The Finns I can get locally are fine sheep, of Wee Croft lineage, bred at Gale Woods Farm by Tim Reese, the Farm manager. Gale Woods is a teaching farm park in Minnetrista, MN. Tim's flock is certified scrapie-free and tested for OPP. I was thrilled to get 3 new Finn ewes from him. This black girl with the big white splash on her forehead also has a white foot. She was sheared last month-- while her "sister", who to my eye looks modified black, or emsket in Shetland terms-- was not. I was stunned to really see her color today.
You see, I wasn't even going to buy this solid colored ewe, but she came up to me and laid her head on my thigh. She's a love, and look at that wool!
Of course, it's the spotted cow of a sheep that first caught my eye. What a splashy look!
They're a little spooky in their new yard. This lineup was caused when the farm cat walked by!
9 comments:
Nice ewes! That fleece and color are gorgeous. And they all seem to have beautiful conformation, too! Congratulations.
I assumed the Finns would look just like Shetlands, but they don't. It makes me happy to think there are still these visible differences between the Northern Short-tailed breeds.
HI SABRINA!
Nice photo you chose for your profile. Those Finns are long legged-- different from the Shetlands, you are right. Sometimes one of them, already here, moves like a deer, I've thought. I love them. I think all the new ones were bottle lambs, so they are super friendly, too. Niav is still just as sweet and friendly, by the way.
How exciting for you Gail. I love the color of that fleece. I'm glad you were there to save them.
Lovely ewes, Gail! Have you seen Finnsheep gray? I wonder if that is anything close in color to your Emsket ewe? I have been spinning up your ram Osmo's fleece. It spins like a dream. With his brown, it will be fun to see what colors you get! I am so pleased with my new Finn ewes! I'm glad we were able to keep them from the butcher...
Hi Terri and Candy. I was glad to keep them from the butcher. Only a tenuous grip on reality kept me from taking them all home. I was lacking black in Finns, so now I will have it in spades. But I have always wanted a dark gray wool.
Terri, I don't think it's Ag Gray, or the color change would be dramatic from root to tip. It's so uniform, that's what makes me think modified color instead. But I don't know what the other Finn breeders call gray. . .
I believe I have read that gray is supposed to be rare in Finns. But I don't know what is considered gray in Finn standards either. I guess we will learn. :-)
I will be anxious to see what your spotted "cow" fleece looks like!
Lovely ewes there. So glad you saved them!
WOW! What great looking ewes and I love the pied....neat markings. I can't wait to see what you have for lambs next spring!
YIKES!
I didn't know that photo would be visible. Since I'm on dial-up I never load the profile pics.
Clancy took that pic. I'll have to change it to a sheep one or something.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention! :)
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