Adopt a Sheep Program

Here at Little Meadows Farm we are developing a program to bring hand-spinners, weavers and other fiber artists together with our flock in a personal and up close way. Your participation is important, as well as your feedback. So please let us know how else we can help you feel a bigger part of the picture here and more involved with your sheep.  Most hogget fleeces are $80 and adult fleeces $60 and the plan will include:

• Pictures and information about each sheep you adopt. If this is a gift, an e-card will be sent along with the standard adoption document.

• If this adoption is in the name of a child, let us know the age so we can make the info appropriate for him or her. For everyone, we will include information about our sheep and how we run a natural, 'better than organic' farm based on permaculture and ecology.

• Baa-Baa Letters, quarterly notes from your sheep will be emailed.

• The well skirted, fleece will be sent shortly after shearing. If you prefer the fleece(s) can be posted to a mill of your choice, we'll let you know how much the postage will be.  More info is on our FAQ page;  button at the top of the home page.

Shearing Day at Little Meadows

 

Many people have seen shearing done thru watching television programs, often filmed on large sheep ranches in Australia or New Zealand. Well, as with most things, shearing is done differently here. Bob and I do it ourselves with the sheep standing; Bob at his or her head, steadying and occasionally feeding “sheep cookies” . We like this method because it feels less stressful, I can skirt the fleece a bit as I go and most importantly no accidental nicking or cutting. That often happens with the “on the rump” method because you have to be fast – this is not a natural position for the sheep and she can start to have problems if not done quickly. Now some would say that a nick for a sheep is no worse than when we nick ourselves and that may be true but those shearers aren't our little razors and so I prefer to err on the side of caution. It is also nice to take a break, let her have a drink of water or a nibble of grass before finishing the other side. I don't want to say my method is better, but after seeing, in person, sheep sheared the other way I think my form is calmer and less stressful. We'll be adding photos of our shearing days so that you can see for yourselves.

About our sheep and wool here at Little Meadows

 

Most of our farm practices come from the ideas that our great-grandmothers and grandfathers would have found familiar. We make sure that we have enough pasture to rotate them onto fresh grass, lots of fresh water – even warm in the winter and herbs to promote health. We do not have to use any external products on our sheep for parasites, so the wool you get is totally natural. There will be small amounts of vegetable matter but every effort will be made to send you a high quality fleece – after the fleece is shorn, we skirt and softly willow it so you aren't paying postage on bits you'll leave on the carding table!