Well our sheep aren't on a heath, neither do we have much of a hearth, but you can see where I'm going with this one can't you?
Whilst browsing around the Melton Mowbray Show and Sale this year I picked up some details from an organic sheepskin tanner based in Hereford. (I am still in two minds at this moment as to whether sheepskins are a desirable item or a 70's icon best left in the past!)
We have had a small (although getting slowly and proudly bigger!) flock of Southdowns since 2003. I had thought about trying to use the sheepskins from our first four ram lambs last year but the whole process seemed wrapped in the usual menacing red tape. It was too much to deal with for our first trip to the abattoir and I didn't know what to do with the sheepskins even if I got hold of them anyway. So I let the moment pass.
This year the abattoir is a less intimidating place. I have someone to deal with the skins and while I haven't seen the regulations chapter and verse I understand it is easier than it has been in the recent past to have your skins returned to you.
I've not seen many abattoirs, but our local one seems quite large with commercial trucks coming and going. I think requests from a smallholder asking for her sheepskins back don't help the cogs of their finely tuned machine turn smoothly! But they are a helpful bunch none the less.
A quick phone call to the boss by the workers and another call to the office by the vet on site is all the red tape I encounter. The boss asked that I sign a receipt to show that I have taken the sheepskins and the vet asks that I salt the skins before I leave, but that isn't too arduous.
I wait around for the skins while they do the deed. When they are bought into the yard I lay them fleece side down and we sprinkle a token amount of salt onto the skins. Then I fold the sides into the middle and roll from the tail end upwards, similar to the way one would roll a wet tent. I had bought a couple of paper feed sacks with me and a single rolled sheepskin fitted comfortably into one of these.
Back at home husband Steve helped me lay a couple of pallets down in the store. This is the long and short of Steve's involvement in my little project. He's not too keen on the transition from fluffy sheep to the items in the sacks in such a short period of time! I split a couple more paper feed bags and tip the skins out onto them. I lay them out, again fleece side down. The back legs have been turned inside out like a sleeve of a discarded jumper so I use a pair of scissors to open them out. (I'm beginning to see Steve's point of view!) I cover the skin in a thick layer of salt, bought in 1kg bags from the supermarket. I'm quite generous with the salt simply tipping it out of the bag onto the skin. The salt is used to draw the excess water out of the skin. This is the curing process.
For the next couple of days I add more salt to the skin where the salt looks wet. About three days in I tip the salt off and apply a fresh layer. I keep applying salt for a little over a week until it appears that no extra water is coming from the skin and the salt looks fairly white and dry rather than opaque and wet.
The sheepskins need to be packed up and sent away to be tanned. I tip of the worst of the salt and add a fine fresh layer. Then again I fold the edges of the fleece into the middle and roll from one end to the other. Each skin goes into another paper sack as they are still rather soggy! Then each paper sack gets wrapped in plastic one, taped and boxed up. I don't want anything leaking out and scaring the postman! Then everything is boxed up and shipped out to Nicki Port in Hereford.
About 6 weeks later I receive an e-mail from Nicki with a picture of the fleeces attached. We had previously discussed joining the fleeces together to produce a single large rug instead of two smaller ones. Going from the picture I decided to go ahead and have them joined.
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Unfortunately we had used an organic fly prevention treatment spray that had stained the fleeces. During the year we had discontinued using this product because it didn't appear to be doing the job. But the damage was already done. Luckily the skins were stained in the same places (down the back and around the back end) so joined together it looks like the stripe is a design feature! I'll know better for next year.
The skins were sent to me the next day by over night courier. I'm very pleased with the result. A great addition to the recently decorated living room. Not a 70's throw back at all! I'll certainly be sending next year's skins off for the same treatment. Hopefully that's a few key Christmas presents for 2006 already accounted for! Don't tell the two sets of parfnts!
Carolyn Anderson