SA Farm's journal

[SA Farm]

Been busy doing some wool things. I actually joined a spinning competition (for fun) that will start next weekend!
My latest spins:

^I measured twice since I was curious how much it would shrink. More than I thought, but not really when you consider what happens when you throw a wool item in the dryer and it goes down at least a full size.
I have one more in the works that I’ll have done before the competition begins.
I also lost my mind a little and treated myself to an Electric Eel Wheel Nano 2

Spun up a single and it works great! It’s tiny (fits in my hand), has suction cup feet so I can stick it to things for added stability, and is so far so good, for sure. Still love my drop spindles, but it’s nice to have options.

I’m in the process of chain-plying the single I did on it and then it’s going somewhere safe to sit out the competition.

In farm news, temperatures have been crazy warm for February and no snow on the ground, so I let the girls out for some fun and exercise. They weren’t interested in trying to graze. Probably because Katana kept breaking from her sit to go check on them/play with them.

“I may be sitting on the outside, but on the inside, I’m doing laps around them and licking their ears/noses.”
Brat dog
Then, the other day, the rooster hormone levels were spiking, so I had to rescue the bantam before his lack of common sense got him killed. I threw him in with the girls while he recovered for a few days.

I moved him into his own pen with his own girls today. He seems much happier now as does the Ameraucana rooster he tried to take on (who, of course, didn’t have a scratch on him).

Shearing commences shortly.

4 weeks to lambing

 

[Baymule]

That’s some pretty yarn. I like your new spinning gadget. It doesn’t take up any room at all.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Been busy doing some wool things. I actually joined a spinning competition (for fun) that will start next weekend!
My latest spins:
View attachment 104570View attachment 104571
^I measured twice since I was curious how much it would shrink. More than I thought, but not really when you consider what happens when you throw a wool item in the dryer and it goes down at least a full size.
I have one more in the works that I’ll have done before the competition begins.
I also lost my mind a little and treated myself to an Electric Eel Wheel Nano 2
View attachment 104574
Spun up a single and it works great! It’s tiny (fits in my hand), has suction cup feet so I can stick it to things for added stability, and is so far so good, for sure. Still love my drop spindles, but it’s nice to have options.
View attachment 104575
I’m in the process of chain-plying the single I did on it and then it’s going somewhere safe to sit out the competition.

In farm news, temperatures have been crazy warm for February and no snow on the ground, so I let the girls out for some fun and exercise. They weren’t interested in trying to graze. Probably because Katana kept breaking from her sit to go check on them/play with them.
View attachment 104572
“I may be sitting on the outside, but on the inside, I’m doing laps around them and licking their ears/noses.”
Brat dog
Then, the other day, the rooster hormone levels were spiking, so I had to rescue the bantam before his lack of common sense got him killed. I threw him in with the girls while he recovered for a few days.
View attachment 104573
I moved him into his own pen with his own girls today. He seems much happier now as does the Ameraucana rooster he tried to take on (who, of course, didn’t have a scratch on him).

Shearing commences shortly.

4 weeks to lambing

Those Electric Eel Wheels are the best! I have the 6.0 and I love it!

 

[SA Farm]

DH’s cousin got chickens from me last year, but something has come up in her life, so I got back 2 of them (she welcomed me to take as many as I wanted, but space is limited, ya know?) So, I got my SS mix and splash Cochin back again
(SS mix behind the rooster, Cochin right next to her. I know their history and all that, so no need to quarantine in this case.)

I love how pretty and unique all my chickens are. Just straight up eye candy (imo)
As for the bantams, the little rooster decided that, since he survived the Ameraucana rooster, he was obviously king bleep, so he decided to (try to) take me on
He’s now destined for a small soup pot.
The girls will be going to my parents, since they’re starting to feel some cabin fever and want a fun, but low-ish maintenance, project. I’ll be providing their feed and my parents will do the rest. A nice deal for us all


Took me two days and as many hours, but Foxy is shorn and hoof trimmed. I don’t think it would’ve been good for either of us if I’d tried to get her completely done in one day. She is seriously the most difficult sheep to shear since her wool felts horribly and the shears don’t want to even get into it, let alone cut it! Even the electric shears have a hard time, so I just plod along. It’s hard on her when she’s so heavily pregnant, so it’s good that we took a day between sessions.


