Tea Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Uh.....I have been sending my ram's horns to Steve I think to make crooks out of. Well I have a few more. Some are actually aged! With cores out! But sadly I have forgotten how to contact you. And the messenger thingie does not work well with me. So if someone could job my memory That would be helpful! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel King Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Hi T, You did send a few to me. They are still in their drying out period so I have not been able to begin any work. Thanks Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel King Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 T, p.s. I recently began making some buttons out of scrap horn. Julie Poudrier was the recipient of a few so maybe should could provide some feedback. If you think you can sell these as a fundraiser let me know. The Ewe horns you sent me would be perfect. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted February 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Dan! Dan! Forgive me! Too many times I fell on my head riding! Oh Well.....yes those button look great! Our Farmers markets start in March. So if you want we can send our aged horns and any ewes horns you would like. And just do a trade whatever you wish. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ And for any that are curious. My butcher went under, poor man. But another buyer contacted me and I think it will go well with him. I have also been asked to expand my work. So thats good. However I may need to move my project which is frankly scary and like moving a mountain. But I guess a door closes and a window opens. I continue lambing and its going well, the weather is very mild here and we have dried up alot! The young dogs have a break as my foraging slows down when the sheep are close to lambing and when the lambs are under a month old. Sweep is slowing some skill with lambing, although I usually fall back on Cap. Gunny as always is my right arm in taking stock to the USDA MOBILE slaughter. She is so good to go under, through or over to get to the back of a long rig to shift stubborn ram lambs. The cattleman's thing went well and I had alot of students there to learn brain tanning. Many young people are coming out to the project right now to help. Their joy in life cheers me. The best thing is my lamb was chosen for the Farmer Chef thing in Seattle. I hope that goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Hi T, You did send a few to me. They are still in their drying out period so I have not been able to begin any work. Thanks Dan Can I bud in with a question? How long is the drying period for horn, and is that just a matter of keeping it at a dry place (room temp?) for a certain period? I´m asking because I have some horn to make stuff with. Also one of our rams has nive big horns and has to be put down (medical reasons), and I´m considering the (possibly too ambitious) project of making a shepherds crook... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel King Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Can I bud in with a question? How long is the drying period for horn, and is that just a matter of keeping it at a dry place (room temp?) for a certain period? I´m asking because I have some horn to make stuff with. Also one of our rams has nive big horns and has to be put down (medical reasons), and I´m considering the (possibly too ambitious) project of making a shepherds crook... Glad to answer any questions. Once the core of the horn is removed, it takes at least a year to dry out where it is suitable to work with. Fresh horn has a great deal of elasticity, or "memory", when worked with and it sands poorly. Once dried, you can put the horn in to shapes and curves and it stays, unless exposed to high temps again. To dry my horns out, I like to put them in my attic or other dry place that gets warm. The rafters of my barn were the best place I have found to date. Lots of air currents and dry heat. Whether the horns from your neighbor's Ram are good enough to make in to a crook depends on the breed it is, how old the ram is and after that, one has to cut in to the horn to determine ultimate suitability. I could write a page on that alone. In brief, ideally a horn should be from one of the "hill" breeds. Scottish Blackface, Swaledale, WWM, BWM. I have found SBFs to be the ultimate. It must be at least five or more years old. I like to have a combination of solid horn and thick walled horn to make a crook. I have made crooks with younger horns, thinner walls but it was no picnic making it and the results aren't over the top great. Good luck Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthfieldNick Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Tea! I'm so sorry I missed you at the Cattlemen's thing. We were on a really tight schedule with the ferries. I had no idea there would be so many people there! Is the Seattle thing the Farmers, Fishers, Chefs thing? If so, I know the woman who is organising it- she's a good friend of my sister's. I would love to go, but it's too much travel & time off... and lambs! And a puppy... ETA: I would gladly buy some horn buttons made from local horn for the occasional knit thing I make that needs them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel King Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Tea, please contact me at: awayjig at gmail dot com Would love to have more horns! Ben, let me make a bunch of buttons for T and if you want something special, I'd be happy to do that for you. Thanks Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted February 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 HI NFN!! sorry I missed you too! Yep it is crazy there, at the Cattlemens thing. I am planning to go to the trial in Onalaska in April....my third!!! Whoa! Are you going? And Thats great that you know about the chefs thing...is it Meg that you know? It is always a fun time at that thing! Thats great you will buy buttons. We have a sheep to shawl in Oct? Want to come to that? There is thought that someone is borrowing my sheep for a trial......but we shall see. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'll e-mail you Dan, on Monday. Maybe we should sell the buttons for the Border Collie rescues both east and west. And The crook can go to the project. I would like to keep helping the Border Collie rescue out here and there. They are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Whether the horns from your neighbor's Ram are good enough to make in to a crook depends on the breed it is, how old the ram is and after that, one has to cut in to the horn to determine ultimate suitability. I could write a page on that alone. In brief, ideally a horn should be from one of the "hill" breeds. Scottish Blackface, Swaledale, WWM, BWM. I have found SBFs to be the ultimate. It must be at least five or more years old. I like to have a combination of solid horn and thick walled horn to make a crook. I have made crooks with younger horns, thinner walls but it was no picnic making it and the results aren't over the top great. Good luck Dan Thanks for your answers, very helpful. It´s actually my own ram I talked about (it was actually a gift from my neighbour, but how did you know that? ). We only have one breed here in Iceland (well there is also the "forystu fé") and I assume that would fall under the definition of "hill breed", there is variation in horns though, of the six rams I have only this one is and old enough (he´s over six ) and has horns that aren´t worn or damaged so I have good hopes they might be suitable. Your drying method sounds like curing sticks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel King Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Icelandic Rams horns will be fine in my experience. Once again, the horns should be from an older Ram at least five years of age so sounds like you have a winner. They have a tight curl much like the Shetlands that T has. It makes it more difficult to straighten and bend but it can be done. Yes, aging horns is like curing hazel or other sticks. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted February 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Actually most of mine are crossbreds. I have alot of Icelandic in my flock and shetland (On the top) and now a few SBF from Decatur Island, and dorset, rue arcott, fresian, lacune on the bottem. I have outcrossed for several generations trying to find real resistant to parasites and ability to forage on indigenous browse. Now I am starting to cross back. Third year of that. (I suppose this will take the rest of my life!) I think the horns you have now from me Dan are Icelandic. The one I am sending you is a cross it will be interesting to see what you think! I like the Icelandics. They are intelligent in my opinion. Although most of my rams are plenty tough. Dogs have to mind their manners and watch. I has been very interesting to see what lines work. Not only with parasites but with soremouth which ran through my flock this last year. I think they picked it up on an old farm where the ram flock was housed for a bit. A few purebred ewes had some bad sores, about the size of a quarter, but some crossbred lines had nothing! All were seriously exposed. It will be interesting to see how that unfolds. I am starting to have a third party begin to document this. It is a science teacher from one of our local schools. All the kids are working on it. It is very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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