First lambs of 2017

But first some pretty yarn that I've been working on. . .

This is a before shot.  I bought 2 batts of this at the 2016 All Missouri Spin In.  I can't really remember the vendor and they didn't give a content list.  i'm not sure what the wool is in it, but I think the shiny white may be mohair or silk?  It was my first time spinning from a batt and I have to say I did enjoy it. 

  I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to make of this.  I'm calling it Lavender Glory and it ended up about 330 yards. 

  I also put some eggs in the incubator, we are now a week into the 21 day period. In a few more days, I'll check for development in the eggs.  About a dozen Buff Orpington eggs went in with some eggs leftover from my parent's incubator filling; a few silver laced Wyandotte and some bantum somethings. LOL.

ONTO WHAT YOU'RE WAITING FOR
!!!  BABIES!!!

Saturday, March 11 in the late morning Dusk delivered of twins.  The little black is a ewe and to reveal my 2017 naming theme is Daytona.  Yep, Nascar racetracks and it only seemed fitting for the first ewe to be named after the season's first race. 

The white is a little ram.  We're holding off on naming ram lambs this year until we have the ewes all delivered.  We will be keeping 1 ram lamb to be show stock for this year and next.  Extras will either be for sale or be butchered.  I already doubt this little guy will be butchered though, as I've already had some interest in purchasing him if he comes for sale.

It's hard work being born!

With 5 more ewes that all look bred, stay tuned for more lambs!

Missouri State Fair results

We had a GREAT time at the fair!  We only did the 4H breeding sheep show, but are already planning on staying for the open show next year!  We hope we represented our breed well.  There were many people interested in our little guys.  My only regret was forgetting business cards for people!  Pictures & results below!  Our Shetlands were shown in All Other Wool Breeds against some very nice ramboullets!!!  The girls showing the ramboullets were amazing young ladies that were very helpful!  In fact we met so many helpful people there! 

 

 

Little Conway earned 2nd place in the Jr Ram Lamb class.

 

Wonderful Kenny!!!!  He took 2nd in his Yearling Ram class & earned Reserve Champion ram from there!!!!  We were floored as we really thought that the Jr Ramboullet that beat Conway was going to get the Reserve! 

Loretta was able to place 3rd in her Yearling Ewe class. 

Minnie Pearl placed 4th at the bottom of her class.  I will admit to a little disappointment at this, because I really thought she was a nicer lamb.  That Said!!!!!  It was an all other wool breeds class. This means they are looking for a finer wool.  My guys at this point are a medium handle.  Minnie Pearl may do better next year because of how fleeces can change over that first year or so.

 

The judge was great! I spoke with him after the show to see how we could improve the flock from a show standpoint.  He pointed out that the AOWB looks for a finer fleece, had it been a Shetland class in this instance it would have been judged a bit differently.  He was very helpful for us 1st timers to understand how it all works.  By the way, this same judge went onto a big Shetland show the next day!!!  So, I feel good that he said ours were competitive with 80% of the Shetlands out there and could hold their own in the AOWB. 

 

Overall a great showing and a great time was had!  We already can't wait until next year.  We know that Conway & Minnie Pearl will be showing and we may be adding Tammy next year.  We left her at home this year.  It'll be spring before we know what lambing will bring us for the youngstock.

 

Also, anybody reading that is looking for a nice ram, Kenny is for sale.  $300.  Please send me an email if you would like to talk about him!

County Fair Results

So our county fair was last week.  Randolph County fair, you may have seen us! This was our first year showing our animals & we had a great time! 

 Our silkie rooster placed 3rd in a class of 8 in roosters 1 year & older. 

Our hen placed 3rd in a class of 9 in hens 1 year & older.  The judge was very detailed & helpful.  He gave us some good tips on what to improve in our stock. 

 Fluffy Girl made 3 projects for achievement night.  A poster of colors & markings for her Horseless Horse, which received blue.  A nice travel chicken cage for Chickens, also a blue. Then pictured is the recycled jeans hay bag for Sheep, which not only received blue but also best of show & was chosen to be displayed at the Missouri State Fair!

In 4h, they use a slightly different ribbon system.  A blue ribbon means that the member has done a job & learned to the best of their ability.  It rewards the honest effort of doing their best! They also award the animal shows this way.    A red ribbon is when a judge feels the member has not put their best efforts into their animal or project.  A white is the lowest & pretty well explains itself at this point. 

  Here's our Kenny, the Randolph County in-county reserve champion ram! He earned a nice blanket for this honor.  

