Kiraz is a very soft ewe with an AFD of 26ish. She’s single-coated, but we’ve never been entirely sure what color she is. I believe she is fawn or light moorit. We don’t know whether she would technically be considered modified. She has a good conformation and outstanding markings. She also has had very nice lambs for us. We bred her to Clover this year in hopes of getting fawn or mioget lambs. I’m a sucker for that delicate face, and she has it!
So, as you can see, from all our ewe posting (this is the final one as we go into lambing season) we have a good mix of colors, patterns, and markings, but we aren’t really going after anything in particular in those areas. We’re probably a jack of all and master of none, but we like variety. You can’t really have everything with a small flock, but it’s nice to have some genetic diversity. We do have several of Stephen’s sheep on the farm, but for the most part, they are from separate bloodlines. Onyx and Cor de Nuit have the same father, but aren’t related otherwise; Pyrenee and Kiraz aren’t related at all.
We put a lot of thought into our breeding groups this year and expect to have our nicest lamb crop. As a result, some of these ewes will be for sale if we are going to keep ANY lambs this spring. We have committed to keeping a small flock and would like to be down to a dozen ewes this fall. We won’t be able to do that without releasing some really nice ewes. We like all of our current ewes, so our decisions will be based on several factors, with customer interest being one of them. There are a few that aren’t likely to be available, but we’ll probably move five or six for sure. Every time I make a sales list, there are different ewes on it, which is why I can’t say which ones will be available. We don’t know at this point. Complicating the situation is the fact that there is a lot of demand for the fleeces from some of the potential sale ewes. It’s hard to sell ewes whose fleeces are flying off the table.
So, as you can see, from all our ewe posting (this is the final one as we go into lambing season) we have a good mix of colors, patterns, and markings, but we aren’t really going after anything in particular in those areas. We’re probably a jack of all and master of none, but we like variety. You can’t really have everything with a small flock, but it’s nice to have some genetic diversity. We do have several of Stephen’s sheep on the farm, but for the most part, they are from separate bloodlines. Onyx and Cor de Nuit have the same father, but aren’t related otherwise; Pyrenee and Kiraz aren’t related at all.
We put a lot of thought into our breeding groups this year and expect to have our nicest lamb crop. As a result, some of these ewes will be for sale if we are going to keep ANY lambs this spring. We have committed to keeping a small flock and would like to be down to a dozen ewes this fall. We won’t be able to do that without releasing some really nice ewes. We like all of our current ewes, so our decisions will be based on several factors, with customer interest being one of them. There are a few that aren’t likely to be available, but we’ll probably move five or six for sure. Every time I make a sales list, there are different ewes on it, which is why I can’t say which ones will be available. We don’t know at this point. Complicating the situation is the fact that there is a lot of demand for the fleeces from some of the potential sale ewes. It’s hard to sell ewes whose fleeces are flying off the table.
We will be posting lambs as they arrive, and will try to tweet updates as they occur. Happy lambing everyone!
3 comments:
I keep checking back to see if you have more twitter updates and to see if you have pictures of your new lambs yet. Two ewe lambs, way to start the lambing season. Congrats!
Wow! She even has wool on the poll! Rare for a spottie. Nice ewe!
Sure, now you say that...after we sold her.
Rich
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