2020, Waiting on Lambs!

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The wool is so tempting, but I think my fiance would want to kill me. I still haven't finished processing the last batch of wool I bought. I washed it, but apparently it smelled really horrible to my family. I just smelled sheep, they said it smelled like an outhouse. I think my sense of smell is broken.

Maybe I could hide the box of wool in with the wedding presents... Hey! It could be a wedding present to myself?

DH doesn't like the smell of wet wool. 🤷🏽‍♀️ The rams smell more strongly, but it's not bad, I like it. Smell of alpaca is somehow worse to me, kinda like wet dog?
 

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There's someone in Washington, but they keep having rams.

A ram would not be so bad. You could use him on several ewes and once having added his long staple gene to your flock, you could sell him Since it is hard to get genetically long stapled Babydolls in your area he would probably sell for what you paid. If shipped by air as a small lamb he would travel in a dog carrier and shipping should not be terribly expensive.

Raw lanolin does have an odor when processing. Try adding something to the wash water? Vanilla? Rose oil? Lavender? Or would it just smell worse? I gave up processing my fleeces after I felted one! There was a woman who did skirting and processing 3 hours from me, but she has since stopped doing it for others. Only does her own that she sells. We had 5 fleeces of Dorset wool done when we were taking a spinning class. They were much easier for us to spin than the wool the teacher had given us. Probably because they were coarser. Our spinning instructor did do a class on processing since all the others wanted to earn how and I supplied the raw fleeces for free. We dyed it with unsweetened Koolaid. Also some native plants to see different colors produced that way. Interesting. Then we gave up spinning. DH wasn't bad, mine was all lumpy! LOL the teacher and class were kind enough to say it was "craft yarn", and that it was hard to get it like that "after you learn to spin well". :lol: One of the class members worked at the zoo and got lots of llama and alpaca wool so I gave her some. She added it to her llama/alpaca to make it easier to spin. Last year a friend mentioned her young daughter wanted to learn to spin so I gave her the last 4 processed fleeces and got it out of my storage unit. Spinning was relaxing when it went well but frustrating at first. Once we learned how to spin, we considered buying a spinning wheel but since I had already decided to make the switch to Dorpers I didn't need one. :D =D
 

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A ram would not be so bad. You could use him on several ewes and once having added his long staple gene to your flock, you could sell him Since it is hard to get genetically long stapled Babydolls in your area he would probably sell for what you paid. If shipped by air as a small lamb he would travel in a dog carrier and shipping should not be terribly expensive.

Raw lanolin does have an odor when processing. Try adding something to the wash water? Vanilla? Rose oil? Lavender? Or would it just smell worse? I gave up processing my fleeces after I felted one! There was a woman who did skirting and processing 3 hours from me, but she has since stopped doing it for others. Only does her own that she sells. We had 5 fleeces of Dorset wool done when we were taking a spinning class. They were much easier for us to spin than the wool the teacher had given us. Probably because they were coarser. Our spinning instructor did do a class on processing since all the others wanted to earn how and I supplied the raw fleeces for free. We dyed it with unsweetened Koolaid. Also some native plants to see different colors produced that way. Interesting. Then we gave up spinning. DH wasn't bad, mine was all lumpy! LOL the teacher and class were kind enough to say it was "craft yarn", and that it was hard to get it like that "after you learn to spin well". :lol: One of the class members worked at the zoo and got lots of llama and alpaca wool so I gave her some. She added it to her llama/alpaca to make it easier to spin. Last year a friend mentioned her young daughter wanted to learn to spin so I gave her the last 4 processed fleeces and got it out of my storage unit. Spinning was relaxing when it went well but frustrating at first. Once we learned how to spin, we considered buying a spinning wheel but since I had already decided to make the switch to Dorpers I didn't need one. :D =D

I hate added smells, gives me headaches.

I have a longer woolled ram, Billy. I have too many rams already and reselling rams, when not lambs, is a pain.

Down breeds are hard to wet felt, I can hack at it and agitate it all I want w/o worrying about it.
 

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Billy, Sebby & Oreo dressing up!

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If I understand the color genetics correctly, all solid lambs from a spotted parent are carriers of spotting.

2020 Breeding Groups, Draft #5!
😑
Moved ewes around, removed sheep.

Decided to remove Michaelis from breeding this year, he'll be in a paddock with Billy & the alpacas. I also removed Michaelis from the pre-sales list.

The ewelings & other breed ewes will stay out on winter grazing. They will not be bred. Tatiana, Kibito, Seadra, Eevee, Articuno, Raichu, Clefairy, Kakuna, Lapras.

Breeding Groups-
Apostle, spotted. Juliana(potential carrier), Addie & Majin(mutt).

Oreo, spotted. Eloise, Yamaha & Shelly(carrier).

Magnemite, spotted. Lucia, Patchie(carrier), Latte & Icarus(carrier).

Krillin, head spot/potential carrier. Fossa, Lucy(spotted), Piccolo, Periwinkle, Evangeline & Saola.

Sebastian. Ewenique, Vanilla(carrier), Bayley, Sugar, Hirola & Willow.
 

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Okay, some pics...

My go-to color guru...lol, explaining probabilities of spot & carrier.
20200912_141405.jpg


As I currently know it, 5 of the spotted types. All my sheep. The white is a mutt, only used as an example. A white spotted would look like a regular white sheep, since spotting in sheep is the expression of white marks, not black, like in other animals.
Video Collage Maker_hMwBDo.png


Size differences.
L to R
Mature Babydoll, 1.5yr Babydoll, 2.5yr Corriedale(behind, pink ears), lamb Corriedale×Babydoll, mature BFL×Cheviot(bald headed).
20200911_183127.jpg

20200912_142404.jpg

4 mutt ewes, all 7 of this year's lambs & 2 rams will be left out in pastures & not bred.
There will be 5 breeding groups; 1 to a black, 1 to a white & 3 to spotted rams.
Majin, the BFL/Cheviot/Babydoll ewe, will be bred to a Babydoll for meat and/or fiber lambs.
Ram lambs will be available. Ewe lambs will be very limited & I don't have any space available on the waiting list.
Shearing will be in February & most of the fleeces will be put into compost.
All mutt & non-babydoll ewes are still for sale, though!
Sebastian is pre-sold, but will stay this autumn for breeding.
Krillin will be available in 2021.
Michaelis will be available in 2022.
No ram lambs will be kept back in 2021 nor 2022.
 

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