“Better late than never”
Mostly true….
Finally (finally!) have all the Drysdales shorn which means they are fly-safe, grass seed-safe and happy campers in general!
It’s been a challenge to get my shearer – have been trying for 2 months – but we’re all good now.
A good shearer is a thing to cherish. There are more good shearers around than some “interest groups” would like you to believe. The handful of “bad apples” wouldn’t last long here that’s for sure.
So, back to the fluff! This was the first shearing for the Drysdale lambs (born Aug-Sept). There aren’t many breeds of sheep that can produce 15-20cm (4-6″) of wool growth in their first 4 months! Give a Drysdale protein and it just pumps out the wool.
As you will know (from reading the info on our Drysdale page…) the Drysdale fleece is a primitive type of fleece with medullated outer coat and soft, fine undercoat. In lambs this is less defined as the undercoat is typically the same length as the outercoat at this stage.
This means they need shearing 2-3 times a year, on average, to keep the fleece to a “commercial” length.
This was the first time for the lambs in the shearing shed (they will see a bit of it over their lives….) and it was a warm day today. Even so, I was pleasantly surprised as to just how ZEN the lambs were this time.
Lambs aren’t supposed to be this quiet… they are supposed to be stark-raving loonies, terrified by the world and trying to kill each other in the process. Ooops. Drysdales didn’t get that memo! 😆 😆
I said zen…. ahem….
And even afterwards the calm continues:
Heck, some of them even had a nap in the “going out chute”. 😆 Unheard of!
Extra trivia: when you wear 40 micron wool it’s great to get it off and have a good scratch!