My morning chores out to the sheep shed turned up something different this morning. Quinn, the little ram lamb had some loose fleece on his shoulder, so after giving them their hay and water, I grabbed him for a closer look. Where the fleece was loose, I found a bare patch on his skin. I kept looking and realized that his fleece was coming off cleanly. He's rooing! Shetland sheep are known for this phenomena. They are a primitive breed of sheep originally from the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland and that is how the people of Shetland would get their fibre. It has happened to a lesser degree for me the first year I had Shetlands when their fleeces felted right on their backs over the winter and with a few of them I could just peel the whole thing off. Unfortunately because of the felting, I lost their fleeces. I know that several other shepherds have had this happen to their sheep but it isn't common. I'm not sure its at the right time either, because right now we are in the dead of winter...too cold to be losing your wool coat. I was planning to shear them late March to make sure I didn't get any natural rooing which would cause a break in the fleece.
Being a fibre person, I couldn't let Quinn go and hope for the best come shearing time. The way it was coming off, it would be ruined and matted in no time...and it is soo beautiful and white and crimpy fine with a stunning lustre that comes from his mom Peaches and his grandmom Pearl who is no longer here. I had no choice, but to "roo" it off. He wasn't happy because I was interrupting his breakfast. The blanket fleece came off easily, with the britch (back) and neck staying put for now. He looks horrible and I'll have to make him a blanket so he doesn't freeze for the next little while until he gets a bit of wool growing back.
I'm not convinced that this is a "natural rooing" for Quinn. A fleece will create a break at a certain point throughout the fleece in cases of stress (moving, lambing, illness, inadequate feed). Quinn was hurt quit badly several times in late fall and early winter by tangling with the bigger rams during breeding season. Initially, he was caught in the middle of Twist and Bok Choy, my 2 breeding rams, during a battle. I found him against the fence on his back with a broken front leg. I moved him to safety in the pen with my little ewe lambs (that I didn't want to breed this year) and splinted his leg. He seemed to recover from that although my splint didn't make his leg heal straight. Then, when things were better, Twist, the breeding ram from the adjacent pen decided that the little ewes in Quinn's pen smelled nice, so he busted through the gate overnight twice. In the morning I found poor little Quinn beaten up against the wall. He stopped eating and didn't look well and I thought for sure he wouldn't make it. He looked broken. Inside the sheep shed, I boarded up the gate and eliminated any visual contact between the 2 interior pens. Quinn got better and seems recovered from his trauma and eats constantly now. It is more likely that the stress has caused a significant break to occur in his fleece, hence the rooing. Today is a warm winter day +2ºC. He sure picked his day to start "rooing". Now he has to deal with the stress of staying warm, but luckily, he has a nice warm shed to sleep in and he doesn't have to go outside if he doesn't want to. And he's a tough little guy.
Being a fibre person, I couldn't let Quinn go and hope for the best come shearing time. The way it was coming off, it would be ruined and matted in no time...and it is soo beautiful and white and crimpy fine with a stunning lustre that comes from his mom Peaches and his grandmom Pearl who is no longer here. I had no choice, but to "roo" it off. He wasn't happy because I was interrupting his breakfast. The blanket fleece came off easily, with the britch (back) and neck staying put for now. He looks horrible and I'll have to make him a blanket so he doesn't freeze for the next little while until he gets a bit of wool growing back.
I'm not convinced that this is a "natural rooing" for Quinn. A fleece will create a break at a certain point throughout the fleece in cases of stress (moving, lambing, illness, inadequate feed). Quinn was hurt quit badly several times in late fall and early winter by tangling with the bigger rams during breeding season. Initially, he was caught in the middle of Twist and Bok Choy, my 2 breeding rams, during a battle. I found him against the fence on his back with a broken front leg. I moved him to safety in the pen with my little ewe lambs (that I didn't want to breed this year) and splinted his leg. He seemed to recover from that although my splint didn't make his leg heal straight. Then, when things were better, Twist, the breeding ram from the adjacent pen decided that the little ewes in Quinn's pen smelled nice, so he busted through the gate overnight twice. In the morning I found poor little Quinn beaten up against the wall. He stopped eating and didn't look well and I thought for sure he wouldn't make it. He looked broken. Inside the sheep shed, I boarded up the gate and eliminated any visual contact between the 2 interior pens. Quinn got better and seems recovered from his trauma and eats constantly now. It is more likely that the stress has caused a significant break to occur in his fleece, hence the rooing. Today is a warm winter day +2ºC. He sure picked his day to start "rooing". Now he has to deal with the stress of staying warm, but luckily, he has a nice warm shed to sleep in and he doesn't have to go outside if he doesn't want to. And he's a tough little guy.
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