Gentlemen

After our first significant snowfall (4" wohoo!) last night, and a long morning of cleaning up the wet heavy stuff. I got home to a gorgeous blue sky and lots of warmth coming from the sunshine. Although it only reads 19 degrees currently on the thermometer, I was out in a t shirt and pants, and a hat sitting on a log in the mature ewes pen. Lots of scratches later, I wanted to get some photos of the girls and I had to wait patiently for them to lose interest in me.

Those photos will come in the next blog or two.

This one is for the boys!


Remember Jazz? Well we fondly refer to him here as Mr Jazz Hands. Don't ask me why, but it stuck. He sure is looking like Mr. Universe huh? His lamb fleece tests were AFD 19.8, SD 4.4, CV 22.2, and %>thirty on .9! Yes POINT NINE!! I'm really excited to see what his yearling fleece will be tested at. The entire group (all 37 animals) will be having a fleece sample sent to Texas A & M. I've normally gone through Yocum but don't have THAT much extra money to have them tested. The down side is I'll have to wait at least a month through Texas to get the results back. I wish they'd be like Yocum and send them via email...

I digress.

The second photo is of most of the other boys. Clockwise from the top left is Hansel, Heath, PayDay and Rolo. Barish was standing under foot when I was taking all the photos. He's not pushy or rude but stands and waits to be paid attention to. The camera can't get far enough away from his nose!


Again these boys lamb fleeces tested as follows:
Rolo: AFD 21.9, SD 6.7 , CV 30.6 %> thirty 12.1
Heath: AFD 22.4, SD 5.9 , CV 26.3, %>thirty 8.5
PadDay: AFD 23.3, SD 8.8 , CV 37.8, %>thirty 17.5
Barish: AFD 24.5, SD 6.4, CV 26.1, %> thirty 15.6
Hansel: AFD 27.8 , SD 10.3, CV 37.1, %> thrity 34.0

Jazz will more than likely stay here indefinetly, unless by chance there is a ram lamb that comes along with a better test and look to him :) Barish will probably go as I am AI'ing several more ewes to Timothy this fall, and he is a 1/2 poll. PayDay's fleece is exquisite (there i finally used the word) and if he isn't sold as a ram, I'll probably keep him as a whether as his fleece is amazing, even though the micron is a tad high. Heath is not NASSA registered so he will hopefully go to a fiber flock, and Rolo I'm undecided about. I may keep him around because I love his length of fleece, his presence (like Jazz's) and his color keeps getting lighter at the skin. Hansel will more than likely be going to the butcher when he gets big enough. Not only is he the meaniest and biggest boy of the group, but his fleece isn't what I am looking for in my Shetlands. he also still doesn't like me, no matter how many treats I try to persuade him with!

Of course all of this could change depending on what I raise for lambs this year. These boys are not the largest but then again I have to remember they are only 9 or 10 months old and still have a long ways to go to grow up and be big boys :)