As usual, the ewes with the English style fleeces are thin, even in the middle of a very mild winter with much open ground and good feed. The ewes with double-coats and/or scadder are fat and showing in-lamb with rounded bellies and a bit of bag. The modern English type sheep may work for you, and praise God if they do! They just can't cut it here... If my sheep can't work as hard as I do, they can go work somewhere else.
It's a hill flock, not a show flock. They aren't fed alfalfa or grain. They don't have shelter. They aren't flushed. They lamb in the rough. The March-born mule lambs (from good BFL) are slaughtered in June and July for the SonCroft Prime Lamb(tm) label, with ewes producing >120% of their body weight by this time. The purebred lambs are slaughtered in October and into the winter for the SonCroft Winter Lamb(tm) label. They range in age from lambs to wizened grannies like the nearest grey ewe.
You can see the difference between the Dailley and UK katmoget patterning. Maureen's lamb is awfully ugly. Poor thing.
A favorite ewe who looks to be full of triplets again. She has the toad-eye that I like.
For the sheep gestapo out there reading this, there are a few mules in these shots and a Shetland/Icelandic cross ewe who produces excellent slaughter lambs.
Okay... Probably a very stupid question from a complete dodo but... I would have thought that any breed developed in the Shetland Isles would be very hardy?? Do you have an English breed as well?? Or is "English" a type thing like type's of Great Pyrs (I.e. pets verses working dogs?)
ReplyDeleteNo, no. Not a stupid question at all. No such thing!
ReplyDeleteThere is an Anglo-Scottish improved variant of the breed on the mainland UK; beautiful, uniform fleeces, up-bred and very fancy.
Another is the commercial, improved strain on the islands that are quite a stout animal and have a reputation for being a bit larger. These are recorded and registered with the Shetland Flock Book Trust. These are bred more for production of heavier fleeces and growthier lambs.
The former strain began when the sheep were brought to the UK mainland for a conservation effort. The latter were developed with the industrial revolution and the need for fine, white wool in England. Hence the conservation effort...
These were developed from the more Landrace types of old hill stock, that do still exist in more remote areas and on outlying islands. These aren't supposed to exist if you ask a few KIA's, as the modern types are now supposed to be the ancient types... Clear as mud, right?
There has been much crossbreeding with Cheviot and Blackface, later some Merino/Spanish for commercial "improvement" and undoubtedly some of those genetics have crept into almost every line.
Being the renegade that I am, I prefer the less industrialized lines as they seem to have a bit more rugged constitution and less modern weaknesses. But that's just me... Others do very well with the modern lines and prefer a fleece that requires no seperation of coats. These fleeces do process more efficiently commercially and produce yarns comparable to mid-grade Merino and finer Corriedale in white and natural colours. The handle is often woolier, sometimes a bit cottoney. The first sheep I encountered with lines from the UK (via AI) were very crisp handling and dry, and I began more careful selection for silkier, buttery qualities in my wool. Color in the Flockbook whites (from what I've seen) tends to be more opaque, while the SSS whites are more transluscent. Luster is good, and yield is generally high with a low lanolin content. The sheep I handled with shorter-stapled fleeces tend to be a bit waxier than the longer.
For all the talk of fineness though, I would estimate most fot he improved stock to be producing between 22-26 micron wool. My own Leicester fleeces are in that range, and wouldn't classify them as fine either...
Shetlands off'n their islands, like alpacas and unicorns, have owners who think more of them than they ought to. I'm also culpable of that, so, well, you know... ;)
Okay... Now I understand. Now that you mention it, I do remember reading something about sheep breeds and the Industrial Revolution. I just didn't realize the full ramifications. (pun intended, lol.)
DeleteDo you breed your ewe lambs? If so do they single for you? What about their second lambing?
ReplyDeleteI don't breed mine as when I did they had singles twice and when I wait they tend to twin with their fist lambing.
(Just so you know this font is hard to read...)
Hi Laura! Yep, I expose them to a mature ram. Most of them breed up. They do well for me with their singles and most produce a good set of twins in subsequent crops. Lakota, Keefe, Jack Elam, Capn, Bob and Maurice daugters went right into twins, but Indio daughters had a lot of singles in the second crop.
ReplyDeleteI changed the font again, but I don't know if it's any better... It wasn't so hard to read on the other computer. :)
I'm excited to interview you! You have a cool program going on there. I think that you, Kate Goebel and Garrett will be good inspiration for new producers reading the book. I'm hoping that as we show the value of the Shetland ewe in the book, our ewe lamb sales and value will increase as well.