Bi4*Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 20, 2000 No Kidding: Quads Bom To Shropshire Ewe LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Farming Staff KLEIN FELTERSVILLE (Lancaster Co.) Paul Eberly has been raising purebred Shrop shire sheep for 50 years “I’ve had many sets of twins and triplets over the years, but this is the first set of quadru plets,” Eberly said. The quads, bom April 14 to an 8-year-old ewe, are spunky, healthy lambs that enjoy romp ing in the outdoors. “Initially, all four lambs nursed, but as they grew older, so did their appetites,” Eberly said. He supplemented with bottle feeding the smallest of the four. Eberly and his wife Feme own a little farmette in the village of Kleinfeltersville. Being allowed to raise sheep in a residential area has been “grandfathered,” and will not be allowed by zoning if Eberly stops raising sheep on the property. Sometimes the sheep escape and get into the neighbor’s flow erbeds. To prevent their escape, Eberly had installed an electrical fence, but the neighbors con vinced him to remove the electric fence because the neighborhood children congregated at the fence to watch the sheep. Eberly knows the fascination lambs hold for youngsters. He started raising Dorset sheep when he was 12 years old and showed purebreds at the State Farm Show. When he left for col lege, his brothers took over his flock, but eventually abandoned the venture while Eberly attained a bachelor’s degee, taught physi cal education and chemistry, and joined the Navy, where he served as a World War II navigator in the southwest Pacific. After Eberly returned home, he pur chased a few Shropshire lambs. “The Shropshire is a nice lamb for wool and meat,” Eberly said. The flock increased and by 1985, Eberly had 85 ewes. The Eberlys had three sons who helped out with the flock. When the oldest son was sent to Elderhostel Provides Learning Experiences For Those 55 And Older LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Farming Staff EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.) Retired high school teacher Feme Eberly believes learning should be a lifelong process. Her quest for learning has taken her across the U. S. and to London, Ireland, and the Wales. Feme participates in Elderhos tel, a nonprofit organization with 25 years of experience in provid ing high-quality, affordable, edu cational adventures for adults who are 55 and older. “Elderhostel is open to every one. No educational prerequisites or grades are required. Some of the participants are doctors and some never received a high school diploma,” Feme said. “Their ages range from mid-fif ties to the 80s.” No tests or assignments are re quired during the five-day to three week programs offered. Feme said, “All you need is an inquisitive mind, an adventurous spirit, and the belief that learning and discovery are lifelong activi ties.” The 10 programs that Feme has participated in were related to watercolor or some type of art. But art is only a small part of Elderhostel’s offerings. This year, Elderhostel offers Vietnam, Eberly reduced the flock, but his youngest son re tained his interest in sheep. After the son became an electrical en gineer, married, and settled on a farm in Centre Hall, he began raising Dorset lambs. However, he found the market wasn’t via ble in his area, so after each breeding season, he gives the •lambs to his dad to put on pas ture to finish and to market. Now retired, Eberly finds great pleasure in shepherding his own Shropshires and his son’s Dor sets. “I sell them between 90-100 pounds, either privately or at New Holland (Sales Stables),” Eberly said. “I always have a pet,” Eberly said. For the past 11 years, his favorite has been a ewe named after his granddaughter Chelsea. He pampers the pet ewe by hand-feeding her apples and al lowing her to graze on the lawn. In return, Chelsea serves as the leader of the flock when he wants to move them. Eberly purchases colostrum from friends who have dairy cows and freezes it in 4-ounce glass nursing bottles until needed for lambs. The colostrum is fed immediately after birth if a ewe does not have sufficient amounts for her offspring. “You can’t feed lambs colos trum after they are 24 hours old or it works as a laxative,” Eberly said. Although Eberly enjoys the birthing season and usually has little problems, he said of assist ing births, “When you have two legs from one lamb and a head from another, you know you have a problem.” Amazingly, the quads were bom without any assistance. “I thought the ewe was fin ished, and then she had another one,” he said of the delivery that spanned about two hours. Of the April birth, Eberly said, “The birthing season is earlier, but I waited to have the ewe bred because I had a young ram I wanted to try.” 10,000 educational adventures in 50 states and 90 countries. Stud ies are offered in classrooms, on the beach, in the mountains, in urban settings, and in small vil lages. Participants can study birds of Ecuador in the Amazon Basin, Egypt along the Nile, birding and wildlife viewing here and abroad, and historical studies that include field trips. Classes for beginners and advanced stud ies are available in many areas. Not all classes are considered traditional subjects. Participants can learn to knit, weave baskets, textile print, and photograph wildlife and landscapes. Some people have always wanted to learn to paint, refinish antiques, sculpt, landscape, or become adept in operating com puters. Instructions on these sub jects and many others are avail able in many states. Recreational activities include bicycling tours, hiking, and canoeing. Participants are responsible for transportation to the pro gram’s location, but the cost of registration, accommodations, meals, classes, and field trips are covered in the fee. Average cost of a six-night program is $450, and a five-night program is $430. “Strangers quickly become Paul Eberiy has been raising sheep for more than 50 years. During these years, he has seen lots of twin and triplet births, but this year was the first he had quadruplets bom on his Kleinfeltersville farmette. Lambs are vaccinated at birth to prevent overeating. “The little lambs can slip through the fence to where the ewes are feeding,” Eberly said of the need for the vaccination. Most of the flock are called by their tag number. Eberly relishes in bragging that they answer when called by individual num bers. Neighborhood kids often hang around and are impressed when Eberly calls out a number such as “143” and the ewe comes running. Generally Eberly and Ids son take care of shearing the flock, but this past year, with his son in England, Eberly hired a shearer. The most frustrating problem is that wool prices are so low that it doesn’t pay to shear for wool. Feme Eberly has traveled the world to perfect her watercoloring technique. But home has provided the inspiration for this pastoral setting. This is her husband Paul’s flock of sheep that she views through her kitchen window. friends as you share classes, can attend with an age-eligible Monday through Friday, be meals, and free time,” Feme participant. tween 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern said. A spouse or adult companion Elderhostel at 1-877-426-8056, temet at www.elderhostel.org. Nevertheless, Eberiy is part of the Berks County Wool Pool, where growers gather to weigh, grade, and sell wool. Wool, he said, must be stored in burlap bags so it can breathe, and not in plastic. Eberiy is also a member of the Pen-Mar Shropshire Association, (abbreviation for Pennsylvania and Maryland). Eberiy worked for 31 years as a physical therapist at the Veter an’s Hospital and served on the naval reserve for 21 years. One year he had a tour of duty during the lambing season. His wife took care of the flock and assist ed with the births. She thought she did rather well, but her hus band said, “I’ll never take a cruise again during lambing sea For more information, call Standard Time. Or check the In- son. That was a big mistake. It cost me a lamb and a ewe.” Ferae doesn’t miss the respon sibility and is content to watch from the kitchen window. Al though Ferae doesn’t help with the sheep, she has given her own special touch to her husband’s lambing venture. She is an ac complished artist and presented Eberly with a beautiful watercol or of his sheep. Feme, a former high school art teacher, holds art shows of her watercolor paintings. Of the Eberlys’ eight grandchildren and one great grandchild, the oldest one shares Feme’s artistic tal ents. The Eberlys enjoy eating lam (Tum to Page B 16)
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