[Jacob-list] wool break and getting started

[Gillian Fuqua]

	I have a blue faced leicester boy who went down due to heavy 
parasites.  After heavy duty nursing, he is fine but he had a wool 
break right at the skin.  I finally peeled off what I could and snipped 
off the rest with scissors and he has a nice fuzz growing in.  I'll get 
him shorn in the spring with everyone else to get him back on schedule. 
  I am bummed because now I will get two short lamb fleeces that I can 
play with but not sell.  I had also  been going to stud him out but 
wethered him.  After hand feeding him for close to a week, I thought he 
was more socialized than I wanted an intact male to be.  Oh well, at 
least his fleeces will stay nicer for longer.
	In terms of getting started with pasture, plenty of people hay all 
year round.  I have been doing lots of pasture improvement.  I use the 
lazy method.  I let the sheep into a brushy area and wait and see what 
they eat down for me.  Then I go and cut what seems like it might 
become problematic, like having thorns.  I spread seed liberally in the 
fall and just wait and see what happens in the spring.  I use a pasture 
mix from my local feed store which has a couple of different kinds of 
grasses and clovers.  The other way to maximize small pasture space is 
to find neighbors with bits they want mowed and fertilized.  I am very 
lucky in that one neighbor has a huge fenced in area from when they 
used to keep sheep.  I also have a solar charger and have sent them out 
that way.

Gillian