Beersheba Farm

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Strong Wool Breeders Association Annual Sheep & Wool Fair – May 7th 2017

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On Sunday we went along to the annual Sheep & Wool Fair that is run by a small group of “Strong Wool” breeders. In this case, “strong wool” refers to wools over 30 micron and used for rugs/carpets. The breeds are: Border Leicester, English Leicester, Cheviot, Drysdale, Romney, Perendale and Lincoln.

Representing the Drysdales were Gilbert and his sister Gillyflower. Naturally, they took out Champion Drysdale Ram & Ewe. 😉  Gilbert’s fleece also snared Champion Drysdale fleece and the Champion Medullated Fleece.

 

 

Beersheba Gilbert

 

Beersheba Gillyflower
Gilbert’s fleece

Three young English Leicesters came too and they collected Champion English Leicester Ram & Ewe. Their dad’s fleece took out Champion English Leicester fleece. And, to top it off, a skein of grey English Leicester yarn I had spun up won a blue ribbon (1st).

Silver English Leicester yarn, spun from raw fleece

Arrived home totally exhausted, of course, and hope to do some more shows later in the year.

Maybe we will see you there?? 🙂

Autumn & Regrowth

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It’s autumn on the farm and the autumn “break” rains have finally come.

The summer rains we had were very challenging for several reasons but they always suit something and on the morning walk today good evidence of  that was seen.

Eucalyptus camaldulensis (River Red Gum)

On the farm there are several areas dedicated to preserving remnant vegetation and restoring some diversity to the under and upper stories. These areas are fenced off from the livestock (certain eucalyptus varieties are very tasty!)

And yet, even in the grazed paddocks there is regeneration of various species of mid- to upper- story plants like acacias and eucalyptus.

Acacia implexa (Lightwood)

Managing ram aggression

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Most of the year the rams at Beersheba Farm live in bachelor flocks. Then, when the days shorten and the ewes… cycle…. the rams get their chance to live with the ladies for a few weeks. Hormones rage (!) and then… they have to go back to the bachelor flock and maybe come face-to-face with the rams who didn’t get their chance that year as well the rams who were in with other ewe flocks.

In this high-testosterone atmosphere there are fights. And there can be deaths. So we, as farmers, have to undertake procedures to avoid this. Losing a ram from a brain aneurysm is not something I want to have happen again.

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to see rams fighting you will know that they will back up and then charge at each other, hitting heads with great force. (Which is why we have expressions such as ram-raid and battering ram) You can often pick when they are preparing for breeding season – they repeatedly bash trees to tone-up their strength!!

So, when you take the rams from the ewes and the territorial hormones are still flowing strongly you can get fireworks. The way I diffuse this as much as possible is to cram the rams that will be in the bachelor group all together in a small yard, mixing any just-got-demoted-Romeos and the we-missed-out-wannabe-Romeos.

This achieves two things: a) they rub their scents all over each other, so there is less “us vs them”; and b) they don’t have room to back up and charge each other. They can still swing their heads into each others shoulders/ribs/butt but it won’t have the same force as a full-throttle attack.

A couple of hours later and they are usually pretty chilled. There may be a bit of bravado here and there but the “kill on sight” reflex has been dulled. I like to them put them out in their paddock with a nice, attention-diverting snack too.

“Where’s the food?” All calm and chummy. (See the callus on the centre ram’s head? That’s THE spot they hit.)

And as a side-note: everyone sort of expects that rams with horns are worse behaved…. well, not in my experience. Certainly, they can do a really nasty side-maneuver that polled breeds can’t BUT they aren’t Super Rams. In fact, the only ram I have ever lost in a fight was a horned ram – and he lost to a polled one. My theory is that a glancing blow to a horned ram causes more torsion or uneven force on the skull which can result in more internal damage.

Beersheba McDuff (dec.) in 2007 Photo taken by Rick Kroll

 

A Day Out 2: Bothwell SpinIn & Fibre Festival

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The second day of the Bothwell SpinIn was warmer than the first – so our umbrellas were up to keep us nice and shaded.

Bothwell SpinIn & Fibre Festival – Day 2

Most of the day was spent talking to people. There were fibre fans from all over Australia. I even learned about how someone had previously used Drysdale fleece in a woven vest!

There was the fashion parade and a host of awards given out. (Details on the Bothwell SpinIn website)

But mostly, I just chatted and spun…. and made sure The Lucky Ewe got to rest too. 🙂

I finally gave in and purchased some of the GORGEOUS Cormo fleece that was brought along to the Festival by the local Downie family – who developed this Aussie breed of sheep. (In fact…. there may be some of the coloured Cormo fleece available in the Shop tomorrow night…. Don’t miss out!)

Coloured Cormo fleece

The Ashford stand may have had a visit from me too… I needed some more bobbins and a new reed for my rigid heddle.

But mostly there were lots and lots of talking, and admiring woolcraft and spinning. 🙂

Tilly – The Lucky Ewe’s mascot

 

Bothwell 2017 – prize winners

 

Bothwell 2017 – Longest Thread winners

 

Coloured Cormo
Pic: The Lucky Ewe

 

A Day Out: Bothwell SpinIn & Fibre Festival

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The small, historic village of Bothwell in the Central Highlands District of Tasmania holds a Fibre Festival every couple of years.

Two days of wool and spinning? Obviously I had to go this year!

So I contacted my friend, who owns the (awesome) shop, The Lucky Ewe in Oatlands, which is quite near Bothwell. She agreed that I should come to Tasmania to chat wool and other fibre-y subjects. (Luckily,  she loves the wool from our farm! And Gilbert the ram.  😉 )

There was a flurry of activity to get ready before travelling and then I was flying down to Launceston to begin my Tassie Adventure.

The first day of the Bothwell EVENT was quite warm and there were quite a few traders set up – from the Ashford stand to makers of handmade peg looms and alpaca breeders. With the sun making itself felt the ice-cream van did a brisk trade!

The display in the hall was lovely with spinning and knitting competitions as well as some traders and demonstrations.

Conversation was constant throughout the day as I sat there and spun Castledale. Lots of questions about the Drysdale fleece and yarn samples I had to show.

Day 1 seemed to be all talk, spinning and chasing the shade….. 🙂