2026 Shearing Day

Apr8

We had an exciting day of shearing on the morning of March 22nd this year. Not only were we training in a new -and rather young – crew, but we already had 20 lambs on the ground! The number of lambs was partly due to us needing to postpone shearing a week to avoid a blizzard. The young crew was a neighborly group – all live within 5 miles as the crow flies.

I tried to do a preliminary skirting as the fleeces were shorn from the sheep. This worked better for the Babydoll portion of the flock. The many lambs associated with the Finn x Babydoll portion increased chaos significantly. We even had to search through the “waste” bin to retrieve one fleece! Special thanks to Brandy, Carol and Kendall for helping to manage the chaos!

Links to view samples from each fleece are below. Some fleeces will be reserved for competition in the Shepherds’ Harvest Fleece Competition (May 9th – Lake Elmo, MN ) and the rest are available for purchase. I will will also be vending skirted fleeces, rovings, yarns of various weights, colors, and compositions at the North Star Farmers booth in the barn at Shepherds’ Harvest.

Babydoll Wool – Finn x Babydoll Wool – North Star Farmers at Shepherds’ Harvest

Crew from left: Leland Haugen, Ty Peterson, Minnie Haugen, Kendall Clair, Norris Haugen, and Blake Eiken. Not pictured: Brandi Bowron, Carol Wiegrefe, and Yours Truly. Shearer: Tre Bowron. Photo credits (except bottom center) go to Kendall Clair.

Award-Winning Finn X Babydoll Fleece

Mar5

I’m hoping to repeat last year’s (2025) success at the Shepherd’s Harvest Fleece Competition. This is Minnesota’s annual sheep and wool festival held Mother’s Day weekend at the Washington County fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, MN. I submitted just one fleece – somewhat indicative of the amount of time I had last spring to skirt wool. The fleece submitted was a 12-month fleece from Janelle, a 63% Finn 37% Babydoll crossbred ewe. Janelle’s fleece won Reserve Grand Champion Best of Show Colored Fleece! Letty Klein was the judge and is widely known and respected. To say I was thrilled is an understatement!

The up-close photo doesn’t do it justice. It captures the crimp but the color was much darker and richer. It was severely skirted and weighed not much more than two pounds. The length was about 3.5 – 4″. The woman who purchased it in the silent auction was tickled pink, too!

Cute & Cuddly Finn X Triplets for Christmas (Update: home found)

Nov28

Judi delivered a second set of triplets for this year – this last one on November 1st. There are 2 rams and a ewe. They are on track to have their vaccinations (and castrations) in time for a new home (and will be weanable), by Friday, December 20. I am willing to let them go at a significant discount to give some family a chance to love these little tykes and give them a life. They need each other’s company and should all go together. They will also produce lovely wool and give the new owners the chance to explore fiber arts – dyeing, felting, spinning, knitting, crochet!

The smallest ram is being bottle fed and all of them are friendly. Their names are Prince (purple coat, bottle baby), Perry (green), and Pickles (pink – the sister), but these need not be their permanent names.

NABSSAR lambs from SE Minnesota

Aug12

This year’s lambs are ready to fledge! I have 3 ewes, 3 rams and 2 wethers available. The image below is how they respond when you come out with your phone to take photos. Very unhelpful. All are RR at codon 171 (Scrapies resistance), NABSSAR registration in progress (except wethers), and my flock is OPP free. UTD on deworming and CD&T.

Ewe Lambs

MN6805-0363 Nellie D.O.B 3/19/24 Twin – partial bottle baby

Note square stance, straight legs

MN6805-0342 Nadia D.O.B. 3/13/24 Twin

Pretty girl shown here with her attentive mom, Ivy. Mom is exceptional wool producer.

MN6805-0394 Nicolle D.O.B 4/10/24 Twin

Nicolle’s dad is Lancelot (black) giving buyer flexibility in color of her future lambs. Breed to white – likely white lambs. Breed to black 50% chance of black lamb.

Rams

MN6805-0364 Nolan D.O.B. 3/21/24 Twin

Mother, Georgia, is known for great fleece – long and abundant.

MN6805-0366 Neville D.O.B 3/21/24 Twin

Mother, Dixie, is especially known for great maternal traits – birthing, nursing, protecting.

MN6805-0385 Noah D.O.B. 3/31/24 Twin RESERVED

Mother, Nina, favored him so he grew up sort of as a single. We were fine with coddling his sister as a bottle baby and keeper for flock.

