Micron Results for 2011

My fleece samples sat in my pickup in the box, ready to be shipped for testing most of the summer. Since the micron testing was 200.00 or so for all the samples (100+ sent in) I never seemed to have the extra cash to do it. So i finally just made it a priority. None of the results were surprising except for one. The micron testing has helped me learn a ton about each sheep's fleece and in learning the feel/texture and reasons things test at the levels that they do.

I pastured my sheep on 50% alfalfa, and the rest of the mixture was red clover, white clover, timothy, blue grass, fescue, brome and orchard grasses. I have to graze the alfalfa when it is 2/3 bloom, so it is a more stemmy than I like but the sheep have adapted well to this in the heat of the summer. spring/fall pastures are mostly fescue/blue grass and red/white clovers. Everyone is in good condition.

I'm going to list the rams first. The rams were pastured in their own system of 4 paddocks this year and I am extremely pleased with the results. Aside from the 2 polled rams below, all rams have fleeces at least 4" long already (about 9 months of fleece growth). The two polled rams have a fleece around 3". It is extremely dense and crimpy and when stretched is around 4.5". I love the variety my fleeces give me :)

For those not in the know my goals:
AFD: Average Fiber Diameter My flock goal is somewhere between 20 and 25.
SD: Standard Deviation. I want this as close to 5 or below.
CV: Coefficient of Variation. My flock goal is around 20 give or take.
CEM: Coarse Edge Mean. My goal is under 10. The lower the better. this gives it the silky handle and makes the fiber feel finer than it is sometimes. (i.e. 30 afd ewe with a CEM of 7 will feel like a low 20s AFD)
CF: Comfort Factor. This should be as close to 100% for any sheep. Adults over 80% is a goal for me (and i'm close!)
SF: Spin Fineness. What the fiber feels like as its being spun up through the hand. Your SF should always be lower than your AFD for Shetlands.

I have a page on my website (http://www.ramsay-farms.com/understandingmicrons.htm) that explains this in more detail.

Wintertime Jazz AI (Todhill Jericho x Whistlesop 0424 Izzy) gray katmoget - fourth fleece
AFD: 24.9, SD: 5.1, CV 20.3, CEM 9.4, CF 86%, SF 24.1. Amazing numbers for a four year old.

FirthofFifth Nekomis (Wintertime Blues x Bramble Nadine) gray katmoget - third fleece
AFD: 27.5, SD 5.2, CV 19.1, CEM 8.9, CF 75.1, SF 26.3. he had the silkiest fleece with lots of luster and soft handle. This fleece was third overall in the Shetland Fleece Show at WSWF under UK judges Kate Sharp and Alan Hill.

WhitePine Levi (Willowcroft Jamie x RiverOaks Lucy) black polled ram 2nd fleece:
AFD: 23.6, SD 5, CV 21.4, CEM 9.7, CF 89.9, SF 23

WhitePine Ludacris (Greenholme Holly x RiverOaks Lucy) moorit bielset polled ram first fleece:
AFD: 23.8, SD 4.9, CV 20.6, CEM 9, CF 90.6%, SF 23.1

WhitePine Flo Rida (Greenholme Holly x ShelteringPines Fleur de Lis) gray katmoget horned, first fleece: AFD 23.8, SD 4.9, CV 20.6, CEM 9, CF 90.6%, SF 23.1 Flo Rida will be used in 2012

WhitePine Christian (UnderTheSon Arapaho x WhitePine Centennial) black horned 2nd fleece:
AFD: 22.5, SD 5.4, CV 24, CEM 10.4, CF 92.1, SF 22.5 He is available for sale

FirthofFifth Kiso (WhitePine Ephraim AI x FirthofFifth Kamachariy, a Forrest daughter) first fleece
AFD: 25.5, SD: 4.6, CV 18.1, CEM 7.9, CF 86.9, CF 24.2. He is a scurred fawn katmoget and is available for sale.

