Aandsvarr Needs a Woman



Meet Andsvaar.... he's one strappin' Icelandic breeding ram!! Check out our website below for details on how YOU can have Andsvaar on YOUR farm.

Stone Hill Ranch Website
4/12/2010

and it begins.....

Posted by Stone Hill Ranch


Welp, springtime is definitely here! There's new life all over the farm and we're all just lovin' it :-) We herded all of the Icelandics into the lambing pens and all of the Icelandics managed to get out the very next day haha! We went down to fix the situation and one of our Merino/Icelandic crossbreeds decided to lamb on pasture (oops). The babies are adorable and the wool feels TREMENDOUS! I'm anxious to spin them :-)







We lambed some Merino/Icelandics back in January and the results are varied so far. We were able to produce a single coated fleece from the black male, but the female retained the dual coat.... both are *incredibly silky*! Strange thing: The black fleece is thel, the white is tog on both animals?? Go figure. The conformation on the male seems to be representative of Merinos (low, barrel bellied), but the female is a spitting image of an Icelandic....hmmm.




Lyndsay's Hampshire babies are doing well (born Jan./Feb.) and she's already at me to take a trip to Missouri for next years breeding ram.... go figure :-) Damn, we need a new barn!!!!!!

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2/09/2010

More Babies !!

Posted by Stone Hill Ranch

I got my cross breeds!! We crossed a moorit Merino female with a white Icelandic ram and boy did we get cute little babies :-) The black one is a male and the white one is a female. They seem to have wool like an Icelandic, but time will tell. I'm anxious to see if they maintain the dual coat. Last year, we crossed a Hampshire female with an Icelandic male and the tog went bye-bye, however, the wool was like a brillo pad (haha).

Both of the babies jumped right up after they were born and acted like they were already a week old!! The kids won't leave their hands off them :-)----They have these fat little faces!!

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1/25/2010

The Hamps Are Here!!!

Posted by Stone Hill Ranch


Well, we're off and running with baby lambs as of yesterday!!! Our Hampshire sheep begin to lamb in January and will continue through February. We also have some Merino sheep that we've crossed with Ilex (Icelandic ram) that will be due in January/February timeframe. The last to lamb are always my Icelandics-----Easter time is when they 'pop' :-)


'Sister' had her twin boys yesterday morning. They weighed in at 11lbs & 12lbs and have really GREAT butts on them!! Last year, we bred our Hampshires to a ram that had a bony butt, and hence, most of the babies came out with scrawny butts and skinny legs. This year, we bred the girls to my friends ram up the road. I think all but one took. Hopefully, everyone twins and Lyndsay will be able to have a choice on who to show in 4H :-)



I'm going to take a few of the Hampshire fleeces to the processor this month and have them made up into quilt batts. Hampshire sheep are a mutton breed..... not wool, however, their wool may be a cheaper alternative for quilting batts.

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