Fall Shearing, #1

It was a nice Fall day, so I HAD to get some work done outside.   First project up: shearing.  Hattie, my flock matron, went first as she is the best behaved (and had the halter on so I could catch her without too much gymnastics)

Hers is a pretty nice fleece; each year her silver gets lighter, and this year it looks almost white...

She is standing next to Secret, her granddaughter, making the perfect "before and after" shot.  Photos of anything "during" were more challenging, as many of the farm's other inhabitants were on hand to "help"...

The turkeys hovered around, in case anything edible should appear.  They tasted the bits of fleece that were flying about, but settled for pecking the freckles on my legs in case they were bugs.  (Thanks guys.)

BTW - Anybody know how to sex turkeys?  What exactly is one supposed to look for when deciding who goes to the chop shop and who gets to stay home making babies for next year???  I mean if there is some visual difference in plumage or something, please clue me in.   Based on last year's comedy of errors, I need all the help I can get.  (For those of you that don't remember, we apparently ate the hens...)

And the geese...

...kept squeeking and squawking until I sat down and took a break with them.  They seem to want me to sit with them and pick grass for them to eat out of my hand.  It must be some kind of geese ritual, because they eat three or four handfuls, then they settle down and either take a brief siesta, or walk off to continue grazing.  But if I ignore them, they keep up the anxious squeeking...(I have learned this from experience)

And once the word was out we were taking a break...

Max came by to soak up some attention.  Somedays I just want to be a cat...