Edison's 2010 - Coated Romney Fleece

Our naturally-colored flock ram is Edison. When he was a lamb, he produced a fleece which won Reserve Grand Champion at a noted wool competition. Edison is now five years old, and still producing wonderful wool.

For 2010, he produced this stunning fleece! For a mature ram, his wool is soft and fine with a beautiful luster!

Edison's 2010 Staple

Not only does Edison produce a nice fleece, we have been very pleased with these excellent traits passed on to his offspring. His lambs have been consistently producing wool staple lengths between 6 and 8 inches!

This photo of samples from last year's fleeces, demonstrates the wool traits Edison is introducing to our flock. The top sample is from Belvedere (mother), the middle is from Edison (father), and the bottom sample is from Blossom (daughter).

Our next featured fleece will be ... Autumn!

Sheep Kisses from Carolyn?

Ben and Carolyn

Carolyn is a very lovable girl! She was born last year to Heather, one of our full-blood Hampshire ewes. Carolyn and Heather share a similar personality ... both adore their shepherds and crave affection in return! When we kneel down to their level, they like to come close to our faces, to hear our voices, and enjoy a massage. Since she was a lamb, Carolyn has had the unusual ability of being able to unzip and then re-zip your jacket! She is a cutie and we love her!

Carolyn also has remarkable wool, with some of the characteristics from both her father Edison (registered Romney) and Heather. It is finer and softer than typical Romney but maintains much of the crimp and luster. The color is light-to-medium gray and gives a hint of lavender hues in the bright sun. Beautiful! We'll post more about her 2010 fleece at a later date.

Growing Little Lambs!

Doris

Peek-a-Boo from Doris

Dolly and Domingo

Dixon

Dillon

Daisy and Daffodil take a nap with mama (Brooke)while Deborah snoozes in the background.

Twin Sisters Deliver Twins!

Katelin and Rachel are twin sisters, born in 2004.

On March 5th, Katelin delivered twin lambs and on March 6th, Rachel delivered twins as well!

Katelin with her twin lambs.

Delene - 13 lbs 8 oz.

Davy - 11 lbs. 5 oz.

 

Rachel and her two girls.

Dawn - 11 lbs. 4 oz.

Deborah - 9 lbs. 14 oz

Katelin and Rachel are both excellent mothers and great milkers!

Announcing the Arrival of Donard (yes, Donard not Donald)!

Caramel and Donard in their jug

Baby Donard made his debut at our farm on March 12th. Caramel gave birth to him at 10:30 in the morning.

Sally holds Donard while Caramel checks on her baby

This was Caramel's first time to be a mom and she has done an excellent job of mothering her baby!

Even though Caramel was only one year old and Donard was a large lamb, she delivered the baby fairly quickly!

Donard - 14 lbs. 4 oz.

Donard is three-quarters Romney and one-quarter Hampshire. Foreman is his father and Edison is his grandfather. Donard is named after a dear friend of ours whom we knew while living in Houston, Texas.

Dove and Donovan

On March 6th, Autumn gave birth to twins! She set our farm record for the highest total birth weight of lambs for a pure-bred Romney. Her lambs together weighed in at 27lbs. 4 oz. Autumn has been a gentle mother to her two babies.

Dove (white)- 13 lbs. 4 oz.

Donovan (black) - 14 lbs.

Feedback for Bluebell's 2010 Coated Romney Fleece

"I received Bluebell's fleece today. The color, the crimp, the length of the locks and the overall condition of the fleece--WOW!! It's simply breathtaking. I could spin it right out of the box but I'm going to restrain myself and wash out the lanolin first. I loved my last fleece (Carrie's) and this one is even better. Thank you so much. Thank Bluebell for me, too. You all have really spoiled me.

I'm a happy spinner!

P.S. I love the classy presentation with the photo. What a nice memento. "

Meet the Sheepdogs of Grace Valley Farms !

Ruger, Rocket, and Bullet

Belvedere's 2010 Fleece- Covered Romney Wool

Belvedere

Belvedere, once again, produced a beautiful fleece! With its shades of silver and gray transitioning to heather, her wool is very pleasing to the eye. Despite being a mature ewe, she has maintained a nice crimp!

The outside tips of Belvedere's fleece are peachy-heather in color, adding to the overall warmth and attractiveness of the fleece.

Romney fleeces are noted for low lanolin content. Belvedere's lanolin level is considerably lower than typical Romney; this will translate into a higher yield of clean wool after washing.

Betsy's Tiny Babies

Last Sunday afternoon Betsy delivered two white babies! Her twins were different than our normal lambs because they were very small. They look like toys! The two lambs together weighed in at less than 12 pounds, total. This is compared to our lambs' normal birth weight between 10 and 16 pounds, each.

Dewey - 5 lbs. 12 oz

Dilly - 6 lbs.

We have been giving these two babies extra attention since they are so tiny. Dewey has been having a hard time nursing, so Shepherdess Emily has been milking Betsy and then bottle-feeding him Betsy's milk to help him stay strong and start growing.

Betsy frequently checks on her babies and talks to them!

Blossom Gives Birth to Dixon!

Blossom is another one of our first-time mamas this year! She gave birth to a beautiful ram lamb named Dixon. Even though he is only 5 days old, Dixon is already displaying excellent wool qualities!

Blossom licking off newborn Dixon

I'm up on my feet!

