Under The Son Farm

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Sept 2018 - Ram lambs

Under The Son Ram lambs for 2018

Here are the best of this year. All are very fine and crimpy with great structures.

Left to Right: UTS Chrome/UTS Talledega - spotted grey kat, triplet

UTS Chrome/UTS Tanz - spotted grey kat, twin

UTS Chrome/UTS Talledega - spotted grey kat, dense, soft

UTS Chrome/UTS Tanz - spotted grey kat, twin, dark grey, dense

Middle: UTS Triton (UTS Chrome/UTS Talledega) - spotted grey kat, triplet

UTS Triton - dense and dark grey kat

UTS Giovani (UTS El Paso/UTS Galena) - emsket, B/b

UTS Giovani - lustrous and soft

UTS El Paso/UTS Cherra - emsket, B/b

UTS El Paso/UTS Cherra - emsket, lustrous, very soft

UTS Tortuga (UTS Cameron/UTS Topaz) - grey kat (b/b)

UTS Tortuga - dense and soft

UTS Zambo (UTS El Paso/UTS Cherra) - white twin, B/b, great head, body, and rear

UTS Zambo

UTS Zambo - perfect tail and very wide square rear!

on right: UTS El Paso/UTS Mingay - white, twin, B/b, modified

UTS Zambo

UTS El Paso/UTS Sirene - white, triplet, B/b, exceptional horns

UTS El Paso/UTS Sirene - great rear

UTS El Paso/UTS Sirene - lustrous fleece

UTS El Paso/UTS Mingay - white, twin, B/b, modified

UTS El Paso/UTS Mingay - white, twin, B/b, modified, dense and soft

UTS El Paso/UTS Arroyo - white, twin

UTS El Paso/UTS Sirene - shaela, triplet, dense (forgot his fleece pic)

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Fall 2017 Breeding groups for Under The Son Shetlands.

Breeding ended before Thanksgiving with the BFL providing clean up duties now. Deposits can be placed for lambs next year. There should be quite the variety of lambs. All sheep are fine fleeced, crimpy, dense, and soft with good conformation. Some have been inspected at WSWF (or sires or dams were inspected) and passed. Under The Son Farm is well noted for producing top quality Shetlands for the past 15 years. We strive to produce Shetlands that are breed typey, hardy, productive in the jug, meaty carcass, and have a good fleece.

UTS Mackinaw River

Black krunet (B/b), 2016 WSWF Supreme Champion

Goals: Some repeat breedings that produced very nice lambs this year. Coolea (1st place as ewe lamb at WSWF) and Tono Brea are different lines so hoping they produce nicely too.

White - Mascarpone (repeat breeding, kept her white ewe lamb and her ram lamb is top notch)

Moorit - Cascade (repeat breeding which produced 2017 WSWF Res Sup Champ UTS Calvin Klein and his twin brother Captain - probably the best ram lamb of this year's crop)

Grey Kat - S'more Tanz (repeat breeding, produced Patches, a spotted keeper ewe lamb)

Fawn kat - Coolea

White - Tono Brea

UTS Dawson

Grey kat, B/b, krunet, med/lt grey color in fleece, silky

Goals: Dawson has produced a lot of nice ewes, rams, and grandlambs. Repeat breeding on Meredith; the other three should produce well.

Black/shaela - Meredith Blue (repeat breeding, which produced Mack)

Grey - Kivalina

Grey kat - Sekka

Light moorit - Navara

UTS Cameron

Spotted Grey, B/b

Goals: Cam produced nice lambs two years ago so looking forward to more next year. Some very fine fleeces here.

Black - Tacoosh (2016 WSWF Champ Ewe)

White - Fancy

Moorit - Brandywine

Grey kat - Manistique

Grey kat - Merrimac

Fawn kat - Topaz

UTS El Paso

White, modified (blue nose leather) ram lamb

Goals: El Paso is a Cleggan great grandson. Modified from his mother's and sire's mother's side, so should get some modified lambs. Hoping he carries moorit. I've been waiting to use a ram from his mother for quite awhile. So pleased that this guy has wide horns, strong structure with fine bone, and a fine, crimpy, dense fleece. He is staying on the farm.