WhitePine Caiphas (who now lives in Maryland) (Greenholme Holly x Justalit'l Chloe) gray katmoget 2nd fleece AFD:23.8, SD 6, CV 25.3, CEM 12.4, CF 83.7, SF 24.1

WhitePine Roman (who now lives in Maryland) (Heights Orion x RYL Rachildas) white ram 2nd fleece
AFD: 23.4, SD 4.4, CV 19, CEM 7.9, CF 94.4, SF 22.4. He is am amazingly fleeced ram Amazing numbers.
 
WhitePine City High (Heatheram Lightning x FirthofFifth Koosi AI) gray katmoget (could be modified) first fleece AFD: 22.5, SD 4.5, 19.9, CEM 7.9, CF 96.1, SF 21.7 City High will be used heavily in 2012.

WhitePine Barnabas (Heights Orion x FirthofFifth Booto) - fawn katmoget horned 2nd fleece:
AFD 18.4, SD 3.9, CV 21.2, CEM 8, SF 100%, SF 18

I've not had a 2 year old every micron at 18 afd before!! I"m totally shocked. He has everything in his fleece that I am after and I am not disappointed with any of these numbers from any rams. I sold Roman and Caiphas who I really liked but used both of them two years. Christian is available now that I've used him for breeding and Kiso is available as I have much of his genetics in the ram and ewe flocks.

I have several ram lambs available still from these above rams as well. Please inquire! :)

BFL fleece and photo shots Part 2

The white BFL is an amazing animal. Their blue pigmented head with the roman nose and erect long ears took my breath away. Its not a look that every can appreciate and I respect that. The BFLs are just amazing animals when you look at all they have to offer, and all that they can do.

Without further ado I bring you my white BFLs!

Beechtree Kearsley.

Foundation ewe ( I have four of her daughters here, Kershope, Morovia, Sine Qua Non and Prima Facie). She herself is more domestic looking (less than 50% UK) with only Carryhouse V2 and Rossiebank Laird in her pedigree. She is not my ideal ewe but produces them! See how she produces in her daughters below:

Below is her fleece parted.

2010 Micron Results: AFD 26.9, SD 4.3, CV 16, CEM 7.5, SF 25.1

Not bad for a 5 year old!

I have no secrets on this farm. Kearsley has frost bite and gets it every year. Its not that she isn't hardy enough, or that its too cold. I believe its because she's too fat. It happens in the same spots every year. Usually around mid February. She does NOT pass this on to her offspring and she is not a peeler. Her daughters all have lovely fleeces as well.

Beechtree Kershope

She was my very first ewe lamb I bought and she is F2 Titan F3 Carryhouse V2 among other things. She had Kacy the Natural Colored ewe in the previous post. Last year she was AI'ed to Titan but didn't settle. This year she is huge and looks to have triplets or more in that gigantic body.

Kershope's fleece

2010 Micron Results: AFD 30.1, SD 4.6, CV 15.1, CEM 7.7, SF 28

Cross Wind Clover

2010 Micron Results: AFD 30.4, SD 5.7, CV 18.6, CEM 10, SF 29

ShelteringPines Morovia

2010 Micron Results: AFD 26.9, SD 4.7, CV 17.4, CEM 8, SF 25.4

Sheltering Pines Catalonia

Her fleece below:

2010 Micron Results: AFD 26.2, SD 4.7, CV 18, CEM 8.2, SF 24.9

ShelteringPines Sine Qua Non

(latin for: absolutely essential)

She has the most awesome fleece. I love how it drapes and how fine it appears! She is out of Beechtree Cragganmore and Kearsley. Lovely blue pigment...you should see them in the summer!

Below is her fleece:

2010 Micron Results: AFD 25.3, SD 4.2, CV 16.8, CEM 7.3, SF 23.8

I also missed a photo of her twin, Prima Facie (means at first look), but below is her fleece. Its fantastic!

2010 Micron Results: AFD 26, SD 4.2, CV 16.2, CEM 7.5, SF 24.3

These last two girls are exactly what I am looking for in the breed: drapey, long fleeces that open cleanly to the skin. Deep blue pigment. Typey heads and proper ear set. Below is a photo of them being shown at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival in Jefferson, WI last September.

