CVMs

I just found out our four bred California Varigated Mutant ewes will be ready to go after December 7!  We're getting them from Marushka Farms, who have been lovely to work with.  CVMs are an American breed of fine wool sheep and are one of the rarest true American breeds.  At present, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy lists the breed as Critical, with less than 2000 animals worldwide.  We're thrilled to be bringing this breed to our farm and are very excited about having lambs in the spring! 

Thar she blows

A few days ago I posted about Nim and Storm going through blowing coat season again, and was asked the question "How do you know when they're ready?"

I honestly had this exact same question when we got Nimbus and Storm in May.  I was terrified I wouldn't know when they were ready to pluck and we would lose all the fluff and all this fiber farm thing would be for naught and I was going to be an utter bunny failure.

However, I was lucky enough to have a Newfoundland dog already.  At first glance, newfies and bunnies might not have much in common, but Newfoundlands also blow their coat.  For anyone who has had a regular (non-newfie) dog, you may think you know shedding.  Dust bunnies collecting in the corners of the house.  Dust bunnies are nothing.  We have dust buffaloes.  Seriously, some of these things are the size of angora rabbits themselves.  Twice a year, Thora blows her coat and will literally lose hair with every step.  God help us if she shakes, or sneezes, or there's a stiff breeze.  It's everywhere.  It's on everything.  There's no escaping from it.  That's what a blowing coat is like.

For the rabbits, it's a bit more contained because they are in a hutch and outside.  I can usually tell when they are ready to be plucked because there is hair gathering everywhere.  On the corners of the hutch.  On the doorways.  On the edge of the food bin.  The fluff clumps together on any surface they may have brushed up against.  The girls were ready for their first plucking around July, when they were about four months old. 

Also, plucking is very different from regular grooming.  When I'm grooming, I pretty much just brush out the tangles, make sure there aren't any matts, and trim if they need it (usually in the super snarly between the ears areas.)  When I first got the rabbits, I would save every tiny scrap of hair from every brushing.  It was a little ridiculous.  I stopped that after I did my first plucking and realized that spending time getting out the tiny snarls and matts in every day fluff is inane.  These are fiber animals.  There will be more wool.  Save only the good stuff and move on with life.  

This is Storm halfway through a plucking:

The darker hair on top is where she's already been plucked.  The fluffy "dust ruffle" at the bottom still needs to be done.

Mid-pluck.  You can see how much longer the bottom hair is than the top.  I try to pinch a clump of fluff at the base, where her skin is, with one hand and pull with the other.  That way only the loose fluff pulls out and I'm not tugging on her skin.

The fluff that came out with that pull.  Sometimes it takes a few times in one clump to get out all the long loose fiber and leave her short coat behind.  However, if the bunny is ready to be plucked, the loose coat should really just slide out with some gentle tugging. 

This is the difference between grooming and plucking.  On the left side is what came out during a normal grooming, or brushing, session with Nova today.  On the right side is what came off of Storm during today's plucking session.  There's a huge difference in the quantity of fiber you get when the rabbit is ready to be plucked.  Angoras blow their coats around every twelve weeks, or four times a year, so the girls will probably be need to be done again in February. 

Feeding time

The new yak trough is working really well.  Can you spot it?

Neither can we.  That's because our greedy yaks are always camped out in front of it.

Niobe stuffs her face.

Vorenus takes a break from chewing to check out the camera.

Even Fathead and The Nose are enjoying a new hay trough.

Sweet Pea is back there, somewhere.  Behind the hay.

Not exciting

I feel badly that nothing has been posted since Halloween, but in truth, not much has been happening that's worth writing about.  Getting the farm ready for winter keeps us pretty busy, but it's not anything to fill a novel.

Adam made a new hay trough, with the help from his dad.  We were having issues with the round bales as the yaks would tear into them and then lay on parts or walk all over them, so we were losing more hay than they were eating.  The new trough works really well, except when greedy Niobe dives in and gets her head stuck. 

Nim and Storm got a new bunny hutch to match Nova's.  The new hutches have a little box in the back so that they can hunker down out of the weather and a large cage out front to hop around.  Which means that they can now all see each other.  Nova was a little intimidated by the bigger girls but realized pretty quickly that they can't actually get to her, so she settled down.  Nim and Storm went through a flurry of foot stomping and gnashing of teeth because, apparently, some rabbits just don't take well to change.  I'm hoping they chill once they realize that they actually have more room than the old hutch.

Nimbus and Storm are actually blowing coat again, so we're plucking rabbits.  I'm not sure about the genetic practicality of an animal that loses most of it's coat in November in northeastern Pennsylvania.  We're trying to pluck conservatively, rather than just taking it all off wholesale so that they have a little fuzz to keep them warm.