The ewes are gathered around a little exercise pen that I set up for the chickens. I'm afraid to let my chickens loose yet because I'm afraid that my cats will get them. So, for the past three days, the cats have been shut in the house! I digress...
The purpose of the above picture is to point out the HST ewe in the center. That's Zaria. She's a Shaela & white, HST Shetland. Shaela is a modified version of black. You can see a distinct difference between Zaria and the black, ewe lamb that is standing next to her.
These two handsome ram lambs are examples of Shaela (Dynasty, on the left) and black (Idol, on the right) in lambs. Shaela lambs are born looking black but very quickly appear to 'sun bleach'. Much more so than true black lambs. Note, in the photo, that Idol is also sun bleached at the tips of his fleece but he still looks 'black' compared to Dynasty. As the lambs get bigger, you may notice a distinct, "metallic" tint to their fleece when you part it.
The picture, below, is a black, lamb's fleece compared to the Shaela fleece (Dynasty), above. 
Just for good measure, here's a picture of Zaria's fleece, that also shows the sun bleached tips so typical of an adult Shaela.
Shaela is NOT Ag ~ "grey". It is a modified version of black, where the black fibers actually change to a metallic, steely, bluish - greyish - black. It is also NOT "iset". Iset is where white fibers grow in with the black ~ giving a frosted look to the fleece. Zaria is actually developing some iset fibers as she matures, but one can clearly see that her main fleece color is Shaela. VERY pretty fleece! DREAM says....
..."I'll show you pretty! That's ME and my sheep mom, "Zodiak", when I was just a baby!!" That it is, Dreamer. And your mom is a beautiful, ISET ewe!
Okay, now I need to see comparison photos between shaela and emsket. I see "shaela" in Dynasty's fleece pic, but Zaria looks "emsket" to me. Educate me!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a shaela before so this was great to see some pictures.
ReplyDeleteKate
I have border leicsters ... we call these "blue" fleeces. I have abeutiful older ewe that has a wonderful blue fleece ... but it is considered a rare colour I think.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first got chickens I was so worried about the barn cats getting them. When I actually relaxed enough to let the chickens out, I was surprised to find that the cats are TERRIFIED of the chickens! Introduce the cats one at a time when you will be around to watch, but I would be willing to bet that your little Roo will put those kitties in their place.
ReplyDeleteHas Corinne read Garrett's blog? I didn't think cats would go after chickens, either, until I read about what happened to his! But I gathered those were bantams, so maybe it was a size thing....
ReplyDelete