Shearing at the Timm Ranch

Last weekend I spent a day skirting fleeces with some of the Farm club members. We were at the Timm Ranch not far from here.             After a rainy and overcast week the sunny day was a welcome change and the ranch was a beautiful place to spend the day.

              The sheep were in pens when we got there.               We helped to move them toward the lane into the barn.              Most of the lambs were born much earlier but there were a few late lambs too.

The sheep are a ranch blend that were originally bred from Targhee, Polypay, and Rambouillet sheep             The shearer works in the old barn where there are signs of what shearing would have been like in the "old days" when there would have been hundreds of sheep to shear in the day.

                                                              We brought each fleece to the skirting tables...            ...and inspected them for strength, length, and VM (vegetable matter)

My goal was to get at least 200 pounds, the minimum weight to send it to the mill I am using for this wool.

                  I ended up with 270 pounds of beautiful fleece.

               We dragged it on a tarp over to the baler...                    ...where the shearer baled it.                                         This is our 270 pound bale in the truck. I am grateful to Farm Club members for helping out on this day. It not only made the work easier, but it was fun to spend time together.

A link to last year's Timm Ranch yarn is here.