or Don't Count Your Fleeces Before They're Sheared. :-\
I went out one morning to feed early in the week. As the sheep dove into the feed troughs, I noticed there was a PINK SHEEP in the trough. PINK???? I thought immediately of someone rubbing up against the "barn red" shed - but they didn't have access to that shed, and this was on TOP of the fleece.
Closer examination (when she came up for air from pigging out) and with a terrible groan! I recognized Bessie under all that "pink" fleece. I'd been coveting Bessie's fleece for weeks, and now with shearing only about a month away, I was dreaming of spinning those luscious fawn locks. Bessie obviously had other ideas.
It didn't take long to realize that she'd taken advantage of the new mineral feeder. She must've been thinking that it wasn't just a mineral feeder, but a personal scratching post. I had positioned it high enough that it wouldn't catch sheep pellets, and low enough that lambs could reach it and the sheep couldn't get under it. I thought. Well, Bessie figured out how to get under it, lift it off its bracket, rock it back and forth and spill essentially all the mineral onto her back. GRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Her fleece should look like this:
Instead, it looks like this:
Well, sometimes I'm a little slow. Today, I realized that the mineral didn't just stain the outer parts of her fleece, it probably was trapped down there next to her skin, not doing her fleece or skin any good! I got out the livestock blower/dryer, haltered her and tied her up, and proceeded to blow as much of the grit out as possible. There was a lot in there! (... and a lot of VM came flying out, too! More than I expected for as clean as her fleece looks.)
Now, blowing is a great way to clean and prep Scottish Blackface for the show ring. I don't think it has the same effect on Shetlands:
...though with a little smoothing, Bessie still looks pretty good!
Maybe I'll get to spin her beautiful locks after all... maybe a little dye will make it all better.
- Franna
4 comments:
ROFLMAO!!! And I laugh only because this sort of thing would have happened to moi! :)
Ah...the best laid plans of many a shepherd oft go awry! heeheehee! Sorry Franna...but it IS funny! Mine just bash the mineral feeder I try on the wall...but I have noticed that my girls looks like they're going for dreadlocks from rubbing parts that aren't covered by the coats. I need a nice day to be able to go out and clean up sheep w/o freezing my a-s off. :)
Well, yes, it is funny in a what-will-they-think-of-next kind of way. Sort of a sheepie "gotcha!" ;-)
- Franna
LOVE the photo of the "frizzed" sheep! A blower sounds like a handy tool, if it gets out a lot of VM. Bessie has such a pretty head; makes me wish again that I could make room for Val here.
I bet it will wash out fine. If not, like you said, you can always dye it. I agree with michelle, the frizzed sheep pic is great.
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