So,for the "average" shepherd, with "average" sheep on their farm, we would not see sheep like this. The sheep are painstakingly tended to look like these photos for the show ring. Here in America, most of the Leicester Longwools are shorn twice a year.This takes a large toll on the cleanliness of their fleeces; we will have much hay and felting around the necks and front of the animal from eating hay out of feeders. I've also found out that the beautiful, shiny, white sheep that one sees in the show ring -- in particular fiber shows, are usually washed clean prior to showing!
Mr. Enderby goes on to say: "Starting at the beginning, all of my ewes are out grazing until a couple of weeks before they are due to lamb, and apart from looking heavy they are usually quite clean and tidy, but nothing special. After lambing inside, the ewes are immediately injected against foot rot, as a precaution, wormed, and then turned out to grass with the lamb/s about ten days old. By this time ewes that have been inside feeding on hay and concentrated feed, are sometimes looking like moving hay stacks! I do not generally concern myself with this at this stage, because I find that by July (shearing time) most of the hay from the neck area especially, has been washed out by the wind and rain. This sytem only works for the ewes of course, whilst the shearlings are a very different matter."
"I usually keep about 8 female lambs each season, for introduction and retention in my own flock as shearlings. A select two or three of these will be kept purely for showing purposes in that particular year. I do nothing to any of the 8 lambs retained other than feed them about 1 lb. each, every day from ten weeks old, until April when they will be about 15 months old. At this time I wash them all gently, but thoroughly through my hands, with fresh water only, using a garden hose and watering gun, paying particular attention to the belly and chest wool, which when washed in this way tends to lose most of the felting or matting of the wool. I find that done once at this time of year, the felting does not return before shearing at the end of July. I should mention at this point that all of my sheep are halter trained and very calm and quite enjoy a good shower on a warm spring day!"
"I do not separate the locks or fleece staples until 4 days before our first show which is the first weekend in May. I have developed my own technique when doing this, because it used to take me ten hours each sheep but thankfully I have now got the time down to a respectable four hours, spread over a couple of days! ... the staples or locks are individually separated in a vertical fashion going all over the sheep, and ensuring the belly wool is also pulled down at the same time to give the long locks some depth" |
