Our sheep are due to lamb in early April so since the boys were at home today and the sheep were dry we decided to shear them.  There were 68 head which included two Rambouillet bucks.  Our herd consists mostly of Rambouillet, which has very high quality wool.  It took an average of 4 minutes to shear each sheep which is not  that bad considering the boys, Clayton our son and Luke our son-in-law, have only been shearing for 2 years!  After it was all said and done we packed around 650 pounds of good quality wool in the new homemade wool packing machine Fred and Clayton built.   The photo below does not do the machine justice but it works very well.

We are hoping to get around $350 dollars for the wool.  As always, we are sure thankful to have a couple of sheep shearers in the family. 

If anyone is interested in raising sheep and want a good breed like Rambouillet here are some reasons why we chose this particular breed.

Great adaptability to hot and cold climates and a variety of forage conditionsWill travel long distances to forageGood gains on grassExcellent foundation on a cross breeding programEwes are prolific, good milkers with strong maternal instinctExcellent wool productionSuperior out-of-season breeders suitable for an accelerated lambing programKnown as the “Dual Purpose” breed with excellent fleece and weight gainsEwes have less lambing difficulties with less death of offspring and ewe as a resultWell developed flocking instinct to band together in open areas               Easy to handle in yards, chutes and sorting facilities                                                                                                                                Resistance to internal parasites and diseaseBelow is a photo of the sheep after having been sheared.