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Angrymog posted:I noticed in that video that the sheep were basically just laying there - is that some advanced sheep control technique, or just sheep that are used to the whole process? Part of it is his handling of them. If their feet aren't touching the ground and they don't feel like they can stand up a lot of them will just sit there. Sheep are sort of built like tables so if you hold them just right they can't actually do anything about it. The other part is that those look like at least 2 year old rams so they're big, they're chill, and they've been through shearing before.
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Apr 28, 2017 19:15
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part of it is that the second one flails like a dumbass for a little bit
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Apr 29, 2017 01:35
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:part of it is that the second one flails like a dumbass for a little bit That was during the hardest series of "blows" as they're called. You have to keep the sheep on an angle, curved into a U around your legs at just the right angle or they try to twist and get their feet on the ground. That was where everyone lost their sheep in shearing school because it really takes a while to learn exactly where to put your feet and how to manipulate the weight of the sheep to your advantage.
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Apr 29, 2017 03:01
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Finally a sunny day! I spent it sitting in the grass being gnawed on by lambs and it was fantastic. Romeldales being goobers.   Cormo boy still hasn't grown into his pajamas.   This little ram is like 15-20 lbs tops but really wants to fight Major, the 80 lb dog. He's lucky Major knows sheep are not for biting.   His brother is much more easy going.  I'm crazy about this ram, he's a really striking guy. I'm hoping someone will be in the market for a super handsome 2 horned ram and want him.  Reba's girl, I always get her confused with Anise's girl so I'm going to have to be careful when I do vaccines and ear tags soon. 
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May 8, 2017 23:16
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Ear tagging day! The jacobs have such tiny ears that I usually wait until their first shots to tag them and I can usually tell them all apart, no problem. This year for some reason I've been really struggling to tell some of them apart so I had to make myself a cheat sheet. Luckily their spots don't change and I had pictures of all of them from birth. They are all very suspicious of me now but with 3 people it went very fast and smooth and I really like the size of the new ear tags I got. I'm hoping they stay in better than my old ones. I spent $40 on a new ear tag applicator so they had better!      Also I broke up the group I had in with the ram for fall lambs this year. I'll probably do pregnancy tests in a month to see if they took. Fingers crossed for October babies! 
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May 18, 2017 22:58
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How was Shearing Day? I didn't make it out; car issues. 
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May 19, 2017 03:30
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my cat is norris posted:How was Shearing Day? I didn't make it out; car issues. It went really well and the weather was fantastic! Sorry you were having car issues  We're talking about having another open house in the fall with some natural dyeing activities and stuff that aren't practical in the spring. Luckily we have some time to brainstorm that.
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May 19, 2017 22:54
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Where yat again? I love me some sheep/goats.
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May 20, 2017 03:07
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May 20, 2017 07:52
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Eifert Posting posted:Where yat again? I'm in far NE OH, near Ashtabula. People have been coming in all the way from Columbus and Pittsburgh!
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May 20, 2017 18:25
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Everyone is sheared finally! I don't know what to do with all the free time but posting pictures will do for now. I'm also working on my sales list which is a bummer because I want everyone to stay here but I currently have 60 sheep and that's too many sheep. Valkyrie, who is staying and might be bred for fall lambs. She likes to hang around and get hugs every night after I feed them all.   I think Goliath needs a new flock this year, he's too closely related to everyone here even though I love the big squish.  I'm planning on cutting back on goats as well. I'll be keeping some favorites but some need to find new herds.   Babies still have a few months to grow out before I make final decisions on them. They'll be weaned soon though!       Mr. Handsomeface's horns better stay nice  
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Jun 1, 2017 03:01
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Ok so I know I said I was downsizing but I have a bunch of sheep who are basically sold and just waiting for AGM next month and I got a really good deal so meet the new guys. They're all 3/4 cotswold crosses. The big wether in the back is mixed with teeswater and the twin ram and ewe in the front are mixed with leicester longwool. I'm hoping to cut back on stupid goat shenanigans and replace them with longwool sheep so these guys are my test run. The teeswater came with the name George, which I was going to change because I already have George the guinea pi, but he's from Virginia and his ear tag is #1 so he can stay George Washington. I'm thinking the longwool's theme can be musicals and the twins can be Eliza and Philip. So far they're super cute and the fleece is gorgeous but they came from some very hands off people and need some maintenance before they step foot on my pasture. Tomorrow the cvms are getting blood drawn for pregnancy tests and I'm weaning the lambs that are getting sold at AGM. Someone asked me recently if summer was my easy time of year and I just laughed at them.