BFL fleece and profile shots Part 1

Natural colored BFLs are my favorite. They are not registrable in the UK, but thankfully the founding members of the BFL associations in the USA permit them.

Natural colored BFLs are really English Blue in pattern (Aeb) and that pattern can be very dark to very light. I have both ends of the spectrum in just a few specimens.

The BFLs are just big dogs in wool jackets. They are inquisitive, friendly, sassy, and tame by nature. They accept handling quite readily and free stack naturally. Unfortunately the photos below are not all perfect as I can't see what I'm doing from in front of the sheep (yes that's my red arm).

*As always, click photo to biggify*

Beechtree GlenLuce
WS&WF Reserve Grand Champion Natural Colored Ewe 2009

GlenLuce is bred to Beechtree Wycliffe, an F2 Rossiebank X003. Below is a photo of her fleece.
2010 Micron results: AFD 28.9, SD 4.6, CV 15.9, CEM 8.3, SF 27

Sheltering Pines Burma

Burma is my natural colored ram. I have his triplet sister (white ewe, Catalonia) and his triplet brother is making Mules in Indiana at UnderTheSon. Burma has produced a lovely ewe below named Kacy and several lovely Mules here. Burma is available for sale for either purebred breeding or making mules. Very handsome and mellow man.

Burma's fleece below (apologies for blurriness)
2010 Micron Results: AFD 27, SD 5, CV 18.5, CEM 9.2, SF 25.8

WhitePine Kacy
(her wool on her rump was quite fluffy today, she is level)

Kacy is my only lamb from 2009. Burma's daughter out of Beechtree Kershope.
2010 Micron Results: AFD 26.3, SD 5, CV 18.9, CEM 8.5, SF 25.2
Kacy's fleece below

I forgot apparently to take a photo of Cross Wind Bea in profile, so all you get is her fleece photo for now. She's my lightest Aeb (English Blue) girl.
2010 Micron Results: AFD 27.9, SD 4.5, CV 16.1, CEM 7.7, SF 26.1

Micron Results finally!

My Excel Spreadsheet came via email today of the 86 samples. I like to pay extra to get the results somewhat faster. I don't get the histograms unitl they arrive in the mail but this gives me an idea of what I'm feeling with my fingers and gives me a start on what do go forward with.

That being said I am going to be culling heavily this year. I already know which lines are working, which ewes I've already retained offspring from and there will be about 10 days of ewes for sale before they either go to the BFL ram or go to the auction house.

I'll try to get photos of the girls in question.

I'm not culling only on micron. I already have lists based on lambing record, health and parasite resistance, fleece sales, handle, conformation, temperament etc. The micron testing is just another tool, and to be honest, most of the numbers i was NOT suprised by.....

One nice thing about the reports is that it helps to train my fingers as to what a 30 AFD 6 SD feels like versus a 30AFD 4SD.

more when I can

Shetland Microns and learning new things!

Kara's post to the Chat With NASSA list today made me think of a post I've been wanting to write about for a while.

Before I dive in, I wanted to repost my 2009 entire flock micron average for just the Shetlands. I realize that the BFLs have much lower SD and CVs and would bring the flock averages WAY DOWN for those so I removed those. I did include all ewes and rams, mature and yearlings.

AFD 25.4
SD 5.7
CV 22.5
CEM 10.9
CF 80

I sold 15 sheep since then, all to new breeding flocks (some registered flocks, some unregistered flocks). Once those rams and ewes were removed these were my averages:
AFD 25.3
SD 5.6
CV 22.2
CEM 8.6
CF 93.5

The first three numbers were basically the same, although slightly lower. The CEM and CF however improved greatly. I did sell some animals that had higher CEM and CF. But I also sold some of my very lowest CEM and CF sheep as well. Its surprising what one can improve upon just by selling some animals huh?