Here's a picture of the shetland ewe championship class. The left is Minnie Pearl, our jr ewe lamb as reserve champion shetland ewe.  The right is Loretta, our yearling & champion shetland ewe. 

 This is a nice picture of Loretta & Fluffy Girl during their lead line class.  I made her skirt from sheep to shawl from Loretta's fleece this spring.  She will be added to the breeding group this fall. 

 All loaded & ready to go home! We had a great time at the fair!  They were very supportive of our different little sheep!  We brought home some nice prizes.  We tried to be good breed ambassadors & educate all the people interested in our guys!

Next up Missouri State Fair on August 13 for 4 of our sheep!  If you're there please find us & say hi! 

Weaning Day

Here's the nice before picture.  Everybody is happy & enjoying their hay. While they were eating, I made sure the yearling ewe pen was little-proofed. We didn't want any small holes for them to get out of. Then with some gate help from Fluffy Girl, I caught them & Camo Dad transferred them to their new home. 

It's hard to tell but they are NOT happy! The open mouths are crying babies. It's hard to imagine it from the video but within an hour they had settled down.  I moved them into the yearling ewe pen so they would have older company & it seems to have worked well. 

Here's a video so you can hear how mad they were! 

Then Fluffy Girl worked with Kenny practicing for the show ring.  He's been great to work with.  He's friendly yet respectful of your space. He will be for sale this year after the Missouri State Fair in August. Fluffy Girl wanted me to share a video of them working. 

Flock decisions

One of the things on your mind when you're raising animals is "where do I want my flock to go?" In other words what goals do I have when I'm breeding.  This plays a part in selecting your animals for base stock as well as future decisions. My personal goals are a flock that conforms to standard & has good fleece.  I'm considering eventually heading towards a fine fleeced registered flock. There is a separate registry for qualifying shetland.

 Sometimes other factors play in as well.  For me, availability was another issue as well as pricing.  In an area with several purchase options you can easily find an animal that fits your price range with some looking. By that standard, you can get as good a quality as you can afford. In this area commercial market sheep are king.  There are 2 larger registered Shetland flocks in my area & the gentleman I purchased my ewes from bought his flock from them.  So lots of related stock around. You need to watch carefully for inbreeding.

I was blessed to find with my families help a ram from south Missouri that was unrelated. So I have a good thing in this area. My plan is to use Niles for the next couple breeding seasons to build up our flock.  Then he will most likely be sold for somebody else's breeding program. We will be looking for a nice unrelated, well built ram that carries a fine fleece and is horned. We may have to do some driving.  LOL.

At that point,  we'll be striving to continue improving our ewe stock. I think Niles is a good flock building ram choice for me.  He has good conformation, a good & respectful attitude, & a nice fleece. Time will tell with his first lambs on the ground this spring.

One of the other ways to help us make decisions involves showing in 4H.  Sheep shows help us promote & evaluate our stock. We've decided to promote our yearling ram Kenny before he'll need for sale this fall. It's often helpful to have an outside source evaluate for you.  While we're unlikely to compete with other Shetlands until the State Fair,  they will be judged against breed standard and how well they conform versus how well the other wool breeds conform to their standard.

Sometimes the only way to make decisions is to see what happens. Breeding theory can only take you so far & then the Good Lord takes over; often giving you surprises.

Weekly update

So no good pictures from the last week.  The whole family has been running around with softball, 4h, and the other things life throws at you.  LOL. We've had a few games going on.  I'm glad I've only got 1 kid playing instead of 2 or 3. I have friends who live at the ballpark.  We had a 4h meeting & are busy getting ready for show season.

Saturday found Fluffy Girl & I at MU vet school for state poultry day.  A good seminar on eggs including safety & nutrition and other information was presented. We learned about USDA grading on chicken carcasses. The rest of the morning was spent with junior & senior judging of eggs, live chickens, & carcasses. Fluffy Girl being a first year, spent that time learning about judging those things.  They provided a nice lunch followed by a quiz bowl. Fluffy Girl did compete on a junior team with 2 friends.  They lost,  but we were proud that they even tried.  I think they were the youngest team.  She also lost a tooth right before their turn.  LOL.

We spent Sunday at a family reunion for Camo Dad's grandfather's family.  Fluffy Girl enjoyed playing with her cousins until we had to go home to rest a bit before softball practice.

We've spent a lot of time trying to keep cool in this Missouri heat & humidity. It's so true when they say "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." I spent some time in Oklahoma when I was younger.  The temperatures were similar, but Missouri is sooo much more humid!  I, personally love heat but sweating through your shirt when you haven't done anything is hard.

