Modesto trailing sheep across the Adams bridge
This spring, shearing was a process, not an event. In order for our spring schedule to go smoothly, the shearing crew needs to be done by May 1st. This gives us time to trail in an orderly manner to our lambing grounds, which takes four or five days. This year the crew showed up on April 30th.
It has been a phenomenally dry spring, so they had not been delayed by weather. Two reasons accounted for their late appearance. Our long-time shearing contractor had retired to his farm in New Zealand, along with his wife, a wool-packer extraordinaire, his three-year-old daughter and their newborn twin sons. The gentleman who took over his business was not nearly as experienced or efficient. In addition, our government’s jihad against legal foreign workers has taken its toll on shearing crews. Our crew did an excellent job, but was much slower than we were used to.
This year’s shearing, which lasted two weeks, took us into lambing, which starts May 8th. We had pregnancy tested many of the ewes in March, so we sent the ewes pregnant with twins on to the lambing grounds. This meant they trailed, heavy with lambs and with wool, and were sheared while they were beginning to lamb, on our private land on the lambing grounds.
Luckily for shearing, but unluckily in general, we lost only one day to rain. It was the only rain that came in a month. Hallelujah—we finally finished and were able to get on with the business of lambing.
guard dog watching sheep on the trail
waiting for the shearers
Sheep wagons at Badwater
- Shearers at work
Shorn ewes in front of portable shearing shed
Amanda carrying wool to the mechanical packer
Maeve and Tiarnan on the wool bales
Stacking the wool bales
Tiarnan and ewe check each other out
Pepe, Dunkin and Siobhan
Afrenio and Pepe help Maeve practice mutton busting
Maeve and Seamus with the guard dog puppies
Modern sheepwoman: Meghan on cell phone
The first twins
Ladder Ranch
