Kleinen Wiese German Shepherds

Posted By Sandy Wilson on June 19, 2010

Blueface Leicester’s arrive by truck!

A friend of mine needed to find a home for her Blueface Leicester sheep since they are relocating to TX, so we we decided to give them a home at our farm.  They are mainly a pet/fiber flock, so hopefully they will fit in nicely with my flock of Border Leicesters  that are pets too.  We already have one Blueface Leicester wether here, so he should make them feel welcome.  Fooler is our Blueface Leicester that was raised by the same gal who raised these  BFL’s.   Fooler is going to be very happy to see a few of his own breed in the barn.

Fooler – Our Blueface Leicester Boy!

The new sheep will have to get used to our dogs on the farm that will be assisting us in taking them out to pasture, so there will be some change for them, but hopefully they will make the transition just fine since they are coming in a group.  It is so much easier for them to fit in when you bring in several sheep to a new flock as they have friends to hang out with.    I am hoping this year by adding these Blueface Leicester ewes that we’ll have some wonderful crosses come next year with beautiful spinning fleeces.  I look forward to seeing what we get with the Border Leicester/Blueface Leicester cross – hopefully some very nice wool.  I love the  fineness and crimp of the Blueface Leicester as it is so soft and spins like “butter”, but I also love the long stable and beautiful luster of the Border Leicester wool, so this combination should be wonderful.

Here are the new gals – you can’t see their fleeces as they have been shorn just a short time ago, but when their fleeces grow in, I can’t wait to see how nice they will be.  My flock is mainly purebred Border Leicesters, but having these sheep will be fun too!

The new group consists of 6 ewes, Andora, Sofia, Gitana, and Virginia with her ewe lambs Lilly and Maggie.

This little fiber flock was used to only eating hay, now they will be living on pasture and after being here just two days, they are already taking to the grass.  They seem to be fitting in quite well with the other sheep.  My husband actually had our male shepherd, Aiko, meet them yesterday in the barn.  They had never seen the dogs before and so when Aiko went in the barn, they all gathered in front on him and Aiko gave them a lick on the nose.  What a nice welcome!   Today he took the whole flock across the road to graze and used Aiko to move them and the new sheep just kept up and followed the rest of the group.  They did quite well and they grazed nicely without too much worry from Aiko as he stays on the border and is very reliable.  The sheep soon spread out as they didn’t quite know what to expect, but soon when they tried to make a break for another pasture, Aiko put them back in place.  They took it well and now have learned, the dog is the living fence and you don’t cross the dog!

Category: Border Leicester Sheep | No Comments »
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Posted By Sandy Wilson on May 9, 2010

Aiko von der Kleinen Wiese

Diesel v. Schulmeister, SchHI   X    Hera v. Fafnerhaus

Aiko is a grandson out of Alf v. Fafnerhaus “Nicky”, who was Ellen Nicklesburg’s main herding dog for many, many years.  Nicky was one of the last males to be produced out of  Manfred Heyne’s  bloodlines.   Margaret v. Fafnerhaus was bred to Manfred’s Nick von der Stammherde Ramholz, HGH, to produce Alf “Nicky” von Fafnerhaus.     Nicky was bred to Ussa v. Kuchenthal, HGH, who was chosen by Manfred himself for breeding.  Nicky and Ussa went on to produce many progeny with strong herding genetics.

This breeding combination produced our Hera v. Fafnerhaus.  Hera is the foundation of our breeding program; she consistently passed down her strong herding genetics to so many of her pups.   Aiko is living proof that these herding genetics are still very strong.  We are so proud of him and we know Manfred would be too.

Today we had fun on Mother’s Day with the kids playing on the new trampoline.  While they played, my husband and I took the sheep out to graze with our boy, Aiko!  He  is in seventh heaven when he is out with the sheep.  Aiko is always so happy to work.  It was really a cool day in May after all the hot weather we have had over the past several weeks; even though cool, a very nice day to take the sheep out mid-day!

Aiko tending to the flock at Little Meadow Sheep Farm.

Bill has been working with Aiko since last Fall taking herding lessons and Aiko is coming along very nicely.  We are just thrilled with Aiko as he is such an honest dog – he is the kind of dog who is very handler sensitive and very wanting to please in every way.  Aiko hates to make mistakes and seeks to please – just a super dog and we love him so!