My big concern has been the rabbits.  Angora rabbits are cold weather animals & can heat stroke  easily. They're in open cages & are in the shade all day and have plenty of water available.  The sheep are actually pretty ok as long as they have shade & plenty of water.

The heat wave continues this week.  We have 3 whole evenings at home this week before our next game on Friday. Hopefully I can get some ongoing projects finished.  LOL.

I almost forgot my other big news!  Stay Fluffed Farm is on Instagram as of yesterday! Don't forget to follow us for instant updates! Here's the few pictures I do have.

 Mama cat, Ruby continues to hold hunting lessons.  This is the 2nd bird & 2 frogs that have been brought to my porch. I wouldn't mind so much if I didn't have to get rid of the leftovers.  LOL. 

 I cut the last of our heirloom lettuce.  It's so hot now that until fall lettuce tastes bitter.  

 Here's a good picture of the kids learning how to judge a class of post production hens. 

Dryer Balls

I spent some time on Sunday making dryer balls. I used wool that I skirted off of fleeces for sale in the raw. This is wool that is really dirty or kempy so is not as desirable for spinning, but dryer balls are a perfect use!

 The first step is washing your wool.  I prefer lingerie bags & a tote basket. I have my water heater set up from normal both for wool & myself. Wool for dryer balls does need cleaned & free of lanolin. You don't want that gunking up your washer.  I use warm water for soaks inside to get most of the dirt out. Change your water until it is clear.  Then I move into a hot water wash with dawn to remove the lanolin. Follow with hot water rinses. may need more than one hot water wash to get lanolin out. 

You don't really need this wool to dry unless you prefer a different method of creation. I like to let mine dry enough to get the dripping water out, I'll even squeeze mine out. 

Then I like to stretch it out & fluff it a bit.  I roll it up a bit & squash it down tight.  Continue rolling until the ball is the desired size.  I try to get mine about baseball sized. Then I secure them into a bit of panty hose tied off. 

The balls above are ready for the washer.  A few good hot water washes felts them enough to hold together.  I find this is a perfect time to wash any blankets or towel loads.  Then pop them into the dryer with whatever load you ended with & dry as normal.  When you remove them from the dryer, untie & remove the balls from the panty hose.  

Dryer balls are used in place of fabric softener.  They are a natural & chemical free way to actually soften your clothes.  They do not effect the absorbacy of towels or cloth diapers. They fluff your clothes & redistribute moisture, letting your clothes dry faster & more efficiently. They can even be scented with your favorite essential oils.

The cost of 1 set of dryer balls pays for itself in a year or less compared to buying commercial fabric softeners and you can feel better about chemicals in your families clothes. 

I sell sets of 4 for $20 or 6 for $30. 4 is the minimum you want to use.  The more you use, the quicker they will dry.  I have both natural colors & dyed balls. The dyed balls are remnants from my spinning projects & are only food safe icing dyes. 

Feel free to email me to purchase your set or additions to a set you may have! 

Additions To The Farm

We've had a few additions to the farm this week & 1 sad/happy goodbye.

 Here's a new English Angora doe.  Since she's an English, i decided she needed a very English name.  So she is now Elizabeth, also known as Betty. Betty needs some tlc so will be sheared over the next couple days. She's more than ready & has several matts in her coat.  I'm going to give her a little time to settle in & then will breed her to Buck. 

 Here's Buck, enjoying some time in the play yard & eating grass. He's  French angora and is pretty sweet. 

 Orschlens reduced the price of their half grown frying pan specials to $2 this week.  For those who don't know a frying pan special is a group of heavy breed chickens from the hatchery that are unsexed, but generally roosters.  However sometimes you get lucky & can get pullets, which are young females. These were big enough that with the help of a knowledgeable employee I picked out 7 that I THINK are pullets. Only time will tell if I choose wisely.  There are 3 barred rocks, 2 buff orpingtons, 1 production red & 1 rhode island red.  My general chicken coop is full of girls that are getting past production age & they aren't actually a production bred chickens anyway.  So these girls will be responsible in the future for our egg needs. 

 I was also able to acquire a 3 month old doe that's a mixed large breed. When older she will hopefully give us some meat rabbits.  We traded a rabbit we had bought last year that was supposed to be a young full sized doe. Both as a pet for Fluffy Girl & for meat rabbits, Fluffy Girl named her Connie.  

