Friday, June 28, 2013

Keeper lambs

 Some of my favorite lambs this year.  So far they are on the keeper list.  I have very little for horns this year, so it's been one of my tougher years to cull rams.  Although, it's a bit early to make that final determination, I think I'd like to wait until Jefferson to make further cuts.  I hope to have a few more (painful) cuts to make before breeding season.  Some of my lines are slower to mature than others and that compounds  my decision making process for cutting back.   grrrrr. 

I adore this ewe lamb, she's sweet natured and is the softest lamb I think I've ever felt.  I'm going to guess her CV and SD are going to test in the lower range.   I'd like to see a bit more density in her fleece. 
Maura's ewe: Ellie Mae

 Maximus is a ram out of my favorite yearling and her twin ram lambs did NOT disappoint me.  I am watching both of these boys closely and am going to hold off making my decision on who to keep until they mature a bit more.
Cinderella is one of a set of white twin lambs out of Cotillion and it's been a task to figure out which one to keep and which to sell, but Cinderella seems to have a bit more density to her fleece, I like her structure just a teensy bit more than her sister's and she just has this "look at me" thing going on. 
Seneca's ram: Maximus (left) and Cotillion's ewe: Cinderella (right)
 Einstein is out of my favorite mature ewe and I am absolutely in love with his head, ear set and overall type.  He's a bit more wide set in the front and that's something that a few of my lines can use, he's square and his fleece has nice lock structure and is crimpy and fine.  His fleece is consistent from front to back, we'll see how that holds as he ages. 
Salicional's ram: Einstein   Love this guy. 

 Violet is a beautifully structured fawn kat out of one of my 2 year olds and a Velma granddaughter.  Anytime I need to correct conformation, I can count on Velma.  I'm pretty certain Violet will throw spots, as her face is wildly spotted and very attractive.  The only place I can fault her at this point is her tail, it's not as short or flat at the tip as I'd like. 
Vienna's fawn kat ewe on the left and Sarafina on the right
Sarafina is as lovely as her brother, Einstein, is handsome.  So far I am very pleased with this ewe lamb.  Conformation is nice, great head and ears and even though it's hard to see from this photo, she is very dark, rich black.  The sun washed her out a bit here.  Crimpy, dense fleece that feels soft and hoping it stays that way.  (fingers crossed)
Salcional's ewe: Sarafina
 Gaston & Sadira are very typey lambs, with crimp in abundance and so far both are dense and soft.  I'm keeping the ewe lamb and Gaston is for sale,......because how many gray kat rams can one gal keep? 
Dot's lambs: Gaston (ram is for sale ) in the foreground right and on the left is Sadira (ewe)



Nakoma, in the back......Great ram out of Meadow.  Meadow is another ewe that always gives me lambs with great conformation.  And as an older ewe, you can't find much fault with her fleece.  My biggest issue with Meadow is that she's a bit short for her length, but since Nakoma clearly doesn't have that issue and her offspring doesn't, I'm ok with that.  I'm keeping both of her lambs this year until we get a bit further along in the year to see how they progress as they mature. 
Duchess is Cinderella's sister and a lovely little ewe that I would keep if I had more room, but I can't break my own rules, so I've reluctantly placed her on my sales list.  I love the head and face structure of theses twins, and both have very similar fleece types, but Duchess is not quite as dense as her sister and I think her hocks are slightly less straight than her twin.  But even with that being said, I would not hesitate to keep her if she doesn't sell. 

Nakoma in the rear and Duchess in the front-right

7 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks John, he is just as kind as his mother.

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  2. It's definitely going to be hard to pick from all these nice lambs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Crazy Sheep Lady. My heart does battle with my head every year. sigh

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  3. I vote for Sarafina .

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Mike and I

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Raised beds & chickens coops

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