4 Weeks Until Lambing...

Yesterday I was finally able to get some pictures of the girls post-shearing. It has been two weeks since their wooly coats were removed and the weather has not been kind to the poor sheep. We've had several nights of below-zero temperatures and today's snow storm combined with tomorrow's cold temperatures have me a bit concerned about the coat-less flock.

This year we called the spinnery and set a date for dropping off the fleeces. We spent six hours on Saturday skirting 25 fleeces. Two of the girls have fleeces with staple lengths longer than the maximum 8-inch length that the spinnery can handle, so those fleeces will have to find a hand-spinner's home or some other use. The yearling lambs have beautifully crimpy, soft even-lengthed coats, which is what most Shetland breeders are aiming for. I'm excited to see what the finished product will yield when we get our yarn back in a few months.

Winston and his ewes.

Last fall we decided to set up two breeding groups - a first for us. All was going well until a fence broke and ram lambs ended up in the wrong pen. Luckily the girls had been with the desired ram for a few weeks and I'm hoping those girls go early so I can safely say who their sire is.

Breeding Group 1: Winston was exposed to six ewes. Wynona was only with him for two days and then when we finally moved the group out into the back field she refused to follow, so I'll be surprised if she was bred. Of the other five ewes, I can only say for certain that Bel and Edna were settled. Franny and Cali don't show any signs of being bred and I'm not sure about Ella, but I think she may be. So my guess is we'll have between four and eight lambs sired by Winston.

Left to right: Ella, Edna, and Bel.

 

Breeding Group 2: Nelson was exposed to five ewes. I saw him settle Madeleine, Clover, and Maggie in November and all three are certainly bred. The twins, Claire and Annie, also seem to have been bred, but Annie is so skittish that I can't really tell. If anyone was missed it was Annie, and she did seem to be hanging around the ram near the end of their time together, so she may have just been missed. I would guess we'll have between eight and twelve lambs sired by Nelson. Madeleine had triplets last year and Clover looks huge, so there is the potential for triplets again this year. 


 Left to right: Clover, Maggie, Claire, and Madeleine.

Last night when I drove up to the barn the girls were sunbathing. Can you guess who's related in this picture?