Sheep Snapshot Sunday: Starting to Show

A purebred hampshire ewe (Puff First Knight 61T) starting to get fat.

Lambing Checklist: Flashlight

1. Flashlight

Since sheep don't always lamb during the day and not all of our pen is well lit so its important to have a flashlight for going out on nightly checks.

Sheep Snapshot Sunday: Before the Snow

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago before the snow and cold weather came. I was home today and could have taken a new picture today but I figured that the cold weather might now be good for my camera.

Countdown to Lambing: November

2 months 

Just like the countdown until Christmas the countdown to lambing has started for our flock. By now our ewes are three months pregnant and at home eating hay. For sheep the gestation period is about 5 months or 142-152 days on average. We always plan to lamb in January since lambs born around this time are the perfect size to use for 4-H, no matter how stupid it may seem because it generally is the coldest time of the year. We have developed a system to make sure that lambs born on colder days don't succumb to hypothermia or pneumonia that I will discuss in posts when we have started lambing.

Countdown to Christmas: 35 days

Sheep Show Classes: Trimming

This class in a sheep show takes practice to get good at. For those who are familiar with showing cattle, trimming sheep is the equivalent of fitting cattle. The parameters for this class can change from show to show but here is some general information about the trimming class.

Who can enter the class?

Any sheep exhibitor who enters in the show is usually eligible to compete in the trimming class. Depending on the show, participants may have to supply their own lamb to trim or the lamb may be supplied for them. Lambs used in the class are upwards up 80 lbs. who have never been sheared or washed and may have had only minimal human contact and halter training depending on where they came from.

What is the objective of the class?

The trimming class tests the grooming ability of the competitors by giving them the opportunity to show their skills by preparing an ungroomed lamb for the show ring. With the proper grooming the look of a lamb can be altered, trimming the wool a certain way can accentuate the good characteristics of a lamb's conformation and cover up or reverse undesirable traits. There is a time frame so you have to budget your time wisely, usually competitors receive 45 minutes to work on their lamb. At some shows we have been to you have that time to trim a whole lamb, at others we have had less time but only had to trim half of a lamb (the other half was trimmed by another competitor). 

How do you trim a lamb?

Depending on the show competitors may receive the luxury of using a trimming stand. This device has a headstall to hold the head of the sheep in place to prevent them from moving and can be raised to a level so you don't have to bend over when trimming. If this is not offered you must tie your lamb snugly to a fence as you want them to move as little as possible.

First brush off any debris and clip off any large tags (clumps) of dirt or manure. 

Once your lamb is clean, begin carding. A card is a brush with bent wire bristles that is used to pull the crimp (wave) out of the wool to make trimming easier and smoother. When using a card do not pull it over the wool the way you would a normal brush. To card you want to pull the wool upwards or away from the body as this straightens the fibres. The paddle method of carding is done by pressing the card to the wool and pull upwards while flicking your wrist. Another method is to use one of your hands to part the wool and using the card to pull back the parted wool. Using either method the whole body of the lamb should be throughly carded, with the exception of the underside of the belly.
Once finished carding, you can now take out your hand shears. When trimming with these always make sure you are feeding the wool into the shears the right way. For example if you are working from left to right make sure the right blade of the shear passes over the left blade when cutting. To do the best job only trim small portions of the wool at a time and repeat opening and closing the shears quickly but don't move across the animal quickly as this will make your trim job chunky rather than smooth. The optimum area for cutting on the hand shears is about an inch from the tip of the blade so try to only cut with this part of the shear. Depending on how much wool you want to trim off you can angle the shears by pressing the bottom blade closer to the body of the animal and the top blade further from the animal so that more/less wool will feed through the shears. When trimming you should devise a pattern so you have a method that will make the trim job blend together. I find it easiest to trim the top line(back) first, followed by the sides, shoulder and front, back end and then blending the sections together. (post to come soon with trimming videos and hints for improving lamb conformation through trimming)
After you have finished trimming make sure to dust off any pieces of trimmed wool.
What is the judge looking for?
Since this is a timed event the judge will be taking note of how you spent your time (carding vs. trimming). Some judges emphasize time spent carding as it can make trimming the lamb a lot easier and make the trim job look smoother. For older participants completeness is important as they should have more experience and better time management skills. The overall transformation of the lamb is also taken into consideration, since the goal should be to change the look of the lamb for the better. Does the work done improve or highlight and features of the lamb? The lamb should also be cleaner (free from dirt and manure) and the fleece should be smoothly trimmed.

Sheep Shearing

On the 30th we had the rest of our sheep herd sheared. We started the morning at 8:00 preparing the area for the sheep to be sheared by running an extension cord and placing some sheets of plywood down on the ground. The shearer arrived at 8:30 and he began shearing the 36 ewes and lambs and sheared the 5 rams last. It was a hot day which makes shearing an even more difficult job for the shearer. He finished at 11:00 and all that was left to do was haul away the pile of fleeces.
Here is how much our shearing day cost
36 ewes and lambs x $5.00/head                                       $180.00
5 rams x $8.00/head                                                           $ 40.00
Total Cost                                                            $220.00  

Meet Fluff: Summer Synergy's Champion Yearling Ewe

You may have seen Fluff (aka Prairie Winds 1X) and her babies on display at this years Calgary Stampede in the Agriculture Building. She was visited by people from all over the world and I spoke to people from New York, Australia and Algeria all in one day. I was lucky enough to win the yearling ewe class at the inaugural Provincial Sheep Show and this meant that my champion ewe would be travelling to the Stampede for the final two days to be showcased along with the other sheep, beef and dairy winners. 

Fluff aka Prairie Winds 1X
Born: January 14, 2011
Tatoo: PSH 1X
Fluff's Family Tree: Pedigree


Lambing Record
February 5, 2011         2 x Ewe




Show Record
May 28-30, 2010          4-H on Parade                                                                 Calgary, AB

June 12, 2010                West Wheatland 4-H Show and Sale                            Rockyford, AB

August 11-14, 2010      Prairie Shepherds 4-H Invitational                               Neepawa, MB
August 21, 2010            Millarville Fair                                                                  Millarville, AB
June 11, 2011                 West Wheatland 4-H Show and Sale                             Rockyford, AB
July 12-15, 2011            Provincial Sheep Show and Summer Synergy             Olds, AB
July 16-17, 2011            Calgary Stampede Supreme Show                                 Calgary, AB