Sheep Rescue

Okay, here's the story. I was scanning through a Spin-Sales digest when I saw a post that listed Rambouillet and Merino sheep looking for a home. Ordinarily I push the delete button as fast as I can before I read the horrifying words, "sheep will go to market if not adopted." I didn't this time because I recognized the farm, VanCalcar Acres, just 38 miles from me. Out of curiousity I emailed Jennifer, of Flock Sock Yarn fame, to ask about the sheep. She told me the sad story. A real estate agent somewhere in Central New York sold her farm to some people who didn't want the sheep. The lady took off in her mobile home and gave the sheep to Jennifer to find a home for them. Jennifer already has 300 commercial ewes she raises for meat and this little flock just didn't fit in. There was a purebred Morehouse Farm Merino ram included in the flock, in addition to a wether Rambouillet with a magnificent horn set. Horns! I adore horns on a sheep and I don't have any. Morehouse Merino? Their booth is next to mine at Rhinebeck and I know their reputation. Maybe I could put a Merino ram on my crossbreds and get more density in the fleeces of the offspring, not to mention the fleece of the ram himself, a rich chocolate brown. Rambouillets are huge, like ponies. They produce a fine, dense wool. My mind is racing. Ofcourse it took me weeks to even bring the subject up to Matt, who is getting more achey every day. And then there is the hay...so costly, rare and precious in winter. I kept Jennifer waiting for weeks. Another lady came to pick up five ewes, leaving 8 sheep - a ram, a wether and 6 ewes. I finally got the nerve to approach the subject with Matt, after we found a source of hay for the winter. I was too involved now and couldn't let them go to slaughter. How could this lady take off in her Winnebago without seeing her sheep properly situated?? Matt took it like a champ, and even went to pick them up for me...on the very last day Jennifer's husband would allow them to remain on their farm. He wanted their space for his pigs. It took two men and Jennifer to get 8 sheep into my enclosed cargo trailer. I came home from school yesterday to see the trailer backed up to the door between the two silos on the south side of the barn. I had a space ready for the new arrivals. Trouble is, they won't leave the trailer. We tried grain, hay, water to tempt them. Matt got in with them but they just milled round and round him. It was dark and we were tired with chores to do still, so we put up panels around the trailer and fastened them to the silos with wire. When I got up this morning they were still standing in the trailer! I went to work and Matt went to work on them. I called home to hear that he got them out of the trailer with a lot of pushing. Matt fashioned a ramp to get them up in through the barn door, which was just a small door to get out to the silo room, but there was no way they were going to climb the ramp into this unknown place. The sheep baaing inside and a warm dry place to lie down was no temptation to these sheep. Matt needed me to help get them up the ramp. By the time I got out of my teacher's meeting and did my stops at the PO and store to get a cow halter and lead, the rain had turned to sleet. The ramp was covered with ice and it was dark. Matt hung lamps to light the area so the sheep could see where they were going. We poured sand on the ramp so we could have good footing. Matt got the cow halter and lead on the first sheep and pulled while I pushed. Now Rambos weigh about 200 pounds, conservative estimate. Matt pulled with all his might from up in the barn, while I pushed. We got two up the ramp and in the barn, then one jumped back outside while we were hooking up the third. Got her back inside, then number four and five. The last three jumped up on the ramp to follow number five! My new sheep were safely locked in the cozy, dry barn. I got them some hay and warm water with molasses. Matt retreated to the warmth and comfort of the apt. to rest. The lady who got the other five sheep has already had a lamb from one of them, so I have to watch for lambs from my ewes. The new sheep are very shy and bonded to one another. They are so beautiful, and so different from any sheep I have. The hornset is magnificent on the wether, who seems to have the most personality so far. The wool on the brown merinos (there are two, don't know if the second one is a ram or ewe, is luscious to the touch. I have some lovely Christmas presents and the runaway real estate agent's sheep are saved from the unmentionable place.