Boo.
Beau coming . . .
. . . and going.I've been thinking both of Brava's boys had inherited her wooly tail and were destined to be fiber pets. But yesterday morning I realized that both had hair tips, good length and proper shape. That warranted a closer look and better photos.
,5:30.jpg)
"You want to look at what?"
Here is Beau's tail.,5:30.jpg)
"Uh-oh."
Boo's tail.Now I'm thinking they don't have bad tails at all! What do you think?
Since the market out here for half-polled rams is practically non-existent, I imagine both will still end up as fiber pets. But I feel better knowing that their dam can throw proper breed characteristics and structure, especially since she is a sweet ewe with nice fleece. If anyone IS interested in a half-poll double-patterned (musket gulmoget) ram with the softest fleece of all the lambs this year, Boo would love to surprise some ladies this fall. (As would his handsome musket brother Beau with much smaller scurs.)
That's it on budding ram lambs for now from . . .
9 comments:
The tails don't look bad, Michelle. Not the teeny,tiny ones that some are getting but within the standard at this point. My one concern would be that they'll end up too wooly. The only way to know that is to wait and see...
Good luck! You've got some beautiful lambs this year. You've done a wonderful job of selecting and breeding good quality animals. Be proud!
Hi Michelle,
I think Boo's tail is quite decent. It is totally proper.
Beau's, by comparison, is not as nice. It is not as bad as some I've seen though. Even if I didn't prefer it, I would classify it within the standard too.
From my experience with the lambs I've gotten from Unicorn (who has a perfectly shaped, tiny, wooly tail) is that they are about as bad as they are ever going to get as young lambs. I doubt Boo's wooly upper tail will get any worse. But Beau already has some fluff going on there so that might continue to get more so.
Remember what you said to me about not getting everything you want in one single lamb? It's so frustrating.
Just my opinion (feel free to disregard it) but I think Boo has the better overall package of fleece, tail, and pattern.
Those tails look good to me. I have to disagree, I think woolly tails are easy to correct. Cotton Candy's is perfectly shaped with hair tip but in full fleece it gets a little woolly but all her lambs to date have had great tails. My lambs are just loosing their baby fuzz and getting that distinction that your photos show. If Boo wasn't Ag I would have you put him on a plane send him to ME!
They both look pretty good. I like Boo's better, but I would think that both would be acceptable. They look fluke shaped, are 2/3 wool, 1/3 hair, and the tips don't extend down past the base of the sack.
Sabrina, you are right about lambs tails. They can start out life looking just awful, but the lambs can grow into them (same with ears). Another important reason to let them grow a bit, don't cull too quickly.
Correcting bad tails through breeding up is hit or miss. Sometimes you get lucky and a good tail can be bred in, some sheep just keep throwing a bad tail generation after generation. I have a 5th generation crappy tail here and I'm losing hope I can breed it out of an otherwise good line.
Such handsome boys. I'm still dreaming about have a fiber flock...
who doen't love agood tale/tail
I think both tails are perfectly acceptable. I believe it was Robin who said that tails with wool that grows over the hair tip are actually more protective of important sheepie parts than the little eye catching ones that seem to be in vogue right now.
More important than the amount/length of wool is the size, shape and hair tip.
...but that's just my opinion.
- Franna
Great tails
Wizz :-)
Those are great little fluke tails.
In fact I like them better than the ones in the next post.
I try and focus on the fluke shape, and my tails like this usually have grown out to be perfect.
I do not think they will be too wooly.
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