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Jun 19, 2017 00:22
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Those sheep are very handsome. Are the goats a lot more work than the sheep? I really like mohair and it's hard to find domestic mohair that isn't expensive. Congrats on the new guys.
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Jun 19, 2017 04:30
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HungryMedusa posted:Those sheep are very handsome. Are the goats a lot more work than the sheep? I really like mohair and it's hard to find domestic mohair that isn't expensive. Congrats on the new guys. I find the goats more work than sheep, although some people feel the opposite. On my farm, if an animal is sick or doing something stupid or escaping it's going to be a goat. Plus they need to be sheared twice a year which gives me a second shearing season every fall. Also I hate dealing with weirdo goat people and would happily never do it again. The mohair is really fantastic though! We'll see how these longwools compare.
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Jun 20, 2017 02:17
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That fiber looks SICK, and as someone who is deathly scared of goats* but loves mohair I will definitely not hold it against you for shipping em off. * Trespassing in a billy's yard as a child even after being warned will do this to you. It was a shortcut!
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Jun 20, 2017 04:56
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Goats are bros. Bros are often goats. That's all you need to know.
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Jun 21, 2017 00:11
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Instant Jellyfish posted:Also I hate dealing with weirdo goat people and would happily never do it again. Are goat people the livestock industry equivalent of fandoms like Undertale or Homestuck? Or is it more like people who get into a holistic MLM and have really bought into the hype?
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Jun 21, 2017 05:24
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a while ago i was confused by a rush of undertale people following me on tumblr, but then one day i suddenly realised
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Jun 21, 2017 13:23
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SUPERMAN'S GAL PAL posted:Are goat people the livestock industry equivalent of fandoms like Undertale or Homestuck? Or is it more like people who get into a holistic MLM and have really bought into the hype? Oh man, it's like a combination of the two. So many of them believe each goat is like a child, a precious gift from god, and only they know the correct way to care for them. It's like they have forgotten that goats are supposed to be livestock. The lady I got my first goats from was adamant that the goats needed a minimum of 30 minutes of petting a day and the goats refused to step outside because they had been given pounds of grain every day so had never had to actually eat grass. People on the angora goat facebook group regularly post about their bucks trying to murder them in the fall but don't want to eat them because they looooove them and their fleece is soooo nice. Fluffy Bunnies should tell her goat lady story as well because it's peak goatlady insanity. The lady I got the longwools from also got out of goats so she didn't have to deal with goatladies, it's an honest to goodness thing.
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Jun 21, 2017 20:48
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Sheep come and sheep go. I didn't really need another 2 horned ram but this dude was too good of an opportunity to pass up. His dam's fleece has won a ton of awards, he's a triplet, he's from great lines, and he was already coming to AGM. How could I refuse?! His brothers are Thomas and Haverford. I decided to put Glen up for sale and got a million people asking about him. Some just wanted him mounted on their wall but I narrowed it down to some nice people with good breeding programs and ended up deciding on a home with a vet in NC. He's completely different genetically than anything in the region so he'll be great for them! One of the other people who wanted him pitched a huge public fit about how I was just auctioning Glen off to the highest bidder and life wasn't fair for the little guy. Little did he know I'm not actually getting any money for Glen, I'm getting these ladies in exchange. Quaint is a 4 year old ewe  And Katelyn is a lamb  Both are lilac carriers from great lines and they will mean that not everyone in my flock is related to Jazz anymore! I'm real excited about these ewes, it was a good trade. I've been wheeling and dealing sheep nonstop all month and at this point I think I have breeding homes for 2 of the ram lambs, Flapjack the cormo has someone interested in him, Goliath has had some interest but no one serious yet, and someone is coming to look at a couple of goats. I'm so ready to be done with selling sheep for a while and I still haven't picked which adult ewes I'm selling and who is heading to freezer camp this year. In only tangentially related farm news, I had an awesome artist who way underprices herself do a portrait of Major this weekend and now I want her to do some of the sheep too. Just giant sheep portraits all around my home. 
