Psalm23Farm: Lambs and kids growing up

Monday, May 30, 2011

Lambs and kids growing up

Busy last couple weeks. Got everyone out on grass three week later than normal due to the cold weather. Dewomed in the rain-bad idea as I got drenched. Here are some of the babies. Sale sheep are for sale pending horns, fleece, conformation, and growth rate at at least three months.

PS23 Finch X PS23 Fife AI (Orion)-white, was born golden and still has a gold tone to his legs, tail and nose. Very silky and soft. He will probably be a smaller ram. He may be for sale.

White kid-I think this is the doe kid out of France and Danburry (TX buck)

PS23 Funzie X ??PS23 Fife?-Moorit horned ewe. Will need to do genetic testing if I want to register her.

She is a shy baby-here she is hiding behind mom.

PS23 Emrald X PS23 Fairlight-white ram lamb. Silky soft type fleece. May carry polled as his sire is a half poll/scurred ram. Twin sister is a keeper.

Windswept Lime X PS23 Fife-white (born with three small brown spots that faded) ewe. May be for sale.

Sheepy Hollow Sienna X PS23 Fairlight AI (Jings)- fawn katmoget/ghost katmoget? His dam is moorit and his sire is white. His sire sired one musket lamb last year (out of a musket ewe) and this year he sired this guy. All of his other lambs were white. This guy's marking have faded.

Color aside his is an excellent ram. His fleece is very fine and soft. He has great conformation and poll wool! A keeper for now.

Close up of the previous ram lamb's face.

PS23 Ferndale AI (Gordon) X PS23 Campbell AI (Jericho)-fawn katmoget ram lamb. May be for sale.

Sabbath Farm Fonteyn X Drum Ram (AKA Black)- grey katmoget ram. He is a keeper! Very soft and crimpy fleece. Long and somewhat tall, nice build. He's freindly to boot!

PS23 Evening Primrose XPS23 Campbell AI (Jericho)-grey katmoget ewe. She has a longer silky fleece. A keeper for now.

Just for fun a Shetland X Corriedale grey katmoget ewe.

PS23 Finch X PS23 Fife AI (Orion)-moorit gulmoget ram lamb. Very silky and soft. He will probably be a smaller ram. He may be for sale.

PS23 Forsythia X Drum Jings-grey ram. He has a white twin ram. (The white lamb in the picture is a crossbred lamb.) I haven't been able to catch him or his brother so don't know what their fleeces are like. I expect them to be soft and crimpy based on parentage. One may be for sale.

Last, but definatly not least, is my bottle baby doe kid out of China X Danburry (TX buck.) She is a doll! Friendly, super friendly! (Most Angoras are shy.) She was born red with a darker red splash on her side. Very soft mohair. She is very vocal about her bottles. I got a video of her drinking just for fun.

All done kiddo. "I want more, please give me more!"

1 comment:

Nancy K.May 30, 2011 at 8:37 PM
I LOVE how your little doeling comes running for her bottle! TOO cute...
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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, May 30, 2011

Lambs and kids growing up

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