Sunday, November 13, 2011

Happenings..........

Happy Autumn......it's been a beautiful fall season here in Maine.  Sunny days, temps in the 50's and 60's.  Gentle breezes and a halloween snowstorm!  6" for our area but 18 inches a half hour north of us.  So many without power in southern New England for days.  A taste of what's to come before too long :) 

As changes continue here at Tylerfarm, we are slowly rebuilding our sheep flock.  I raised Shetland and Finn sheep for many, many years here but decided when change became necessary that I would change breeds as well.  We decided on Coopworth sheep.  They are a bigger breed than what we previously had.  The biggest perk for me is that they only have to be shorn once per year.  The finns were twice per year.  I'm fortunate to be able to shear my own but once per year is more than enough.  Their fleece is looking lovely and shearing time will be very exciting here. 

Our new ladies - they are all approximately 6 months old.  From left to right:  Godiva; Ghiradelli; Skittles and Maggie Mae.  All are registered Coopworth and all were born and raised here in Maine.  They are sweet, personable gals and we are very excited at the prospect of lambs from these gals.  Our plans are to add eight more ewes over time and have a small flock of 12 breeding ewes. 

Winter preperations are well underway.  We stripped the sheep barn and added fresh straw today.  The chicken house is buttoned up and the ladies will be nice and cozy as the cold, winter wind blows.  The woodshed is nearly full and the tractor ready to run the snowblower.  We try to be as prepared for whatever mother nature throws at us.  You just never know what the weather is going to be aroudn here! 

I hope all is well with you and yours.  I look forward to catching up with you all soon :) 

Deb

3 comments:

Candy Duell said...

Hi Deb, it was so good to see you updated your blog. Seems things are getting back on track. Your sheep are beautiful. Happy Autumn!
Candy

lisa said...

Good luck with the new sheep! Glad to hear from you and know that all is going good!

Gayle said...

Love your new sheep. Very pretty colors.