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LambMetrics – August 22nd, 2019

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The last few years I’ve kept track of the lambing statistics in the Drysdale & English Leicester flocks). I call these “LambMetrics”.
Hopefully, they provide a little insight into the real-life “goings-on” here.

#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 3
Total Lambs Born: 3
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 2
English Leicester lambs (live total): 1
Total Sets of Twins born: 1
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 1
Total ram lambs: 2
Ewes lambed /68: 2  (2.9 %)
Lamb % : 150 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 0
Losses: 0

Notable Midwifery tales:

This year lambing is (deliberately) a little later than usual. The season was very “ordinary” earlier in the year so the decision was made to not join the commercial flocks of Merino and Castledale and only the stud flocks (English Leicester & Drysdale) would be joined.

Better late than never though! The official “due date” is from tomorrow – but two girls decided they just couldn’t wait any longer.

So, our first English Leicester is a lovely little ewe lamb to one of the experienced ewes.

English Leicester ewe, “Lacey”, with her new ewe lamb, “Charly”!

And there was a very calm Drysdale ewe who had twin boys. This year the Drysdale ewes were put to White Suffolk rams rather than Drysdale. This means that if the season looks to be poor at the end of the year the lambs can be sold on which reduces the grazing pressure on the farm over the dry summer months.

Drysdale ewe with White Suffolk X lambs. (Lambs are less than 12hrs old)

However….. the Drysdale ewe was not alone! There was a younger ewe hovering around the lambs and getting a bit keen that she should “have one too”! The strong maternal instinct is a wonderful thing in the Drysdales but it can manifest in some dedicated “lambnappers”!! So, to remove the extra ewe from the scene the lambs had to be carried to the paddock gate and then the ewes could be sorted – leaving the new mum and her bubs free from interference as they bonded. Luckily, most Drysdale ewes can count!

Having quiet ewes is really important as each morning and evening the ewes are calmly shifted between a day paddock and a night paddock. (Hopefully, some of you were able to see the live Facebook video we did when moving the sheep recently?) It enables us to drift off the pregnant ewes from the new mothers and lessens the lambnapping incidents.

As an example of how quiet the ewes can be – when a lamb has been born we check them out and tag them (another important tactic to match the right lamb with the right mother!) The ewes don’t run away as they are very used to us. The ewes will also follow us when we carry the lambs up the paddock to change paddocks.

Lacey hovering over her lamb as Charly’s eartag is applied.

So, that is it for today! The new bubs are tucked into the shed tonight as -3 is forecast overnight. The DrysdaleX lambs don’t need extra shelter (so much wool already!) but I’ll sleep better knowing the English Leicester is in the shed.

Charly having a good drink. (Not wearing a coat now because her mum was a bit upset by it)

Hopefully, we will have more lambs tomorrow!

When is a Rose not a rose?

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Followers of our Facebook page and Instagram will probably be aware that roses are rather popular at Beersheba Farm. (Over 100 bushes and we aren’t counting!) So, a few years ago when a product called “Rose Fiber” came on the market we were very excited. Wool and roses! Our world was complete!

However, initial research yielded very little information on what this glorious fibre was made of and how. Basically all that could be found was marketing sales pitch from one or two large fibre-selling companies that it was “made from rose bushes”.

This didn’t bode well for the marketing pitch to be accurate.

It would be generally thought among the fibrecraft community from the marketing that “rose fiber” is made as a bast fibre (where the actual fibre structures of the plant are used to produce the yarn, like Hemp, Linen/Flax, Raimie/Nettle or Jute).

This is not the case.

“Rose fiber” is a Viscose. Viscose being a regenerated cellulose product and common sources of cellulose being wood pulp, soy, bamboo, and sugar cane. The environmental concerns with viscose/rayon production are well known.

….the term “rose fiber” refers to a protein-enriched cellulose fiber, particularly a blend of cellulose and rice protein. Synonyms for “rose fiber” are “rousi fiber” and “rose fiber viscose”. The raw material of rose fiber is derived from plants. […] In particular, the protein is rice protein. [….] The handfeel is fairly soft like the surface of the rose leaf, so it called rose fiber. However, rose fiber does not necessarily have to be derived from rose bushes. Rose fiber is produced by viscose spinning.

patents.google.com/patent/WO2018158391A1/en

One website also lists it as being: Protein “Rose” Fiber derived from “mixed cereals”. (Cereal crops are things like rice, wheat, oats. Rose bushes aren’t a cereal crop)

The suspicion felt about the source of the cellulose in “rose fiber” would appear to be justified. There aren’t too many places in the world with large tracts of rose bushes grown for their wood…..

Now, when you google for “rose fiber” there is an absolute plethora of websites eagerly selling this fibre “made from rose bushes”. It is quite disheartening to see people taken in by this without proper investigation into the truth of the claims.

New products coming out include yarn that is a pretty rose pink as its “natural” colour. The manufacturer claims (along with a whole bunch of large, scientific words that may or may not be used accurately) that rose flowers are turned into powder and then added to the viscose solution prior to spinning (like “pearl fibre”) and so it is natural (!) and lists a bunch of supposed health benefits. Am looking forward to some proof in the way of scientific analysis on that?! How many natural “health benefits” are going to survive the highly chemical viscose process?

