Where was winter?

It's hard to believe breeding season was four months ago and lambs are on their way. With barely a winter, I had a hard time convincing myself shearing time had arrived - surely winter was just around the corner? The calendar said March was nearing, so without any snow on the ground and on a 50-degree rainy day, the wool came off on Thursday.

Shearing in February? Yes, we always do! Four to six weeks prior to lambing is best. Lambs are due March 28th through April 20th, which means breeding season was during November this year. The day after the rams went to the freezer the new breeding ram lambs went to their ladies-in-waiting.

We purchased a new ram - our first white sheep - last July, and we exposed him to five ewes for his first breeding. Allante is a very structurally correct ram, though a little slender, but his super fine, soft white fleece is a huge plus for our flock. The ewes I exposed him to have more open fleeces with less crimp and are more square.

Lucy and Jeanne are both two-year-old first-time fresheners. Lucy is a Winston daughter out of Edna. Jeanne is a Nelson daughter out of Annie. Both have more primitive fleeces but are very solid on foot. I'm especially excited to see what patterns Lucy throws. Her lambs will most likely been black or grey, although I could be surprised by a musket or moorit. Jeanne's lambs could be white, black, or moorit (if Allante carries moorit), but will most likely be solid.

Madeleine and Ella are both out of Kira, Madeleine sired by Xavier in '11 and Ella sired by Cedar in '12. This is Madeleine's fourth breeding and probably will be her fourth set of triplets. Her lambs could be any color with any variety of spotting. In the past she's lambed a solid moorit, a spotted musket, a blettet grey and modified muskets. Perhaps this year she'll have a solid black ewe, or her first white lamb? This will be Ella's third lambing, and I'm anticipating twins as usual. Ella had twin grey ewe lambs last year, both of whom look remarkably like her. I'm anticipating black, grey or white lambs from her.

Shelly is the third first-timer. She is a Nelson daughter out of Claire, twin to Annie. She and Jeanne share all four grandparents. Smaller framed and far friendlier than her cousin, Shelly is a moorit with a white tear marking. She is the only ewe that may not have been bred, but usually the rams are good at getting all the girls. She may just single at the end of the cycle.

Overall, I'm hoping for increased fleece quality from these lambs. I'm predicting between six and ten lambs from this group, a majority black-based (pretty sure Allante has a black spot on his shoulder!) with some greys and moorits, not to mention our first white lambs!













The second breeding group was sired by our own Deane. A Winston son out of Kira, Deane is incredibly wide framed but has longer fleece. He's a grey flecket with heavy phaeo, meaning his extremities are tan and fade with the seasons. As a lamb he looked tri-colored, which is very rare in Shetlands. Given Allante's narrow frame, I kept Deane to use on our narrower ewes. Our three fine-fleeced Cedar daughters were given to this fine boy.

These three girls should strongly compliment Deane's features. Given his wild patterns and colors, I'm excited his three girls are solid to help further determine his coloring and patterns. Cali ('12), Myra and Mary (both '13) all lambed for the first time in 2015. I am anticipating five or six lambs from this crew. 

Four weeks until lambs. Time to make hard choices and start finding some good homes!