Connie turned out to be Conner & was a mini rex. Note the mini! Not at all what we needed! So we were lucky to find somebody willing to trade this new baby girl for Conner. He went to a home to have girlfriends & we are happy for him.  :)

On a sad & happy note, Fluffy Girl decided she was ready for grandma to sell her pony Diego. Diego was her 3rd birthday present from grandma & grandpa and has been a great pony.  However, Fluffy Girl outgrew Diego & was found a nice horse in 2014. Grandma promised that Diego didn't have to find a new home until Fluffy Girl was ready. Fast forward to last weekend. Grandma put the word out with horsey friends & quickly found somebody that would be a great home! Diego now belongs to another little girl that's almost 3, to teach to love & ride.  His new family knows that if he doesn't work out or when he's outgrown he's able to come back to retire.

Fluffy Girl was very sad, but acted very mature about Diego needing somebody else to get love from!  I am very proud of her making such an adult decision and her behavior during it! 

That's all for now and I can't wait to see what else this long weekend brings. On that note, we at Stay Fluffed Farm want to thank any service members for what they are doing or have done for our country!  Thank you to the family members who have lost a loved one in service! You are the reason for this long weekend and know that we appreciate your services & sacrifices all year round, not just 1 or 2 days a year! We take exceptional notice to this year round as we live about 1 mile away from a veterans cemetery and on any given day can see or hear a veteran laid to his final rest.  Hearing the salutes and bugle hit my heart every time, as i think about what they've done and who they've left behind. So if you are active military, a veteran, or a family member, we thank you again! 

Productive Weekend

It was such a beautiful day on Saturday. There were the usual plentiful household chores that needed done so I decided to work outside.  LOL. I did actually get some laundry done.  Including the comforters & hung them on the line to fresh dry! My favorite! I also finished up some yarn that was spun & let it dry outside as well.  The left is the polwarth that i bought as a dyed roving. The right is some very special shetland for a personal project. The fleece is the only shearing I was able to get from a ewe named Beauty. I bought her as a bred ewe & she didn't stick.  Before i could breed her back last summer she fell sick from a bad infection. I nursed her for 3 days before she passed. She was my friendliest ewe with a great personality.  So with no lambs & only 1 fleece.  There's a part of it.

Then i did a little scissor shearing on Lynn who decided to act like a terror who had never been touched.  LOL. 

 Before, well barely started anyway. 

 after with a Dolly photo bomb. 

All three of these girls also needed a hoof trim.

 these are my trimmers. Thanks Mom for the great present!

 Here's Dolly sitting for her pedicure.

 Here's a good picture of Dolly's foot with 1 side trimmed & the other not. Sheep & goats need their feet trimmed on s regular basis similar to horses & people. Done properly this doesn't hurt them at all.  Generally speaking trimmings are done around 4 months. However many people keep a rock pile for their sheep or goats to walk on keeping their hooves worn down naturally.  As I don't have the fencing finished, I trim. 

 This is my thanks from Loretta for keeping her feet healthy.  She kicked just as I went to cut. I stabbed my own thumb. It bled way more than I thought it should & I ended up having to pause my trimming to clean & bandage it. 

Sunday brought another beautiful day.  I helped a friend with dog trimming they needed done. I came home and worked on Dolly's fleece shearing. 

 Here's a partial done picture. 

 I also worked on as cotswold cross fleece that was sheared in 2014. I've done a bit with this fleece & it gives a nice spin with some of the signature shine that cotswold has.  I've got it all skirted & seperated into locks. Now I will work on getting it all washed. I plan on offering some dyed & spun for sale. But I'm going to do 1 skein for myself to take to the Blue Party at Hillcreek Fiber Studeo in June & dye with a natural Saxon blue.  

Triple Surprise

My morning feeding had me hearing new voices in the flock. Sure enough i saw a new lamb, then another,  THEN ANOTHER!  Yes, both my girls that were expecting soon lambed together! 

 Dawn gave me a nice set of white twins, ram & ewe. 

 Maggie delivered of a red brown ram lamb! 

All babies seem to be healthy & doing well! 

Intro To The Farm!

Welcome to Stay Fluffed Farm. We are a small farm in Missouri that raises registered Shetland sheep and silkie chickens.  We're home to a few other chickens, a few angora rabbits and our pets.  Fluffy Mamma, also known as me, enjoys processing & spinning wool into yarn & crocheting it into beautiful finished objects. Fluffy Girl is showing our sheep & silkies in her first year of 4H! Camo Dad, well . . . enough said.  LOL, just kidding!  Camo Dad helps out wherever needed.

I hope this blog helps open up our area of Missouri to the wonder of fiber arts & farm life,  even if we are a small farm. We garden & hunt to enrich our meals. We enjoy raising some of our own meat as well. We are blessed that family nearby owns a larger family farm that houses our horses as well as some dairy goats.

Later posts will take us further into the details but i would welcome ANY questions you, the reader, might have!