Monday 24 September 2012

Sale preperations

Shep has spent an hour today being nosey, out of my area and I tracked down a farm I had an interest in and managed to pluck up the courage to go and introduce myself, only to find the shepherd busying himself dressing draft ewes, it is fair to say the temptation to jump in the pen with him and give him a hand was pretty strong, but I resisted, after all, I was meant to be having a day off! At least I got a good look at the type of sheep off the place with a 'private' viewing of the draft ewes, the tups I was hoping to have a gander at seemed not to be on show and hints didn't work but then the man had a lot of work to get through and I know for myself there can be nowt worse than being held up.

It's that time of year, sheep sales are upon us big time and sheep need dressing and turning out to the best of our abilities in the hope they will look their best on the day and catch the buyers eyes.

The following are photos taken last year, a glance at dressing Blackfaced gimmers, unfortunately I didn't have the sense to do the before and after shots to show the difference once they had been tidied up, although it is fair to say a good sheep takes little dressing, it's the poorer end which need more attention to make them look better.
 
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Most sheep can be helped by tidying their bellies up, Blackies are of course heavier woolled sheep, carrying long wool and this gimmer had been clipped in June so her fleece had had plenty of chance to grow. Levelling a belly off helps give the sheep height and length.
 
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Wool tidied up around the neckline helps accentuate the face and in some cases give the sheep more neck. There are many different styles of dressing sheep, some even use the electric clippers on them, hand shears are still the most preferred method of dressing on hill sheep, little really needs to come off and as a hairdresser will probably tell you it is easier to snip with a pair of scissors than use electric clippers because once it is removed it can't be put back again. Dressing with hand shears takes patience and practice, care is needed not to leave shear marks in the wool, a well dressed sheep oughtn't to look like it has had the shears over it.
 
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Buckets? What has that got to do with dressing sheep? Well, we all like to look nice and clean when out in public and the same goes for the sheep. Okay! I don't suppose they really care but the truth is if you wash and rinse their faces it is amazing how much grime comes of the hair on their heads with the result being they look bright and shiny. Many sheep have already been bloom dipped as well, this is intended to put some colour into their fleeces but it can also dull the hair on the head and legs.
 
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As this photo shows, the legs on these gimmers did get a wash, enough to darken and brighten the black and whiteness of their colours, make them stand out more, be eye catching.
 
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Paint? Whatever next? It's tradition you see........... honest! Gimmers and ewe lambs as tradition goes get a red paint mark on the back of their necks, the draft ewes find they get a strip of paint painted around their horns. Now any old paint wont do, seriously! it has to be gloss paint, it also has to be red - honest! Some have tried using aerosol cans or keel on the back of the heads but this smudges and spreads, gloss paint is the answer.
 
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There she is, getting the wool on the back of her head painted, her face has already been washed, her crown is looking shiny white, her wool has an almost biscuity colour about it due to the fact she was bloom dipped and now she is getting her paint put on, just like a woman tarting herself up ready for a night out!
 
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Waiting patiently for the makeover, these gimmers are dressed, bellies levelled, legs washed, wool bloomed, they're just waiting for a quick facial followed by a bit of red and then off they'll go back to their field to relax ready for their big day
 
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when they go through the ring, catch the buyers eyes and hopefully make a lot of money for the farmer, before moving to pastures new


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Friday 21 September 2012

Autumn Breeding Sales

'Tis the time of year when farmers have been busy spaening (weaning) their lambs and sorting through their breeding sheep. There are sales every week at the moment for breeding sheep of one type or another at the auction marts across our area.

The sales season can start quite early with the downland breeds being the first to come upon the market, hill breeding sales tend to be slightly later in the season. Friday 14th September was the KELSO tup fair, where almost every type of downland tup (ram) was on offer, by October we will be flat out with the hill tup sales, some farmers and shepherds travelling miles to view and buy sheep.

It isn't just the tups who are finding themselves being paraded around the sale ring, the females are also on the market. Ewe sales are commencing, specific sales where females of all ages will be going under the auctioneers gavel. From draft ewes (retiring off the hills) right down the scale to the younger end being the ewe lambs (spare female lambs).

Shep was at the ewe sale at Lockerbie recently, funny white faced critters they were - yup! Cheviots! but only a handful were present of the type I am accustomed to, the remainder of the sale was taken up with those bigger creatures, the north country variety. The Blackfaced ewe sales are advertised throughout the farming press, Shep nearly found herself at Castle Douglas rather than Lockerbie but navigational skills and sheep breed found Lockerbie easier to negotiate. The sales at Longtown and Hexham are yet to come, just a fortnight away though and many sheep to prepare for sale before then.

