 Today is the ending of an era for WoodSong Farm. This morning, we said goodbye to our last Kerry cow and calf team. Hope-cow, as we often and affectionately called her, was a wonderful girl here for us. Such cream and the most lovely and sweet temperament! We will truly miss her and the other cows, but especially her.
To catch everyone up, we decided to find new homes for our Kerry cattle (as wonderful as they are) due to needing to focus on fewer things to do them better. And so WoodSong Farm is now focusing in full on family and a meaningful life, our incredible Old Time Scotch Collies, and of course our beloved Finnsheep and fiber. (Speaking of which, we will be selling fleeces this fall if anyone is interested in getting on our list!) We were still very sad watching the large livestock trailer pull out of our driveway this morning taking away our last of the Kerries. We will always love our last cow especially, but Hope itself has not left us. Hope for more family time and bringing our old-fashioned collies along on the journey, Hope for always improving and enjoying our friendly Finnsheep, and Hope for the future and what it will bring. I hope that Hope-cow will bring much happiness in her new home and capture her new owner's heart as she did ours. The Kerries have left their mark here and taught us a lot. We are grateful to them and wish them all happy and productive and bountiful lives. They have left us still Hopefulllll.
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Well, we have several sheep that have gone to their new homes, but still have a few ram lambs and some select grown rams left including a brown ram, some badgers, and also some stunning black, and white rams. We think that some of these are particularly nice for potential breeding stock. (All our flock has been tested Johnnes and OPP free. Anything new coming in is always quarantined and tested before introducing to the rest of the flock.) PENDING - The first ram is Arthur FBA# yet to be determined (we'll send off for registration when we have a confirmed sale.) His parents are (FBA #30324 and #30347). Born 1-12-22. Black with a very small white spot on forehead only. Growthy and was a triplet birth. Nice and consistent fleece as well!  Our next ram lamb is Sergeant FBA# 33020. He is a lovely black ram born 1-28-22 from a twin birth. He stood beautifully from the very beginning and was an eye-catcher. A very tight and nice fleece on this lamb. A very sweet fella too!  PENDING - This next ram stands nicely. We've named him Legacy FBA#33015 as he is from a ewe who had quads at almost ten years old! (We will be keeping all of her ewe lambs.) Comes from really nice lines with a nice fleece. All of our brown lambs have grown seeming to keep with a nice type. DOB 1-30-22.  PENDING - FBA# 33019 Cloud is our only black based grey badger ram lamb left. He is from a triplet birth and was born 1-22-22. Love his coloring and nice fleece. A little standoffish, but I do not see this as a disadvantage in a ram.  Jasper FBA# 33022 is from a twin birth born 2-16-22. Black HST pattern (only a bit of white on forehead.) Recently weaned. Nice fleece.  We also always have white ram lambs born this spring who start at a lower price for anyone who is interested. Can be registered with their own FBA#s. Here is a sampling:  Proven adult ram Jaimie FBA# 31126 born 2-5-20 has sired some lovelies for us this year. We just don't need his line repeated here as we already carry these genetics. Triplet birth and a lovely dark badger color. Great fleece if you love locks!  Finnegan FBA# 32270 is freckled with badger pattern. He was born 2-1-21 and is a yearling. Very friendly and nice fleece.  Checkers FBA# 32274 is also freckled with badger pattern. Born 2-20-21 and is a yearling despite his lamb picture underneath. A cutie and nice manners to boot.  Thank ewe for looking!
 Well, we have thoroughly enjoyed this litter (MR Lorna x MW Keiran 3-12-22 "Songbirds") and believe that these are some very biddable workers who are all also balanced loyal and loving family dogs. I can't believe how fast time has gone with these babies! I'm hoping we get to see many of these pups at our OTSC picnic on October 16, 2022 in Meadows of Dan, VA (save the date!) One pup is left to go to her new home in the beginning of June. It's nice to have Wren around for an extra bit of time to keep Lark company. We have several pups going to breeding and working homes (carefully evaluated for multiple tasks including but not limited to potential for agility, therapy, service, and herd instinct.) Swift, Sparrow, Chickadee, Nightingale ("Evie"), Wren, and Lark - We wish you all the happiness in the world and hope you can continue to pass your happiness and love and helpfulness to the world. We will miss you, but will so enjoy seeing you living life with your new families. Here is a sampling of what we accomplished in life together with the Songbirds while they were here: ...and so much more to come in their new homes!
