Birchtree Farm

Rose is a pet. She comes right up to you, looking for that scoop or bucket you must certainly be carry that contains the pelleted feed. What? You mean you *aren't* carrying the bucket of yummy pellets? What's wrong with you? You're supposed to bring it! Well, at least you can scratch my head while you're here.

At least I think that's what she's thinking. I'm reduced to sneaking out of my own house in the morning when I walk the dogs so as not to be spotted by Rose, who will loudly demand that I come and bring the yummies NOW (even though they never get them in the morning, only the evening). As soon as she sees you, she begins a loud complaint. And she's teaching the others to do it too. I don't want them to wake the neighborhood at 6 or 6:30am, hence the sneaking.

But what's neat is that you can recognize their individual voices. Rose is obvious - a long drawn out deep bawl. Quinn sounds more like what people usually think of sheep sounding like - "baa-aa-aa-aa". Cozette sounds like she's got a frog in her throat and she can only get out a couple of croaky "Baa-aa"'s. Orange is somewhere in between.

Anyway, so far no one has complained. The neighbors on one side have two big dogs who bark and growl out their windows at anyone within sight, so they have nothing to complain about. And at least our sheep aren't up having bonfires or playing music till the wee hours on weekends. The other neighbors have expressed only interest or even delight that we have sheep. One said her father used to have a sheep named "Nottingham" that would follow him around like a dog, and even follow him into town on his walks.

Our new ram will be arriving in early September. I wonder what he will sound like? :-)

Yesterday I went out to top up the water tank, and found our ram lamb lying dead by one of our big cottonwood trees. He was only 3.5 months old. Not a great thing to have happen when you've only been shepherds for a total of about 10 days. He had been wormed several times by the breeder; the last time was two days before we picked up the sheep and brought them home. He was coughing when we got him home, and the next day, so we were advised to give him a shot of antibiotic. We did so, and also gave him a vitamin/energy solution called Nutri-Drench. For the next week he seemed to be doing better as far as the cough. Everyone got a dose of Selenium/Vitamin E gel on Friday to give them a boost (sheep need more of these nutrients).

Then we got a pretty bad heat wave. That day the heat index had gone as high as 105. When we got home all the sheep came to greet us except for Indico, who came only so far and then stopped and just stood still. I realize now he was probably very weak and was only trying to keep up with the rest of the flock, but couldn't quite do it. Sometime that night he died.

So we buried him in the pasture, and let the breeders know. They had also lost a ram lamb a few days after we had picked up our sheep. It seems perhaps the worms had become resistant to the standard wormer, and so they dosed anyone who seemed to need it with a different and stronger wormer. We may end up doing the same. The breeders are going to replace him for us, when it gets cooler, since breeding season doesn't come until the fall anyway. We really appreciate all their help and their willingness to replace Indico for us.

Link: http://www.homestead.org/SheriDixon/TheUnsungBenefitsofHomesteading.htm

I first found out about Icelandic sheep while reading articles at www.homestead.org. There was a link to ISBONA's site (Icelandic Sheep Breeders Of North America - www.isbona.com) where I continued to find out about this unique breed. Icelandics were developed in - you guessed it - Iceland, where for over 1000 years they were bred for three reasons: milk, meat, and fiber. Hence, the Icelandic is considered a triple purpose breed, though typically breeders will tend to focus on only one or two of these traits in their particular flock. They are smaller than many other breeds, making them a bit easier to handle. Males typically weigh no more than 180-220 lbs, and females may weigh up to around 130-160 lbs. They have large rumens for their size however, and this allows them to do quite well in pasture based systems, with minimal or no supplemental grain. Lambs can finish on pasture alone in 6 months.

Their wool is grown as a dual coat. There is a finer softer undercoat called thel, and a somewhat coarser but still soft outer coat called tog. These can be spun separately, or together, giving three possibilities from one fleece. And they come in colors! Although in Iceland today they primarily breed for white sheep (because the wool takes dye extremely well), here in America they are often bred for their color as handspinners appreciate the natural variations. Besides white, they come in black and brown (called moorit), and several patterns add to the variations possible. White is actually considered a pattern, not a color. Black and moorit are the colors. Patterns include grey, badgerface, mouflon, and solid. There is also a spotting gene. In the picture below, there are represented black badgerface, moorit solid, and black solid.

Icelandics also may be either horned, or polled, or have small growths called scurs, that are not quite horns. Males and females both may have horns, although males typically have a more massive version. Don't ask me to explain the genetics of hornedness in Icelandics. I don't understand it, and probably very few people have a good understanding of it. But Quinn (a black grey) is horned (see post from 7/23/06), and so is Indico (a black mouflon). At three months old, his horns are quite impressive with broad square bases.

Our interest is in breeding for meat and for fleece. Icelandics are usually shorn twice a year, in spring and fall. The spring fleece is of lower quality and is usually used for felting, or some people use it for mulch! But the fall fleece is the best quality and is usually turned into yarn of various types, or into roving for sale to handspinners. I would like to learn to spin, and then to weave. I already crochet, and would love to learn felting too. Icelandic fleece felts very well.

As for the meat, this breed is said to have a very light "gourmet" flavor and texture. I like lamb anyway, so I can't imagine not liking Icelandic lamb. And the health benefits of pasture raised lamb/beef/chicken are beginning to be more realized and so there may be a local market for anything we can't use ourselves. We are particularly fortunate in that there is a USDA inspected slaughterhouse just a few miles away.

So all in all, we felt that this was a good choice for our small acreage, and having less lawn to mow was just the first of the benefits! :-)

The sheep arrived on Saturday, early evening, after we picked them up in Dansville, NY, about 90 miles from us. They traveled pretty well in our homebuilt trailer, even with it being a rainy day. We made rail sides and a top to fit our 4x7 utility trailer. There are sections for the sides and front that bolt onto the trailer and to each other, and then the top bolts on to the side panels. The utility trailer's gate serves to close up the back.

So we backed the trailer through the gate, and opened it up. They all stood in the trailer for a few minutes, pondering this new situation. But then the lure of green grass and forage overcame their hesitation, and Rose jumped down, quickly followed by the rest. The next few minutes were taken up with furious eating. You would think they hadn't just been munching hay in the trailer, and previous to that had had access to quite a large pasture. So they ate, and ate, and ate....

They quickly learned that the red scoop and rattling in the galvanized feeder pans means grain. Seriously, within 24 hours they were expecting grain every time they saw someone, even the neighbors! We only give grain once a day, in the evening, but that doesn't matter. Rose will follow you anywhere if she thinks you might have a treat.

So things seem to be going well so far. Stay tuned...