No! I'm not talking about this type of bird's nest !
Non! Je ne parle pas de ce type de nid d'oiseau !
I'm talking about this type !
Je parle plutôt de ce type-là !
Yes! This is an altogether different type of bird's nest!
Oui, c’est une espèce de nid d’oiseau tout à fait à part!
The term "bird's nest"is used to refer to an accumulation of hay that can often be found in a fleece. This bird's nest is almost always found at the base of the neck.
As most hay feeders are in the shape of a V, the sheep need to reach up to eat hay. Without fail they pull down the hay onto their heads and the hay tends to accumulate at the base of the neck and in the worst of cases in a line along the top of the back!
Effectivement l’expression “nid d’oiseau” se réfère à l’accumulation de foin et de matière végétale qui se retrouve des fois dans une toison. Ce nid d’oiseau se retrouve presque toujours au niveau du cou.
Comme la plupart des râteliers se présente en forme d’un V, les moutons ont besoin de tirer le foin d’en haut. Alors, sans exception, ils font tomber le foin sur leur tête où il s’accumule au niveau du cou ... et dans les pires des cas tout au long du dos!
One simple way of avoiding this type of bird's nest in your fleeces is the use a hay feeder that has verticle bars that are perpendicular to the ground : when the sheep pull hay out of the feeder, they won't be pulling it out ontop of themselves.
Pour éviter ce genre de nid d’oiseau dans vos toisons, pensez à utiliser un râtelier qui est perpendiculaire au sol et non pas à un angle qui surplomb les moutons. Ainsi, quand ils y retirent du foin, ils ne se recouvrent pas la toison de foin.
The above fleece and bird's nest is from Merveille des Lutins du Montana. This was a very small "nest" and didn't spoil the overall quality of the fleece. Merveille's fleece has proven to be one of my favorites this year.
La toison et le nid d’oiseau ci-dessus sont ceux de Merveille des Lutins du Montana. Ce n’était qu’un tout petit nid d’oiseau qui ne gâtait point la qualité de la toison dans son ensemble. Effectivement, la toison de Merveille s’avère une des plus jolies toisons que j’ai travaillées cette année.
Merveille des Lutins du Montana :Such a lovely color and exquisite wool quality!
Quelle belle couleur et quelle qualité de laine!
4 comments:
I have learned something new here! I will now think of bird's nest when I find those globs of VM!
The wool is gorgeous. Those little cakes behind the combs are called bird's nest's too!
Hi Cyndy!
I know that some people call the combed top bird's nest ... I always call them little clouds! I guess it's because bird's nest has a different meaning for me. Oh ... by the way, I didn't come up with that name ...
That said VM by any other name is still VM! yuck! Not a spinner's dream!
Hi Diane - love the site, we are just starting out with ouessants (having had pet jacobs before).
The problem with vertical slats in a hay rack is that the hay gets pulled out and drops on the ground. Then they won't eat it. I made a box to hold a full bale from a design I found somewhere (photos are on Picasa (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/haskett1/HayRack?authkey=Gv1sRgCO6u57rA7NPHfA&feat=directlink) I hope you can see them. Not always full of hay, though, as you will see! I think the sides will be too high for our ouessants, though.
I'll try to take a look at the photo later today. Needless to say there is some loss with the vertical slats .... BUT not nearly as much as with the "normal" hay feeders that overhang the sheep. (of course this is just my opinion!) So far I'm really pleased with the hay feeder that I made last year. I've already started feeding some hay ... and there's very very little on the ground and NONE in the fleeces. Good luck with your sheep & glad you like the blog!
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