Not at All What We Expected

My friend, Lindsay, and I went to the Mid-Atlantic Hair Sheep Sale in Reedsville, PA yesterday. She had 3 sheep for the sale- Calvin, the Katahdin/Dorper ram that has been at my place, a Katahdin ewe lamb, and a Katahdin/Dorper ewe lamb.

Lindsay brought them in a utility van that is perfect for hauling a few animals! It's got a nice rubber floor mat so it's easily cleaned out.



We didn't quite realize how far away the sale was-about 4 hours from my house. The drive was scenic-through the hills of PA. We drove through Lancaster which is always pretty.

We finally got there in time for the sale, but there weren't many people there. Turns out a few other people were running late. The fairgrounds was pretty, with hills surrounding it.


There were only about 26 animals at the sale. That's a big difference from 60+ last year. Unfortunately, there weren't as many people there as last year either. There was only a handful of buyers. There were a lot of no-sale sheep. The sale sets minimums for the sheep, and many people just didn't want to pay those prices.

Here's the Katahdin/Dorper ewe lamb. She sold for $200 (which was the minimum for her).


This is the purebred Katahdin ewe lamb. A no-sale.


And Calvin. Also a no-sale.


Unfortunately it was just a bad day for the sale. I'm not sure if the economy has to do with the lack of interest, or maybe the rainy weather.



I did happen to find something interesting while I was there. A patch of mushrooms had grown up in part of the livestock barn. I thought they were weird and pretty at the same time.






So we loaded the two remaining sheep and headed home. I wonder what drivers behind us thought...


They settled down for the ride home. You know, I really am not a big fan of Pennsylvania roads. Windy, hilly, and terribly graded. There was standing water everywhere, water gushing across the road. It made for a slightly stressful trip driving back.



But we made it safely.

Now, does anyone want to buy a ram or a ewe lamb?