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Sheep without a shepherdThere they stood. - bedraggled, dred locks of wool, mud and manure caked into wool, standing in a mud lot without a green thing for them to eat, hooves in terrible need of trimming, smelling like, well, smelling like dirty animals.A few weeks ago we purchased a flock of sheep. We noticed the ad in the paper and the price was right. We hooked up the livestock trailer and drove over an hour to the place to take a look and the description above is what we found. The folks who owned them obviously didn't have time for them. From the looks of the place, their priorities were elsewhere. We knew we wanted to purchase sheep eventually. This was ahead of schedule, however, yet the price was right. We knew we wanted Icelandic sheep for they are a multi-purpose breed - great for meat, wool and milk. Plus, they are hardy and perfect for pasture. Supposed to be great at lambing on pasture. This breed has been around for about a thousand years. Iceland does not grow grain, therefore their sheep are on pasture. We took a good, hard look at this flock of sheep. We knew we would have our work cut out for us to get this flock in tip top shape. We are familiar with getting animals into good shape however. Years ago when we purchased our first goats, we worked at getting them into good shape. Now, most folks would say they were in good shape to start with. We are more picky. Getting minerals into b�lance and giving them food the good Lord intended them to eat is all part of the process. Our goats do not smell. They get all the brush and grass they would ever want, plus they are in the sunshine. We feed them kelp ad lib. They are healthy. We have never sheared sheep and we knew this flock would be a tough one to cut our teeth on, yet this was the Lord's provision for us. So, we loaded the flock onto the trailer and brought them home. We took them off of the junk grain they had been on and gave them all the good hay they could want. We put out kelp which they eat and eat and eat. We can't put it out fast enough. They obviously need the minerals and iodine. We let them out to pasture and they grazed and grazed as they partook of that which the good Lord intends them to eat. They no longer smell. As I read the instructions, my husband sheered them one at a time over the course of a week. The wool was matted together, filled with sticks and debris and dirt and manure. There were some parts the clippers just couldn't get through, so we resorted to scissors. Thankfully, none of them had been fly struck. We chose to use the wool as mulch this year for the manure would be beneficial to the garden. However, for the future our girls have dreams of felting, spinnning and carding wool. I also plan on checking into the use of wool as wall insulation in the future. The sheep look so much better. They already view us as their shepherd. So trusting. We have talked of the many analogies found in God's Word. Matthew 9:36, "And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd." We read that verse with new eyes for now we do know what a sheep without a sheperd looks like. Christ then says in verses 37-8, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." Being a shepherd, a good sheperd takes a lot of work. Good shepherds are workers. Work is not a popular word these days. These days we have been brainwashed into believing we deserve a break today. However, the only break we are commanded to take is on the Sabboth and that is a break the Lord has extended to us because He is very gracious, not because we deserve it. In all truth, we deserve death. We truly do need to renew our minds in our attitudes toward work. It is a privelege and an honor to participate with the Lord in caretaking! It is exciting to take a not-so-good animal and bring it into tip top shape! The sheep are no longer without a shepherd and we look forward to the wool and meat we will be harvesting from our flock! Shepherding for Him, The Farmer's Wife 08:30 - 2006-Jun-19 - post comment
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Description Sharing our thoughts, events, ups and downs, as we restore a once profitable farm to its former greatness as a Christian agrarian family. Home User Profile Archives Friends Lighthouse Farm Our DVD's for homesteader's Homestead Series e-books Lighthouse Farm Podcasts No NAIS Recent Entries - Pig-headed or chicken-hearted???? - Health care - the way it used to be - The Egg Hog - Back in blogdom after chasing sheep - Ode to Winter 2007 - Chicken and Hog DVD's are now finished!! - Video clip of the birth of a piglet - News about Haitian friends!!!!! - Authentic AgricultureTM - Welcome! - A Peaceful Night in the Pasture - Big Sale at The Old Schoolhouse!! - Rendering Lard - Hog Butchering Time - John Ray - Founder of Biology - A Breath-taking Field Trip - Fat and Sassy - Real Men Eat Quiche - Green Tomato Recipes - Harvest - Two Cents Worth on Pinching Pennies... - Cockle burrs and stinging nettle a blessing? - Gourmet Meals At The Farm Table - Seeds Worth Saving - Sweet cartoon - Commercial rice supply has been contaminated - Spermicidal Corn - Agricultural Science Fiction Horror Flick or Truth? - SImple Entertainment - "Gardening is like a treasure hunt!" - Pigs don't stink - Diggin' For Gold!! - Rain - a Blessing or a Curse? - My Sheep Know My Voice - er - Chain Saw... - The Old Farm Dog - An Alarming Nightime Visitor - Farming Magazine - A Pig's Nest - Meager chicken harvest - Bacon + Garlic = Piglets? - A Rare July 4th Tribute to Farmers - Fencing in more pasture - Three months on our new place.... - Blood suckers in Minnesota :( - Miss Bacon and Rocky Mountain Oysters - Sheep without a shepherd - Haying with my man! - Mink solutions, anyone? - Goat meets pig... - I Smell a Skunk... - URGENT!! Please forward!!!! - Did Adam Smell Like That? - Minnesota!!!!! - Problem solved - God is good - The Rat Trap and One Happy Girl - New Podcast - Farm Restoration - The Beginning - An Honorable Gentleman Has Died - Why teach our children about agriculture? - Cheap, Safe Food??? - New NAIS links worth reading - Old Tractors Never Die - A Lawyer comments on Constitutional Rights and NAIS - Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks - Big Bellies and Big Bags - Hosting Haitians on the Homestead - Minnesota, Here We Come (after we sell our house) and "the Chip" - And God saw that it was good - Greetings |