Aiko watching the sheep as he moves along the mowed boundary.

Aiko worked all four sides of the boundary today and did very well.  We cut the graze down a bit, so he had more work to do as our sheep numbers were down this year due to downsizing the flock last year.  Soon we hope to add some Blueface Leicesters to the group, which will be a nice addition to our flock.  I love the fleeces of the Border Leicester, but adding Blueface Leicesters is an extra treat for me since I love to spin – it’s truly like spinning butter – so smoooth!  Next year we should double our flock size and also have a wonderful mix of purebred Border Leicesters, Blueface Leicesters and some crosses – I can’t wait.  I am looking forward to seeing the fleeces we produce in the coming year.  The dogs will also love having a larger flock to herd – more sheep – more work!

The sheep are happily grazing the lush grasses of the pasture and don’t mind Aiko as he patrols the boundary keeping the sheep inside his confines.  He is a very smart worker, always counting his sheep and figuring out where best to be to keep the flock in order.  I love to watch him work – he takes his work seriously and instinctively knows where to be along the border to keep his sheep contained.  These dogs are a true asset to any shepherd.

After some herding, Aiko was ready for a nice game of fetch with his new stick!  LOL!  Aiko tries to always find fallen tree limbs to bring to us!  Gosh, if I could only teach him to pick up all the fallen branches in the yard and put them in a nice neat pile!

That’s MY BOY!

Aiko with his mother, Hera v. Fafnerhaus.  As you can see, he loves his gigle ball too!  Always seems to have a stick or a ball in his mouth – the dogs just all love hanging out together!

Category: Border Leicester Sheep, Herding | No Comments »
Tags: A-Litter, Aiko, Aiko vd. Kleinen Wiese, German Shepherd

Posted By Sandy Wilson on April 29, 2010

Wool on the Sheep!

I couldn’t believe how many fleeces I went through and cleaned out.  They looked pretty good and clean, but still picking through the vegetation takes an extensive amount of time to do.   But after picking through and getting rid of any unwanted wool and vegetation, I am quite happy to take quite a few bags of wool to Maryland.  I even have one bag of Blue Face Leicester to have processed.  I can’t wait to see how that turns out.

Wool that was sheared and skirted.

Here is wool from the same sheep above.  I cannot wait to have it made into roving and to spin it.  I am sure it is going to be just beautiful and the crimp is really nice too.   The wool always looks so beautiful once it is clean and then spun.  I think this wool would make a beautiful scarf for my husband – I owe him a scarf after he has been waiting for so many years.

Below pictured is some of the white wool that I have skirted.   I just can’t wait to see what it looks like as combed top!  I am excited at the prospect of having so much wool to spin this Fall/Winter!    I love the long staple length of the Border Leicester wool.  It just slides through your fingers so nicely and it is a pleasure to spin.

Category: Border Leicester Sheep | No Comments »
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Posted By Sandy Wilson on April 25, 2010

This year I am going to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival; I am so excited because I am taking some of my really nice Border Leicester fleeces to be processed.  In the past I have always washed and cleaned all my own wool and then combed all my fleeces for roving, but it seems it takes me forever to do it all myself!  So this year I am going to take it to the sheep and wool festival to give to Zellingers for processing – I can’t wait!

Ewe after being sheared.

I worked all day cleaning off vegetation out of the wool and then skirting the fleeces to take all the tags off and remove second cuts, so I just have the best wool to be made into combed top!  This should keep me spinning all Winter long – maybe I’ll even be able to knit or crochet something after this!  I have to admit, my shearer does a super job and I don’t get many second cuts.  He is gentle with my sheep and does a good percentage of small spinning flocks, so he really takes his time to do a nice job with them and is also gentle with the sheep.