At Black Sheep Gathering I gave a genetics talk to the BFL group at their National Banquet. After that talk, Martin Dally of SuperSire Ltd gave a talk solely on Micron Testing and reports.


1. Micron results should NOT be compared between different groups fed differently or separated, or compared to DIFFERENT FLOCKS on different farms!

This mind boggled me. Why would we? Martin told us that there are SO MANY factors that lead to wool testing that each pen or age group or pasture or flock or farm will read differently and not to be compared across the country.

So if my ewe lambs are fed and housed apart from my mature and pregnant ewes, their microns should NOT be compared as equals. Granted you can get a rough idea between the two groups but should NOT be compared with other animals from other pens.

That means that my rams should NOT be compared to my ewes, or ewe lambs, or ram lambs, unless they were all together, for an entire year in the same pen, eating the same food. This also means that my BFLs were house separately from my Shetlands and fed differently, so their microns should NOT be compared to any other group.

Now the ewes have been housed in the same pastures all summer since about May 1st. If I took a fall test of ALL the ewes then I could compare them across the board as they've been house and fed in the same conditions.

2. Sample collection and time of the year will also have an affect on your results!

The month of the year where the fleece will be the finest at the skin level (where you cut the fibers from the animal) will be the month of March through May 1st. The highest number will be in the fall, September/October. March is a good indicator of the finest wool follicles reaching their peak for fineness. In the fall months, the wool follicles have not had an opportunity to work as hard over the bitter cold months. Your finest wool is produced during the winter months.

3. The third to last rib, mid side is the preferred location on Merinos to do fleece samples!

When I questioned this he said many other breeds also do third to last rib, mid side. I told him that YoCom-McColl and Texas A&M recommend last rib. Martin felt that that was too far back on the animal to give a good indication of what the 'average' micron of the animal was.

I still don't fully believe this and still will do last rib, mid side as that is what all of us Shetlander's are doing.

4. Different parts of the fleece will be different in microns.

Now I understood this, but in Merinos (where Martin has had 20+ years breeding them) the change in micron is really only 2-4 microns over their entire body, not 20 microns like many Shetlands are. Also depending on the breed, it will differ.

5. Ideal age for micron testing is 16-18 months of age

Martin emphasized that ewes have not lambed yet so there is no stress from being pregnant, and rams are ideal at this age to micron test. He said never to micron old ewes past age 6 as at that age (six) will be the most coarse the ewe will be, before SLIGHTLY getting finer with old age. Slightly being 2 microns at most. This example was in a 21 micron flock of Merinos. The ewes barely changed from 1.5 years of age until 6.5 years of age, only going up maybe .3-.5 microns. (COULD WE ONLY WISH OUR SHETLANDS DID THIS SLIGHT INCREASE?!)


So take this all for what its worth, a grain of salt. I most likely will NOT take any drastic changes to my schedule as i usually collect fleece samples in March/April anyway, and since I do micron test yearling (even my crosses and old ewes) I do find that the oldest ewes rarely change much and by age 6 we will know for sure what they will be.

So ends today's lesson ;)

Culling Rates

I was reading some past comments on Laura Matthews blog about her Coopworth ram and how the Coopworth registry has a mandatory 75% cull rate in rams and 30% cull rate in ewes.

When I first read it, I was like WOW that's a pretty serious number for rams, but then went back to my breedings in the past. In cattle our cull rate was 25% for heifers and 95% for bulls. We typically kept most of our heifers for replacements. If they didn't work out, they were sold. Our bulls we are/were extremely picky about. This year my cull rates for the heifers was 50%, and the bulls 95%. I kept only one bull and 2 heifers. Since I only ended up with 4 heifers, and sold two, that would be the 50% :)

In sheep in years past my cull rate was 35-60% in ewes and in rams 50-100% in rams. My first year I culled all of my rams ( I ate them) and same as my 2nd year. I did winter some over to eat them, but never used any for breeding, even though I did registere a few. This year I kept back 50% of my ram lambs as over half of them were from AI and they were the last of those bloodlines. I want to grow them on to see how they develop and compare them to the lambs that are born next year from AI.

