YEAH!

Three of my Angora does were not registered (CAGBA) and since one or both their parents were not registered they had to be registered by inspection. One can choose physical inspection or photo inspection. I chose photo inspection ( as I tried to do the physical inspection a couple years ago, but could to take the goats to the show in MI, due to WI state rules.) For the photo inspection one needs 12 pictures of the goats (shorn and full fleece) as well as the entire unskirted fleece. The fleeces/photos are mailed to a show where the the inspection is held. A goat has to pass three judges (they have a list of traits they check) to be registered.

I am quite pleased to say that all three passed! Now all of my goats are registered.
China's side shot in full fleece and then shorn.
England in full fleece and shorn.

Belle in full fleece and then shorn.

A Bit Of Fall Color

We went on a walk in the kettle moriane on Sunday, here are some of the beautiful fall leaves. Most had fallen down already though.

I been very busy around here, I got my sheep jacketed and sorted the ewe lambs and AI ewes out of the rest of the ewes who will be bred. (I finished making the coats that I needed for the sheep, but need to finish the goats' coats!) On Monday I plan to break the sheep and goats into breeding groups, but before I can do that I need to set up electric netting to subdivide the pasture.

Ewes grazing and market lambs

Ewes, replacement ewe lambs and a couple small (unshorn) market lambs enjoying some of the last grass. I am afraid that the grass will run out about a month earlier than last year. At leat I have some of my winter hay. Now just to keep working and the sheep coats I'm making...

I had decided to save money by making my own sheep coats this year. I can buy a coat for $15 each or make them for $3.70 each (not counting my time) so since I need about 50-60 coats that's quite a savings. Eleven done... (The rest are all cut out.)
The blacks are Corriedale X Shetlands and the whites are Shetland X Coopworth. The Shetland X Coopworth are defiantly bigger, but the two sets of Corriedale X Shetlands are out of first time lambers and they are black while all the Coopworth X Shetlands are white. In Paul and Carol's Coopworth flock the whites are always bigger so I don't know if that would hold true for the Corriedales or not. I will do the Corriedale cross again this fall (that will give me more to judge on) and he will get more than two ewes!
Shetland X Corriedale
Shetland X CoopworthThe Coopworth X Shetland fleeces are very nice. They are not kempy like the North Country Cheviot X Shetlands and they are heavier (by about 1#), shinier, longer and silkier than the Bluefaced Leicester X Shetlands.
Another Coopworth X Shetland. I am keeping seven Coopworth X Shetlands. They will not be bred this year. Next year I may get a terminal sire or use the Corriedale on them. (The Corriedale sired lamb out of the Shetland X Bluefaced Leicester is great-she is about 100# and has a wonderful soft, dense, bold crimped, silky soft charcoal fleece-I'm keeping her as well.)
The Corriedale X Shetland fleeces are great colors, but of the four two are kind of double coated (this is one of those.) I can pull of guard hairs out and they area different color, but it is not a typical double coat. The hand on these two is kind of like a down wool. One of the other two is crimpy and very soft and the other is very long, soft and is like an intermediate Shetland.

One other thing. The Coopworth X Shetlands are great to shear-the fleeces cut through like butter, while of the Corriedal crosses one was great to shear and the other three were like cutting through a brick. I could not get to the skin level on those three and I started to wonder if my blade shears were dull, but they weren't as I did some more Coopworth X Shetlands after them.

Good to be home

I had to get a SVT (super ventricular tachycardia) ablation yesterday to remove extra electrical path ways in my heart which were causing tachycardia (fast heart rate). (I had an episode of some palpitations in the spring and after jumping through all the hoops and getting all sorts of tests done that's what they found out.) The scary thing is I was put on a monitor for a month and I had to send the reading through the phone for the NP to read and I only noticed the palpitations once or twice and there were five automatic readings a day that I had to send. Basically if I didn't find out or get it done I would have gotten heart failure.

So yesterday morning I went to the hospital (my Mom took me) and I got the procedure (technically not surgery) done. The cardiologist uses a wire and goes up through the artery in ones' groin to the heart and finds the extra pathways and ablates (kills) them. I was kept there over night for observation and now I'm home. It's so nice to be home. Now I can't lift more than 10 # for 4 days. The reason is they don't want the artery popping open and oozing or bleeding.

The couple days before the procedure I got my goats shorn and my 19 market lambs shorn-they look very nice by the way. I'll have to do a post on them. (I have 10 small market lambs that I decided not to shear as well as the 19. 8 are pure Shetlands and 2 are crosses who didn't grow well. They will be shorn in the spring and sent to the Easter market.) I didn't shear my little TX kid-Grace as she is very thin and has bottle jaw. I have been deworming (she got dewormed 3 or 4 more times than any one else) her all summer and she just seems not to be able to handle worms. I dewormed her with Valbazen and then I'm going to use Ivermectin. (I heard that in severe cases one should use one and then the other after ten days.) I just hope she'll be ok! The poor little thing eats, but is weak.

Cow for sale

Picture taken last fall after she freshened.

I have a Jersey cow bred to Honour-polled (one of Genex'es bulls) for an end of Oct. calf (she is vet checked). The cow is 3 years old and this will be her second freshening (she's dry now.) She is halter trained and also trained for hand milking (I also used a belly milker a couple times with her.) She would be a great family cow. I'm selling her as I need the shed/pasture space for my flock of sheep and goats. She is $1200.

WI Sheep and Wool

I had a great weekend at the WI Sheep and Wool Festival. I had a vendor booth to keep me busy on Fri. and Sat. (I don't sell on Sun. so a friend sold some of her product in the booth space on Sun.) I sold roving, yarn, handspun mohair lock yarn, mohair locks, raw fleeces, sheepskins and combed top.
I bought a skirting table. This will be nice as I have used a ping pong table for the past couple years.
I showed several fleeces in the fleece show and Everest my teaser ram's fleece got a second.
The judge did not like my Corriedale fleece (she said it was not consistent and was OK for commercial), but liked the Coopworth fleece. Here is Everest's fleece.

Also had a great time visiting all my sheep and Angora goat breeder and fiber friends. Thanks Tori Gygi for explaining some sheep conformation (shoulders and backs) to me!


It rained when I was gone here at home quite a bit (I left on Thur. and got back Sun.) and when I got back the grass had grown about 1/2 in.! Aug. was dry so the rain is greatly appreciated.

I got a couple new pages up -Shetland Ewes , Shetland Ewe Lambs and Commercial Ewes .

Pied Piper

I walked out to the pasture and there were sheep and goats scattered around.
I yelled "sheep!" and they came crowding around. Am I the Pied Pier?! I must be as they are all standing there waiting.OK I get the message-I'm supposed to open up the fence so the can get new grass. Let rip...

They are always in such a hurry to get the new tasty grass!

I created a page for my Angora does and am working on a page for some of the Shetland ewes.