MN6805-0393 Nigel D.O.B. 4/10/24 Twin

Beautiful darker nose and legs – a tribute to his black father. This provides flexibility in lamb colors that can be expected from him. Strong with good leg positioning/shape.

Wethers

MN6805-0362 Nelson D.O.B. 3/19/24 Twin

This big teddy bear was a bottle baby. He’ll be great for keeping a ram company when separate from the girls or as a pet and lawn mower.

MN6805-0389 Nikolas D.O.B. 3/31/24 Single

Nikko was the serendipitous result of an unintended mating. His papa, Matthew, was 5/8 Finn so Nikko is 5/16. This means he’s going to be a good wool producer with Babydoll spring but more Finn length.

Pasture Preservation/ Wool Sheep

Jul23

We’ve had a serious shortage of rain over the last 2 months in southeastern Minnesota and my pastures are not growing back fast enough to support the flock. I’d like to see these 2023 lambs off to greener pastures within the next few weeks, so am willing to take a hit. Better that than the alternative for these young’uns. Friendly Babydoll X Finnsheep lambs bred with fiber in mind, of multiple colors and percentages Finn. Finn heritage makes the fiber lock-like, soft, and long. Babydoll component contributes loftiness and reduced tendency to well felt/shrink (and reduces tendency towards out-of-season breeding, browsing trees & shrubs, and bottle babies from too many lambs for momma to care for). Multiple options for breeding pairs/sets. UPDATE 10/29/23 all animals have found new homes.

Pricing replaces previously posted pricing, including quantity discount. Call or text me (715-220-1183) or email to swiegrefe@sbcglobal.net with questions or to start reservation process. Because of the pasture issue, prompt pick-up (before mid-August). Later pick up possible, but hay feeding premium may be necessary. PayPal payment is an option with additional 3% convenience charge.

Cute, sweet, and useful – Finn x Doll lambs available for sale as pets, lawnmowers, & wool producers

Apr20

Lambing is complete for the spring season and I have an abundance of lovely lambs available to new homes. There are blacks, whites, browns and some with HST (Head-Socks-Tail) patterns and some with extra spots elsewhere (piebald). There are multiple percentages of Finnsheep versus Babydoll Southdown to choose from – depending on your desired wool traits. The offspring of my 2 rams used this year can be bred to each other without inbreeding issues. I’m especially interested in seeing my bottle babies find new homes. They are THE BEST!!!! Below is a chart of the lambs sorted by color and sire (dad). At the end is a link back to the lamb page for additional information about their moms, siblings, etc.

These are just a few of the 39 Finn X Doll lambs. If you are interested in a particular color/pattern/%Finn/sex combination, let me know and I can send additional photos. Also click HERE to see baby pictures.

former PPF lambs hit the fair circuit

Aug5

Michael Goulet and an assistant made a bit of a splash at the Benton County Fair this week showing Bella and Bliss in the March Lamb division. This is the first time Babydolls had been exhibited at in that county’s fair. Bella landed a second place award and Bliss came in right behind her in third place. Congratulations to Michael for his showmanship and thanks to his mom, Connie, for the image!

Michael with Bliss and assistant with Bella in the show ring.

First of the cross-breds arrives

Mar27

Becka selfie with eartag.

On Tuesday afternoon, March 22nd, Tammy gave birth to a bouncing baby girl who I’ve named Becka. She’s deep black and her half-Finn heritage is evident in her shorter tail and incredibly soft facial hair. She’s the best snuggle buddy in the pen! She’s the youngest right now (March 27), but more than keeps up with her pen mates. I will definitely be keeping this treasure for my fiber flock. I’m hoping Nina provides me with an off-white half-sister soon.

Wooly Warmth

Dec20

I’m super excited to be getting a duvet (comforter inside a case) made from the bulk of my second-quality wool – FOR ME! The St. Peter Wollen Mill offers this service. I send them 8 pounds of greasy (but skirted and sorted) wool and they return a 90″ by 90″ duvet. I also intend to take them up on their service of sewing the zippered cover once I figure out what 10 yards fabric I will send to them. I will be cozy this winter snuggled under my flock’s old coats!

Fiber Farming Update

Jul2

Things appear to be taking off on the fiber front. I prepared materials explaining my fiber offerings for sale and sent them to a couple of potential customers and received good feedback from both. North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN and Blue Heron yarn shop in Decorah, IA both expressed interest in buying rovings. I will continue to do direct market sales at fiber events but this will enable me to move more volume. The direct sales margins are better but the time invested is also seriously greater.

Brochures highlighting rovings for retail outlets and class materials use.

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