Saturday, July 13, 2013

Lambs and a peek at a finished project

Warning - picture heavy.

I dewormed the lambs again on Thursday.  Yeah, all 100 of them . . . by myself.  It's actually not too bad.  At least this time I didn't have to tag them.  But, I separated out the purebred ram lambs and ewe lambs from the adults and the crossbred lambs so that I could get some group shots.  Wonderful conformations and fabulous fleeces on this bunch!!  I'm having a VERY hard time trying to decide who to take to the Wisconsin show in Sept.  And I need to do it quickly!  

I know which ones I'm keeping.  That wasn't a problem.  Not nearly as many in years past.  I will hang on to a few ram lambs because they are so nice.  You can ask about which ones are for sale (but I did list them individually on the last post).  Please give me a holler soon as we'll be shipping those we aren't keeping shortly, regardless of quality!!

I also have 13 crossbred (Cheviot/Shetland) ewe lambs available for commercial stock.  Wow!  Huge girls.  Will be great ewes for a grass-fed market lamb flock.  Also, if you are in need of a crossbred ram or would like to butcher one, I didn't wether the Cheviot/Shetland boys this year.  I'll send them to market soon, so ask if you are interested.

Scene across the pond yesterday morning.  It is good to live in the country.


Ewe Lambs 
(and 3 yearling ewes - 1 moorit and 2 whites)



the moorit in the center is a yearling (FS)

the white ewe in front is a yearling (FS)



Ram Lambs






Fleece shot of Keemun's spotted fawn kat (FS)

Fleece shot of one of the black rams (FS)

Fleece shot of Blue Castello (Stronsay/Jade).  He is turning gloriously blue and is extremely soft and very fine.  This ram lamb I'll use on my modified ewes for a mioget and emsket lamb crop next year. The group will only be about 4 or 5 ewes.  

Another probable keeper ram lamb.  No, he is nowhere near as crimpy as the above rams, but so what?   Crimp is a good indicator of fineness, but not always.  Shetlands are not cookie cutter sheep and this ram is very silky and fine!  That is a trait that I value highly and the fleece style is just a bit different.  Actually, the fleeces of all of the above are not the same on the outside.  Similar, yes, and within the range of the diversity of the breed.  It's when you start losing the crimp structure altogether or don't have any in the first place is where the boundaries of the standard and the breed are compromised.


 A couple of crossbred lambs with their mother.  And these two are about the last born ones!  


And finally, a sneak peak at my just finished handspun lace shawl!  I love it!  Six days to spin (and spun almost twice as much as what I used), and 14 days to knit.  Not bad for me.  



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