Shearing Day!
On this new years day (for some) and the fall equinox (for others) I went out with my husband and traveled into the humid and cloudy Georgia Mountains to the Wauka Valley Farm Shearing day.
It was truly a family affair with grandmother, daughter and granddaughters (and a sheep named after great grandma that I got the fleece from!). Everyone was so sweet and full of great info and happy to share. I'm going to go back hopefully in March for their next shearing day and actually help them "skirt" the fleece. Which turned out to be NOT what i thought it was. I thought it had to do with if you put a cover on them to keep them clean but it actually has to do with sorting and picking the fleece before you send it out to be processed.
I got my fleece from PJ the Romney. This particular sheep originally came from a farm that breed their sheep for eating and fleecing. So some of the males that came from very good fleece bearing mommies, get eaten. Two somehow got left and Wauka got them before they could be eaten so now they are the two Romney's that live at Wauka.
The sheep don't like to be caught, but once you do get them they don't freak or fight about the shearing itself. You can even pet their head while it's being done and they don't seem to care. I think they are just waiting for it to end so they can relax.
I could have gotten some Correidale cross etc but I'm just not to into Correidale right now so I wanted to try the Romney. Wish me luck, it's a lot to wash. Speaking of the fleece, it cost way more then I was expecting. How much do you guys pay per pound for your raw fleece?
PJ gave me 3.5 pounds of a beautiful, creamy Romney Wool.
I didn't wind up seeing anyone I knew, we got there early, 9:30am. The husbeast came with me and seamed to really enjoy himself. It was really fun to share the experience with him and when we went to the pet store later to get the dogs food he told the sales women (who we know and talk to often) all about the fleece and how many sweaters I could make from it and how much it cost and what the shearing was like. Heh.
Comments
Sandy says;
Yay for PJ. I hope you got my email. I wanted to go to this thing so bad, but my head wasn't cooperating.
Great pics and video. I'll plan on next spring!
Claudia says;
So awesome - I hope I know more about sheep & spinning by March and then we can go together. Sorry I missed out this weekend! The video is cool - can't wait to see the Romney Wool - happy washing ;-)!!!
Adrian says;
If your fleece is well-skirted and not full of vm and has no second cuts, $10-$12 a lb. would be a decent price.
I just spent $16 a lb. on fleece, but it was coated and amazing. Not a prize winner, but the kind of fleece you jump up and down over.
Monica says;
I agree with Adrian. I'll add that different fleeces go for different prices, too. Merinos, cormos and CVM's go for a lot more, generally $18+.