The Blue Faced Leicester ram was the main sire for this year's lamb crop and it sure does show. They all have the BFL influence with the long legs, deer like ears and wide set eyes. Although the Blue Faced Leicester sheep is not very hardy on its own, when crossed it creates a wonderful hybrid with almsot any other breed of sheep. When crossed with Shetland sheep, it creates a larger lamb with spectacular fleece for hand spinning. When crossed with the Tunis, the lambs are the Tunis red but have a finer fleece than Tunis and the tyical BFL handsome face. The second in from the right lamb is a Coswold/E'st a Laine Merino and BFL lamb and perhaps the best of the bunch. It is somewhat stocker showing superior muscling, has a thicker fleece more in keeping iwth the Merino breed but it is fine as the BFLs and the face is slightly less long.
In winter the cross lambs will probably perform much better than the pure bred ones. The black one on the right and the middle one are purebred BFL lambs. Unfortuantely for them, they have a slight single coat of curly wool that parts easily and is not rich in lanolin. They need to eat more to stay warm and benefit from being in a warm barn. The cross lambs should do well with their three sided shelter and a normal amount of feed for winter. The BFL sheep, being a breed created specifically by man and not an evolved breed that adapted on its own, also benefits from grain. Since my sheep are not fed grain, they must eat a tremendous amount more to just maintain body condition. They are not the best sheep for this forage based farm, but I sure do like the cross babies. Perhaps good winter coats will help this winter. I will see what I can do..maybe go the thrift shop and find some old down winter parkas. We shall see. Just a few more weeks and the lambs can be weaned from their mothers and sold. They sure are cute right now though, aren't they?
In winter the cross lambs will probably perform much better than the pure bred ones. The black one on the right and the middle one are purebred BFL lambs. Unfortuantely for them, they have a slight single coat of curly wool that parts easily and is not rich in lanolin. They need to eat more to stay warm and benefit from being in a warm barn. The cross lambs should do well with their three sided shelter and a normal amount of feed for winter. The BFL sheep, being a breed created specifically by man and not an evolved breed that adapted on its own, also benefits from grain. Since my sheep are not fed grain, they must eat a tremendous amount more to just maintain body condition. They are not the best sheep for this forage based farm, but I sure do like the cross babies. Perhaps good winter coats will help this winter. I will see what I can do..maybe go the thrift shop and find some old down winter parkas. We shall see. Just a few more weeks and the lambs can be weaned from their mothers and sold. They sure are cute right now though, aren't they?
RSS Feed