What a busy week the last one was! I had a beginners' crochet class on Wednesday night then off to the Renwick HandiHour on Thursday. Much fun!
I unfortunately did not make it to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I'm especially sad this year since the Owens Family was there, displaying some of their Coopworth sheep (was Princess there?!). I haven't gotten a specific update on Princess in a while, but I did get a nice letter and brochure in the mail, explaining that April is quite a busy time on the farm with all the new baby animals -- 135 of them! Apparently, this year, they used a "teaser ram." They send in a vasectomized ram to synchronize the ewes' heat cycles, which occur every 17 days. The first heat apparently is a weak one, in which the ewe releases only one egg (and twins are the goal), so the teaser is sent in so that the ewes don't end up pregnant. Then, in the next cycle when a ewe is more likely to shed two eggs, they send in the breeding rams. It worked! Out of 71 ewes bearing lambs, 58 had twins or triplets!
Which reminds me, so I now have two dog brushes and am ready to give the carding a try. I have to say though, I'm getting a little nervous about this -- the lady on the YouTube video makes it look easy, but... ;-)
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