Tag: Meet the Animals

Meet the Animals

Sheep Sunday, and then we got a Ram!

Ellie

So we have decided the best way of expanding our flock is to start lambing. So the hunt for a ram began!

We initially though borrowing one would be our best chance, but quickly realised a lot of people keep a closed flock for many many reasons.

So we sat down and thought about lots of different sheep breeds that we know of locally…

Then I saw them!

Kerry Hill and Valais cross ram lambs!!!

We went up to visit them and after a squish of the fleeces and a look at their little faces we chose one to collect the following day!!

When we got him he was five months old, so he is now 8 months old and has grown a LOT! He is now getting almost as big as Lamb Chops!

If not as chunky!

His horns are growing in and whilst we wonder if he will be up to the job at the end of September… this year, he most definitely will for next year!!

So next year, his first shearing…. Do I add his wool to our current blend or do I save his fleece for hand spinning…. ????

Meet the Animals

Sheep Sunday – four more!!

Ellie

A friend from a smallholding near to us here finally sold her property for a BIG move. She had to down size her animal collection. Most of her sheep went to market but a few, her pets, remained. She made the incredibly hard decision that she couldn’t take them with her. So we said that we would take them on! Initially three, but as Coal still had a lamb at foot we ended up with four!

Hairy legs

Coal, who was originally blackie but we thought she looked more like she had rolled in coal dust! Indie (if you ask the eldest she is actually called Indoraptor) and Lamb Chops a big chunky wether.

A wether is a boy sheep who has been neutered.

They arrived one cold evening in December 2020 while my friend was deep in the final throes of moving!

And they joined the flock with gusto! I think it helped that the three witches were some of the lambs from the flock from the previous year, and I think we reunited at least one mother and daughter!

They have upped our numbers of callable sheep, at first it was just Hairy Legs, but now Coal and Lamb Chops are readily available as long as a bucket is rattled!

Indie follows Coal every where so that makes her easier to catch too!!

All four of these are Llanwenog, which is fast proving my favourite yarn to work with!!

If you are interested in knitting with some of the yarn spun up from their beautiful fleeces then head over to our Etsy shop!

Craftiness, Livestock, Meet the Animals, Tyddyn Bryn on Etsy, yarn

Sheepy Sunday!

Ellie

So last Month I told you some of Wanda’s story….

Up this month is Baabara!

Baabara is a mule most likely, Welsh white… something along those lines! She is the white faced one in this picture and is the MOST suspicious sheep you will ever meet!!

When they come up for feed in the field, Baabara is always right at the back! She is the hardest to catch, utterly unmotivated by food and a talented escape artist like her friend Wanda!

I say friend, but the pair of them tolerate on another and that’s about it!! Baabara prefers to mix with a few of the Llanwenogs!

She was given to us by neighbour who had her as an odd one out in their flock of Lleyn sheep to keep Wanda company in our fields and it helped to keep Wanda from wandering!!

She has a beautiful full soft fleece and it makes for gorgeous yarn!!

You can try out some of her wares here!! All spun up locally here in West Wales and dyed by me!