This was a particularly tough list to put together this year
because all of the ewes in our flock (and very nearly all of the rams) would
fit into our breeding program going forward. I suppose that’s a good problem to
have, but as we put this list together, we came up with good reasons to keep
everyone. But, since that isn’t possible, here is what we have to offer this
year so far. We will be doing a separate ram list once we sort that out (which will be this week). We’ll
probably pick three or four rams that we think will add something significant
to a fine fleece flock, and we’ll probably limit the sale of them to flocks
interested in improving their flocks (genotypically and phenotypically).
The ewes are out of three rams: Winter Sky Khan, Barenfang,
and First of Fifth Avyt. Avyt is one of the nicer horned Shetland rams that I
have seen, and Khan is one of the nicer polled rams I have come across. As a
point of reference, Khan’s three-year old micron average was 22.5 and his
spinning fineness is 21.7, which probably makes him the finest Shetland ram in North America for his age . I don’t have micron data on Avyt, but
these ewes are out of the finest Shetland genetics in the U.S.
The first ewe is Sommarang Isla, a two-year old ewe
with an outstanding conformation and fleece. Her mother was Sommarang Ginger,
and her father was Firth of Fifth Avyt, who is one of the nicer Shetland rams I
have seen during my travels. As you can see here, here twin ewe lambs are
pretty outstanding, so she should produce exceptionally well in the future.
It’s hard to sell ewes this good, but you can’t continue keeping mothers and
their twins if you want to keep the old flock size down to a manageable number.
That’s the only reason she is for sale. This is a rare opportunity to obtain
these genetics. I don’t have much to criticize about this ewe.
Sommarang Ilke is another super fine ewe that we brought in
from Wisconsin
in 2011. Her father is also First of Fifth Avyt, which is why I brought both of
these ewes back with me. I liked that ram a great deal, and wanted those
genetics in our program. Ilke is denser and a little crimpier than her
half-sister Isla. She is also smaller, which some people will like and some
will hate. It would be nice to hold onto some of
these genetics a year or two longer, but we can’t really do that. She is two
years old. Beautiful head on this girl as well, in my opinion.
Anisetta is one of the few khan lambs we are selling. She is a 2012 lamb out of Isla and has a lot of promise. She wasn’t bred this year, but she will
produce for people when bred to the right rams. This is another ewe that we
would like to keep. If I were to offer up a criticism of her, it would be that
her fleece isn’t as crimpy as we prefer. But it is fine, and it is crimpy. The
staple length is about four inches.
Izarra is the last Khan lamb we are selling this year. She
is a yearling out of Sommarang Idelle. We like this ewe and she will offer a
lot to a fine fleece breeding program. Her fleece is nice, with maybe a 4.5”
staple length, with nice crimp. We bred her to Barenfang this year, and she had
a very nicely built ram lamb, with a very uniform fleece from front-to-back.
So, I would expect her to produce well in the future with the right ram.
The other thing Izarra offers that the other ewes on this
list do not is spotting. I no longer value spotted Shetlands like I once did,
but if you are into nicely conformed, fine, spotted Shetlands, I think this ewe
can offer you a lot.
1 comment:
Rich, why, oh why, do you live on the opposite side of the country? I want just one of those beautiful poll-carrier ewes – any one. But Izarra would probably be my pick....
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