are, the gap below the alley and above the floor is where the fleeces go after they are off the sheep. The doors (bright spots) on the left are were the sheep exit the trailer. They don't always exit there, but that's the idea. In the upper left part of the photo are the motors used to run the clippers. Each shearer has a station positioned betweenof one of the slide-down doors on the alley and an exit door that also includes their own clippers.

Doors in the alley drop down like so, and shearers pull out a ewe.

And shear her. This is much harder than they make it look.

 
the fleece is shoved under the alley to this side of the trailer, where the wool crew takes over. They grab the fleeces and lay them out on the bench. Then they pick out any pieces of wool that have a lot of mud or manure on them and put those parts in a separate bag. The wool from the bellies goes in another bag. The rest of the fleece is gathered up and put in the wool bagger, which is on the far left in the photo.

This my mom and aunt going through fleeces to get the mud and manure soiled pieces, called tags, out.

Here's how the wool side of the trailer looks. A tarp is laid down in case any wool or fleeces are dropped. The white bag right next to the shearing trailer is what the wool is bagged in. The baler can squish just over 40 fleeces weighing approximately 12 lbs each into one bag. On the far end of the photo you can see another bag standing open. That is where the tags are put. Another bag is beside it and that's where the belly wool from each sheep goes. These lower quality parts of the fleece are separated to reduce sorting and increase the wool value down the line. Wool is marketed on a quality basis, so taking the time to remove lower quality parts makes sense from an economics standpoint.
The semi is parked there to block the wind, which wasn't bad that day but has been blowing up to 45 mph off an on for a couple weeks.

As the fleece is cleaned and bagged, the freshly shorn sheep is going out a door on the other side of the trailer. See the blurry silver ring in the top right corner of the picture? That's the shut-off for the motor that runs the clippers. Each station has one and when they're shearing it hangs down within easy reach. When a sheep gets away or kicks the shearer he can grab that ring and shut off his shearers before they unintentially shear something besides wool.

Here she comes.

From there they enter an alley to be worked. This is my job.

Here are my supplies. An insecticide pour-on is given to kill any lice, ticks or grubs the sheep may have on them and to repel flies. They are branded with paint. Each producer picks a different color and that's usually the easiest way to determine who sheep belong to if they get mixed up. Too much paint and it won't wash out of the wool the following year after shearing and that can create a price reduction in your wool. Too little paint and it doesn't last the entire year and you can't tell whose sheep they are as easily. The little book and pen is to keep a tally. We split our ewes into three bunches, so when we get to the number desired for each bunch we turn them out and start the tally over. It also double checks the shearer's tally.

Here's my dad branding. Our brand is the double bar. You can hot iron brand sheep, but they don't tolerate it very well and ours doesn't show up. One reason to hot iron brand them is it proves ownership if they are stolen, and people like to steal sheep. Most hot iron brands go on the face somewhere. Almost all paint brands go on the back, like ours.

After all that they are counted and turned out. As a ranch that range lambs (lambs out in pastures) we want to shear right before we start lambing. This is because if ewes have all their wool, they are insulated from cold and wet weather (think about wearing a wool coat), and won't protect their babies. Without their wool they lamb in a more protected place and don't subject their babies to cold, windy hilltops. Shearing in the spring also gives ewes several months to grow new wool before cold, winter temperatures return, and provides them a lot of other health benefits.
Wool is sold based on how long the fleece is (staple length) and how fine it is. We have Rambouillet sheep, which are known as wool sheep. That means they have a very high quality fleece. Their wool will be used for things like clothing and upholstery. Some years we make a nice profit on our wool and other years it doesn't even pay to have the sheep shorn.

National Prayer Day

It's National Prayer Day. I found this out by listening to K-LOVE Radio, which is a wonderful station. They even had one of their pastor's pray just before 8:00 this morning for everyone who wasn't able to attend a National Prayer Day event.
Here's what I am praying for on this national day of prayer:
(Please picture multiple pictures as we go. My computer isn't cooperating and won't let me upload for some reason)

First, I am so thankful for my family, friends, the way I was raised and being able to purchase a nice home. Also for the things my parents taught me, the fact that my brother is one of my best friends, my job and all the skills God gave me. I am so blessed to be born in this country where I am free and I will thank him for that too.