 This announcement is a bit late, but we would like to welcome our six lovely new collie ladies (all!) to the place! Lorna did a great job and all are thriving and growing so quickly. We are enjoying all the snuggles and looking forward to hopefully retaining for our breeding program this time through! We have had lots of interest in this litter and homes have already been spoken for. Can't wait to see who these beauties turn into!   Tested OPP and Johnnes free. From multiple births. Here are some of the lambs for sale here at the farm. Can be registered with the FBA (Finnsheep Breeders Association.) Lots of black ewes, some brown rams and white and black and badger. Our pricing starts at $350. Thank you for your consideration! Ewes on the left and rams on the right. Older (still young!) ewes and rams for sale in pictures underneath.
 Tansy story for this morning. Our Kerry cow Hope has a new bull calf. The horse - who is great with sheep and cows in general - has been rather more curious and naughty of late. He has been moved to the side yard to observe and give the new pair some peace. Recently, we decided to see if it was time to reunite these old and new friends. Alejandro (horse) decided to chase the wee bit nervous calf which is what we were concerned about. He had been good last night. This morning however, Tansy had a lot to say. Back and forth she went running and barking over by the fence and gate asking to be let in and trying to herd the horse through the fence! My daughter noticed her unusual behavior and saw the situation and went in to work with Tansy to remedy the situation. Tansy listened to every word of instruction (didn't want Tansy in danger either.) She effectively separated the horse from the worried and tired calf and reunited her charge with his mom. So proud of her this morning. You can see her laying near her bovine friends keeping watch after the event.
Sadly, for the first time, Kevin Ford wasn't able to make it down here for shearing. We're working quickly and efficiently as possible for being in the middle of lambing, getting ready for Carolina Fiber Festival, and also preparing for the Lorna x Kieran puppies and visiting with Kendy's litter (Peach x Misha) as we have a chance. Ewes and older lambs are done. Whew!!! Here are some of the wooly highlights! My thanks to the kids for pitching in and using their serious skills!
 Announcing our expected litter confirmed bred from Maple Run Lorna and Mountian Wave Kieran (owned by Jan Hermansen of Many Blue Hills Farm.) We anticipate our litter in mid-March and project a very talented and sound group of puppies from this pairing! Kieran helps oversee a sheep and goat farm and Lorna helps with work and chores daily here. Both dogs love children and are communicative and very loving dogs.
Puppies will hopefully reflect soundness and intuitive working skills of their family while having reliable off-switches with very loving dispositions. And again, many thanks to Jan Hermansen for working with us and for the loan of your handsome Kieran! We expect great things from this litter! To apply, please visit us at Shepherd's Hearth or gooddog.  From the lovely Kendy Sawyer's Peach and Tricia Baker's Misha! Registration numbers OTSC-F-1717 and OTSC-F-156. On 1-16-2022, Peach had a lovely litter of 8 healthy puppies (5 boys and 3 girls.)
Peach is a wonderful sky-watcher keeping the skies free of predators. She is skilled in cleaning the hedgerows and is a very social and steady companion and farm dog. She works with Kendy on her cattle farm, but especially enjoys shadowing her favorite person. Peach is wonderful with children! Misha is an outcross from our program and was chosen for his proven good health, intuition, and great therapy dog skills. Although Misha does not live on a farm, he has displayed the qualities of a good farm dog. We are expecting great things from this litter! For more information and to apply, please check out www.shepherdshearth.com |
Authors This blog chronicles our very full life here on WoodSong Farm. We will share everything from dog to sheep stories, unique wooly works, to animal husbandry tips we pick up along the way. I hope this helps to give you an idea of what our extended farm family and wooly projects are like, and that we may somehow benefit everyone who reads about our journey. Archives
June 2022
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