Shaven and shorn sheep

Another sure sign of spring at Brambleberry is sheep shearing.
Twenty-five of our ewes, two rams and our wether are now sporting new haircuts as their thick layers of wool have been cut off.
Some sheep farmers have their flocks sheared before lambing, but we've always waited until after every ewe has lambed and the weather has warmed up to have our flock sheared. We hire a local Amish farmer who is still learning the skill but does an excellent job in just a few hours.
It's always an unsettling day for the flock, as the ewes are separated from their lambs for a few hours before everyone is sheared and they can reunite. The lambs are not sheared because their fleece is not yet thick enough. The older girls who have been through the process before handle it better than the new ewes who are being clipped for the first time.
It's always amazing how thick their coats are after a year of growth and there's always a lot more room in our barn after the sheep are downsized. They look more like goats until their wool starts to grow back.
We don't make any money selling the wool since our sheep do not have the high-quality fiber sought by spinners. By the time we pay for the shearing and for the freight to ship our wool, we lose money. We wish there was more of a market for wool, but we raise our sheep for meat and for breeding stock.
But our flock is now ready for summer!