“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C.S. Lewis
*Note: there is a video where we show Noelle on her back having her belly trimmed. If you’ve never seen a sheep being shorn it can look a little crazy, but sometimes what looks crazy is safest for the animal. This method keeps Noelle from being hurt and actually relaxes her.
In case you don’t know our story with Noelle, she came to us a little unexpectedly. Jordan and I had been discussing and researching the possibility of having sheep or goats on our farm at some point. Through all the research we had finally settled on sheep and had put our names on a list for some lambs from Sugar Creek Babydoll Sheep Farm. However, we knew these little lambs wouldn’t be ready until late Spring so we still had a few months to prepare.
Well, sometimes God has different plans. We got the call about a ewe who needed a home. She had been purchased by a family and had been with a couple of goats and a donkey. Unfortunately, this donkey was not being very nice to Noelle at all and they were looking for a good home where she could enjoy being a sheep. In a matter of 2 days Jordan had made a good sized stall for her in the barn and made her a paddock with some left over fencing. We brought her home and she soon settled into life here with us.
We had been told to find someone to shear Noelle as soon as we could because it could take weeks to find a shearer that would come out for a large flock let alone one! It took about 2 months of searching before I asked our vet and she gave me Tessa’s name and number. I can’t tell you how excited we were to find someone who was willing to come out and give Noelle and much deserved hair cut!
The day of shearing I was a nervous wreck! I had no idea how Noelle would do and I was so worried about her possibly getting nicked if she got scared and just having an overall bad experience. I know she has to be sheared every year so I wanted this experience to be as positive for her as possible.
I’m happy to say Noelle did wonderful and Tessa was so great and so patient with her! I got to stay by Noelle’s side almost the entire time. The process was much more smooth than I thought. The clippers were fast and her wool peeled off like small wool blankets! I couldn’t get over how white and clean her new wool was under all the old dirty wool!
Tessa told us Noelle seemed very healthy and her wool was in great shape. Sometimes mites and bugs can get in their wool but Noelle had none and she even got a pedicure while Tessa was here. It’s important to trim sheep’s hooves from time to time or the nail at the bottom will continue to grow and form pockets on the bottom of their hooves if not trimmed regularly. These pockets can trap mud and feces that will often allow for bacteria to set up and cause hoof rot. Thankfully, Noelle had no sign of hoof rot and is all set for the next several months.
Tessa did have to turn Noelle on her back to shave her belly and legs. This looks scary at first but putting them in this position actually helps them relax (as crazy as it sounds and looks it really does calm them down). Many shearers have the sheep turned on their back for the entirety of the shearing but Noelle only had to be in this position for a few minutes because she did so great standing with the clippers and Tessa is incredibly experienced in shearing both sheep and alpacas.
We really had no idea what Noelle would look like with all that wool off but she’s just as cute as she’s always been! Today it was in the 70’s again and she was so much more comfortable! You can tell she is enjoying having all that extra weight off and Milo doesn’t look so tiny compared to her anymore haha!
Noelle’s wool served a purpose for a time but it was time to shed it all off and let it go. Life changes and we are often called to change with it. We don’t always know what things will look like or be like when we let go of what we’ve become so acoustomed to but it will never be as uncomfortable as staying where we don’t belong anymore. If we never sheared Noelle her wool would continue to grow out and become even more stagnant and dirty. She would continue to carry a heavier and heavier weight and lose the energy and strength to play, jump and enjoy the warm months. We figure life’s too short to waste it being miserable so when it’s time we simply let things go.