| BLW-801R -
"Preston", white polled twin, born 4/2/05. Sire Arfi, dam BLW-465M, "Flash" .
Preston is our star, he took Grand Champion Ram at the ISBONA National Show at
the New York Sheep and Wool Fair, October of 2005.
His skirted lamb fleece weighed in at 4#, 13 oz.!
801R's show scores on the 10 point system are: head 8.0, neck and shoulders 8.0, chest 8.0, back 8.0, loin 8.5, leg 17.0, wool 8.5, feet 8.0, harmony 9.0 and total score 83.0. Best of all, the show judge Guðmundur Jóhannesson, said that 801R and his half brother 800R, could both be breeding rams back home in Iceland; truly praise from Caesar! Dam "Flash" is a black, polled Buri triplet daughter, 801R carries solid and spotting, is 1/2 Arfi, 1/4 Buri. Flash has given us another set of twins this year, she is truly one of those ewes you can count on to produce consistently outstanding lambs. Preston gave us some of our best lambs this year, so he will definitely be breeding for us again this year and next. Here are some updated photos of Preston, and of some of his lambs. I wish I could be keeping more of them, but they have sold very, very well.
|
|
BLW-816R, This fellow gave us a very nice set of triplets this spring, including 966R who has joined the ewe flock. He is a polled white twin, born 4/9/05 to dam BLW-403M, #561621, and AI sire Kostur, #98895. 816R carries solid and moorit and could be homozygous for the moorit gene. 816R is 1/2 Kostur and 1/8 Heli, plus he is a Red (STS-858G) grandson. Red will be retiring this year at the age of 9, having given us 22 lambs in 9 lambing years, a lifetime lambing rate of 233%!
His moorit sister 817R is very well-grown, one of the nicest ewes in the yearling pen and is doing an outstanding job with her twins. AI Sire Kostur has a particularly good daughter score of +25, which certainly is borne out by the performance of 817R, twin to 816R, adding to 816R's high genetic value for maternal qualities.
|
|
BLW-839R - Black gray/mouflon, twin, born 4/18/05, dam is our Reserve Champion Ewe, BLW-194L., sire BLW-612N, our quad from Lizzie, BLW-54G and our Flottison, BLW-477M. He is 1/4 Hnykill, and 1/8 each Skreppur and Flotti for a total of 1/2 AI blood. Skirted lamb fleece weighs in at 3#, 13 oz., wonderful silver-blue color.
839R bred most of the polled ewe lambs last year and gave us some really wonderful lambs. We found this summer that 839R and his lambs did particularly well holding good eye color during the worm season.
|
|
BLW-860R Our Karison, white, horned twin, born 5/7/05 to dam Serkur triplet BLW-452M. She is a solid moorit, so 860R carries solid and moorit, and looks to be homozygous for moorit. In the first photo, looks at the spot of moorit on his left leg, almost certainly a sign that he is homozygous for the moorit color gene underneath the white pattern. 860R placed third in the National Icelandic Show in Rhinebeck NY, this past October, with the first and second place holders being our Grand Champion and Reserved Champion Rams, so he was in good company indeed.
His show scores on a base of ten are: Head 8.0, neck and shoulders 8.0, Chest 8.0, Back 8.0, Loin 8.0, Legs 16.0, Wool 8.0, feet 8.0 and harmony 8.0 for a total score of 80.0. 860R is 1/2 Kari and 1/4 Serkur, plus a Solee great-grandson.
|
|
BLW-917S One of our real prizes for the year so he got the lion's share of the horned ewes this season. A horned black/gray son of Grimur and Magda, BLW-343L. His carbon copy sibling 907S, took Supreme Champion ram at the Michigan Fiber Festival this past August. The two rams are half brothers, both being sons of Grimur of course, plus on their maternal side they are half cousins with their dams 642N and 343L being half sisters, plus the rams are half uncle to nephew as their dams are a great granddaughter and granddaughter respectively, of Heli. I can't really figure out their degree of relatedness, but it is very high, explaining why there was hardly a whisker of difference between the two rams all summer. Alan Leighton, the buyer of 907S had asked me to compare the two when he was trying to choose between them, and the only, very slight differences I could find were that our 917S was a little longer in the topline, and Alan's 907S had a slightly more consistent fleece. So here is our Grimur son 917S:
917S is 1/2 Grimur and 1/8 Heli for an AI total of 5/8, plus he is a Solee grandson - wow! Here are some photos of him shorn.
917S as a shorn yearling. His yearling summer. Here are some photos of his fleece which just came off the skirting table, and wow! 3 lbs., 4 oz which is a fantastic weight for a fall lamb fleece, and the tones and hues are spectacular; pearl, silver, mahogany, fog, pewter, platinum and blue. These are all thumbnails, so click to see a larger view. Lots and lots of thel!
|
|
BLW-920S, a very chunky white twin son of Thokki and Red, STS-858G. A twin born to an older ewe, none the less, he is very well built, with that beautiful, downy Thokki fleece with little curly ringlets. 922S has small horns, but oh! That build with that fleece, plus Red's amazing maternal qualities. Red has had 22 lambs in nine seasons for a lifetime percentage of 233%, and always attentive, always careful with her lambs. Red has been a carefree, dependable mother all of her years here and we are thrilled to have one of her sons go into the breeding pens this fall. This ram has an amazing neck and shoulders, very muscular, and a good, beefy leg as well. All good! Here are a few shorn photos:
I've just skirted his fleece, and it is downy, downy, downy! Tog is short, and the fleece is just jammed with thel. Skirted weight, 2 lbs., 5 oz.
This last time we ran the flock through to vaccinate the lambs, I noticed that 920S's fleece has a sheen that catches your ewe, white and shiny and silky; really stands out!
|
| BLW-933S, a solid black,
spotted, polled triplet born to BLW-482M and Preston, 801R. He has his
father's long topline, is completely polled, and has one of the silkiest,
shiniest fleeces in the ram pen. His bloodlines are topnotch, with 1/4
Dalur from his dam's side and 1/4 Arfi and 1/8 Buri from his sire's, for an
AI total of 5/8.
lamb fleece a lamb photo lamb fleece yearling fleece
Some shorn photos:
We've just skirted his lamb fleece, and it is nice, nice, nice! Long curly-tipped tog fibers with a silky sheen, and the entire fleece is dense with a thick and downy thel. Total skirted weight 2 lbs., 11 oz., and it is all nice!
|
