Kim Goodling, Author at Living with Gotlands

20 Feb 2016

Ask the Shepherd-Scrapie Disease and Testing for Susceptibility

by Kim Goodling | posted in: Ask the Shepherd | 1

Scrapie is a fatal, degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system of sheep and goats. There is no cure and there is no treatment for scrapie, though scientists around the world are searching hard for one. Scrapie is classified as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). Both scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE; a.k.a. “Mad Cow” disease) are TSEs, as is … Read More

16 Feb 2016

Felting With Gotland Gray Curls

by Kim Goodling | posted in: Felting | 6

Joining Nicole at Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm Craft On, to share my latest felting project. I spent the past few days, felting with Gotland gray curls. I set out to make a felted jacket, but had to abandon the sleeves when I realized that I would not have enough wool for both sleeves. So instead, I made a … Read More

10 Feb 2016

Hoarding Yarn

by Kim Goodling | posted in: Knitting | 9

Joining Ginny at Yarn Along to share my latest knit! Thanks for stopping by! Once I made the decision to begin selling my Romney sheep so that we could bring Gotland sheep to our farm, I began hoarding the last of my Romney yarn. As I sold off the ewe lambs more than a year ago, I tightened my grip … Read More

7 Feb 2016

The Challenge of Keeping Two Breeds of Sheep

by Kim Goodling | posted in: Ask the Shepherd | 6

About 18 months ago, we made the decision to transition over from raising Romney sheep to raising Gotland sheep. A little over a year ago, our small starter flock of Gotland sheep arrived to our farm. Looking back, it was, and still is, an extremely difficult process, and I am learning the challenges of keeping two breeds of sheep. Selling … Read More

31 Jan 2016

Ask the Shepherd-Do Gotland Sheep Shed Their Wool?

by Kim Goodling | posted in: Ask the Shepherd | 2

A few weeks ago, someone asked me the following question: Many of the short-tailed breeds are able to be “rooed” yearly due to a natural rise in their wool. Do you know if Gotlands could do this if they were not sheared in the spring? This is an interesting question, which I myself, had also wondered. While visiting Gotland island this … Read More