I was pretty high on the class of 2016 ewe lambs, but still
had high hopes for the 2017 class this spring. It’s still too early to do a
full evaluation on them, but we felt we had reached the fineness summit with
the 2016 class and needed to work on other things. After working for many years
on improving our flock fineness, that left us in a rather uncertain area. Was
it possible to increase fleece length while maintaining fineness? Could we add
the full diversity of colors to the mix? Who knew? I still don’t.
What I’ve noticed over the years was that as much as we
liked most of our ewes, the ram is the most important contributor. All of the
fineness that we enjoy started with our ram selections over the years. So, you
be the judge as to whether the 2017 ewe lambs are a step in the right
direction. It won’t be until April that I finally decide for myself.
Ygritte is out of Darcy and Vogue. I was going for
black-based lambs here, but failed miserably. I like moorit, however, and I
think she is a good one. As much as I like Mr. Darcy’s fineness and color, I
felt that Vogue had a good combination of goods that could improve him in his
weak areas. This ewe lamb looks to be a success in that regard, but I did not
do micron testing, so we will have to wait to determine whether we struck a
good balance.
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