We chose not to AI this fall (we will be doing another intensive LAI fall of 2008) and all our breedings for this year are ground breedings via rams from our program. Having many beautiful rams to choose from this year made this decision easy; choosing which ewes to put under which rams was the hard part. From our black Wensleydale to our diverse Shetlands, the rams below are those that will be referred to in our 2008 Lambs page (due after lambing in late April 2008).
Prairie 27 (BB King): BB
King is a 75% (registered) very black Wensleydale ram. Firth of Fifth
is very committed to ultra fine fleece and our Wensleydale program is
no exception. After two years of searching, we were delighted to find
this gorgeous ram out of the outstanding breeding program at Prairie
Ranch, Oregon. BB is extremely black with one quarter size patch of
white on his right hip and a medium gray scrotum. Like most
Wensleydales he is extremely gentle and very easy to care for. He has
been a complete gentleman with his ewes and his lambs express this
personality absolutely. BB King has an extraordinary fleece; very
crimpy, long and extremely soft with no white or gray fibers other than
those noted. His body is very correct with an outstanding topline,
well placed legs and very handsome male presence.
 | Initial Micron Test: Texas A&M 6/11/07 Mean Fiber Diameter: 38.7 Standard Deviation: 7.0 Coefficient of Variation: 18.0 Fibers <15 microns: 3.7 Comfort Factor: 10.9% Spin Fineness: 36.8 microns |
| DOB: 2/2/05 | NAWS: B-743C |
| Official color: Colored | Official pattern: None |
| Extremely lustrous, BB King expresses his fleece in an extremely well-defined crimp and curl from neck to britch. At two years his color is a very rich blue-black with no white or gray fibers (note above). (The areas of this photo -rump- that appear white or gray are neither. The shearer clipped BB closer at his backend and thus his fleece is nearly non-existent in this areas.) |  |
| Owner: Firth of Fifth Acres | Codon 171: RR |
| Dam: Prairie 27 B-369C | Sire: Albourne Silver Moon UK 6491B |
| Strengths:
Extremely well-defined and correct body with excellent. Solid
coloration that does not appear to be changing at 2 years. | Weakness: None noted to date. |
| Availablity: Not for sale at this time. | Retained |
Winter Time Black Forrest (black gulmoget): Forrest gave us so many gorgeous lambs last year that he was an easy decision. Quite literally improving upon virtually every ewe we put under him, Forrest has earned a rare (for our farm's improvement program) position of long-term retention. While his ewes gave us many fine traditional Gulmoget patterns, we were blessed with several solid side fawn, moorit and black Gulmogets, a particular goal for our farm. Along with the Gulmoget lambs, we were delighted to see his ability to produce gorgeous modified colors in his non-patterned offspring, including our elusive emsket. After years of waiting we have several dark emsket lambs and this year's breeding plans included pairings to further this trend.
Forrest is moving through his second year and his body has lengthened and taken on a much more male presence. Overall, Forrest is such a clear reminder that this particular pattern may indeed have come from an ancient breeding of Shetland to Soay; he looks very much like them with his long strong legs and body, elegant wedge-shaped head and perfect tail. This particular aspect of Forrest's genetics have been an asset for us as we successfully corrected many details in conformation, with many ewes, in a single breeding. His fleece, while an inch shorter than our goal of 4", is nothing short of amazing and his tests continue to delight us. We have not lost length of fleece in most of his offspring but rather added crimp and handle. Forrest's teacup horns are taking their next rotation and appear to be clearing very well; another aspect of the UK lines we have not liked but are learning to use successfully in our program.
Forrest carries half-poll genetics and we are mindful of this trait in our breedings with him. For more information on polled Shetlands, please refer to the excellent yahoo group PolledShetland.
 | Yearling Test: Yocum-McColl 5/12/07 Mean Fiber Diameter: 21.6 Standard Deviation: 4.7 Coefficient of Variation: 21.8% Fibers > 30% microns: 3.7% |
| DOB: 4/27/06 | NASSA Registration: S21917 |
| Official Color: Black | Official pattern: Gulmoget |
| Second year Test: Yocum-McColl (OFDA100*) 3/20/08 Mean Fiber Diameter: 21.5 microns Standard Deviation: 4.4 microns Coefficient of Variation: 20.4% Fibers > 30% microns: 3.0% Spin Fineness: 20.8 microns Mean Curvature: 76.9 SD Curvature: 43.1 |  |
| Owner: Meghan Namaste | Codon 171: QR |
| Dam: Glenmore Crisp S12872 | Sire: V Creek Tank S20965 |
| Strengths:
Legs are squarely set, topline is very straight, head is a
handsomely elegant wedge shape, horns are a very nicely spaced mixture
of dam's
US classic genetics and sire's UK teacup. Tail is a true fluke with
correct proportion in both structure and hair/wool distribution.
