Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Agouti (Ag) gene

I love the look of a white animal with black or brown faces. When I found that the gulmoget pattern also was beautiful with Ag, my mind was made up that I'd have to have one!

Well I got one, Peyton, but he's a boy!! There is nothing wrong with Ag rams, but I sure don't want one on my farm. Why? Because half of the lambs would be Ag, just like with white rams (Awt), half the lambs would be white. This is a great 'problem' for those who love white, or Ag fleeces or sheep, but I think it would take over a farm fairly quickly if its not kept in check.


Minwawe Merry-Go-Round (Ag/Aa, BB/Bb, Ss/Ss)

Ewes on the other hand are welcome here if they have the Ag factor! I have two Ag/Aa ewes that are black based....Minwawe Merry-go-round (hey I didn't name her)(LOL) and Justalit'l Shasta. Both are intermediate in length, and Shasta is horned.
Justalit'l Shasta (Ag/Aa, BB/B?, Ss/Ss) in full fleece.

I also have an Ag/Aa Ss/Ss BB/Bb scurred bersugget ram lamb, named Rico (who is still available btw)I love this pattern/marking when they are babies and watching it mottle out as they get older. Simply stunning! (And he's super crimpy and soft too!)


WhitePine Rico F2 Orion (Ag/Aa, BB/Bb, Ss/Ss) still available!

I have one ewe who is Ag/Aa brown based, and she is my musket Underhill Peep. She has a single/intermediate fleece and both her lambs out of Wintertime Black Forrest are very crimpy and solid boys. If they were both girls, they'd have replaced their mother and I would have kept them both! But alas, they are both boys, and Peyton the Ag/Ab gulmoget boy is still available...and he is a poll carrier!
Underhill Peep in full fleece (Ag/Aa, Bb/Bb, SS/S?) F2 Jamie


WhitePine Peyton scurred, grey gulmoget (Ag/At, BB/Bb, Ss/Ss) with tiny krunet

So is there a point to this blog? Probably not. Maybe if you need one, that I personally like heterzygous Ag ewes and that they will always have a place on my farm. I've heard from some that Ag and Awt fleeces are softer naturally. I'd have to say I beg to differ as my softest ewes (handle AND micron) are both shaela :P

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A long time coming!

 It has been a long time. Too long in fact. We lost access to our farm website and ebonwald website when WEBS.COM was closed by VistaPrint. ...