Friday, February 25, 2011

Ewe Lamb Fleeces

Here are the lamb fleeces that we retained this year. A good proportion of the lambs we sold last year also looked like this, but we couldn’t keep all of them. I thought it would be fun to project what I think the micron tests will reveal. We’ll see if I’m even close. It’s tricky because the lower CV’s make the fleeces feel finer than the averages might indicate. But looking at the tips of the fleeces as well as the uniformity makes me think most, if not all, of these fleeces have lower CV’s. I hope I am right. If they have higher CV’s than I think, they might also be finer as well.

Shiobhan



QAL’s daughter out of Height’s Orion. Great density and softness. Probably between 24 and 25 microns with a CV of about 20%. Nice length for such a consistent fleece. Very uniform from front to back. Her fleece might have a higher CV than I think it does, but I don’t think so. She’s very close to her mother in type and fleece, but I like her a little better. Perhaps because we spent so much on AI? I might be biased. Bred to Pompey.

Peridot


Tiger Lily’s daughter out of Bond. A great improvement on her mother. Great density and length. A soft fleece that will probably micron around 26.0 with a lower CV (between 22% and 24%). Bred to Pompey if she’s bred at all.

Ruby


Pearl


Ruby and Pearl are both Bond daughters out of Itasca. Both are our finest lambs. I don’t have micron results, but I feel confident in saying that. I would guess that their micron values will both be between 22.0 and 23.0 with 20% CV’s. Very soft fleeces with tiny crimp. I think one might be a micron finer than the other (who am I kidding, I can’t tell such things). Not bred.

Blue Diamond


Constantinople’s daughter out of Blue’s Clues. A fawn katmoget. I would say that this one will probably micron between 24.0 and 26.0 with a 23% CV. I like the fleece a lot. It has some nice length which makes me think it might have a higher CV than some of the other lambs. It feels soft, however. I’ll be disappointed if she tests at the upper end of that range, but we’ll be keeping her regardless because she is exactly what we want. Bred to Egyptian King.


Blue Sapphire


Onyx’s daughter out of Blue’s Clues. Grey katmoget and possibly a gulmoget. I think this one will micron between 23.0 and 25.0 with a 20% CV. She might be finer, but her fleece type is much like her father’s and he microned in that range. Still, he had one of the nicest Shetland fleeces I have ever seen. Bred to Egyptian King.

Emerald


Sparkles’s daughter out of Bond. A bolder crimp style, but a soft and silky handle. Nice length. I think this one will probably micron at about 25.0 with a 24% CV. Not bred.

Blue Topaz


Violet’s daughter out of Blue’s Clues. I would expect Topaz to also test very similar to Emerald. Not bred.

I don’t think I’ll be way off on these, but I’d be shocked if I was within +/- 1 micron on all of them. Hopefully, I’ll be off on the high side…by a lot. Wishful thinking. If you noticed, I have them all projected to be pretty similar in terms of fineness. That's what I think they will be. They all have different fleeces, but the fineness doesn't seem wildly different.

3 comments:

Cynthia said...

Just gorgeous fleeces you two. Wonderful breeding results; you have every reason to be proud.

Chris said...

Your fleeces are so beautiful, I am simply green with envy!!
Chris

Kelly said...

I'll take a six pack of ewe lambs please.
Seriously, great job.