Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Erdenheim Farm Lamb Cam - Shearing
We got so much positive feedback on our Lamb Cam that we thought we would bring you more glimpses of life on the farm! In our newest episode, Phil McMahon, our Livestock Manager shows off his shearing technique, while our demonstration ewe seems to relax and enjoy her new hair-do!
We shear 75 sheep every spring. Each sheep produces about 5-10 lbs of wool. The Cheviot wool (which is the breed we have on the farm) is a medium staple/textured wool that was traditionally used to make Scottish Tweeds. Hand spinners may inquire at the Farm Stand about purchasing some of our medium staple raw wool (unprocessed), but most of our wool is taken to the Montgomery County Wool Pool where wool from local flocks are gathered together, sorted, graded and then packaged together for bid by textile mills.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
PA Farm Show Grand Champion Cheviot Ram
Congratulations to our Livestock team on the PA Farm Show Grand Champion Cheviot Ram and Cheviot Premier Breeder Awards! These awards capped off many months of hard work getting all of our animals show ready! The Premier Breeder award is especially nice because it reflects the quality of our entire show string. We were very happy to see so many familiar faces at the show this year and for those of you who were not able to attend, please enjoy some of our pictures from the show.
Our Team consisted of :
Phil McMahon – Livestock Manager
Chris McCausland- Assistant Livestock Manager
Kristen Hunsinger –Student Farm Hand
Jenna Marie McCarthy-Student Farm Hand
Frank McMahon- Student Farm Hand
Sarahlyn Kneckels-4H Student Volunteer
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Lambing Season Starts with Twins!
Our first lambs of the season were born last night, Twins! Lambs will be born here at Erdenheim Farm, through April. Soon after they are born, our lambs are placed in a small pen in the barn, with its mother and under a heat lamp for additional warmth. The lambs are carefully watched to see that they are healthy and nursing. Once our Livestock Managers are sure that the Mother and offspring pair are adequately bonded, they are moved to a larger pen with other Ewe/Lamb pairs and then when they are a little older out to the grass pastures in front of the barn.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Erdenheim Farm at the 2011 Pennsylvania Farm Show!
The New Year finds us here on the farm busy getting our animals ready for the annual PA Farm Show. This year we will be showing both our purebred Black Angus Cattle and Cheviot Sheep!Getting ready for a farm show takes months of preparation. First we select our best animals, based on their sex, age and conformity to breed standards. The selected animals are then halter trained so that they can be easily handled in the show ring. Then there is the grooming. You might find it interesting to know that there are whole lines of hair care products especially for cattle and sheep! Our Livestock Managers and Farm hands have been washing, blow-drying, clipping and primping our animals for weeks.
Farm Show is a great opportunity for kids and adults alike to learn more about agriculture in Pennsylvania. Farm Show runs January 8-15th at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg.
Except for show days when we are going to be extremely busy making our animals look their best (Monday Jan 10th for the Cattle & Saturday Jan 15th for the Sheep), we would love to have visitors to our stalls. Or come out and root for us in the competitions!
For more information and directions to the PA Farm Show, check out their website: http://www.farmshow.state.pa.us/