Sunday, January 06, 2013

If wishes were sheep...

...what a flock I would build!

Blake and Bunker, hunky inspirations for today's musings

While I am resigned to not having lambs this spring, that doesn't stop me from dreaming of what I would do with my flock if I had more space and time.

To me, genetics are more fun than any table game; there's strategy, suspense, and "the luck of the draw." Mostly thanks to other breeders' efforts, I have good "bones" in my flock – individual breeding animals that each bring outstanding qualities to the table. I would love to mix and match those qualities, working through the generations to develop my own line of Shetlands with the look, fleece, structure, polled genetics and temperament I like best – a recognizable "Boulderneigh Shetland." But would mean utilizing all my breeding animals each year, keeping any resulting lambs that move me closer to my ideal and breeding them, and so on....

Who knows? Maybe someday that dream will come true! In the meantime, I am thankful for what I have at . . .

6 comments:

Tombstone Livestock said...

Look at it this way, less wardrobe is needed to keep the wool clean. I don't know why but my black ewes seem to be straw magnets.

Susan said...

I will have to say that you have the most beeee-utiful Shetlands!

Michelle said...

Ha! Straw just shows up better on black....

Michelle said...

Why, thank-you, Susan!

erica said...

I wish we were closer so we could share genetics better! Those rams are really something! And your a polled breeder! All the polled breeders need to move closer to me. Lol. I like the new picture on the banner to, btw.

Michelle said...

I feel the same what about polled breeders, Erica! They seem to be concentrated in the Midwest – especially MN, WI, MI. There's only one other breeder in the entire northwest that I know of who has some polled genetics.