Forrest is one of the most gentle rams -of any breed- we have ever had
the pleasure of caretaking. | Weaknesses: We feel his fleece length needs to be considered in a breeding program and that his horns -while perfectly balanced- must be improved upon to recover the traditional Shetland sweep. He is tall and long and breedings must take this into account lest lambs become above standard. Thus far his 2007 lambs seem to be revealing the outstanding results of these three issues in advanced planning. |
| Availability: To be retain by Winter Time Shetlands for breeding as NASSA registered ram for 2007/2008 season. | Sale price: Not available for sale. |
Winter Time Landslide (modified fawn): Landslide was know to us as Smacker Mac'ers (Mac for short); A reference to his lamby self as noted by his breeder, Meghan Namaste. Mac wanted every ewe in milk and spent much of his weaning time smacking his lips in rapt anticipation of what he could no longer have.
Mac was a very fine modified fawn. His outstanding presence and great structure was obvious from a very early age. His fleece was intermediate and tremendously crimpy with very fine test results. We chose to breed him to a limited group entirely based upon his outstanding structure, fine and crimpy fleece, polled genetics and ability to pass each of these details on. Given his fine structure and perfect polled horn-set, we bred him to a very few ewes that were genetically half-polled with hopes of furthering the polled Shetland genetics.
 | Initial Micron test: Yocum-McColl 9/01/06 Mean Fiber Diameter: 24.6 Standard Deviation: 6.6 Coefficient of Variation: 26.8% Fibers > 30% microns: 18.7% |
| DOB: 4/24/06 | NASSA Registration: S21918 |
| Official Color: Dark fawn | Official pattern: Blettet |
| Late spring Test: Yocum-McColl 5/12/07 Mean Fiber Diameter: 21.4 Standard Deviation: 5.5 Coefficient of Variation: 25.2% Fibers > 30% microns: 7.3% |  |
| Owner: Meghan Namaste | Codon 171: RR |
| Dam: FirthofFifth Rhiannon | Sire: Wintersky Sandstone |
| Strengths:
Completely polled. Fleece is extremely crimpy with a great handle.
Overall body is very solid with square composition and fantastic
legset. Tail is entire fluke with appropriate hair to wool. Another ram out of Meghan's training that is entirely polite. | Weaknesses: Fleece falling out slightly in britch. Polled genetics that require limitation in breeding to prevent fatal horns from full horn ewes. |
| Availability: Removed from genetics |
Firth of Fifth Aman (modified moorit): Aman is a gorgeous ram lamb out of our AI breeding from Heights Orion. A very squarely set ram, Aman is still growing and has yet to show us what he can be as an adult. Born out of several AI Orion breedings, this one breeding was our hands-down favorite. To the last we were uncertain which of the triplets would be our choice and, as fall approached, Aman took the lead with his very handsome head, square body and consistent fleece. His fleece is extremely crimpy from neck to britch and clearly a modified tone; something in the uncertain range of moorit but likely more fawn and only time will tell the best color to define him by.
Aman was bred to a very limited number of ewes this year and we look forward to seeing what he can put on the ground. If you have watched our 2007 Archive photos you can appreciate his quite quirky nature: He is the lamb that is in full flight as the "Doin' the Roo" lamb. Gentle and very curious about his natural world, Aman prefers to let his best friend Forrest handle humans, leaving him time to explore the cat that keeps invading his paddock.
