Which Breed??

[intlgrrl]

Does anyone here have any favorite breeds? I find I like the look of natural colored sheep, but they don't seem to be common

 

[purplequeenvt]

Technically speaking, a "natural colored" sheep is any sheep that is not white. The most common Natural Coloreds in the show world are Columbia Crosses.

Border Leicester and Romney fleeces are favorites of handspinners. And a cross of the 2 breeds is lovely.

I think your first decision needs to be what type of fleece you are interested in.

 

[intlgrrl]

I thought Romney was a bit rough, well I do remember spinners complaining about it when I was a kid... has the texture changed?

 

[Roving Jacobs]

Keep in mind also that there are fads in sheep so what's super common or popular right now might be hard to find in 5 years or vice versa. Right now people seem to be crazy for cormos, longwools and bfls around here, who knows what people will be nuts for in the future. All my jacobs came from people who were getting rid of them to get icelandics and now a lot of them are trading those in for a couple different longwool breeds. Meanwhile I'm still very happy with my jacobs because they work well for what I want.

 

[purplequeenvt]

I thought Romney was a bit rough, well I do remember spinners complaining about it when I was a kid... has the texture changed?

Romneys are a long (coarse) wool breed so yes, the fleece is a bit rough. Not nearly as coarse as a Lincoln though.

Personally, I love the long wool breeds. We've raised Border Leicesters for almost 16 years and we also have a few Lincolns, Southdowns, and Shetlands (not long wool). We also raised Romneys for a number of years.

 

[intlgrrl]

Definitely go to the great lakes fiber show in Wooster if you can. Feel a lot of wool, meet a bunch of sheep breeds and see what people are buying and selling. It's always a good learning experience and a lot of fun.

When is the Great lake Fiber show???

 

[Roving Jacobs]

It's May 28-29th at the Wayne Co Fairgrounds in Wooster. There's a sheep show/auction, wool competitions, and vendors. My farm vends there every year and I'm hoping to enter some fleeces this year. I think Norseofcourse is vending and showing this year too?

 

[norseofcourse]

It's May 28-29th at the Wayne Co Fairgrounds in Wooster. There's a sheep show/auction, wool competitions, and vendors. My farm vends there every year and I'm hoping to enter some fleeces this year. I think Norseofcourse is vending and showing this year too?

Yep! I'll have some of my stuff at a friend's booth, and I'll be entering a fleece or two in the wool competition.

The fiber show website is here:
http://www.greatlakesfibershow.com/
They'll update it more as the show gets closer.

 

[intlgrrl]

I have marked the dates down! So, do people usually keep more than one breed of sheep, or is that a personal choice?

 

[Roving Jacobs]

I think if people are breeding purebred sheep the generally just have one breed, occasionally two, so they can really focus on that one and not have to worry about separating flocks. I am definitely the outlier with 3 People interested in production often have several breeds and mixed stock they mix to get the traits they want. If you're just keeping them as fiber pets there's no reason to not a few of whatever breeds you like though.