It would be interesting to see what Shetland or BFL people do for culling %'s. I bet some Shetland breeders have zero culling as they either don't breed, or they can't part with any as they are their pets :) Its a bummer that Shetlands are not more based on production like other breeds of sheep that are considered livestock, and not pets. I think we'd see improvement a lot faster in them if they were not pets first and kept because they are cute or friendly. Even if they aren't registered, I don't think that constitutes culling?

What are your percentages?

OPP negative flock too! And Blue Tongue too!

Another 'as expected' result from the blood draw. I actually did a specific OPP test for sheep this time around. It does not give false positives (or negatives) and is highly effective in finding those with OPP.

Needless to say I'm quite relieved!

I also had my flock tested for Blue Tongue as I acquired sheep from areas of the country that have it throughout. I've only gotten the results of 25 of the 54 sheep as they are running the other batch tomorrow. The first half are all NEGATIVE as well. I will not test for this test again once I get the rest of the results(if they are negative) as here in the cold northern part of MN we do not have the vector for BT to be transferred (most of the midwest doesn't have this vector, or the mountainous areas to our west). The only way it can be transmitted is via this vector. If we don't have it, other animals cannot get it transmitted to them.

This is also NOT the same Blue Tongue that is ravaging Europe and the UK. There are 6 or more strains throughout the world. After talking to my state vet, the state vets in CA and OR and the Federal vet (who actually has a lake cabin 30 miles from my farm!) I've concluded this is not a huge worry for us in the Midwest, especially since we do not have the vector. The federal vet for BT told me that eventually the titers if present will eventually fade away. Titers just mean that the animal was exposed to it, but did not get it (antibodies if you will) is how i understood it.

It will be interesting to see the rest of the results.

Johne's Free!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our results are starting to come back from our blood draw last week.

Our entire mature flock of 54 animals has been tested negative for Johne's. As expected!

I have decided at this point in time to close my flock for the most part, and only allow animals in that have been tested prior to coming here (in a well educated purchased) or tested at my farm in quarantine (more of an impulse buy). Those animal will have to test negative for all tests that I am testing for to maintain the negative flock status. I can really see that there will be few animals that I 'need' to get and should be able to breed from within my own flock to make the animals that I am looking for (gosh I hope so!)

Further, I am going to do fecals on all animals that come into my farm hopefully prior to them getting here or again in quarantine. I'm not being 'anal' (pun heavy) about doing fecals but if I'm going to spend the money to draw blood and test for those diseases I sure should be doing fecals as those seem to be a larger problem with sheep in general.

Meet the ewe - RiverOaks Eliza

River Oaks Eliza - S19622

AwtAa, B?Bb, SSS?, white ewe, single born 5.2.05

18.75% UK

Eliza was originally purchased to use in AI last fall. The night before the sponges were to be pulled, hers fell out, not enabling us to use her in the AI. So THIS year we have CIDRs instead of sponges and those things do NOT come out easily! She will be bred to Campaign Timothy this fall.



Eliza was purchased from her breeder, Becky Utecht for her greyling genetics. At the time I knew of very few animals with any of his line left in my neck of the woods and thought I should get her. Her fleece is around 4" in staple length, it is very soft to feel and crimpy. She's a nice bodied ewe who carried and raised twins nicely and quickly on grass alone. She has one of the largest udders I've ever seen and told Becky often that she had 'Holstein udders' on her Shetland ewes :) Obviously Becky has a great forage system!

Below is Eliza's 2009 micron. This was her fourth fleece. In my opinion you can't get much better than that! I don't for see it moving much more as she matures, but I'm sure she'll like to prove me wrong!

Thanks to Becky, these next two micron reports are from her. Below is her 2009 micron report.


Eliza's yearling micron (full lamb fleece)

I really am hoping for a cute white ewe lamb out of her, or a wonderful moorit or black ram. I just don't see many good white ewes out there (or any white ewes for that matter) and think that everyone should have at least a few white sheep on their farm!

