We’ve been confirmed with our shearer for Sunday morning, September 13th – time to be determined. Most of the Finn x Babydoll portion of the flock will be shorn. I’ll hold back those who won’t meet the appr. 2″ length threshold. For this post I am concentrating on the lovely lamb fleeces because the animals who produced them are for sale and I’d rather get them onto the farms of fiber folk than sell them for slaughter. Because of this hard choice I am willing to part with them for less than usual going rate of $500/ewe and $350/ram. “Sale” price is $350/ewe and $200/ram.
The fleeces will also be available for sale at $25/pound for colored and $23/pound for white. Because of the difficulty and delay getting rovings or yarn back from fiber mills more people will need to be doing their own processing. It is rewarding, but delays the gratification of getting the wool on your needles or hooks. Because of their small size there may be just a pound of fleece after skirting. This is a major reason why I coat my sheep – so very little is lost to burs, thistles, etc. Fleeces will be available around October 1 as I will be in hazel harvest mode and also have a niece’s wedding to attend between shearing and 10/1.
The images below are a sampling, not exhaustive. Also, the fleece images were from the neck area, not from under their coats, so the shorn fleece will be significantly freer of v.m. and dirt in the most part than is shown.
If interested in reserving fleeces on lambs, a call or text to 715-220-1183 works best. I am in far southeastern Minnesota.
I’ll start off with the white ones. This is from Tessa, a lamb from Fortuosity and sister to Tenacity. It was generally 3.0″ where I checked.
This is Tenacity, Tessa’s sister. Both are 69% Finn and 31% Babydoll. They are quints. Her fleece is 2.5’+. Pretty – ain’t she?
This is Sven’s fleece. He will be my white Finn x ram this coming season, so is not for sale – at least until mid December. His fleece is 3″ with a month to go and he is 69% Finn.
This is from Siri, a yearling and she is 69% Finn. She is not for sale unless you make me a really good offer. Her staple length is over 3″ with a month to go!
RESERVED
This is Maddie’s fleece – she is 2 years old, was a bottle baby and hasn’t complied with the whole breeding expectation – yet. A beautiful ewe with attitude. Her fleece was 2.5″ where checked.
This is Tatum’s fleece. I will be keeping her as my higher-Finn ewe – Elly Mae’s understudy. She is 83% Finn. Her staple length was around 3″.
Now I bring you Tamryn – a ram who was born a quint. His mom is Elly Mae and he is 79% Finn. I neglected to get a shot of his fleece, but his main value is his genes. He would be an appropriate match for Tabitha and/or Tatiana.
Now for the slightly less white. Tanner is a ram and his fleece is fawn. He is valuable as a breeder because fawn/brown is recessive genetically so the ewe determines the color of the lambs’ fleeces. He is also higher Finn content at 83%. His daddy was a full-blood Finn not one of my home bred boys, so he is an acceptable match to any and all of the girls.
This fleece belongs to Tatiana (a.k.a. Tati). She is a triplet and all three sisters were tiny at birth and tended to stay small. She is/was a bottle baby – once a bottle baby always a bottle baby. She is my top recommendation for anyone wanting a pet lamb – but, of course, needs at least one other flock mate. She is 69% Finn and technically brown, not fawn. Her fleece was 3″ long where tested (with one month to go – although shearer does leave about 1/2 “).
Tabitha grew this fleece. She is this year’s lamb and a twin from Maxine. A rich brown, she is 66% Finn. Her fleece was generally 3″ long where tested.
This is Tanya’s fleece. It is actually a deeper, browner color although she is black. Her fleece will be for sale but she will not as I am keeping her in hope she inherited the non/slow-fading trait from her mother, Flossie. And maybe her leader traits as well. She is 69% Finn and her fleece was 4″ where checked!!!
