Having four breeds of sheep on my place, I can speak to a lot of this.
I have now Karakul, Romney, N/C fine wools, and Oxfords (don't ask!) I
used to have Finns. I had to sell the Finns even though I really loved
their fleece the most. Their lambs are very slow to mature and take a
long time to get to market weight. I also couldn't earn extra money at
shows with them as they are not competitive in any category. So to
lighten the load, I had to sell the least money producing for me. Of
course, it was the fleece that I most liked to spin. But I digress.
Finns are a wonderful breed. They are medium sized, fairly easy to care
for and produce a terrific fleece. Personalities are fairly mellow with
handling although probably the most flighty ewe I have ever owned was a
Finn ewe who got named Lunatic for obvious reasons. Fleeces come in
white and shades of black/gray. High luster and even though they are
not classified as fine wools, the wool is very soft. The down side is
that the fleeces are NOT consistent from animal to animal and you can
get a real bummer of a fleece if you don't hand pick your stock. They
are also a challenge for beginners who want to breed. These guys lamb
in litters and you can get a real tangle in there with four or five
lambs all vying for the honor of being first. Then you may need to
bottle feed if you have more than four lambs in a litter. I would not
recommend them for a beginner if that beginner wants to produce lambs.
Start with an easier breed and then, with lambing experience, breed Finns.
I raise Karakuls which are perfect for rug wool. This breed is a rare
breed and is also about 4,000 years old. They originated in the Middle
East and still exist in flocks all over Iran/Iraq. They are a terrific
first breed as they are extremely durable and forgiving of shepherd
screw-ups. The down side is that they are a pretty flighty breed. The
more primitive the breed of sheep, the more they are likely to be
flighty. Karakuls *can* be friendly. I have three in the flock who
have decided that they like people. I didn't do anything with them; it
was strictly their decision. Karakuls come in a huge range of colors
that are present only in the lamb fleece. The adult fleeces are pretty
universally cream or pale gray. I have everything from nearly all white
to black with side trips to varying shades of brown and red. Spots,
roan and solid colors abound. Just depends on your genetics. Ewes
usually have single lambs and very rarely have problems lambing. I can
count on one hand the times I've had to assist a Karakul ewe in 15 years
of raising them. They will breed out of season giving you three lamb
crops in two years.
Do breeds of sheep integrate? Yes. and No. My girls are pretty much
separated by breed a lot of the time. The Karakuls are probably the
biggest snobs. They tend to associate with their own kind more than
with the other breeds. The Romneys are probably the least prejudiced.
Lambs will interact if they are raised with other breeds. However, if
you only have one or two of a breed, they will all get along like my
token Oxford ewe. Sheep don't really care one way or another. There
will be arguments when a new-to-the-group is introduced but as soon as
the pecking order is established, things are pretty quiet. It's funny
after shearing to see all the ewes re-establish the pecking order.
Sheep are very visual and will not recognize a friend after shearing.
She looks different!
Sorry to be so long winded. I didn't realize how lengthy I'd gotten.
If you want to really see what these breeds look like for real, go check
out the website of Oklahoma State University. I don't have the URL
handy or I'd send it but you can see what the breeds look like and get
an idea of their history. There are also listings for the breed
organizations. No spinning references but you can get that elsewhere.
Robin Snyder, spinner, weaver, shepherd
San Diego County, CA
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