Hymnotes Farm Spinning Flock:
Front row: Pam – 3 year old crossbred ewe of unknown ancestry – bottle fed -SOL
Back row: Maplewood Daisy Mae (Musket),
Maplewood Scarlet O’Hare (Black),
Red Barn Farm Dawns Early Light (White),
Red Barn Farm Black as Night (Black).
Shetland Sheep are an ancient breed from the Shetland Islands (located north of Scotland and west of Norway in the Altantic Ocean). They are a hardy breed of sheep that have short tails which do not require docking.
Shetland Fiber is fine and durable. There is a great range of colors which add to the value of the fiber for hand spinners. The fiber has a long staple length and it grows very quickly which allows Shetland Sheep to be shorn twice a year giving a “double crop” of fiber. Shetland wool is famous for its use in traditional wedding shawls that can be pulled through a bride’s ring. Shetlands were imported into Canada in the 1980′s and into the USA later in that decade.
Sheltering Pines Three Muskateer – Ram Lamb born 2009 (updates coming)
Sheltering Pines Caramello – born 2009. (updates coming soon)
Hymnotes Farm Ashley – single ewe – born April 2008
1st Lambing – July 15, 2009 – Single Ewe – Hymnotes Cookie (white)
Dam – Maplewood Daisy Mae S 25329 (musket ewe) – Twin
Sire – Hymnotes Jorden (black)
Shetland sheep commonly give birth to single and twin lambs. Cookie’s mother(Ashley – her pic is elsewhere in my blog) is a white lamb with black spots (flecket) and has a black spot on her tongue. Cookie’s sire (Sunny – his pic is elsewhere in my blog) is all white. I will not be breeding Cookie until fall of this year so she will lamb in spring of 2011. I am hoping that she is carrying a recessive gene for spots even though she is not expressing the gene. I plan on breeding her to my new spotted ram (he has a black spot on his tongue) to increase the possibility of the lambs expressing the spotting gene. Jacob (from the Bible) knew all about genetics, and was very successful in his breeding plan.
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