Johanna/wool sheep
Posted by: dhaley <dhaley@...>
I belong to a local spinner's guild. Due to the fact that we all live
rurally just about every single person in the guild raises sheep. We all
have different breeds. If you are primarily looking to purchase sheep for
their wool, I'd suggest spinning different wools to see what you like to
spin. My teenage daughter has a longer draw than I and does better with a
longer staple like a Lincoln. I love that wool but find I spin best with a
shorter staple such as the Border Leicester. We have a mixed flock. Our 4
year old Ram is half Border Leicester and half Lincoln Long Wool (an old
breed). He produces lovely lambs no matter what we breed him too. We have
different breeds with our ewes and many of my ewes have been purchased from
other spinning flocks where they cross bred just for the quality of the
wool. We have found that having a mixed flock has worked well. We have
different kinds of wool to play with and we still get decent butcher lambs
because the Lincoln ram produces a large lamb for slaughter.
Others may disagree with my next statement. I have recently had several
friends decide to sell all their sheep. I must admit at times I too
consider selling all my sheep. We have found them to be very hard on our
fences. This is the reason my neighbors are selling out. I would really
encourage you to do some research on the type of wool you like, see how much
you acutally spin, then decide if you want to purchase sheep. The gal in
charge of our guild often says, the average spinner can spin no more than
two fleeces a year. I can purchase nice fleeces for about $15-20 a piece.
I can purchase market lambs for the freezer for $100 a piece. We generally
only eat 2 lambs a year. SOO...actual use of my flock is really only about
$300 a year max....when I figure all the work, the fencing, the feed
ect....it really dosen't pay me to keep a small flock. So why do I do it?
Because I can't bear to part with them! We've learned so much by watching
sheep and then relating that back to the Word of God, there is just
something comforting about watching those sheep in the pasture...my two
cents...Deanna