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Jun 26, 2017 20:54
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Good trade, good news and beautiful portrait. I think you should get one of Twofer, if you're going to invest in sheep portraits. Those are some excellent prices. Curious, how do you determine who goes in the freezer at the end of the year and who to sell? Is it based on genetic lines, age, personality, all of the above? In the last year I've begun hunting myself, and I'm a little confused by people wanting to buy your rams to hunt. Do they expect you to release him into the wilds of your yard so they can shoot him? Transport him onto public land to chase? Maybe it's just because I'm new and I've only hunted small game so far, but I really don't see the appeal of "I want to kill *that* animal, now go make it so, person who raised it."
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Jun 27, 2017 03:06
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Chaosfeather posted:In the last year I've begun hunting myself, and I'm a little confused by people wanting to buy your rams to hunt. Do they expect you to release him into the wilds of your yard so they can shoot him? Transport him onto public land to chase? Maybe it's just because I'm new and I've only hunted small game so far, but I really don't see the appeal of "I want to kill *that* animal, now go make it so, person who raised it." I don't understand either. They ARE impressive looking but when it comes down to it, they are still just domestic sheep. Wow! What a great hunter you are! You bought a sheep, walked up to it and shot it!
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Jun 27, 2017 03:24
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We just moved to our little farm and the first babies have arrived. These guys are are little Ancona ducklings  These are our two new barn cats. Patricia is the gray one and I picked her up from a lady locally. Detective Pickle is the tiger with the white belly and he just showed up in one of the barns the day we moved in.  My husband pretended to hate the cats for a little while, but now they're friends. 
SquirrelFace fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Jul 11, 2017 |
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Jul 11, 2017 15:11
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SquirrelFace posted:We just moved to our little farm and the first babies have arrived. These guys are are little Ancona ducklings You've got your image tags wrong. You want the BBCode ones.
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Jul 11, 2017 15:14
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Those ducklings are cute.
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Jul 11, 2017 15:31
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Neddy Seagoon posted:You've got your image tags wrong. You want the BBCode ones. Thanks. I tried changing it, but now it's stuck on the [timg] tags and I am just hopeless at the internet.
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Jul 11, 2017 16:19
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You're linking to the Imgur page for the image, not the actual image. Edit: Like this.    
Siivola fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Jul 11, 2017 |
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Jul 11, 2017 17:30
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Siivola posted:You're linking to the Imgur page for the image, not the actual image. Oh thank you! This is good to know because come august I'll have baby bunny pictures to post too!
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Jul 11, 2017 17:43
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SquirrelFace posted:Thanks. I tried changing it, but now it's stuck on the [timg] tags and I am just hopeless at the internet. Open up your Imgur page. Click on the picture you want to share, and then click on the "Copy" button beside the line that says BBCode. Just paste that into your post here, and change the [img]'s to [timg]'s.
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Jul 11, 2017 17:59
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Siivola posted:You're linking to the Imgur page for the image, not the actual image. So much cuteness in this world Also, out of curiosity, I listened to the band on the last guy's shirt, and they sound super...early '00s guilty pleasure-y, for lack of a better term. I enjoyed it.
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Jul 13, 2017 17:42
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YeahTubaMike posted:So much cuteness in this world My husband will be happy to know he helped you find music you like!