Border Leicester/Romney Cross colored wool - RAW

White Border Leicester wool - RAW

Each year I am thrilled as I can see my flock improves and the wool is just beautiful.  I love to spin the longer wool as it drafts so nicely and the luster in the Border Leicester wool is just dazzling.   It really is such a wonderful wool to spin, IMHO.  I also have a couple of Romney/Border Leicester crosses who have a wool with very small crimp that is a treat to spin.   Wool is so versatile and I just enjoy the feel of it, spinning the fiber and then seeing it be transformed into lovely yarn.  Hopefully this year I’ll even make something out of it!  My husband  has been waiting for me to make him a scarf out of our wool for over 15 years now – I think maybe it is time to surprise him this year!

Colored Wool from Border Leicester Sheep

I’ll have more on the festival when I get back after May 1st!  It is the Festival’s 37th year at Howard County’s Fairgrounds in Maryland and each year it gets better!  They have so many exhibits and buildings to visit with fiber crafts and then my favorite are the livestock barns which are such a treat!  You can see just about every breed of sheep and other fiber animals as well, such as llamas, alpacas, rabbits, and cashmere goats.  I have even seen camels there!  It’s like going to the zoo, but you get to really interact with the animals and ask the exhibitors questions and you learn so much from these experts in the field.   You can really appreciate the natural colors of the fiber and the textures of the fiber too – which is especially important to us handspinners – we LOVE fiber!

The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is also a great place to visit with your family, as there is so much to see and do!  And the food – did I mention the food – it’s out of this world!   The food is fabulous – they have lamb kabobs, lamb ravioli’s, lamb sandwiches and much, much more.  And there is the cheese – wow – that is something to test out too – they have sheep cheese, goat cheese, cow cheese – so many wonderfully flavored cheeses from local farms in the area!    I think taste testing these cheeses is one of my favorite things – I happen to be a real cheese lover!

Stay tuned, I will have lots of pictures to post after I get back from the festival.  If you ever go or are planning to go, be prepared to stay the whole day!  It takes the entire day just to go through all the barns!  If your involved in any of the clinics, seminars and workshops that the festival offers, you’ll need an extended period of time to spend there if you want to truly see everything.  If I had my way, I would stay the whole weekend, but having a farm myself commits me to taking care of my own animals – and the family too!  LOL!

One of our Border Leicester Lambs "2010 Flock"

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Posted By Sandy Wilson on April 15, 2010

Ram - Border Leicester in full fleece.

Last Fall, we got a new Border Leicester Ram from Polly Hopkins of “Maybe Tomorrow Farm” in Chepachet, Rhode Island.  Polly was so nice to bring him all the way to Rhineback, NY for me to take him home to Pennsylvania.  He is a beautiful ram with long, lusterous wool, and beautiful crimp throughout his fleece.  He has a wonderful temperament as well  – who could ask for more.   This year was his first lamb crop here at our farm and he has produced some really beautiful lambs this year for us.  We look forward to seeing how they develop and how their fleeces are when combined with our bloodlines.  Thank you Polly for a wonderful boy!  So far the lambs are all looking great!

Ram Lamb - Purebred Border Leicester

The boy above is just beautiful – nice long back, wide rear and his fleece is really nice from what I can see so far.  I can’t wait to see him grown up – going to be a knock out!  We have some really beautiful lambs this year and our ewes are looking good.  In another year or so I would like to get another black ram for our flock because I love the colored fleeces.  Makes for a beautiful flock in the graze to watch while the dogs are herding and also beautiful wool to spin and felt!

This year I’ll be taking some of my fleeces to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival to have processed into combed top – I can’t wait!  I usually wash and comb out all my own wool, but it just takes me forever to do it myself.  This year I decided to treat myself and I am going to have it processed by Zellinger so I can finally get to spin it all!  Yeah!

Colored Border Leicester Spun Wool

Pictured above is wool spun from my first attempts at spinning and plying.    I was so excited to see that it really looked like something I could knit or crochet with.  I have improved since then, and now I am addicted to spinning – it is such fun and very relaxing.  I have a little Louet spinning wheel and I just love it.  Easy to carry and learn with too!  Maybe one day I’ll have one of those big old wheels, but for now the little spinning wheel does the trick!

We’ll back to the lambs now from Bubba Jr.  Below pictured are some of his lambs that we are quite proud of for the 2010 lambing season!

Ram Lambs

Border Leicester Ewe Lamb

This one posed for the camera!

More later with the dogs herding the sheep and getting the lambs into shape!

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