Last of the Meet the Flock Series: 2010 Retained Ewes

Well this series is getting long.  Maybe I have too many sheep!  I am grouping the four ewe lambs, coming yearlings together, as you have met many of their relatives already.  It is WAY too cold for a photo shoot so as you may have realized I have been recycling photos.  Here is a relatively recent one of Mapleton Hope.  She is a Dessie full sister and is black and white HST twin ewe.  Her twin is Storm.  Dad Minwawe Bahama and mom Minwawe Serendippity.  She had a one day with emsket katmoget ram lamb Spring Hill Patches so we will see if she settled.  She is more reserved than her older sister Dessie but I think she has been hanging out will Sky too much!  Her lamb fleece is longer stapled but finely crimped when parted with a nice soft hand.


Another ewe lamb retained was Minwawe Sprinkles' daughter Mapleton Cupcake.  She is her mother's mini me with a more outgoing personality.  She is a twin and also sired by Bahama.  She was not in a breeding group this year.

 Okay group shot but see the little sweetie running toward me, front and center?  That is Mapleton Bella.  Very sweet, lovely fleece.  Very tiny.  Not bred this year.  Her mom Minwawe Cha Cha is a petite ewe so I am hoping she is a late bloomer and will grow well this summer to at least her mother's statue.  She is also a Bahama daughter.

 AGAIN LAST BUT NOT LEAST:  MAPLETON SILVERMIST

(Mapleton Zeus X High Bid Hester)

2010 grey katmoget twin ewe

Not bred this year.  She is so sweet, so correct, so soft , and a cool color and pattern to boot.  She is Violet's half sister and the only Zeus lamb retained to date.  I am really looking forward to seeing his lamb crop this year.  If this ewe lamb is any indication of what he can produce, it will be a good one!

Well that is a wrap and I will leave you with some assorted pictures of the ewes featured above.  Now all there is to do is WAIT!!!!!!!  Shearing is usually beginning of March and lambs start arriving third week of March  with the Cheviot...oh how could I forget my non shetlands to feature?  I guess I will do that as their lambs arrive.  All lambs will be posted here.  If you see any fleece or lambs that interest you be sure to give me a shout!

Today's Featured Ewes - Crossing the Lines Mapleton Peep and Mapleton Opal

What do you get when you cross the katmoget lines with the spotted lines in my flock? 

 Mapleton Peep (Mapleton Cooper X Minwawe Marshmello)

2009 twin musket yuglet sokket ewe

Bred to Swiftriver Neville for 2011 lambs

2010 single ram lamb by Mapleton Rip Tide pictured below:

 Okay he was my very favorite ram lamb this year.  He too went to Utopia Farms because he was just too related to the rest of my flock.  I love how the Kermit/Cooper/Zeus line crosses with the spotties.  Just produces very correct lambs.

And last of the two year olds but certainly not least...as she is my personal favorite:  Mapleton Opal

Opal is by High Bid Kermit and out of Minwawe Pearl

2009 fawn katmoget single ewe

Opal is expecting her first lambs.  She was in HarvestThyme Champ's breeding group and the only one I saw him take any interest in.  Her back ram was Zeus.  These two have the longest fleeces in my flock.  I love the luster and it spins like a dream.  It has very soft handle and I know the rams used this year will improve the microns on the lambs.   I love how elegant these ewes are, they really have a look at me quality about them.

Today's Featured Ewes - Seeing in B&W: Mapleton Destiny and Mapleton Violet

 These two Minwawe Bahama daughters are personality plus!

 Both coming two year olds.  Both black and white spotted and carry moorit.  Mapleton Destiny "Dessie" has a longer more double coat and is flecket.  Mapleton Violet "Vi Vi" has shorter crimpier single coat and has HST markings.

 Dessie is a Minwawe Serendippity daughter.  I also retained her twin siblings from this past year:  Storm and Hope.  Her twin brother Mapleton Rip Tide is sire to Peep's son Mapleton Buster Brown who is at Utopia Farms, and Rip Tide is flock sire to a Shetland farm in CT.  Serendippity is in PA at Spring Hill Farm with Bahama and her half sister Silver Bell.  Dessie is bred to Zeus for her first lambs...I really hope if anyone can bring spots out of him, it will be her.