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Jul 13, 2017 17:53
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Those baby ducks and kittens are super cute It was a big spotty sheep weekend for me! Friday I threw a couple of my ram lambs in the car and drove 6 hours to exciting Cooperstown, NY for the jacob sheep breeders association annual general meeting. I have never seen so many jacob sheep together in my life. It was just a wave of spots and horns. I have never shown an animal in my life and while I'm pretty fond of my sheep there were some big name breeders there with really nice animals so I didn't expect to do much in the show. I ended up only showing handsome Mr. Sinatra but he got 3rd in a massive class of baby ram lambs! I was very happy and it meant that I could put him away and just enjoy the show for the rest of the day.  Jacob sheep people are super nice and it was great to put faces to names I see on pedigrees all the time. I also brought home a little something extra. Montgomery is actually 5 days older than Sinatra but probably half the size. He was a triplet though and his mom has been winning fleece competitions left and right. He's so teeny and cute I just want to stick him in my pocket  Sinatra ended up staying in NY despite me trying my hardest not to let anyone know he was for sale. He'll have ladies there though and he's related to too many of mine here. Glen and little Buckeye also went to new homes today. Glen is going all the way to NC and Buckeye is just moving 3 hours south to help start a brand new flock. Neither were thrilled with my transportation solution and Glen was perfectly happy to get out of there and onto the trailer south. His headgear only just barely fit.  Of course I can't just sell sheep so I ended up trading Glen for a pair of ewes. I've been looking for some new bloodlines and they were perfect. Their fleece is just spectacular too, I can't wait to get it off of them in the spring. It ended up being a pretty crazy weekend with all the sheep comings and goings but I already had my quarantine pen set up so it was nice to get everything done with at once. The big ewe is Quaint and the little one is Katelyn. I had a huge paper I had to write today but hopefully I'll get better pictures of all the new folks this week. 
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Jul 18, 2017 03:28
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How are the farms and farmkids, everyone?
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Aug 19, 2017 00:01
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We're just trying to get past the end of summer slump around here. Late summer/early fall tends to be when animals start to have issues all at once and even though I know it happens every year I still end up playing catch up. The 4 horned ram lamb I took to AGM to be Sinatra's travel buddy got pneumonia and didn't make it while still in quarantine, but Quaint, Katelyn, and Montgomery have all been integrated into the flock now. I also moved the longwool ewe and wether from the ram lamb flock to the ewe flock and they're learning to fit in. George  Monty  I've sold half my goats to focus more on the sheep. Heath went to a show flock where a little girl was super excited to show him in 4H. Ginger, Garnet, Opal, and Marzipan all went together to someone local who is just getting started. The new owner is super nice and we're keeping in touch. To remind me it was a good idea to downsize goats Dido immediately went down and I've been working on getting her up again for a few weeks now. She's in a sling and slowly improving but no one seems to be able to decide what is actually wrong with her besides just being an awful goat. Dido and Iph holding hands  Now I'm busy planning out breeding groups and when I want to lamb next year and finalizing who else to sell before winter. I had 60 animals at the end of lambing season this year and I'm hoping to get down to around 40 going into the winter. Willow hiding from the sun  Wonder  Lucky Charm and Flirt 
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Aug 19, 2017 16:11
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Sad to say goodbye to poor dumb Heath.
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Aug 19, 2017 16:14
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Asiina posted:Sad to say goodbye to poor dumb Heath. He was a hard one to let go and I definitely miss his dumb face. His new owner says he's doing well though and they have 60 goats so they're used to stupidity.
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Aug 19, 2017 16:49
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Instant Jellyfish posted:He was a hard one to let go and I definitely miss his dumb face. His new owner says he's doing well though and they have 60 goats so they're used to stupidity. His daughters must be heartbroken  .
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Aug 19, 2017 17:37
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Lucy & Emma, 10 days old.
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Aug 22, 2017 17:40
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Aww, hi there baby girls! So sad to hear that Heath is gone, but I'm glad it's to a good pasture with lots of other dopey goats. :3
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Aug 22, 2017 19:58
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meriruka posted:Lucy & Emma, 10 days old. What pretty cows my cat is norris posted:Aww, hi there baby girls! Yeah any other result would have been heart breaking(a part of my soul died at the conclusion of the Weebles ordeal and never recovered)
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Aug 22, 2017 21:29
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