I will ask for guidance for all our nation's leaders. From the president to local officials and everyone in between. Our country, as a whole, appears to by pushing God away, and I will pray that this trend is reversed. I will also ask God to be with my friends, family, our military as they protect our great country.

I will ask for guidance in my own life.

I will ask for forgiveness of my sins, because I am constantly failing in that department, and I probably don't even notice many of them.

And many many other things as well. What will you pray about on the national day of prayer?

I've been robbed!!

Sunday morning I hurry out to start my truck and head to church when I notice my work laptop case sitting on my flatbed.
My stomach sinks, then jumps into my throat as the thought hits me, "someone was in my truck."
I almost always (as in about 90% of the time) lock my truck, especially when I leave computers, cameras etc in it.
Not Saturday night though.
I open the door to find the contents of my purse strewn across the floor and front seats. All my checkbooks and a check written to me are laid out on the console. My laptop cases are all unzipped. Various receipts, tubes of chapstick, kleenex and pens are everywhere.
I grab my work laptop and throw it back inside with my personal laptop, thank goodness they weren't gone!
I sift through the items left by the thieves and realize my wallet, personal credit card, old social security card (I know you aren't supposed to keep them in your wallet), and some cash are gone. My brother made me my wallet and it is a hand-tooled leather one with white stitching and I love it.
By this point I am shaking, mad and near tears. I run inside and cancel my personal Visa, then try my parents house, busy. Try again a minute later, busy. Don't they know I am having a crisis! "Who the hell is on the phone at a time like this?" runs through my mind.
So I call the guy, shaky voice, tears threatening. He thinks I am mad because he didn't text me back the night before, seriously?! I spill my story and he catches up. I ask what to do next? I don't know if you call the cops, or don't, wait a while, go walk around and see if I can find my stuff. My mind is blank, Help!
About half-way through the conversation I remember my work credit card was in my wallet too and my stomach drops again, even lower.
The guy suggests I call the cops and take it from there. Good idea.
Stop to say a prayer, take a deep breath and say another prayer (two can't hurt during something like this)
Call the cops, talk to a very nice secretary who informs me an officer will be right over, I'm thinking this will be new to actually want the cops around.
Call multiple people from work trying to get a phone number to call and cancel my work credit card. Nobody answers. Try the parents again...busy.
Officer Nickerson shows up, after driving by my house once. I tell him the sad, sad story and he asks if I want him to dust for prints. YES! I can easily name everyone whose fingerprints will be on or in my truck since I just washed and cleaned it.
The idiot can't find one print, says all he got were a few smudges. So much for CSI Casper. I know that I wasn't attempting to hide my fingerprints when I drove the truck last. Christy was in it and so was the guy. No fingerprints...great cop work there buddy.
About then Christy calls and we talk and she has the phone number necessary to cancel my work card. Get that done. Thank Officer Idiot for being completely useless (I didn't word it quite like that) Call the parents...busy, sheesh.
Walk up and down the block looking for clues. Call the parents, my mom answers and tells me this is a great reason to lock my doors. Seriously consider cussing at my mom. Finally get through the motherly worries and head for home with no clues and determined not to call the parents next time.
Call the guy and give him an update. Go walk the dogs, tell the neighbors what happened and continue on.
Then on Monday Christy calls and tells me a guy found my wallet in his trash!
I go meet him and his daughter Tuesday afternoon, get all my personal effects back..even the cash! His daughter's friends are the culprits. They not only stole from me, but from him too while staying over. His daughter was asleep through the whole thing, but not completely innocent as her buddies showed her my wallet the morning after.
We discussed a course of action and decided each girl will have to come to my house and apologize after they inform their parents. Their consequences will include one or two days volunteering at a local riding academy. Shoveling manure, packing hay bales etc..
If they don't agree, I call the cops. I really don't want to call the cops. I got my wallet back and that's all I wanted. But I'm hoping through working for the riding academy maybe just one of them will like it and it could turn into something that will keep them out of trouble in the future.
I'm also hoping the embarrassment of having to apologize to me, at my house, will make them think twice next time. They're only freshman in high school and I know at that age I would be mortified.