Sheep Shearing Day
Date: Sunday, May 18
Time: 11:00 AM- 3:00 PM
Location: Antebellum
Plantation Farmyard
Come join the Farmyard crew as we give
Stone Mountain
Park ’s herd of Old English Southdown Sheep their annual haircut! Our professional shearer will share this tradition that dates back 9,000 years. Learn about the care of sheep and the many uses of wool. See demonstrations of wool spinning and quilting.
Shearing: 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Spinning and Quilting demos: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Fun sheep facts:
· Sheep respond well to training and learn behaviors quickly.
· The average Southdown ewe produces 4.5-8 lbs of fleece per year (enough to make a suit).
· The best quality part of the fleece is on the back, neck and sides of the sheep. This is the wool from which most yarn is spun.
· The wool on the belly and legs is considered ‘lower grade’ but it has many uses: low-grade wool is used to clean up hazardous spills. The wool absorbs 10-30 times its weight in oil. It is also used as insulation in buildings and makes fine garden mulch.
· One pound of wool can be spun into 20 miles of fine yarn!