 | Initial Micron test: Yocum-McColl (OFDA100*) 9/26/07 Mean Fiber Diameter: 24.0 Standard Deviation: 5.2 Coefficient of Variation: 20.9% Fibers > 30% microns: 15.9% Spin Fineness: 24.3 microns Mean Curvature: 65.2 SD Curvature: 37.1 |
| DOB: 3/25/07 | NASSA Registration: S25035 |
| Official Color: Moorit | Official pattern: none |
Yearling Test: Yocum-McColl (OFDA100*) 3/20/08 Mean Fiber Diameter: 22.2 microns Standard Deviation: 5.0 microns Coefficient of Variation: 24.7% Fibers > 30% microns: 3.3% Spin Fineness: 20.3 microns Mean Curvature: 77.7 SD Curvature: 47.8 |  |
| Owner: Firth of Fifth Acres | Codon 171: not tested |
| Dam: Evidence of Autumn | Sire: Heights Orion |
| Strengths: Very even fleece from neck to britch. Strong even horns coming through in first year. Balanced leg set with level topline. | Weaknesses: Unknown mature development. |
Winter Time Blues (dark gray katmoget): Blues is an incredible example of improved genetics through well considered breeding. His dam (a 50% UK ewe) has always been soft but less than desirable in her narrow line and shorter fleece. Over two breedings with her Meghan Namaste (his owner and breeder) realized that going back to UK lines -in a different style- was the best possible option. By utilizing Todhill Jericho in this breeding, lambs of outstanding color, conformation and fleece were an instant success.
Blues is a conformationally gorgeous ram with fleece that begs touch. Typical of most of the Island line, Blues is a strongly self-assured ram with a very powerful presence. From birth he has been amazing character and we are not surprised that is emerging as leader within his ram group.
Blues was put to a very diverse group of ewes this fall. As our goals are fleece and conformation improvement, we are very eager to see how Blue's very square line and ultra-crimpy fleece can alter a range of ewes' more typical tendencies.
 | Initial Micron test: Yocum-McColl 10/10/07 Mean Fiber Diameter: 23.4 Standard Deviation: 4.0 Coefficient of Variation: 17.1% Fibers > 30% microns: 2.6% |
| DOB: 3/30/07 | NASSA Registration: S24355 |
| Official Color: Grey | Official pattern: Katmoget |
| Yearling Test: Yocum-McColl (OFDA100*) 3/20/08 Mean Fiber Diameter: 21.4 microns Standard Deviation: 4.0 microns Coefficient of Variation: 18.9% Fibers > 30% microns: 1.4% Spin Fineness: 20.4 microns Mean Curvature: 127.0 SD Curvature: 64.0 |  |
| Owner: Meghan Namaste | Codon 171: not yet tested |
| Dam: Whistlestop 0427 AI | Sire: Todhill Jericho |
| Strengths: Conformationally very correct with strong topline, outstanding leg-set and balanced horns. | Weaknesses: Unknown mature development. |
| Availability: RETAINED |
Winter Sky Leonid (rich moorit): Leonid was another ram lamb out of Heights Orion that we held over. A very different color and fleece type than his half brother (Aman) above, Leonid is also a completely different personality. Extremely gregarious, Leonid comes running to the sound of my voice, greeting me every morning with high flips and mad tail wagging.
Leonid has a very crimpy fleece with only minor fall-out in the britch. His color is a very rich moorit with a lovely handle. As with his half-brother Aman we are seeing an amazingly correct conformation with outstanding horn development.
Owned by Karen Valley, Leonid was used on a limited number of ewes this winter and we eagerly await his offspring.
 | Initial Micron test: Yocum-McColl 10/10/07 Mean Fiber Diameter: 22.0 microns Standard Deviation: 4.0 microns Coefficient of Variation: 19.2% Fibers > 30% microns: 2.5% |
| DOB: 3/27/07 | NCWGA: Pending |
| Official color: Moorit | Official pattern: None |
Yearling Test: Yocum-McColl (OFDA100*) 3/20/08 Mean Fiber Diameter: 20.0 microns Standard Deviation: 5.7 microns Coefficient of Variation: 28.7% Fibers > 30% microns: 4.5% Spin Fineness: 20.9 microns Mean Curvature: 108.8 SD Curvature: 66.4 |  |
| Owner: Karen Valley | Codon 171: Not yet tested |
| Dam: Underhill Loretta Lynne | Sire: Heights Orion |
| Strengths: Rich dark moorit color with lovely crimp and handle. Balanced horns, excellent tail and proper leg placement. | Weaknesses: Unknown mature development. |
| Availability: |
*Fleece testing is done on all our retained stock. Typically we will choose between the labs at Texas A&M and Yocom-McColl for our fall and spring samples. We have done blind tests (the same animal from which fleece is taken along the exact same spot at the last rib and then the entire sample is divided and sent to both Texas A&M and Yocom-McColl without their knowledge) and have found that these two labs vary their findings by less than a .05 - .5 in any area. Our choice of which lab often comes down to speed the test can be completed and cost.
We use the Optical Fiber Diameter Analyser (OFDA100) test from Yocom-McColl or OFDA2000 test with Texas A&M when we wish to deeply evaluate fleece.