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[Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

I have woolies and I love them. Mine are mostly Romney. The biggest 
problem I have with wool sheep is that they don't seem to understand how 
big they are in full wool. They crowd me and can knock me down without 
even feeling it.

I actually use the wool; I make flokati type rugs. In Greece the 
flokatis are made with wool yarn (tied around the warp threads) that is 
allowed to untwist to make a shag. I skipped a step and tie the wool, 
unspun, around the warp. It's slow going, but the Romney fleece makes 
beautiful rugs. The white (cream, actually) wool is nice, but gets 
boring. I only have one black sheep--I'd like to get more that are 
different colors.

My ram died last year and didn't do his job, so I didn't have any lambs 
this spring. I bought a new ram (the biggest Dorset I've ever seen) in 
the spring, and my ewes bred out of season. So far I have 2 ewe lambs 
and a boy I call "Easter dinner". Looks like there might be more coming.

Lynn Wigglesworth
Tioga County, PA

Lynda wrote:
> But . . . . they are such a pain in the patooty to keep up.  AND shearing a 
> Correidale is such a PETA.  AND, there is really no market for wool anymore 
> (thank you New Zealand and Australia ).
> 
> Dorpers are pretty good sized.  They are beefier than the other hair breeds.
> 
> That said, when the kidlets first showed sheep, we bought lambs up outside 
> of Jenner from a rancher that raised wool.  He bred all his Columbian ewes 
> to Suffolk and Hampshire rams.  We could buy January and February lambs and 
> have no problem making weight for the June fairs!  The lambs were nice and 
> long in the loin, nice flat topline and had a lot of twist to the thigh. 
> Those lambs finished at an easy 165 pounds!
> 
> However, again, at least to me, the woolie breeds are inclined to be more 
> toward the mutton end of the taste scale and I prefer my lamb on the milder 
> end of the spectrum.
> 
> But, if you like the look of the Corriedales, then buy them.  You'll 
> probably be able to find a local spinner that would pay for the shearing 
> and 
> you'd have your lamb to eat.
> 
> Of course, you have to take into consideration that you generally are only 
> getting, at most, 50% on woolie breeds.  You'll get 67% on St. Croix and 
> around 59% or higher on Dorpers.
> 
> Lynda
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: 
> 
> 
>> I'd like to get a little more size out of my wethers. Do you have any
>> idea if they work drastically differently?
>>
>> I will confess that I really want some Corriedales...(hangs head and
>> confesses)...just because they are pretty.
> 
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