 Mapleton Violet is a Hid Bid Hester daughter.  Also bred to Zeus.  A second year in a row for her.  I loved the ram lamb she produced with him.  I put a few photos of him at the end.  He is now a wether at McKenzie Child's with C.C.'s daughter Annick and Mapleton Liberty Bell.  Violet  is an exceptional mother just like her mom.  She has retained her true black color, with no sign of iset or age greying.

  I need to get a good full body photo of Vi, she is so friendly she almost always has her nose in the camera lens so I literally have to run away from her to get a good shot.  She is great on the halter and was one of our "PR" girls this year, going to McKenzie Child's in Aurora with her lamb in the spring until he was weaned and making an appearance at the Farmer Heritage Day at the Mike Weaver Drain Tile Museum this summer.

 

I wish you could feel this lamb!  I think maybe the softest of  that lamb crop and so consistent from front to back.  Perfect little tail and very square, although it is hard to tell from this photo since he is standing on slight slope.  And you got to love those fuzzy cheeks!  He was very friendly so we decided to wether him.  I thought despite his wonderful qualities indicating  he could be a breeding ram, using those qualities to represent the farm and Shetland Sheep as part of the "garden tour" at McKenzie Child's was the perfect alternative for him.  Now if Vi and Zeus can give me a repeat in ewe form...she might just be staying!

Today's Featured Ewes - Mapleton Carmel Apple and Mapleton Peanut Brittle

 

 Mapleton Carmel Apple

(High Bid Kermit X Twin Springs Cotton Candy)

2009 fawn katmoget triplet ewe

Bred to Swiftriver Neville AI

First lambing

  Triplet sister below:

Mapleton Peanut Brittle

Moorit ewe

All other info same as Carmel above

 Both bred to Neville...I am very excited to see their first lambs.  I like these two ewes so much I don't even know were to start, so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.  I do have a limit to how many solid moorits I will keep however, so depending what lambs I keep, I might part with Peanut as I have her sister, 1/2 sister, mom, and she is full sister to Cooper so aunt to Zeus and Peep, and grandaunt to Silvermist.  That is ONLY if I get something from the lamb crop that is as beautiful and as soft as her!

Today's Featured Ewe - Minwawe Pearl

Minwawe Pearl

registration # S24953 if you want to look her up...there are two sheep named Pearl from Meadowwoods

(Minwawe Hopalong X Minwawe Buttons)

2007 grey flecket yuglet twin ewe

 I like this picture of her and Hester's daughter Violet, because it shows the range in fleece lengths in my flock.  Pearl has one of the  longest staple lengths and Violet one of the shortest.  The fleece lengths in my flock range from 3 to just over 6 inches.  From looking at Pearl I would have put money on hers being longer, but it is not.

Pearl has a double coated fleece, very correct conformation,  and is a very attentive mother.  Part of the original  Missouri 8, she is one of the remaining three.  I think she is so pretty.  She tolerates me, and secretly I think she likes me, but she is not one that likes to be handled too much.  She has had my least favorite and most favorite lambs to date.  The ram lambs below didn't amount to much as they matured and ended up as freezer lambs.  The first time here for a 100% Shetland, usually only my cross breeds are meat lambs but what is one to do with extra ram lambs...

 Her ewe lamb from the year before, Mapleton Opal, however I LOVE,  LOVE, LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!  You will meet her soon, but here are a few of her lamb photos:

,

 Yes, I would say Pearl is a helicopter mom.  :) 

Pearl is bred to Swiftriver Neville.  I am really hoping for a beautiful grey ewe lamb or two from this pairing.  I think Neville's strengths will complement her well and improve her lambs.  Both parents carry brown and she has not given me an Ag  or a B lamb yet.  She could have moorit, black, grey, or musket lambs.

Well that is all the ewes that I have brought in from other farms.   Ewes from the States of PA, NY, MO, NH, OH, and a rams from PA and MA.  They represent 8 different farms within those states.  The rest of the Shetland  flock was born and raised here at Mapleton Farm and are sons/daughters of the previous featured ewes or retained from other ewes I have owned.  In a few cases I sold their dams to make room for the replacement lambs to stay.  I will feature the coming two year olds next, followed by the yearlings.

