Our first year competing at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  Despite the miserable weather we had a great weekend, with Riley winning 1st place in the Coopworth division of the fleece show and sale.  Lots of good comments from the judges and customers.

If you park a truck loaded with mulch in the pasture the lambs will turn it into a playground.  These four along with some friends play on this each day.  King (or queen) of the mulch!

You gotta love these sheep in the winter time.  "Teasel", one of our Romney/Coopworth crosses, demonstrates the fine art of eating hay......and also why all that wool needs to be covered!  Five more weeks and we will be shearing.

We intend this blog as a way to keep readers informed about goings-on at Arbormeadow Farm, particularly as they relate to our flock of Coopworth sheep and the seasonal rhythms of caring for them.  It seems appropriate to begin with a recent, important change in the composition of the flock.

Our ram Louie (introduced on the “Meet our Flock” page), has been with us for three years.  Although he played a critical role in the establishment and development of our flock, we needed to bring in some new blood for the fall breeding season.  This summer, we contacted the owner of the flock who had sold Louie to us, to ask if she had another good ram she’d be willing to part with.  She did, as it happens, and we expressed interest on the basis of some photos of a ram lamb she sent.  She asked if Louie was still with us.  When we said that indeed he was, she offered to trade this young ram lamb for Louie.

The deal was struck and so last weekend we hauled Louie over Shenandoah Mountain to his ancestral home in West Virginia and we returned to Arbormeadow Farm with a new ram.  He's from Pendleton County and so we named him Pendleton.  He is small compared to Louie (78 versus 300 pounds), but he’s still a lamb and will grow considerably as he matures in the months ahead.  We believe he makes a strong addition to our flock.  He has an especially nice fleece—bright white with a high degree of luster and a twist in the locks that forms small ringlets—and we are eager to see if he passes these qualities onto his lambs.

These are happy circumstances—we have a new ram to help us improve our flock and Louie will continue to be of use in the flock to which he was born five years ago.

KK