Meet the ewe - ShelteringPines Fleur de Lis

I've been neglectful of the 'meet the ewe' series so I should continue on!

ShelteringPines Fleur de Lis - S25993

smirslet gray katmoget ewe - twin born 3.13.07

AbAa, BBB?, SsSs

Fleur as a lamb at Stephen's took my breath away. Her solid conformation, her katmoget pattern and her cute and wide smirslet face won me over. When Stephen decided to let her go, I had to jump at the chance. Her parents were wonderful representatives of the breed and both were spotted. Her sire, Underhill Thelonius Monk went to Canada, and her dam moved on to another farm in the US. Below is Fleur in nearly full fleece. Her staple length is 4-5 inches and is single coated. Her fleece sold immediately after shearing.

Below is her 2009 micron as a two year old. Look at how HIGH the numbers are on the left of the graph. That's a great thing :) She has a larger crimp than is typical of UK style Shetlands, but has a low SD and CV, which means she is highly improvable towards finer AFDs in her lambs, when bred to the proper rams. This past year I had her bred to Jazz, and got a gorgeous black krunet ewe I named Festus. (two wildly spotted katmogets and i get a black krunet! That's my luck!) She was a big girl at birth, and just a single, but her fleece is jet black and lovely to dig my fingers into. Better yet she is probably the nicest conformed ewe lamb from this year. Fleur this fall is going to be AI'ed to Greenholme Holly in hopes of spots and finer fleece.

Meet the ewe - FirthofFifth Taika

FirthofFifth Taika - S25033

black gulmoget ewe, single born 4.28.07

AbAa, BBB?, SSS?, 44% UK

Taika was my very first gulmoget. I was dying to get one and Cynthia graciously allowed me to have one. Taika had very minimal side dusting as a lamb and it wasn't apparent until after her first shearing that she was going to have more of it. I'm not sure if she carries moorit, but could, and she is a full sister to Tilly, who I wrote about a few ewes ago.


Above is Taika and her daughter Talitha who is a Barish daughter from May of 2009. Taika looks dainty but she is not as refined as her full sister Tilly. This was one day after shearing.

Below is her 2009 micron report. Again, slightly higher CV but very workable.Most importantly, look at how HIGH up the left side goes. That means she has a ton of fibers at those numbers...which is a good thing :)

Below is 2008 micron. The overall histo looks the same for most of these girls.

I'm breeding her to Minder this fall. While she has a nice histo, it is a bit to the right trailing. I'm being selfish and wanting an Ag Gulmoget >:)

Meet the ewe - WhitePine Skor

WhitePine Skor - S26419

Shaela ewe, single, born 5.6.07

AaAa, BBBb, SSS?, 28%UK


This was my very best home bred lamb my first year of lambing. She was born jet black to a ewe who had this very same coloring. As a lamb her first fall she looked dark brown, but upon shearing time, she was the same pewter color that her mother, Meleng was. As she has aged, her color gets more pronounced with each season. Last year she was bred to Barish in hopes of getting an emsket (he carries modified as well). This fall she be going to Heights Orion as he throws a lot of modified lambs (and hoping again for emsket) and always improves fleeces. If Orion can't do it, you don't have much else out there.
Skor's 2009 micron. She and her mother had always had really low AFDs but higher CVs. Orion's super low CV will hopefully improve Skor's rather high CV


Skor's 2008 micron (yearling) tests.
Its interesting that most of my ewes are black based but yet still carry moorit. Skor is one of these ewes. I have very few AaAa ewes as I've tended to keep sheep based on their micron tests and handle (and structure) rather than having an equal amount of all patterns/colors. As you can see most of my flock is not spotted, nor solid bodied due to this fact. Perhaps its just the lines I'm working with? But when I do get spotted or solid animals they are blessings! I have 4 black ewe lambs and 3 moorit ewe lambs i've retained in these very hopes!!

