Big things happening over here!

So, we sold the sheep.

I've been thinking over this decision for the past month. Ever since my shearer said he had some great fleeces he'd sell me for $5. Well that sounded to good to be true. Probably meant $5/lb. I know most people sell fleece for about $7/lb.

So a few weeks after that I get a call from the shearer who has some colored fleece for me and will be in the area. I had told him my budget was $25 so thought I might be lucky and get 2 but at the very least 1.

He showed up with 3 nice fleeces. 2 were great and the 3rd was slightly less soft. more of an outerwear or bag fleece. I asked him the prices. Its a little vague now (this was a few weeks ago) but I gave him a $20 bill and got about $4 change and came away with 3 fleece.

Now, to raise 4 sheep for one year you have to pay for feed, shots, deworming, and shearing.

They go through about 1/2 ton of alfalfa per winter. So its around $40-$60 depending on the quality and market. Lets go with $40 for our calculations.

Shots are not that expensive. you pay about $20 for enough supplies for around 3 years. So lets say $5 for a nice easy number to work with.

Deworming cost is really really low. You pay about $7 for a tube of ivomectin (sp?). This is a horse dewormer. We've had the same tube for about 3 years. Lets say $2.50

Shearing costs $30-$35/year.

so it was costing about $$77.50/yr on the low end to raise 4 sheep for a year.

I can buy fleece as good as or better than those fleece for around $20.

But sheep are food storage on the hoof. They eat down the pasture. They are fun to have and easy keepers. Yes to all of those statements.

But I couldn't get over my actual costs.

So I put them on Craigslist for my dream price. $100 each. And said if you take all 4, I'll give you a deal. I was still reluctant to see them go so I wasn't all that bummed when I didn't have any responses.

That was a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday I got a response. He said I'm interested in all 4, what kind of deal did you have in mind. I said all 4 for $350. I paid either $60 or $65 for them at a few months old, and now they were 4.5 or so years old. Sheep can live to 15 or so with a good shepherd, so their lives were 1/3 over.
At $350 it comes to $87.50 each.

Well this morning the guys came to look the sheep over and I said they had lovely fleece and they said they looked yummy. Yes, they intended to eat them. And then proceeded for the next 45 min to offer $300 over and over.

I stuck to my guns at $350. Which wasn't hard. It was hard to think of them being eaten. Such great fleece. I made sure to let them know that they weren't hair sheep (which ironically is what they call sheep with no fleece, intended for eating). I made sure they knew that the girls could be bred. I made sure they knew that they were sired by Buzz Lightyear, a registered Cormo.

By the time they left they told me (or lied. who knows) that they would keep the girls for breeding and eat Charlie.

I told them what a great pet Charlie was and how much fun he was. How he was nice and fun to pet.

Anyway, in the end after much dickering, And pointing out that they weren't for eating, I finally accepted the $350. I had to walk away from many many offers. The guy even showed the cash and tried to hand it to me. I just kept walking away.

Did I mention he was not American? I think he was just bartering with me like they do over in Turkey. But I think he may have been Czech.

Anyway, after rounding the sheep up for a teeth inspection ( I had to hear that one is looking a little old over and over) We helped them load the sheep into a trailer much like dads. We dragged Charlie into the trailer and the 3 girls jumped into the trailer on their own after much coaxing.

Its the end of an era.