Psalm23Farm: April 2014

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Shearing and Dreaming of Spring!

Flock of Suffolks I sheared at a 700 cow, seasonal (all calves are born in the spring) grazing dairy farm.

A couple adorable ~~fawns~~ er, calves

Calf houses...They have three calf barns with space for 100 in each.

I was in southern IN last week and was reminded that spring does exist! BUT I had to leave it behind, so I captured some of spring. Hopefully spring finds those of us who are still under old man winter's thumb. Enjoy!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Shetland Sheep for sale

After much thought I have decided to offer most of my Shetland sheep for sale. I have decided that I need to reduce the size of my flock so I have more time to shear!

All of these sheep that are for sale are really nice. I culled heavily last year. I am keeping sisters, half-sisters, half-brothers or dam's to all of them. Some I could not decide who to keep SO YOU get the choice on a few!!! All are registered with NASSA, except the rams, who will be when I send in the papers. Sheep that are for sure for sale are:

5 year old ewes:

PS23 Forsythia-light grey, fine fleece. Great milky mother. F2 Greyling/Skeld

PS23 Fiona-sheala fine fleece.

PS23 Flourance- white, super silky fleece.

4 year old ewes:

PS23 Glitter-white, locky fleece.

PS23 Gloxinia-dk musket, almost moorit-seasonal fader silky fleece.

PS23 Gladys-white (grey katmoget recessively) , may carry spots.

PS23 Gem-black gulmoget, silky fleece

3 year old ewes:

PS23 Heather-grey katmoget, fine fleece. OR her daughter out of PS23 Fife. Buyers choice.

PS23 Hydrangea silky, fine fleece Sabbath Farm Swan X Skeld (AI) OR her white yearling out of PS23 Fife. Both are white, both are nice. Buyers choice.

PS23 Hyacinth-grey katmoget, dark patches, fine fleece.

PS23 Hadassah-moorit horned ewe. Fine-super fine fleece. Her daughter that I'm keeping is also horned.

PS23 Hummingbird-dk sheala, fine fleece (fleece won Best of Show)

PS23 Honeydew- fawn katmoget, silky fleece.

PS23 Hollyhocks-fawn, silky fleece. Threw a moiget ewe lamb and a spotted mioget ram.

2 year old ewes:

PS23 Isadora white (moorit recessively)

PS23 Isabelle-lt. grey, super fluffy fine fleece. Threw a spotted lamb.

PS23 Iris-lt grey, silky fleece. OR her dam PS23 Goldenrod-musket, silky fleece

PS23 Ingrid- grey, seasonal fader. Silky fleece.

Rams:

Moorit yearling- fine/ very fine. Horned. PS23 Forsythia X PS23 Fife

Black- yearling- fine/very fine. Horned-out of a horned ewe.

PS23 Funzie X Somerange Gilroy

Lambs:

Too early to tell, but right now it looks like I will have a couple black (some look like super fines) ewe lambs and a couple whites. I will have to check the ram lambs to see what I have.

If you need any more info or a fleece sample feel free to e-mail! ps23farm@yahoo.com

Monday, April 14, 2014

Lambing Season

Lambing has gone well so far. 89 lambs born, 8-9 ewes left to lamb (one may be open or VERY late, like June or July late.)

Gulmoget/mouflon ewe and lamb, both are purebred Shetlands.

Triplets! This year I have had three sets of triplets, all are white crossbreds.

Katmoget/badgerface ewe and lamb (both lambs are crossbred)

Nice big black crossbred lambs. One was 14.5# at birth!!

Sleepy crossbred lamb

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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