Black - Moxahala

Light moorit - Cherra

Black - Arroyo

Dark mioget - Galena

Light mioget - Mingay

Fawn - Sirene

UTS Chrome

Black smirslet ram lamb

Goals: Spots! Chrome is a top notch structured and typey ram with a rear that is very strong. Package that with a dense, fine, crimpy fleece and pleasing spots - on a horned ram - and you have a quite a ram. Ceann, Chrome's mother, is a silky fleeced rooer so hope he passes that to his lambs.

Grey kat - Darby

White - Juma

Grey - Colla

Grey kat - S'More Tocatta

Grey smirslet kat - Talledega

White (hiding behind Talle) - Markoti

Crossbred group with BFL

It was hard deciding who to put with the cross ram, but some ewes had to go here. Nine ewes are in this group so there will be several very nice fleeced cross lambs available, if you are looking for spinner's pets or commercial ewe producers. BFL/Shetland crosses are calmer than Shetlands, bigger but not too big, with a fabulous fleece. The ewes cross well with Texels or other commercial breeds to make market lambs and can lamb at a year old.

This is the BFL cross ram and he is for sale as of Dec 10, 2017

Nice, fine, crimpy, soft fleece.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

2017 Lambs For Sale - Oct 2017

Ewe lambs

UTS Smokey/UTS Arran - spotted grey kat ewe lamb. Larger size, square.

UTS Smokey/UTS Arran - fleece. Good color, density, softness, and crimp.

UTS Basmati/UTS Talledega - spotted grey kat. Bit longer tail.

UTS Basmati/UTS Talledega - fleece. Nice color, fineness, very soft, fine crimp, density.

UTS Chantilly (UTS Nishiki/UTS Chianti) - moorit.

UTS Chantilly fleece. Longer staple, dense, soft.

UTS Smokey/UTS Coolea - fawn kat. Very square.

UTS Smokey/UTS Coolea - fawn kat. Striking facial markings.

UTS Smokey/UTS Coolea - fawn kat. Good crimp, fineness, density, soft.

UTS Mackinaw River/UTS Sugar Plum Spice - fawn kat. Nice markings, square.

UTS Mackinaw River/UTS Sugar Plum Spice - fleece. Dense, fine, soft, good crimp.

UTS Mansoori/UTS Sierra Nevada - fawn light badgerface. Longer tail, square.

UTS Mansoori/UTS Sierra Nevada - fleece. Silky soft, dense.

UTS Basmati/UTS Sirene - white. Bigger ewe. Square.

UTS Basmati/UTS Sirene - fleece. Dense, longer staple, soft.

RAM LAMBS

UTS Calvin Klein (UTS Mackinaw River/UTS Cascade) - Black. 2017 WSWF Champion Ram, Reserve Supreme Champion, Best Fleece on Hoof under SSS breeder, inspector, judge Suzanne Meikle.

UTS Calvin Klein - fleece.

UTS Mackinaw River/S'More Tocatta - black smirslet.

UTS Mackinaw River/S'More Tocatta - black smirslet. Great horns and good structure.

UTS Mackinaw River/S'More Tocatta - fleece. Soft, fine, crimpy, and dense.

UTS Smokey/UTS Moreen - Shaela/emsket. Good horns and structure. Silky soft.

UTS Smokey/UTS Moreen - rear.

UTS Smokey/UTS Moreen - fleece. Bit longer staple, silky soft. dense, fine.

UTS Mackinaw River/UTS Mascarpone - white half poll/scurred. This ram has an excellent structure and breed type. Great ram for a polled flock. I have kept the past 3 years of Mascarpone's ewe lambs (except one twin, which went to another flock), from 3 different sires. All are wonderful additions to the flock.

UTS Mackinaw River/UTS Mascarpone - rear

UTS Mackinaw River/UTS Mascarpone- fleece. Very fine, good crimp, very soft, dense.

UTS Mackinaw River/UTS Mascarpone

Also, UTS Smokey/UTS Cimarron - moorit, half polled/scurred. Excellent structure and type on this ram as well.

UTS Smokey/UTS Cimarron - moorit.

UTS Smokey/UTS Cimarron - rich moorit color. Longer staple, soft, dense.

Welcome to Under The Son blog!

There are about 100 Shetland sheep on our farm during the winter months and over 200 with the lambs in the spring time. All colors along with katmoget and gulmoget as well as a few spotted sheep are here on the farm. I specialize in breeding classic fine fleeced Shetlands that are the hallmark of the Shetland wool industry and have been for hundreds of years.

