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Registered Breeding Stock for Wool & Show River Valley Farm is New England’s foremost breeder of California Red Sheep. They provide us with lovely, soft, strong wool in shades of beige through oatmeal with a soft red hair running throughout. This is a natural color that takes dyes very well so you can enjoy all the colors of the rainbow. We also tend a small flock of white Cotswold sheep, a Texel sired commercial ewe flock, a Cormo and two Jacob sheep; Guard Llamas and Colored and White Angora Goats because we like the diversity of their wools and how all of these wools complement each other when your creativity comes to play. SHEEP [back to top] California Red Sheep
About California Red Sheep Originally Dr. Spurlock's goal was of creating a larger framed wool-less breed of sheep. His attempts to obtain the wool-less feature failed but the remarkable hybrid sheep caught the eyes of Aime & Paulette Soulier of Winters, California. Through extensive efforts and selective breeding, the Souliers slowly increased the size of their flock and interested other sheep breeders including Alice Gardner of Dixon, CA. Over the years, their combined breeding efforts helped expand the scope of the program so that today there are more than fifty breeders throughout the US and 600 Reds enrolled in the California Red Sheep Registry. The wool of this distinctive young breed is prized by hand spinners and weavers alike and the meat is unequaled in tenderness and delicate flavor. Additionally, the newly created California Red breed displayed a calm, gentle disposition, distinctive color, resistance to many of the health and handling problems and also proved to be a successful year round breeder. What are they like? Considered medium-sized sheep, when mature the rams weigh 225-250 pounds and the ewes range from 130-150 pounds. Though alert and athletic, both rams and ewes are known for their gentle easy going temperaments and responsiveness to quiet handling. Both sexes are naturally hornless. The ewes are very patient but possessive mothers that instinctively care for the needs of their young. Ewes bond well with their lambs and can be quite defensive of them when needed. While yearlings can often give birth to single lambs, twins are not uncommon. As the ewes mature, and with successive lambing, twins (and occasionally multiples) are usually born along with plenty of milk available to feed the lambs. The belly and udder areas are pretty well free of wool so that even the most timid lambs are able to nurse easily. Lambs are born a solid rust or cinnamon red color. As they mature, the hair color that is retained on the legs and head can range from gold to dark cinnamon. The wool, as it grows out on the young animal, turns to beige or oatmeal in sharp contrast to the richly colored wool-free head and limbs. This transformation appears around 12-18 mos old or earlier depending on shearing. The California Red is an easy keeping breed that, when fed a balanced pasture grass and/or hay diet, does not require heavy graining to reach market weight. Depending on the region, weather conditions and type of wool market, California Reds are usually shorn once a year, just prior to lambing. Though the breed originated in California, they are very successfully ranged in the Northeast United States. California Red Sheep flocks also reside in extremely harsh weather areas such as Canada, Colorado, Idaho and throughout the Southwestern United States. Why consider California Reds? WOOL is beige or oatmeal colored with hairs, ranging from gold to dark cinnamon red, intermixed throughout. Due to the silky feel of the wool, along with the unique visual texture of the contrasting hairs, it is no surprise that it is sought after by hand spinners and weavers. The staple length is usually three to six inches and measures in the 50 to 60's by the Bradford count, 30's micron count. TROUBLE FREE BREEDING & LAMBING -- The reproductive characteristics of California Reds are also quite favorable. The rams are very active even in the hot summer months making year round breeding an option for many sheep raisers. The quiet, gentle and dedicated mothering nature of the ewes results in very few lambing or lamb-raising problems. Due to ample milk production, nursing lambs have very good weight gain even though twins are normally produced. MEAT -- The meat from California Reds is unequaled in tenderness and taste. Along with a delicate flavor, their meat also contains significantly less fat than that of the more common sheep breeds. High quality meat production along with year round breeding is a winning combination for any sheep raiser, large or small. Cormo Sheep
Cormo sheep were first introduced to the United States from Australia in 1976 when Travis Jones imported 12 bred ewes and 2 stud rams from I.K. Downie. Both carcass and wool traits are exceptional when Cormos are crossed with existing U. S. wool sheep. The Cormo is not being promoted as a show type sheep in the U.S., but rather as one of economic value. Selections within the Cormo breed are based on a set of four criteria which were determined to be commercially desirable characteristics. The criteria for selection are:
At River Valley Farm, our Cormo Sheep’s wool is used to blend with our other natural fibers such as Alpaca, Llama and Mohair. This makes those wools springier, loftier, softer and more fun to work with. We always have some Cormo wool available for dyeing or felting. Crossing a Cormo ram on your commercial wool flock will always result in finer fleece in the next generation and nice growthy lambs.
GOATS [back to top] Colored Angora Goats
Angora Goats produce the luxury fiber Mohair. Mohair is lustrous, soft and quite strong. Kid is very soft and fine with Adult becoming a little coarse and hairy as the animal ages. Mohair is delightful to hand spin all by itself and greatly enhances other fibers when it is incorporated in a blend. White, Black, Gray, Red and Tan are just some of natural Angora colors. Because Mohair takes dye so very well you can decide on your own favorite color.
LLAMA [back to top] Our guardian Llamas produce lovely soft, fine fiber that is delicious to hand spin alone or blend with our wools. Available in black & white and reddish brown.
POULTRY [back to top] Black Java Chickens
In the 1800's, the Black Javas, were one of the most common breed of barnyard chickens in the country. They were prized for their tasty meat (their average weight is 6 - 8 pounds) and eggs, and for being efficient breeders. The Black Java is a meaty headed bird, single red comb with a brown eye, black beak, black shanks and yellow foot pads. Other colors are mottled (black with white), white and blue. As the Java breed is resurrected from obscurity, color is becoming more prevalent. Not all colors are recognized by the Standard of Perfection. Javas are very mellow birds - scratching and pecking away. Ours prefer to be allowed to forage for a large part of their diet. Nothing is sacred to the Java chickens – they will happily consume every bit of early green in the spring garden and relish the found worm. Fall cleanup is made easier when you turn the Javas out – they help to aerate and fertilize the soil at the same time while assisting in the debugging process for next spring. River Valley Farm Javas are fed only the highest quality grains, hay, straw and vegetables. They are allowed to free range on our biodynamic pastures at will, year round. We do not employ supplemental lighting in the dark of winter, preferring to allow our birds to molt naturally and have a winter slow down in egg production as nature intended. We feel that allowing our birds to be birds in their own natural rhythm enables them to live longer, healthier lives and give us more healthful eggs and meats |
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