Lamb Shed

Lamb Shed. . Family members of all ages took part in the sheep shearing each year. After the older ones sheared the wool from the sheep, the children's job was to fill long cloth bags with handfuls of the thick fibers. The bags were 8 to 10 feet long. The smallest children would crawl down inside the bags to pack the wool tightly. The older children promised to "brush the ticks off" their younger brothers and sisters if they finished this uncomfortable job!, The sheep used a small low door at the south side of the shed to enter for feeding and shelter. Each mother ewe rested in a safe pen with her new lambs., Outside a narrow wooden pen guided the sheep into a single file so the farmer could regularly spray their coats to prevent lice from infesting their wool. Clean thick wool would bring a higher price at market., Chicken Coop , Inside the chicken coop, a large feeder made of wooden boards and metal mesh hung on the side wall, and a meral trough held water for the birds. Eventually, the family added electricity for interior lights. In later years, as the activities of the farm changed, the chicken coop was used as a lambing shed for raising high quality flocks of sheep., Attached Buggy Shed , The attached buggy shed was used to store the family's surrey. A surrey was a 2-3 seat wagon used to transport the family by horse. The half doors allowed for the wagon's trees or poles to protrude. Note the fancy molding at the gable end of the shed, signifying its importance. In later years the shed was used to store hay.