Blogs posted will be relevant to our Shetland sheep farm goals such as working towards a classic type fleece - a fine to very fine, dense, silky, lustrous, 3-6" Shetland fleece, raising conformational correct pure Shetlands and growthy Shetland cross market lambs, as well as all manner of Shetland fleece production through to the finished products.

I am a spinner, weaver, knitter, felter, crocheter, dyer, soaper and have done all manner of other crafty things such as basketry, beaded jewelry, sewing, quilting, cross-stitch, etc.

Wool for sale includes raw fleece, washed fleece, rovings, spinning batts, quilt or comfortor batts, felt yardage, handspun yarns, millspun yarns, and finished knitted, woven, or felted goods such as fingerless gloves, purses, scarves, shawls, ponchos, ruanas, vests, jackets, and blankets.

Vist my Ravelry group for even more information. http://www.ravelry.com/groups/fine-shetland-wool

About Shetland Sheep

Shetland sheep are a heritage breed dating back a thousand years or more and are related to Soay sheep. They have primitive characteristics such as a naturally short fluke shaped tail, wool that 'roos' or sheds in the springtime, small size, and fine bone. They are famous first and foremost for their fine, soft, naturally colored wool that is very lightweight and warm. This wool was one of the two pillars of the Shetland Island economy for centuries.

Shetlands, the 'kindly' (soft) wooled native breed of sheep, were preserved because the Shetland wool industry was facing extinction with the the infiltration of coarse long wooled big sheep on the island. Steps were taken, such as the writing of the breed standard and paid ram incentives, to ensure the existence of this rare native breed and the continued existence of the woolen industry that employed so many of the women of Shetland.

Garments made from breed standard 'kindly' Shetland wool can be next-to-the-skin soft scarves to warm, soft outerwear sweaters. It is a fine wool with crimp (called 'wave' by the writers of the standard) and is normally used for knitted garments with good memory such as stockings/socks, hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, shawls, under clothing, and the famous Shetland sweaters. It is a 'longish' wool, around 3-6", depending on crimp. It is sometimes good for felting and some fleeces are very silky. As it is a heritage breed, there is quite a bit of diverseness found within the breed, especially in the colors and patterns that run the gamut of browns, blacks, greys, and white as well as spots and patterns. All in all, it is one of the premier handspinning fleeces to be found.

From the Shetland Sheep Society

"Shetland sheep have for generations been noted for their very soft and well crimped fleece. The wool is the finest of all native breeds and shows an amazing variety of colours and patterns. There are 11 main whole colours and 30 recognised markings.

By selecting from coloured fleeces a range of naturally coloured yarn can be produced. This eliminates the need for dyeing and therefore retains the soft feel of the natural fibre and is favoured by those who prefer a totally natural approach.

Shetland wool fibres are of a simple construction witha central cortex covered by a thin scaly cuticle, and have an average diameter of about 23 microns. However there is a range from 10-20 microns for neck and shoulder wool to 25to 35 microns for britch wool. the average staple length is 3.5 inches. The amount of crimp varies, and is most important in providing the 'bounce' required for knitwear. There is a positive correlation between fineness and crimp, with wool of the finest quality being crimped at between 8 and 12 to the inch. Wool from shetland sheep is used to produce gossamer lace, the famous 'Fair Isle' knitwear, and fine tweeds. Pure bred Shetland sheep tend to shed their fleece in sprin. The growth of new fleece can cause a rise or weak point and where this is present the fleece can sometimes be plucked or 'rooed' by hand. The timing of this can be different in each sheep, however, it is worth taking the care to get it right as rooed fleece can be amongst the softest because the fibres have no harsh cut ends as occurs with a sheared fleece.

Shetland fleece can be handspun straight from the fleece or made into rolags and then woollen spun. It can also be sorsted spun by hand, used on a peg loom or handwoven. It also felts well using either dry or wet methods. When processed commercially the wool can be made into the finest lightweight worsted cloth or heavier weight, harder wearing fabrics and tweeds."

Under The Son Farm

Pages

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Sept 2018 - Ram lambs

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Fall 2017 Breeding groups for Under The Son Shetlands.

UTS Mackinaw River

UTS Dawson

UTS Cameron

Crossbred group with BFL

Thursday, October 12, 2017

2017 Lambs For Sale - Oct 2017

2017 Lambs For Sale - Oct 2017

Ewe lambs

RAM LAMBS

Contributors