Today's Featured Ewe - Can Too Sky

Can Too Sky

(Can Too Cherokee X Can Too Dehliala)

2010 moorit twin ewe

Sky came to Mapleton Farm from PA. this summer, from Judi Lehrhaupt's Ewe Can Do It Sheep Farm.  Her brother was supposed to be brought in as a potential flock sire but he broke a horn to the base so I opted to buy the twin ewe lamb instead.  Her mom is mioget so I was hoping she would be as well, but not looking like it as of now.  One of these days I will get a true mioget!  If she gives me one, bred to Storm below that I think may carry the modifier, I will be VERY excited.  I wasn't going to bred any ewe lambs this year but decided to give the ram lambs one ewe each for a short time and see what happens.  She was well over 50 pounds this fall and has good width to her hips so if she took, I don't expect her to have any trouble.

She is very beautiful but the least friendly of my flock.  Currently the only one I can't get a hand on daily.  Hopefully once she has a lamb and we can spend some time becoming friends with the new family in the jug, she will come around.  I can't wait to spin her fleece!  Her grand sire is Mac's new ram at Spring Hill Farm, Maple Ridge Colin.  Her great grand mother is Nancy's Alice!

Depending on what I get in terms of  moorit ewe lambs...Sky, Bella, or Peanut might be offered for sale this summer.

Today's Featured Ewe - Harvest Thyme Quechee

HarvestThyme Quechee

(Lil' Country Jedediah Smith X HarvestThyme Harriet Bee)

2009 black twin gulmoget smirslet ewe

Okay to say she is also a favorite seems like I am repeating myself, but it is true!  She is so sweet and her yearling micron was in the low 20's and that is with a double coated fleece ironically.  She might even carry the modifier because her grand-sire, Windswept Yankee Doodle, was mioget.  She is also a F4 Roban Dillon twice.  She is a poll carrier but time will tell if she is full or half poll carrier.  She was bred to Mapleton Zeus for her her first lambing this April.  She was small as a lamb but is as big, if not bigger, than many of my other adult ewes now.  I really see how having the extra year to grow is important for some lines.  When my shearer was here last spring, he said this yearling is going to have a huge growth spurt and he was right.  She is making me a little nervous now however because she  is big and round with 1-2 months to go before lambing, even across the top of her hips.  I am hoping she is carrying twins because I fear she is over conditioned if there is only one in there and I haven't even started to grain the ewes yet.  I really hope to get some gully lambs this year between her and Olympia.  A gul-kat would be cool!  Thank you Kristi in Ohio for selling her to us!

Today's Featured Ewe - Minwawe Sprinkles

 Minwawe Sprinkles (Minwawe Cupid 2 X Minwawe Marshmello)

2008 moorit and white flecket single ewe

 

Sprinkles came at Marshmello's side as a lamb.  She is reserved with her affection but is slowly coming around.  She has fine, short, and the most single coated fleece in my flock.  Her color is almost fawn and she has had two lambs that I have registered as such.

 If you are interested in Sprinkles lambs...please keep her fleece type in mind.  Her ram lamb from her first lambing was outstanding but I get a sense, after the fact, that he went to a flock that was looking for something other than that type of fleece.  I could be wrong, but to be sure that doesn't happen with any future lambs I want to you all to be perfectly clear on her fleece type.  Fleece samples of parents always available.

 Minutes old and look how square that ram lamb is!

This past year she had twin ewe lambs...also unbelievable!  I almost kept them both but "Misbehaving" (cleverly named so by her new shepherd) had a tendency to go through my electronet.  You can see her at Utopia Farm with Mapleton Buster Brown and Minwawe Cha Cha.  Cupcake pictured on the right stayed and has her mother's soft super crimpy dense fleece.  Missy's staple length seems to be a little longer in the blog pictures I have seen of her recently.

Sprinkles was in with fawn katmoget Mapleton Zeus' breeding group this past fall.  Really hoping Zeus carries SPOTS!  I think she will be one of the first Shetlands to lamb this spring.  If I don't get something spotted, katmoget, or modified wouldn't be bad either.

