Some sheep get fleeced for Farm Show
By JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Reporter
MANCHESTER *- With a
gentle, but firm, maneuver,
a ewe is flipped on her hack
and within moments has
been shorn- of her heavy
Winter coat. As she jumps to
her feet and runs to rejoin
her worried lambs waiting
nearby, the shearer bundles
the thick fleece.
One man who annually
repeats that procedure about
1200 times is Richard M.
Coons, York R 5. In addition
to serving as a Dover Area
School vocational
agriculture teacher, Coons
has built a reputation for
excellence as a sheep
shearer.
For the first time, Coons
I Peered fleeces into Farm
Show competition this year.
A regular exhibitor at the
York Fair, he captured five
first places, as well as the_
grand reserve cham
pionships there this year.
Fleeces entered at Farm
Show by Coons were among
the approximately 60
bundles exhibited yearly.
Each breed has certain
fleece characteristics,
ranging from the extreme
curliness of Merinos to some
types with almost goat-like
straightness. Because of
decades of crossbreeding of
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sheep, categories are
classified by bloodline
percentages, largely
determined by breed
“wooliness.” Coons’ Dorset
fleeces, for example were
entered in the half-blood
percentage division.
Categories are also broken
down into both ram and ewe
divisions.
Although his flock of 20
ewes keep him occupied
year round, the busiest time
begins in late -February
when custom shearing gets
underway. Every weekend
from then through May is
devoted to visits to about 100
regular customers in
southcentral Pennsylvania
and northern Maryland.
Rams generally yield the
very nicest fleeces, because
their systems do not have the
protein drain experienced by
ewes carrying and nurturing
lambs. Since wool is protein,
the quality of the fleece is
determined by the amount of
that nutrient available in the
animal’s body. Well-fed
sheep yield fleeces normally
weighing between six and 10
pounds each.
“Alfalfa is the best feed for
sheep,” insists Coons. “It
makes the fleece twice as
long and heavy as when
timothy or similar grass
hays are fed. Alfalfa-fed
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Everyone loves a lamb, including Richard Coons and his daughter, Wendy, age six
sheep also have would that’s
oily with lanolin, while other
feeds just grease and ‘gum
up’ the hairs. Oats are also
good, and alfalfa or soybean
meal.”
Fleeces are marketed
through both the Penn
sylvania and Maryland Wool
Pools. The Coons also sell
some choice bundles to The
Mannings at East Berlin, an
arts and crafts center where
classes are taught in spin
ning and weaving with
natural wool. The Mannings
sponsors an annual June
crafts exhibit, where Coons
demonstrates his sheep
shearing talents.
Craftsmen demand the
longest and cleanest fleeces,
and pay top price for them. A
high-quality white fleece
often sells to hobbyists for
$1.50 per pound, compared to
the Wool Pool pound price of
60 to 70 cents. Especially
valuable to home spinners
and weavers are the scarce
black and grey fleeces,
which may bring $2 per
pound.
Both avid promoters of
(Turn to Page 107)
.Teejet :
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Richard Coons and his wife Linda will be taking wool fleeces to the Farm Show
this year.
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