[Jacob-list] Hay Feeders and Fleeces

[Leigh Nelson]

Hello All, I've noticed the recent topic of hay feeders and wanted to
hear some opinions on what people are doing to minimize the hay ending up
in the fleece. Last winter was my first year with Jacobs, or any sheep
for that matter.  I am a spinner and plan to sell the fleeces to other
spinners.  I was very discouraged by the amount of hay that ended up
everywhere on them.  The neck area was the worst but hay was present
throughout the fleece.  I hand sheered my sheep, and skirted by leaving
the dirtiest wool on the sheep. We would then pack up the fleece and
re-shear to remove the wool we didn't want. We are a small farm and don't
have a tractor so we feed square bales only.  I know it's important to
make sure the hay isn't falling on top of them, towards the end of the
winter we put the hay outside on a pallet (to minimize parasite problems)
but it would still end up in the fleece.  I noticed that when they eat
they tend to pull out a chunk, munch away while having a look around, the
sheep next to them then gets most of the surplus hay on their back.  How
can this be stopped! I would prefer to not have to put coats on my sheep
but in order to sell a decent product to hand-spinners I think I might
have to!  Any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated Thanks,Leigh
NelsonBent Willow FarmKapuskasing, On

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