The Wooly Girls
Cotswold Sheep
Hannnah
Dodonna
The Cotswold is a polled longwool breed that originated from the Cotswold Hills of Gloucestershire, England. One of Britain's largest breeds, the average ram can weigh 300 pounds and the average ewe 185 pounds. Bred for hardiness and thriftiness, Cotswolds have white legs and faces with dark skin on the nose and a pronounced forelock of wool.
Known for its high-luster fleece (mid 40s Bradford count with a staple length of over 9 inches for 12 months growth), the Cotswold produces a heavy clip of wool. The fleece is stout and hangs in wavy ringlets. An average fleece clipped once a year weighs 9-15 pounds. Most of our Cotswolds are clipped once in the spring and again in the fall. A select few are clipped once a year.
Cotswold wool is often used for loose-twist worsted spinning and weaving for soft-finishing throws and knitwear. Dyeing the wool does not compromise its natural luster, as dyed colors are just as shiny as the naturally creamy white wools.
In addition, the Cotswold breed offers economy of feeding, longevity (we have had 10 year old ewes still producing healthy fat lambs), superb mothering instinct, good flocking ability, easy lambing, excellent milking ability and exceptional docility.
When used for crossbreeding, Cotswolds also contribute rapid growth, lean carcass, prolificacy, low percentage of lambing difficulties as well as a generous growth of luster-type wool. For more information, please visit www.cotswoldsheepbreeders.com.
Known for its high-luster fleece (mid 40s Bradford count with a staple length of over 9 inches for 12 months growth), the Cotswold produces a heavy clip of wool. The fleece is stout and hangs in wavy ringlets. An average fleece clipped once a year weighs 9-15 pounds. Most of our Cotswolds are clipped once in the spring and again in the fall. A select few are clipped once a year.
Cotswold wool is often used for loose-twist worsted spinning and weaving for soft-finishing throws and knitwear. Dyeing the wool does not compromise its natural luster, as dyed colors are just as shiny as the naturally creamy white wools.
In addition, the Cotswold breed offers economy of feeding, longevity (we have had 10 year old ewes still producing healthy fat lambs), superb mothering instinct, good flocking ability, easy lambing, excellent milking ability and exceptional docility.
When used for crossbreeding, Cotswolds also contribute rapid growth, lean carcass, prolificacy, low percentage of lambing difficulties as well as a generous growth of luster-type wool. For more information, please visit www.cotswoldsheepbreeders.com.
California Red Sheep
Truc and Ginger
Rosey
The history of the California Red Sheep began in the early 1970's when Dr. Glenn Spurlock in Davis, CA embarked on a Home Project (not affiliated with UC Davis), of crossing Tunis and Barbados 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.
California Reds are graceful and eye catching in appearance. The rams in particular can be rather striking with manes of red hair in contrast to their beige or oatmeal colored wool. The legs and head are free of wool and instead are covered with hair ranging from gold to dark cinnamon in color. Both the ewes and rams have a bold, strong expression accented by finely chiseled muzzles. Their long and slightly pendulous ears give them a deer-like appearance when alert and at attention.
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.
The desirable traits of this relatively new breed is many fold ...
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.
Romney Sheep
Scotch
Sunny
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