Kris Jones wrote about her natural colored Montadales, and I have to
reply......
First an intro, as I've rarely posted to this list, tho I've been an
occasional reader for a long time. We live in eastern NY and raise about
half Romneys, white and natural colored, and the rest are a mish-mash of
white, colored and moorit crossbreds. Our flock is about 150 ewes. Then
there are 'the goats', which started out as cashmeres, but are now
(except for some of the old girls) crossed with Boer. And the laying
hens....
Anyway, I thought the Montadale did start out as a dual purpose breed.
Around 12 or more years ago, one of the producers brought in a bunch of
white Montadale fleeces to our wool pool, and they were wonderful.
Beautiful crimp and softness and whiteness. I'd only seen their sheep at
shows, were they were fitted to such a degree that you couldn't tell how
gorgeous the wool was.
Earlier than that a woman who used to show at the Altamont NY Fair
bought a bunch of natural colored Montadales and those fleeces were
amazing. Quite varied in color, grays and darkers grays, all in one
fleece, and so soft.
More recently I've seen some beautiful fleeces from a flock owned by a
fellow in northern Vermont. Very beautiful.
I don't know when it happened, but certainly before 12 yrs ago, that the
white Montadales were shown as meat sheep. Or aybe they've always been
shown that way. But when that happens, and the fleece is all carded out
then trimmed, the fleece becomes not much more than a tool for
sculpting, and can become less used as a selection tool in the flock.
Here's one web site that gives some history of the breed:
http://www.kswpa.com/montadale.htm
Maybe the same info is on the Montadale Assoc's web site. Here's a link
that talks about black Montadales, and shows a Montadale champion at a
major show, tho they don't say which show, but from the banner it looks
like it was at the North American Intl Livestock Expo in Louisville KY.
So phooey on the NCWGA person who told you they're not a wool breed. If
that's true then Romneys aren't a wool breed either. LOL. I'd love to
have some fleeces in my flock like some of the Montadales I've seen.
Mary
Mary @ Elihu Farm
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