Sheep find themselves being dressed for sale, not in the sense we would imagine, they don't get wrapped up in frilly frocks or anything of that ilk, they just find themselves getting a tidy up, any raggy edges smoothed over, a cut and trim to help them look respectable. Dolled up a little bit, touch of bloom dip to brighten their fleeces, dab of paint where necessary and off they'll go to the mart. Hopefully the next posting will help explain some of this to you all.

Thursday 13 September 2012

Clipping................... dare I mention it?

I have been asking myself how many times I've finished the clipping season this year, it is fair to say my celebrations on the 16th August were indeed just somewhat premature. Friday 24th August saw me once again conclude the season may well be over, however, I kept the revelation to myself - not wishing to tempt providence y'know!

Sure enough, that gut feeling proved right again and another 'phone call saw a return to the clipping boards on the 2nd September, although I will be honest and admit to passing the buck, got someone else to do the clipping and Shep did the handling. I did clip one or two it is fair to say to give the guy a break as there were more sheep to clip than we had anticipated and really, Shep ought to have had her machine there to shorten the day, but hey ho, it got over.

There was a feeling of relief. Surely that has got to be the end, has it not? Aargh! There was another 'phone call......... Commitments to dip and spaen sheep meant I was unavailable for a day or two and phew! The sheep got themselves clipped with out my interference.

I feel that at long last I can safely say that the clipping season is over for 2012, I know I will still clip an odd one, those that missed the gathers will find hand shears taking their wool off, hopefully there will just be odd ones and no more. At least with the hand shears more wool will be left on their backs as unlike electric clipping where you follow the sheeps body, with hand shears you follow the rise. The rise is the depth of new wool growth. Hand shearing sees you clipping at the base of the old wool which ensures plenty of wool is left on the sheeps back at this time of year as they have a decent rise of new wool - a different and slower challenge than electric shearing, an art in itself and clipping odd ones is no great hardship.

I laughed to myself when the clipping came to a close, my final real days clipping was on Swaledale hoggs. Hoggs are last years lambs, they are the first sheep that are clipped in the season. It was the 2nd of June when I commenced clipping this season, on Swaledale hoggs, two and a half months and 2,800 sheep later I finished the season on Swaledale hoggs! Can't say that has ever happened before, but as the saying goes, "there's a first time for everything!"

Just shows what a topsy turvy season it has been!

On the subject of topsy turvy, I want to share with you the following photo. Not a good one as it was taken in the dark of night and with the help of some quick fix button on the computer it has enhanced the shot to enable us to get an idea of what exactly it is. I'm calling it a moonbow. Nowt terribly rare about such a thing as I have revelled in their amazing beauty before but it does seem topsy turvy to see rainbows in the dark of night
 
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Sunday 9 September 2012

Falstone Show 18th August 2012

Okay! I accept I'm just a wee bit behind the times - 3 weeks to be exact (blimey! is that all? seems more like 3 months!) Anyhow, Falstone came and went and a good day was had by all.

The day dawned wet it has to be said, but then why ought it to have been any different to any other day? fortunately it soon passed (the wet stuff, not the day) with the result we were basking in sunshine outside the beer tent in the late afternoon.
 
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Sheep penned, rain drops hanging on the pen rails and hoods up, but not for too long.
 
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The north country cheviots soon mashed the 'show ring' up
 
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with the result that the swaledale cross sheep were judged out of the 'show ring' and shown between the pens, unfortunately the pen they had been standing in was a glaar (muddy mess) which shows by the clart on their fleeces
 
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The judging of the Hexham type blackface champion took place in a cleaner 'show ring', courtesy of the scotch blackies who hadn't messed it up too much, or mebbes it was just drier ground.
 
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The mule ewe lamb competitors weren't quite so lucky
 
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Those hardy souls who turned out without their wellies were in a fine mess!
 
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The sheep judging got through, Champion North Country Cheviot seen here with John Dixon of Chirdon.
 
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North of England Blackface champion went to Selby Robson of Yatesfield.
 
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Swaledale Cross Champion was this tup lamb from Mark Anderson of the Riding
 
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John Dixon again with the mule ewe lamb champion. The only photo missing is of Dave Baxter and the Scotch type blackfaced champion, unfortunately camera shake took over and the resulting fuzz is barely recognizable!
 
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Dog classes followed on from the sheep, collies, terriers, childrens pets and here one of the hound classes.
 
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The industrial tent was stuffed full of 'yummies' - yup! we all know shep likes chocolate and it has to be said I did think this cold sweet looked rather inviting.
 
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Tea cosies looking like sheep - what ever next?
 
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The poor summer conditions saw the vegetable entries being down in numbers but there were still some outstanding entries
 
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even the flowers had managed to hold their heads up high despite the poor weather conditions which they had battled through.

A summary? A cracking good day once again - well done to the committee and supporters for ensuring all went well. Further info will be available at www.falstoneshow.com