Psalm23Farm: Lamb stats

Monday, April 26, 2010

Lamb stats

My sheep finally finished lambing. The lambing percentage is lower than I like-166% (all sheep and goats together.) Interesting thing is the group who had pure lambs had a higher percentage-187% than the ewes who had crossbred lambs-152%. The goats had160% by themselves.

Total lambs/kids born-68. 8 of these are kids.

Here is what the pure group produced:

SheltringPines Justinian a polled, black gulmoget F1 Dillon's ewes
PS23 Easterlilly-grey gulmoget ewe and a possibly polled grey ram
PS23 Emrald-black gulmoget ewe and grey gulmoget/katmoget ewe
PS23 Ely Cathedral - black ewe and black wether
PS23 Edelweiss-grey gulmoget/katmoget ram

PS23 Fife moorit F1 Orion's ewes
PS23 Essex- moorit ewe
Sabbath Farm Swan- moorit(-may turn musket) ewe and musket? (not sure on her color) ewe

PS23 Fairlight polled white F1 Jings
Sabbath Farm Silvia-white ewe and white with black leg ram
PS23 Daysong-white with brown spot on thigh ewe and white ewe
Longshadow Brownie-musket wether

PS23 Drummond musket (carries moorit) F1 Brent ram's ewes
Sheepy Hollow Sienna- musket blettet ewe and musket blettet ewe
PS23 Dove-white wether and AG grey katmoget wether
Sabbath Farm Fonteyn - musket ram, grey katmoget ram and musket katmoget ram
UnderTheSon Sorelle- Moorit ewe and musket wether

PS23 Fandango gray katmoget F2 Greyling ram's ewes
Windswept Lime- white mirkface ewe and white mirkface ewe
Longshadow Amber- musket ewe and black ewe

Total of 17 pure ewe lambs and 11 ram lambs(-6 left intact.)

So far most of the lambs look like they have nice conformations and fleeces. (Some of the rams are now wethers for various reasons.I did not like the tails and a few and the fleece felt harsh on another.) I will probably have some ewe lambs for sale this year as I don't need to keep 17! I will also have ram lambs for sale as well as possibly some adult rams.

The goats produced 8 kids all sired by Danburry the white Texas buck.

3 doe kids-2 faded red and 1 white

5 buck kids- 3 white and 2 faded red

I'm planning on keeping all the doe kids. Some of the bucks may be for sale.

The cross group produced 15 ram lambs who are now wethers and 17 ewe lambs.

Of the cross ewes 9 are white Coopworth x Shetlands, 3 UNK x Shetlands (either Coopworth or Corriedale), 2 black Corriedale x Shetlands, 1 charcoal English blue Corriedale x Bluefaced Leicester/Shetland, 1 white Shetland x Merino, and 1white Coopworth x Bluefaced Leicester/Shetland.
I may sell some of the cross ewes depending on how they turn out.

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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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Monday, April 26, 2010

Lamb stats

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