New Blood

I've been talking to Dr. Ann Merriwether of Nyala Farm in Vestal about a Wensleydale ram for a year or so now.  I finally took Louie home with me.  He is absolutely adorable and a real sweetie.  My plan is to have fewer sheep with heavier fleeces.  I adore my Bluefaced Leicesters and crosses but some of the fleeces are very light.  I've been noticing that Bluefaced Leicester breeders often have another breed of sheep that produce a heftier fleece.  I tried a Border Leicester ram, Zack, for a year or two and have two lovely ewes from him, Margot and Margareta.  The Border Leicester wool is a tad coarse, but the fleeces are huge.  Louie was living with his buddy, Spike Lee, a purebred Nubian buck, for a month.  They kept each other fantastic company while I was feeding them well and preparing them for the task ahead.  Spike Lee is going to pair up with Fancy and Matilda soon to give me Nubian babies and goat milk in the spring.  When I put Louie in with the flock he went right to work, doing his best to mount the big girls from behind.  Louie is on the small side but his will is mighty.  I don't see a lot of breeding going on - some sheep like privacy - but I see that his nose is always in the right place.  We'll see how it goes.  In the meantime Louie is enjoying the lush green grass that still covers the hillside.