Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Kira's Lambs

Another mystery set out of Kira from Winston. Although I was anticipating triplets from Kira, who lambed twins last Friday, the real mystery is how to classify these calico cuties. Last year Edna's triplets, also sired by Winston, were quite a surprise and took some researching to determine their patterns, and Kira's duo had me just as perplexed. The great thing about Shetlands is their diversity in coat colors and patterns. With ten colors and thirty patterns, given the right breeding stock, your flock can be quite the display.

The 8 lb ram lamb is surprisingly black-based with a predominately white coat. The skin inside his ears and on his legs is very black. He is most certainly Ag (meaning his dark fleece tips will fade to a gray), and is probably ilget (white with spots of a different color). His slightly smaller (7.5 lb) sister is flecket, and I'm still determining her base color. I think she may be brown-based, and she is probably double-Ag, making all of those lovely dark fibers turn either cream or light grey by mid-summer.

Here are some other views of the spots and splashes:


 More lambs are on their way. By the end of the week I'll post new lamb photos!


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