This winter I am using some sheep coats for the first time to see if I can't keep my fiber even cleaner than I usually do. Breeding for finer fleeces all my animals tend to be chaff magnets and the smallest, finest, darkest lambs always tend to ruin their fiber. Since selling this fiber is the only way I have to pay for their feed, I am hoping the coats will do the job. So far I am very pleased with how they are holding up and how nice the fleeces are developing underneath. I purchased these coats from www.rockysheep.com.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Sheep Coat Trial
This winter I am using some sheep coats for the first time to see if I can't keep my fiber even cleaner than I usually do. Breeding for finer fleeces all my animals tend to be chaff magnets and the smallest, finest, darkest lambs always tend to ruin their fiber. Since selling this fiber is the only way I have to pay for their feed, I am hoping the coats will do the job. So far I am very pleased with how they are holding up and how nice the fleeces are developing underneath. I purchased these coats from www.rockysheep.com.
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I just finished reading Shepherd Chik's blog about coats and followed her link to the Rocky Mt. Sheep Co. Was wondering how coats work on Shetlands, since I read somewhere they don't work well on some breeds, like Icelandics. I only have four ewes, and am considering coating them after shearing this year. I would love to hear how they work for your Shetlands. One of my ewes is quite crimpy and collects so much junk that last year I just threw her fleece away. The ewe I just bought has a fair amount of felting around her neck, perhaps from the feeders used at her birth farm; I don't know.
So far I am finding these coats are working very well. I asked Rocky to send me coats made of a lighter fabric than his typical coats, as I know these sheep don't do well feeling constricted. None of the sheep showed signs of rebellion after I put the coats on and only one smaller ewe has actually slipped out of her coat. They take the weather well and I've only seen a couple holes from ragged fencing, etc. Yesterday we had a blizzard and I found the coats were great as they shed the snow off the sheep before they came back in the barn for the night. The uncoated sheep brought in a lovely coating of snow/ice to melt down and make things wet.
I'll let you know how the fleeces end up. I only put them on the in the fall when I started feeding hay seriously, so do not know how they would do with summertime use?
My sheep tend to be very fine and crimpy with more open fibers, so I understand about your one ewe collecting so much trash.
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