Bottom line is: this product is highly unlikely to be made from ACTUAL rose bushes.

The “rose fiber” feels lovely and is a novelty to spin and use but let’s try stop the misinformation that it is anything but viscose rayon from undefined sources.

Last Drysdale shearing for 2017

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“Better late than never”

Beersheba Gilbert – enjoying his post-shearing snack

Mostly true….

Finally (finally!) have all the Drysdales shorn which means they are fly-safe, grass seed-safe and happy campers in general!

It’s been a challenge to get my shearer – have been trying for 2 months – but we’re all good now.

A good shearer is a thing to cherish. There are more good shearers around than some “interest groups” would like you to believe. The handful of “bad apples” wouldn’t last long here that’s for sure.

So, back to the fluff! This was the first shearing for the Drysdale lambs (born Aug-Sept). There aren’t many breeds of sheep that can produce 15-20cm (4-6″) of wool growth in their first 4 months! Give a Drysdale protein and it just pumps out the wool.

Beersheba Gilbert -in (more than) full wool. 11 months growth

As you will know (from reading the info on our Drysdale page…) the Drysdale fleece is a primitive type of fleece with medullated outer coat and soft, fine undercoat. In lambs this is less defined as the undercoat is typically the same length as the outercoat at this stage.

Drysdale lamb fleece

This means they need shearing 2-3 times a year, on average, to keep the fleece to a “commercial” length.

This was the first time for the lambs in the shearing shed (they will see a bit of it over their lives….) and it was a warm day today. Even so, I was pleasantly surprised as to just how ZEN the lambs were this time.

Waiting for the shearer….

Lambs aren’t supposed to be this quiet… they are supposed to be stark-raving loonies, terrified by the world and trying to kill each other in the process. Ooops. Drysdales didn’t get that memo! 😆 😆

Waiting for their chance to get closer to the shearer

I said zen…. ahem….

Mutual navel-pondering

And even afterwards the calm continues:

Heck, some of them even had a nap in the “going out chute”. 😆  Unheard of!

Extra trivia: when you wear 40 micron wool it’s great to get it off and have a good scratch!

LambMetrics – Drysdale & English Leicester lambing, Sept 4th

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It’s been a very quiet few days in regard to births! But, hopefully, we will be up-to-date now. 🙂 

#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born last few days: 10
Total Lambs Born: 91
Drysdale lambs (live total): 53
DrysdaleX lambs (live total): 23
English Leicester lambs (live total): 10
Total Sets of Twins born: 30
Total Sets of Triplets born: 1
Total ewe lambs: 38
Total ram lambs: 50
Ewes lambed /72: 58 (80.5 %)
Lamb % : 148% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 4
Losses: 1 ewe, 5 lambs

Notable Midwifery tales:

It’s all been twins pretty much since the last update. Even the maiden ewes are having twins. 🙂

Only one single, and that was stillborn unfortunately. 😥  The poor mother was very upset. Some ewes don’t seem to care and others care very much. I couldn’t even give this ewe a baby to care for as it turned out her milk hadn’t come in properly (and, I presume therefore, that hers was actually a little bit premature). 😥

The English Leicesters that lambed have also required a bit of attention. One had mismatched sized twins and the little one has been missing out at the “milk bar” so he has been supplemented. And there was another special little boy born (all the English Leicesters are boys this year, bar one!?) who must have been deprived of oxygen so he’s been a bit “special” for the last few days. Thankfully, he’s headed in the right direction now! He will end up silver in colour, like his grandmother.

A quick pause for lamb pics…

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A little bit of a “pause” happening here – no new lambs for several days. I figure there are only 10 ewes left to lamb (not including the small handful that appear not to be pregnant).

In the meantime, the lambs are growing!

Drysdale lambs

 

English Leicester lamb

 

Texel X Composite lamb

LambMetrics – Drysdale & English Leicester lambing, Aug 27th

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 4
Total Lambs Born: 80
Drysdale lambs (live total): 49
DrysdaleX lambs (live total): 21
English Leicester lambs (live total): 6
Total Sets of Twins born: 25
Total Sets of Triplets born: 1
Total ewe lambs: 34
Total ram lambs: 46
Ewes lambed /72: 52 (72.2 %)
Lamb % : 146% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 4
Losses: 1 ewe, 4 lambs

Notable Midwifery tales:

Been a busy few days with several more sets of twins born.

Amusing thing this morning – noticed a ewe had had a lamb, could tell she was on the second and decided to go check it out. Found it hanging out back feet first (supposed to be the other way around!) but she didn’t need my help at all and just delivered it with no effort. Not bad for a maiden ewe. 🙂 

Ooops!

Challenging thing was a beautiful English Leicester lamb born yesterday that isn’t quite “right”. Am hoping it will come good. Its mum is very attentive to it in any case.

In better English Leicester news: here’s a young ewe with her twins enjoying “breakfast in bed”. 😆