Shearing Alternatives: Rooing with Rodger Family Farm
The Rodgers’ bellwether, Betty.
The process of being ethical means continuously evaluating what “ethical” even means. It’s a contextual concept that changes when new tools, knowledge, and ability comes onto the scene.
As such, the moment we learned about hand-rooing sheep—a process during which the wool is pulled gently from the sheep as it sheds—we knew we needed a deeper look into this practice.
Paige with one of the newest working dogs. Their names are Bishop, Rook, and Castle.
There are almost no farms—and certainly no large ranches—practicing hand-rooing in Oregon right now. It’s a time-intensive, animal-led process that doesn’t lend itself toward large flocks or heavy amounts of processing. But, big industry isn’t what we’re here for—we want to do right by the animals and the fiber.
As such, it was inevitable that, in doing an internet search for “hand-rooing sheep” in Oregon, we would come across Rodger Family Farm. Their website proudly announces that they don’t let a shearer anywhere near their sheep. We quickly sent them an email, hoping to volunteer to get an insider look at the rooing practice and maybe even get some hands-on experience.
Dona asked us to reach out again once the temperatures were consistently above 40 degrees at night, and we decided on March 25th as a good day.
Turns out that not every sheep can be roo’d. You need to find a “primitive” sheep breed, and not all sheep in that breed are guaranteed to be good candidates for rooing. Rodger Family Farm breeds and tends to a Shetland flock, a late descendent of Icelandic sheep, both of which have rooing potential.
The Rodgers, with Kyra as head shepherdess, then carefully select and breed sheep with good rooing potential to keep the practice going.
The Belfast Mini Mills picker and some drying fleeces.
When we arrived at the farm and mill, we were struck by the gorgeous native brush, freshly blooming daffodils, and well-tended red-flesh apple trees in the front of the property. Dona, Robert, and Kyra were outside ready to greet us, quickly ushering us into their mill operation with excitement and enthusiasm. After they told us that they had named a whole line of sheep after Disney princesses (starting with Elsa) and had named several others after Firefly characters, we knew we were in the right place.
We spent some time in their wash and picker room. We saw the telltale blue of Belfast Mini Mills equipment and were happy to hear that Belfast’s machines had been good to them over the years. We nodded knowingly at their top-load washer (as well as their fancy Belfast washer) in action and saw many gorgeous drying fleeces atop shelves. Their picker room was a small converted greenhouse that was perfect for the purpose, complete with exhaust fan and picker entrance.
Let’s just say that Paige and Andra were in fiber heaven.
When the topic shifted to tumbling, we were led outside to check out the Fleece-O-Matic, a purpose built tumbler that has been a workhorse for them. When they started out, they tinkered with a few DIY tumbler solutions, and it was great fun swapping tales of what we’d all experimented with. That’s the thing about fiber folk—we are crafty to no end!
Kyra and Dona in the Finishing Room
After that, we popped into the “Finishing Room” where the Rodgers had collected many used (and the occasional new) pieces of equipment. They had a separator (to remove hay and guard hairs), pindrafter, carder, roving deck, hank winder, and skein winder (made out of a repurposed sewing machine motor and a bike hook).
Once we had asked questions to our hearts’ content, the Rodgers were ready to switch into their metaphorical shepherding hats and lead us toward the jugs where their pregnant ewes were temporarily isolated since they were nearing their birthing time.
These five ewes were named Betty, Betty Boop (Betty’s daughter), Kaylee (Andra’s personal favorite), Joan of Arc, and Tapi (Betty’s sister). Apparently, Betty was the Bellwether—leader of the flock—and boy did her impressive presence make itself known as she stamped her feet at our arrival.
The Rodgers selected Tapi first and guided her gently up to a modified goat stand. Robert held the halter and comforted Tapi while Kyra and Dona checked Tapi for overall health and readiness. While Tapi’s wool was visibly coming up in places, her undercoat was not fully grown in yet, and as such, the Rodgers decided it would be best to wait to roo her, especially as it had snowed that morning. No good having a fully bald sheep with weather so unpredictable.
Joan of Arc prior to rooing
Dona did the brave work of rooing the fiber around Tapi’s nether regions to clean the area for birth, but soon afterward, the Rodgers led the sheep back into the jug (a term for a small, isolated sheep pen) and brought Joan of Arc out instead.
Once she was on the stand and Kyra had checked the undercoat, it was clear the rooing was a go. The undercoat was a fluffy half inch in most places, and the fiber came out easily with a little bit of pulling. As we got to work, Robert comforted Joan, and the four of us roo-ers quickly settled into a rhythm. Kyra instructed us to pull at the very tips of the fiber so as to not pull out the new growth while we braced Joan’s skin with the other hand. At first, we could only pull tiny amounts out at a time—a few hairs here and there—but soon it was coming out by the handful.
About forty-five minutes into this process—separating the back and side wool from the belly and head wool into color-coordinated buckets—we asked how many sheep they typically roo in a day.
“One, maybe two,” Kyra said. “But, really, the sheep get a little skittish if we do more than one. It’s not our routine, and they know that. Rooing season can last three months sometimes.” Kyra said this wistfully, happily, and we could see the value in a full season of tending to the animals this way. And, given that our necks were already starting to feel the awkward angle, we found ourselves relieved that we weren’t going to be doing this all day. Surely, the sheep were also grateful to have well-rested roo-ers caring for their precious fiber.
Almost done with the roo!
When Joan started stamping her feet and wobbling a little side to side or shaking her head, we knew it was time for a break. The Rodgers led her off the stand and let her walk around for a while. Soon, after she used the bathroom and calmed some, she was ready for more.
As we roo’d, we talked with the Rodgers about the social fabric of their sheep, how the breeding process works (this was the first time they had bred their sheep in three years), and what it would mean for them to sell their sheep.
“We always say the sheep need to be at least two years old before we sell them,” Dona said, “But the truth is, we haven’t sold one.”
“If we don’t like how the genetics come out,” Kyra explained, “that sheep can still live a perfectly good life and give us great fiber. We just won’t breed them.”
It was beautiful to take time with every animal this way. Any time Joan started to show sign of distress, we stopped and put comforting hands against her flank. On multiple occasions, Andra was nearly in tears with gratitude for the amount of care and tenderness offered to Joan. It was everything we wanted rooing to be and so much more.
Kaylee (left) and Joan after Joan’s roo
When we were finished, Joan went back into her jug, lighter but still impressively fluffy in her undercoat. While she was a little skittish, she seemed bright-eyed and happy to have the load off. Her roommate seemed happy to have her back as well. Betty, who had laid down in the hay during the process, stood up once we were finished, ready to give us a piece of her mind.
Afterward, the Rodgers bagged, labeled, and collected the fiber and brought it straight to the washroom. We talked for what must have been another hour about previous lambs, other mills, and their “fiber son,” Jake Valentine from Darkside Shearing, for whom they had nothing but good things to say.
We were so happy to see that these lovely, enthusiastic people had such grace and ease as they trapezed across their many stations. It inspired us and gave us hope for our own future as we continue to build our fiber mill co-op. We are happy to be tapped into yet another piece of the branching fiber community.
We hope that if, one day, we decide to get a little Shetland flock of our own, we can take pages out of the Rodgers’ book and treat our animals with the same patience and respect.
Our rooing experience will definitely go down in history as one of our favorite farm experiences ever.
Thank you, Kyra, Dona, and Robert, for doing your part to make the world a better place. <3