Meet the ewe - Underhill Ulla

Underhill Ulla - S18254

moorit ewe, single born 4.20.03

AaAa, BbBb, SSSs, carries spots. dynamite conformation and breed type, 38% UK

Wool on poll, crimpy, solid, wide and square ewe. She's not super friendly but they don't ALL have to be. This is a business folks!
Ulla in June with only a few weeks worth of wool on her. Look at her nice condition :)

Ulla's 2009 micron. This past year she was AI'ed to Minder and I got two lovely ram lambs. A musket smirslet sokket and a light badgerface. This fall she is going to be AI'ed again....this time to Heights Orion. I need more moorits! (and less katmogets!)

Meet the ewe - Justalit'l Chloe

Justalit'l Chloe - S15371

Fawn Katmoget ewe, single born 4.2.03

AbAb, BbBb, SSSs, 31% UK F2 Minder


This gorgeous homozygous katmoget ewe is just a sweetheart of a ewe, as well as a superb mother.

Below is Chloe relaxing with her 2009 twin katmoget ram lamb out of Greenholme Holly, named WhitePine Caiphas. He does carry moorit and solid and his fleece was wonderful in lamb micron testing, and it is BLUE and super crimpy. Also note the huge horns!

Below is her 2008 micron. You can see that yes she is over 30 AFD, but she is so highly improvable that I've retained all of her offspring born here...three ewes and a ram lamb.

Below is her 2009 micron. She is now six years old and believe that after three years of microning her, her numbers will stay about the same at this point. I'm also going to be using her going on three year old daughter Koosi whose numbers are just unbeatable: AFD 25.6, SD 4.4, CV 17.2, CEM 7.5 and CF87.2. She is homozygous gray katmoget as both her mom (Chloe) and her sire (Todhill Jericho) are both homozygous katmoget. With numbers like that Chloe is a gem!

I'm so fortunate to have had the ability to use Chloe, but after next year, she will be available for sale as I will have so many of her offspring here to replace Chloe, some other flock certainly deserves her wonderful lines.

Why micron and venting.

Its been a LONG time since I"ve used my blog for venting...and I can't take it any longer.

For someone who is learning like me, I think microning is a great tool to learn stuff about your own sheep.

I can 'feel' how soft a fleece FEELS but I can't tell you how fine it will be. I can pick any number and say...16 microns...but who am I bluffing? I have shown evidence of my testing, unlike others who claim to have such fine fleeces but never have the data to back it up. Handle yes is important as are all other things...scales, density, etc. Its just a tool that I use and am happy with using to get my desired results. And its working for me, and I couldn't be happier with it. Are my sheep perfect? Absolutely not! Am I a genius? FAR FROM IT! I'm still learning and want to learn all I can. Its the bashing that I cannot take.

With less than 15 known breeders of single coats I'd say we are by far the underdog here in this NA flock of sheep that are getting too coarse, too big and way too primitive.

Where is the historical evidence of THREE fleece types? The double coats here in the US are not anything like the UK double coats they call beaver or scatter. Check out the Stanley Bowie article in the last NASSA News. He said that there is no mention of kindly/beaver coats for centuries and that the classic Shetlands are of single coated sheep, with few scatter fleeced typed animals that happen to have an outer coat ONLY along the back and maybe a ruff/mane on the neck and they aren't even registered.

AKC (American Kennel Club) has a breed standard for all of the dogs that it recognizes. I had heard on the general Shetland list that NASSA is first and foremost a registry to preserve the breed. I think if NASSA keeps this stance up, it will end up like AKC....just a registry that anyone can register animals as long as it has registered parents. My last girlfriend had an AKC registered Pomeranian. Standard calls for a dog of 2-5 pounds (or so, i can't remember) and hers was over TWENTY pounds. I thought it was a mutt crossed with a sheltie. She was offended and said she paid big bucks for this AKC registered Pomeranian.

Do we want to be like the AKC and just allow poor breedings to continue to happen? Bowie also states in his article that the double coats we have are bred down from crossbred sheep and are different than the UK sheep. Bad breeding should not be rewarded. Its time to stop breeding animals together because they are cute or friendly when the structure and fleece is being ignored.