Today's Featured Ewe - PikeHill Olympia

 PikeHill Olympia 

(PikeHill Stanley Pease X PikeHill Poa)

2008 Fawn Gulmoget Twin Ewe

This ewe is maybe the most favorite of the entire flock.   She is in your pocket sweet so impossible to get a good picture of, as she is always running your way to get some attention.  She is F4 Enfield Greyling, F4 Roban Dillon twice, as well has Willowcroft Jamie 4 and 5 generations back.  Her soft fleece and excellent conformation is only rivaled my her outstanding mothering ability.  She has lambed twice for me.  This past year she had twins, a ewe and ram, by Bahama.  The twins have a wonderful home with a new flock with 3 other lambs from this past year.  I was VERY tempted to keep her ewe lamb.

 Can you see why?  Meet Mapleton Fiona

But having kept her ram lamb from the year before and knowing that when she gives me a gully, that lamb will stay, I refrained.  But it was really hard.  The only comfort was knowing what a wonderful home she was going to.  You couldn't ask for a better Shetland to built your flock on, having her mother's wonderful disposition. 

 Olympia above trying to figure out the German Shorthaired Pointer who thinks she is a herding dog.  Who by the way may be expecting a litter herself.  She had a  weekend away with a Champion Field hunting GSP.  Stay tuned!

Olympia below with her first lamb Mapleton Zeus, by Mapleton Cooper.

 Zeus as you know was retained and had a breeding group of his own the past two years.

 Zeus' lamb photos

Okay so here is the mystery...look at that noggin...I wonder if she carries polled with her linage and head shape.  To test that theory she was in with Harvest Thyme Champ before he left, a half poll that could carry modified.   However, I never saw him have any interest in her in the least.  I fear he may have left all his ewes open again...so she went in with Neville a few weeks after just in case.

Either way, I am really looking forward to her lambs.  If I get a gully or a modified lamb they will be staying.  The twin might be offered for sale.  If she was not settled, I will be very disappointed to say the least.

Today's Featured Ewe - Twin Springs Cotton Candy

Twin Springs Cotton Candy 

(Twin Springs Gideon X Twin Springs Gemma)

2006 single fawn ewe (maybe also Ag)

Well this is the flock matriarch and the one that started it all!  I didn't even know if I wanted sheep until I met this ewe as a lamb at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival.  I walked away not knowing if "investing" in registered Shetlands was the way to go.  After coming home we decided yes, let's try sheep and brought home the Cheviot and Corrie cross from local farms but they just weren't Shetland.  When this ewe's breeder was coming back to NY to pick up a loom, I jumped at the chance for her meet us to bring us this ewe.  Yes, I have transferred sheep from one vehicle to another at Walmart, Burger King, gas stations....it is always funny to see the looks you get.

So my Shetland addiction began and every other sheep added since has been Shetland.  Cotton Candy loves me and she is the leader of the flock so it makes management easier.  She follows me...they follow her.  She is a fair minded leader, being gentle with the lambs and will never start anything...but if someone dares start with her they soon learn not to.   She has lambed three times for me.

 As a two year old she twined with ram lambs by High Bid Kermit:  Gusto above and Cooper below.  Gusto remains a flock sire at a local farm, Cooper was lost due to a horn incident with his father and the fence.   However he had a few lambs for me first:  Liberty Bell, S'More, Peep, and Zeus.

I repeated that breeding and in 2009 she had triplets but I was unfortunately was unable to get the ram lamb out before he drown in the sack...his ewe lamb sisters were breech.  I retained both:  Carmel Apple and Peanut Brittle pictured below.  Coming two year olds, both are expecting their first lambs.

In 2010, nature decided to cut Cotton Candy a little slack and she had a beautiful single ewe lamb by Minwawe Bahama.  Annick can be seen at MacKenzie Child's gracing their Aurora farm gardens, doing her best to promote the Shetland breed.

This year Cotton Candy is bred to Swiftriver Neville, as are her two year old daughters, and I just can't wait to see what they have in store for us!  Not to mention her great grand lambs from Peep also bred to Neville, as well as the great grand lambs from Zeus' whole breeding group.