Blossom and Dixon in the jug

Dixon - 13 lbs. 14 oz

We've graduated to the preschool pen!

Heather's Lambs

Heather, one of our Hampshire ewes, delivered twin girls on March 4th. She had a very fast delivery and has recovered rapidly. Heather is such a strong ewe, it seemed like delivering lambs hardly even phased her! She does a good job of caring for her girls.

Dorcas (black) - 14 lbs.

Diana (white) - 12 lbs. 12 oz.

Heather and Dorcas

Many of our sheep love to eat apples! Apples provide a good source of nutrition for our ewes and rams. Heather especially enjoys this special treat. If fact, she likes apples so much, we joke that she nurses her lambs with apple juice instead of milk!

As a lamb, Heather was raised out on the range; so, when Heather first came to live on our farm, she was wild and afraid of people. After much patience and gentle care by our family, she became a very lovable sheep! When Heather sees us, she comes over and stands next to us, waiting to have her neck rubbed! Oftentimes, when we kneel down to care for one of our other sheep, Heather will lovingly places her head on our shoulder or even on top of our head!

Maternity Ward

Construction has been progressing on the barn improvement project. We've increased the area to shelter animals and machinery by 50% and improved the functionality. The extra space has really aided us in sheltering and caring for our girls and their babies. Here's how we've used the space this lambing season:

When a ewe is within a few days of her due date, we bring her into the birthing area. The birthing area consists of one large room with five small pens around the perimeter. The ewe will typically deliver her lambs in the large open area; the open area gives her room to move about and not feel crowded while in labor.

Bluebell in a jug

After the lambs are born, the ewe will clean off the lambs and encourage them to nurse. The shepherds typically stand by to assist, if needed. After the lambs have their first little drink, the shepherds will weigh each lamb and sterilize the navel area with an iodine solution. The ewe and her lambs are then moved into one of the small pens where she and her lambs complete the bonding process. The small pens are called a "jug". The jug is equipped with clean straw, fresh water, and a heat lamp during cold weather. The jug becomes the private room for each mommy and her lambs.

After one to two days of being in a jug, the ewe is moved into a larger pen we call "the preschool". In the preschool, the ewe and her lambs join a few other new mamas and lambs. The lambs in this pen make friends with other lambs while learning to find mama in the small crowd.

When the lambs are up and going strong, we move mama and babies to our "playpen". The playpen is the largest pen where all ewes with older lambs are living.The ewes and lambs spend a couple weeks in the playpen getting used to flock life. The lambs have room to run, jump, and enjoy the fun of their new playmates. The playpen is the final step before the ewe and her lambs rejoin the flock.

The mamas in the "playpen" enjoy a meal of grain.

On warmer, sunshiny days, the mamas and babies leave the playpen and venture out to our pasture. Here the lambs run and jump around or take a nap while mom looks for a bite to eat!

Two Blooming Flowers!

Brooke gave birth for the first time to white twin girls! Both of these girls are doing well and Brooke is very protective of them! She loves her little babies!

Daisy - (11 lbs. 14oz)

Daffodil - (10lbs. 12 oz)

Daisy and Daffodil are daughters of Foreman and granddaughters of Edison. These girls will be the foundation of our future flock!

Doolittle Has Landed!

Belle is also a first-time mother this year! She delivered her baby boy on February 27th.

Belle giving her baby a drink of milk

Doolittle - (12 lbs 6 oz.)

Doolittle is almost all black in color. He does have a few cute little white marks on his face! Doolittle is a son of Foreman and a grandson of Edison.

Feedback on Foreman's 2010 Fleece!

"I just wanted you to know that Foreman's fleece arrived today and I'm thrilled.  It is just beautiful and is already in the hot water bath for washing. I can't wait to spin on it.  Thank you and your staff for a superb product and professionalism.  I love the picture you sent me for my file.  It helps me keep up with "who grew what" referencing in the future.  Many, many thanks again."

Black and White !

On Sunday morning our ewe Dale, delivered twins. Dale is quick when it comes to giving birth! She delivered her babies, got them up, and nursed them in under one hour! Dale likes to have her lambs when we aren't looking. We've only witnessed the birth of one of her seven babies in the four years we've had her.

Dwight (white) - 13 lbs. 10oz.

Dori (black) - 12 lbs. 1 oz.

Dale was given to us by our neighbors as a gift. Dale's mother had rejected her, so we bottle-fed and took care of her. Dale is a very friendly sheep! She loves to have her belly rubbed and her neck scratched. She wiggles her tail when you scratch her just right!

Dale and Dwight

Bluebell's 2010 Fleece - Coated Romney Wool

Bluebell

Bluebell produced a beautiful 2010 fleece! Her wool is soft and very lustrous; one of our finest fleeces! The silver strands in her wool are striking against the black locks, making the fleece seem to sparkle in bright light!

Even though Bluebell is one of our smallest ewes, she is very heavily-wooled. Her final skirted fleece weighed 8 pounds!

Bluebell's Staple Length

Watch Me Grow!

Dooley is now 5 weeks old and growing like a weed!

Ben holding Dooley

Dooley and his friends Curlianne and Cassie taking a nap in the sun.

As you can see from the pictures above, Dooley has grown considerably since we last posted an update on him. He has so much personality these days! We enjoy watching him bounce around and then come thundering in the barn! We estimate Dooley's weight to be around 50 pounds. He should make a beautiful 4-H show lamb this summer!