Suzy Beggin, Shepherdess

                                                                                                                                            Suzy@SuzyBeggin.com

 

 

 

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Isn't Wool Scratchy?
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Other Fun Links:

 

1858 Historic Ball

A historic dance in celebration of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debate to take place on August 30, 2008.

 

Suzy's Doozies & Suzy's Musings

My book and weekly articles.

 

Galena Historic Dance Society

A fun group to practice and learn 19th century dance.  We meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the ARC in Galena.  All are welcome!

 

Stephenson County Fiber Art Fair

A marvelous celebration of fiber.

 

Freeport Cruise Night Nothing to do with sheep or wool, but it's an event I volunteer at and have a lot of fun with.  J

 

 

 

Text Box: My Sheep’s 19th Century Lifestyle

Text Box: While shepherding has become more advanced with man-made feeds and feed-lots, year-round breeding, and growth hormones, I choose to raise my little woolen friends as traditionally as possible.  My sheep live a life not much different than their ancestors would have found on a 19th century farm. My barn as the sun is setting on an August evening.  Hay is stored in the upper level and the sheep live below.   Sheep were designed to eat grass, and mine do – grass that they forage for themselves in a big pasture with plenty of sunshine and dotted with the shade of stately old trees.  In the winter when the pasture is resting under a protective layer of snow, they eat grass hay.  They always have access to a hand-made wood barn and can choose to be in the barn or in the pasture at their will.  I’ve noticed that the cold doesn’t seem to bother them at all, but they hate rain!   Modern breeds are designed to breed out of season.  It is more profitable to remove the lambs from their mothers so that the ewe can become pregnant again as soon as possible.  But that’s not what I do.  My lambs stay with their mothers and are weaned slowly at the discretion of their own mamas.  As a result I only breed each ewe once a year, and I feel they deserve the rest.  Who wants to be barefoot and pregnant all the time?   My ewes are bred using the, um, traditional method.  No artificial insemination.  The ram spends the summer and early fall separated from the ewes.  Then between Thanksgiving and Christmas I open the gate and let him in with the ladies.  Lambs are born in the spring so they have the lovely long spring and summer days to enjoy as they grow.      It is not the most profitable way to raise sheep, but it is a life gentle on the sheep and allows me to appreciate the daily and seasonal tasks that our ancestors performed.