Archives

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.

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.

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.

Mafrcus
Merrick
Margot (bottle baby)
Mario (bottle baby)
Marla (bottle baby)
Maren (bottle baby)
Minnie (bottle baby)
Melissa
Mariah

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.