But now she’s done and looking fat, sassy and happy to be able to scratch all the itches she couldn’t get to before lol

It was funny, the other day DH and DS were out back with me and we were talking about our plans for the sheep. DS is going on about how he loves the sheep and Dobby in particular (she’s “his” since he picked her out). But! He still wants to eat some sheep, so I asked him if we could eat Dobby’s lambs and he was highly offended at the notion. So I asked him whose lambs we could eat and he pointed to Coy - the smallest ewe and the mother of Dobby -
I’m hoping Coy has more ewe lambs. Dobby is absolutely my favourite (quality-wise). We’ll see how she passes the test of mothering, but if she’s anything like her mom, she’ll be fabulous at that too

I can’t wait for lambing!!!!!!

 

[SA Farm]

Got Coy done today. Only took an hour and change to get her shorn and hoof trimmed. She really hides her lambs well. I’m assuming she’ll have her usual twins.

I can’t believe I’ve never noticed the fish on her hip


Happy Valentines from Kitty and Val
(They needed some attention while I was setting up for Coy.)

 

[Baymule]

Coy is so spotty and pretty. Can’t wait to see her lambs!

 

[SA Farm]

Dobby is done except for two of her feet. DS came out at the end and scared her (he was carrying a stuffed T-rex and growling - go figure ), so she peed on the stand. I do wear gloves, but if you’re leaning over a ewe who doesn’t want her feet trimmed, there tends to be a bit of flailing. Flailing = spatter
I’ll get them done in a few days. Supposed to rain tomorrow, so I’ll wait until that dries out a bit first as well.
I think I’ve improved my shearing over the years. I’m no longer terrible, but I’m not really good at it either

^ that old cooler lid works well for graining small numbers. The ridges slow them down a bit

Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I set 20 eggs for a test batch in my incubator. Of course, I didn’t check hatching dates before putting them in, so they’ll be hatching the same time three of the girls are due to lamb I will set many an alarm to make sure I remember to put them in lockdown.

Just Dingo and Doll left to shear. Doll isn’t due until March 31, so I could take my time now, but I’m planning to get one done a week since it would be nice to have them all done before lambs are on the ground…
And apparently before I need to set up my brooder shed for the chicks I’m going to be hatching

 

[farmerjan]

Didn't know whether to "like" or laugh..... good for you to have a plan to get them done asap.... before lambing...and setting eggs.... why not?

 

[Baymule]

I can see improvement in your shearing. I’m impressed, you do marvelous things with the wool.

 

[SA Farm]

Almost got Doll done today. Just need to finish up her neck, so she’s in lion mode at the moment. She is the worst in my flock for getting her feet done, btw. She’s the one who squirmed enough that I stabbed myself last year. Also hates having her legs or belly touched in general which makes shearing a little more challenging than I’d like. If I have to get her done twice a year, I can only hope she’ll settle into it a bit better

Nice little belly starting to show on her and a tiny udder developing. She’s due end of March.

Chickens are laying well. Getting a nice variety in colour this year with speckled green added to the lineup. With my Ameraucana rooster, the next gen eggs should be beautiful.

Yep, going to set some more eggs tomorrow when I candle the first batch Then, if fertility is as good as I suspect it is, I’ll try to sell some as hatching eggs and only what doesn’t sell will be hatched for a while. (Or not depending on how busy I get once the lambs land.)

Apparently, I can spin almost 900 yards of plied yarn in one week if I really put my mind to it. Yup, I wanted to know how much I could do in a week, so I spent just over 65 hours spinning last week. Only took most of one day off when I sheared Dobby.

The grey is all from Coy. The brown with a white streak is Doll and the coloured skeins are dyed and a mix of Alpaca and Dingo.
Doll’s spun the best and is incredibly soft. Coy’s wool is a bit more what you think about when you think of wool - a bit scratchy. Good for outerwear, rugs, or maybe slippers. Doll and the Dingpaca is next to skin soft

Less than 2 weeks to lambing