Dora is a pure bred registered Karakul sheep. She has a very broad fat tail in which she stores nutrients and fluids, much like the camel does in its hump(s). With this evolutionary adaptation, the Karakuls are well suited to arid climates, such as the Middle East, where they are among the most common breed of sheep. Fat is also stored in the tail rather than the muscles, making the carcass leaner than most meat bred sheep with less mutton flavour. The wool of the Karakul sheep is coarse and very strong, ideal for felting for horse mats, floor mats and carpets and excellent for durable weavings.
Karakul lambs are born with a very tightly curled black wool coat which starts to unfurl within a day of birth. This is a beautiful soft lustrous wool, so tightly curled that it is water repellent and weather resistant, and very warm. Fur traders took note of the baby lambs fur and began to market the hides as Persian lambskins and in the 50's, the trade of the skins reached an all time high, that is until the general public discovered that the pelts were those of newborn lambs, or worse yet, lambs taken in utero. Karakul sheep that were imported to North America for the fur trade were slaughtered for pet food when the market fell away and the sheep are rare here now.
Dora has never been pregnant. She was one of the first three lambs The Fat Ewe Farm acquired and is healthy and strong and fine example of the breed. Her wool is very typical as well, with coarse guard hairs that can reach five to seven inches in length! But Dora cannot remain here simply as a pet. If she remains barren, she will be culled, because farming is not cheap and feeding and caring for a sheep costs dearly. When she is sheared this year, I will put the ram with her again, since Karakul sheep can breed out of season. Perhaps with a clear view to that area, when normally there is a huge amount of wool covering there, she will conceive. It is her last chance. Dora is well loved and is named after a favourite aunt, Auntie Dora, a sister of my mother. Come on Dora. Please bear a baby!
Karakul lambs are born with a very tightly curled black wool coat which starts to unfurl within a day of birth. This is a beautiful soft lustrous wool, so tightly curled that it is water repellent and weather resistant, and very warm. Fur traders took note of the baby lambs fur and began to market the hides as Persian lambskins and in the 50's, the trade of the skins reached an all time high, that is until the general public discovered that the pelts were those of newborn lambs, or worse yet, lambs taken in utero. Karakul sheep that were imported to North America for the fur trade were slaughtered for pet food when the market fell away and the sheep are rare here now.
Dora has never been pregnant. She was one of the first three lambs The Fat Ewe Farm acquired and is healthy and strong and fine example of the breed. Her wool is very typical as well, with coarse guard hairs that can reach five to seven inches in length! But Dora cannot remain here simply as a pet. If she remains barren, she will be culled, because farming is not cheap and feeding and caring for a sheep costs dearly. When she is sheared this year, I will put the ram with her again, since Karakul sheep can breed out of season. Perhaps with a clear view to that area, when normally there is a huge amount of wool covering there, she will conceive. It is her last chance. Dora is well loved and is named after a favourite aunt, Auntie Dora, a sister of my mother. Come on Dora. Please bear a baby!
Dora is the lighter one on the right. Her sister, Olga is on the left. Olga has had lambs every year and last year, a lovely set of twins, though she rejected the male and kept the female.
Olga's 2013 twins, one male and one female. Dora has not yet been a mother, sigh.
RSS Feed