Yesterday, we gave all the ewe lambs their second shots. All of them were evaluated. I managed to get coats on most of them, but I still need to make 11 more coats, as I ran out of some sizes. The uncoated sheep went back to the orchard on pasture, while the rest are here in the barns on hay.
Most of the lambs ended up very close after evaluation. To break things down further, I first did my normal evaluations, then broke ties by going with fleece quality, then fleece length. I ended up focusing more on wool for the ewe lamb selection this year.
We didn’t get everyone weighed for their 20-day weights, so I don’t have average daily gains on all lambs. For that reason, I can’t use meat production for selection this year. The ram lambs are yet to be evaluated.
We also sorted out some of the saleable yearling ewes. These four lovely ladies are sold, but we have more like them ready to go! Ewe yearlings are $175 each if purchased and picked up by the end of October. Ewe lambs are $100 each. Ram lambs are $100 each, and adult breeding rams are $200 each. All sheep are registered in both the US and UK, and are sold with transfers completed. Any required disease testing, veterinary inspections, and paperwork are extra, but this is a great chance to get some lovely black sheep for your flock.
I’m heading off to the Taos Wool Festival this weekend. I’m looking forward to a major fiber fix! I’ve never managed to get to any fiber festivals before, since most of them happen during out busy season. Fortunately, things have been slowing down lately, so I should be able to sneak away. Black Welsh Mountain yarn will be available at the Fire Ant Ranch booth on Saturday, so stop by and take a look!