[Jacob-list] shear pleasure

[Dave & Katrina]

MessageMy messages have been been bouncing from the list lately, but just in case this goes through, I thought I would mention a What's new page on our site introducing some of the flock MEH is describing.  
http://wwwfac.wmdc.edu/HTMLpages/Graduate/TI/pages/lefever/whatsnew.htm
I agree with MEH ...the flock is most intriguing.  Almost as fun is the fact that of the three breeders that I know of who chose sheep from the flock, we all had very different opinions about which sheep we were most attracted to!  
Katrina Lefever, Chicory Lane

  ----- 
  From: Mary E Hansson 
  To: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com 
  Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 9:34 PM
  Subject: [Jacob-list] shear pleasure


  Hi all,

  I managed to get the fleece off of one of my new girls this evening.  She is the "middle" one of the three based on tooth vestiges left in their mouths and is the proud mother of twins.  Apart from acting like she had never seen a set of shears before in her life, we got along famously for the styling ceremony.  I clipped away fleece and she is now the cleanest of the large girls in the sheep shed.  Also no freckling to be aware of on her body.  My bet is that there will be one freckled girl and two unfreckled ones in the clan.

  A few of you might be aware that I did some playing in a sheep flock on the road to MD.  My son learned that his mom is terrified of heights and driving UP bridges that seem to head toward the sky (we took the Bay Bridge in MD).  He had a great time with that one---and probably won't soon forget the experience either for that matter.  He helped corral the sheep while I selected some critters to thoroughly enjoy.  

  These came with no pedigrees.  They came most certainly with no paperwork.  They came with nothing other than their cute little faces and the bare information of where the flock had started about 15 years ago.  2 ewes purchased from Susanna Davy that had been bred before purchase.  One didn't produce offspring (replacement provided which died in delivery with no live lamb surviving).  The entire flock comes from these 2 girls and their progeny.

  This flock has to be the MOST inbred flock (short of the one that Gordon has mentioned just earlier this evening on the list) around.  This one was started with the 2 ewes (half sisters) who had been bred back to one of their sires.  Oddly enough, it was the ewe bred back to her father that produced the living 15 year old ram that is still on the property.  There is another one that is 11 as well.  All other ram lambs through the years have been eaten or castrated :o) (one other pet twin to 15 year old that had to be put down 3-4 years ago--castrated many years ago).  

  I picked out 2 old girls (another one was coming from Katrina's group of Twigg sheep) as well as a group of 5 lambs as a starter group.  The flock all appear(ed) healthy.  Udders were intact.  Ewes were generally fertile and still lambing.  There was 1 two-horned ewe in the group and several 2 horned lambs.  There was a 2-horned male and a 4-horned male.  Approximately 50% of the group of adults were lilac.  Most have blue eyes.  Approximately 75% or more of the lambs are lilac.  Blue eyes predominate there as well.  The lilac color is the "chocolate" variety---none of the grey coloring.

  The 15 year old ram is rather faded out, but his spotting pattern is still distinct.  He is lilac and blue-eyed.  He isn't all that pretty---but at 15, he doesn't much seem to care.

  The 11 year old ram has very little gray on him.  He is a black and white animal and quite the looker.  His horns are also damaged.

  Both rams were complete gentlemen----and I am extremely leary of rams.  

  As to expected defects that I noted.......1 case of parrot mouth in older ewe, 1 possible issue with a lamb---but those have to be evaluated at a year of age rather than before the jaw has finished growing, 1 grade 2 notch in 2 separate old girls, 1 grade 2 notch in one lamb, lack of penile covering in a ram lamb (might have been caused from excessive cleaning by mom, but could be inbreeding)---all other ram lambs had all their parts in the correct places.  Size of lambs and adults were not being depressed either from what I could detect.  One long-term breeder in MD felt like the hooves were narrow on one of my ewe lambs as well.

  Culling practices in this flock through the years were purely done by a butcher coming and picking out enough meat animals to keep the owners happy.  The bulk of the flock does seem to be older rather than younger.  There are a few younger ewes in the group.  The original 2 ewes have been dead a number of years---5-8??

  Fleece types:  the 3 girls pretty much tell the story well......one is "old style" (rather coarse-looking and nasty), one is open, crimpy and with that demi-luster, and the third is more of the downy variety thick and spongy.  Lambs ran the gamut from soft fleeces to the hairy type fleeces, to the middle fleeces between the 2 extremes.

  Hooves and horns were black or striped.

  One interesting aside:  never has there been a bottle baby raised or produced in the flock.  Mrs. Twigg mentioned that if there were any lambs born without a mother accepting them, they would have had to be adopted by another mother or die.  Few lambs have died through the years, and apparently unplanned deaths have been the rare occurance.  Poor health and bad mothering don't appear to have been issues that survived or were fostered.

  Am I excited about this group?  Yup!  I am also clearing out a large percentage of the sheep I have accumulated to make room for this "playing" that will be done.  I won't be keeping sheep based on their background or pedigrees......I will be keeping sheep that I absolutely love.  The "making room" has already begun.

  Mary Ellen Hansson
  ISeeSpots Farm

  Jacob Sheep:  Those horny, fuzzy critters

  Shop:  Knitting, crochet, spinning supplies

  www.iseespots.com

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