And I do not think that we should forfeit fleece types or animals because they micron at such and such or have a double coat. That was never my intent, but like Linda W said....we need to move FORWARD with what we have and breed towards the standard that's been in place over 80 years to PROTECT the BREED. Let's move forward together to create the ideal sheep...fine fleeced, within fleece and size limits, according to the standard. There is enough room to merit variability without having commercialized sheep.

If you don't want to follow the breed standard, don't register your sheep. I'd hate to see 150 pound horse hair sheep winning at shows that are being called Shetlands. Oh wait, that's already happening. And people are buying them. That scares me. And they are bigger than Icelandics. Why should we allow Shetlands, that should have NEVER looked like Icelandics for centuries to all of a sudden be OK to breed from? They are not following the standard.

AKC allows any registering of animals that have registered parents...even though they have a standard, they don't have a way to examine the animals prior to registering. Let's not go the way of the dogs....let's put good breeding practices into effect, breed forward, learning together, and be good STEWARDS of the breed, without a personal agenda.

Meet the ewe - Black Forest Tilly

Black Forest Tilly - S27171

Black Gulmoget, 44% UK, twin born 4-6-08

AtAa, BBB?, SSS?

Below is Tilly, shown a few weeks after being shorn (and with her ewe lamb cropped out of the photo). She is just a yearling, so has a bit of growing up to do. She is exquisitely refined, while still being around 70 pounds at last weigh in (2 weeks ago). I like everything about this girl structure wise and I think she has breed type (at least what I think is breed type). She has just a slight amount of side dusting which is what I prefer (less, not more).

Below is Tilly freshly shorn with her day old baby girl Terah. If you biggify you might be able to see her lovely crimp as a lamb. She micron tested wonderfully as well, thanks to her momma :)

I've decided after all to breed Tilly to AI this fall. I'm leaning towards Heights Orion and hoping for moorit gulmoget ewe lambs. Wait. I wished for that this year and got a black ewe lamb ;) Fingers crossed......

Her histogram for this year has yet to be delivered to my mail box. It will be put here once I receive them and can scan them in. Here is her 2008 lamb micron.


She DID come down nicely this year. AFD 22.8, SD 5.7, CV 25.1, CF 87.4%

Meet the ewe - ShelteringPines Nirvana

ShelteringPines Nirvana - S25999

Gray Katmoget , horned, 36.5% UK, twin born 3.23.07

AbAa, BBBb, SSSs,

Above and below is Nirvana. The one below is her with her twin katmoget girls out of Wintertime Blues ;)
Below is her 2009 micron report. She is not my finest ewe, but very improvable. Her twin girls out of Blues were nearly identical with their fall microns and I'm very pleased with them!

As is normal with Sheltering Pines stock, they are conformationally wonderful and their fleeces are very consistent with little britch. She proved her keep with the Jericho lambs so will be bred to Heights Orion this fall in hopes of some solid lambs, preferably ewes :)

Meet the Ewe - Justalit'l Black Lambo

Justalit'l Black Lambo - S11259

Black ewe - 25% UK - single, born 4.9.01

AaAa, BBBb, SSS?. Proven poll carrier ewe.

Above and below, show Lambo as an 8 year old ewe. Her twin lambs out of Heights Orion are with her below.

Below is Lambo's eight year old fleece histogram and micron.

Lambo is truly a dream come true. Thanks Stephen for letting me get her from you :) As an EIGHT year old ewe she has one of the best histograms that I have, as well as giving me wonderful lambs! (her daughter this year was WhitePine Bethany - fawn ewe AFD 23.4, SD 5, CV 21.2, CEM 8.9, CF 92.8%)

I'm hoping to use her in AI this fall to Todhill Jericho in hopes of getting some impressive katmogets :) (Jericho is homozygous katmoget). She now, at 8, has just a tiny amount of iset in her britch, but otherwise no iset. That's also hard to come by!