Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Ewe A Day Broom Hilda



Sheltering Pines Broomhilda is a black F2 Jericho ewe out of Winter Sky Alafair and Wintertime Blues. She is about 70% UK. Blues is quite simply one of the nicest Shetland rams I’ve ever seen in person. I still don’t have a handle on her fleece (pun intended), however. Right now it’s about five inches long, but there is some nice crimp underneath it. So far, she looks like a winner to me. She had a nice micron test (AFD: 25.2, CV: 22.2), which is about where I thought she would be. Whether that will hold or not, I can’t say.

Hildie is quite the melting pot of genetics. She is an F3 Holly, Drum Ram, and Jamie, and an F2 Jericho.

I’m not a person who collects certain genetics for the sake of doing it, but if I can see improvement potential, I’ll sometimes take a gamble. I really didn’t need another black ewe after our experience with black lambs this past year, but the upside with this ewe is enormous! I’m looking forward to seeing how she produces with the ram I put her with. That particular line cross is what convinced me to add her to our flock in the first place. Like I said, we really didn’t need another black ewe. At least she wasn’t a grey katmoget. I certainly don’t need another one of them either.

1 comment:

Juliann said...

I agree with you about Blues. When I saw him in person, I told Stephen that if I was breeding for horned rams, Blues was a ram I'd have whipped out the checkbook for.
Your black lamb is nice. I gotta cut back on the kats, too. What can you say, kats just tend to have the nicest fleeces.