Psalm23Farm: Potter the BFL's group

Friday, January 9, 2009

Potter the BFL's group

Richert 79 Potter-(a Reg. Bluefaced Leicester) Potter has a very fine fleece and throws colored lambs as well as whites.

Holy Hills Onyx-(Sheepy Hollow Ol'Blue X Longshadow Jewel) is a very fine double coated sheala ewe. Onyx has a very good milk supply and should have very nice mules!

PS23 Chickadee-(MacEwen Lincoln X PS23 Ariel) is a fine double coated non-fading black ewe.

PS23 Cailly-(Island Skeld X Holy Hills Onyx) is a fine double coated white ewe.

PS23 Bethany-(Maplewood Licorice X Bramble Jocelyn) is a dk. brown iset ewe with double coated fleece.

PS23 Cinderella-(MacEwen Linclon X PS23 Bluebell) is a double coated black ewe.

Longshadow Brownie-(Longshadow Bretram X Longshadow Portia) is a lt. musket (does not carry solid) intermediate fleece ewe,

Longshadow Bramble-(Longshadow Bretram X Sheepy Hollow Fern) is a fine fleeced double coated ewe. Bramble is lt. grey (she does not carry solid.) Bramble should have very nice mules!

PS23 Dingdong-(Windy Acres Golden Eagle X Bramble Jocelyn) is an intermediate-double coated fawn ewe.

Anastasia-(Unreg. Shetland ) Anastasia is an intermediate fleeced gray katmoget. She had a nice mule last year that I kept.

PS23 Destiny-(PS23 Craigrothie X Longshadow Orphan Annie) is an intermediate-double coated lt. musket (carries solid)

PS23 Daina-(PS23 Carigrithie X MacEwen Kelly) is an intermediate-double coated ewe.

Longshadow Amber-(Longshadow Rutherford X Lonshadow Spice) is a fine fleeced intermediate dk. musket(carries solid). Amber's mules will be very nice!

Alice-(a pure-bred Australian Merino) Alice is just for fun of seeing a BFL x Merino (I did the Shetland X Merino last 2 times and got ram lambs.)

(Potter's goup of ewes on the whole are nicer fleeced ewes than Douglas the NCC's.)

2 comments:

MimJanuary 9, 2009 at 7:49 AM
Gee's you have so many sheep! I'm interested in the size of lambs born to this group and fleeces on the cross-breed shetland/BFL. Seems I'm going to need to breed for fine fleece and carcass weights here more than ever next year.
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LauraJanuary 9, 2009 at 10:34 AM
I have 9 goats and 57 sheep. I'll have way more in the spring!! My next post has picture of the 2 Shetland mule I kept (the wethers were bigger) I'll post some pictures of the mule fleeces in the next couple of days.

The BFL x Shetland lambs are 5-9lbs. at birth. My purebred lambs are 4-6lbs. The cross bred lambs do have nice small heads though and most are born without assistance.
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Welcome to Psalm 23 Farm

I'm breeding my NASSA registered Shetland sheep for fine and med. fine lustrous single coated fleeces in both the crimpy and the locky, wavy fleece styles. I have a wide range of colors and makings as well as the bright pure whites. I'm emphasizing on production, mothering ability and sound conformation. I have both horned and naturally polled Shetland rams and a few horned Shetland ewes.

I also produce fast growing grass-fed market lambs and commercial ewes with excellent fleece. (Shetland x Coopworth and Shetland x Australian Corriedale.) These F1 (first generation cross) ewes are great maternal ewes to put under a terminal sire for the ultimate grass fed market lamb.

Angora goats are my other love. I'm selecting for fine yearling grade mohair in adult animals. All of my goats are CAGBA (colored) or AAGBA (white) registered. I'm also selecting for sound healthy goats.

Posts will be about the Shetlands and Angoras with an occasional post about the other animals on the farm. Posts will also be about wool, spinning and a variety of other topics.

Psalm 23 Farm sells raw "jacketed" wool and mohair fleeces, mohair locks, dyed and natural Shetland and Shetland/mohair roving. Also sheepskins, quilt batts, handspun yarn, mohair lock yarn, and mill spun yarn.

From the Shetland Sheep Society

"Shetland sheep have for generations been noted for their very soft and well crimped fleece. The wool is the finest of all native breeds and shows an amazing variety of colours and patterns. There are 11 main whole colours and 30 recognized markings.

By selecting from coloured fleeces a range of naturally coloured yarn can be produced. This eliminates the need for dyeing and therefore retains the soft feel of the natural fibre and is favoured by those who prefer a totally natural approach.

Shetland wool fibres are of a simple construction witha central cortex covered by a thin scaly cuticle, and have an average diameter of about 23 microns. However there is a range from 10-20 microns for neck and shoulder wool to 25 to 35 microns for britch wool. the average staple length is 3.5 inches. The amount of crimp varies, and is most important in providing the 'bounce' required for knitwear. There is a positive correlation between fineness and crimp, with wool of the finest quality being crimped at between 8 and 12 to the inch. Wool from Shetland sheep is used to produce gossamer lace, the famous 'Fair Isle' knitwear, and fine tweeds. Pure bred Shetland sheep tend to shed their fleece in spring. The growth of new fleece can cause a rise or weak point and where this is present the fleece can sometimes be plucked or 'rooed' by hand. The timing of this can be different in each sheep, however, it is worth taking the care to get it right as rooed fleece can be amongst the softest because the fibers have no harsh cut ends as occurs with a sheared fleece.

Shetland fleece can be handspun straight from the fleece or made into rolags and then woollen spun. It can also be worsted spun by hand, used on a peg loom or handwoven. It also felts well using either dry or wet methods. When processed commercially the wool can be made into the finest lightweight worsted cloth or heavier weight, harder wearing fabrics and tweeds."

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Friday, January 9, 2009

Potter the BFL's group

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