2019, Waiting on lambs!

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Got my new girls!

And saw a zebu 3yr bull, SO. TINY!! You could only see its sharp horns and wither hump!

Failed to get weights on my girls before shipping them out. Darn!

 

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New girls are home!
They'll stay in this small yard to get used to grass, since breeder told me they're grass is dried out/hay-like, for a few days. If they don't get the squirts, I'll move them into the barn that has a small yard of tall grass for them to live in for a couple weeks.

 

[AmberLops]

SO adorable!! I can't wait to get mine....soon

 

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Fossa

Evangeline

Hirola

Willow

 

[AmberLops]

Love the names! Fossa is gorgeous

 

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Moved the new girls today. They were gobbling up hay like candy & seemed like there was no more grass good enough for them.

I also got headshots for registration transfers.

 

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Love the names! Fossa is gorgeous

Love how dark black she still is!! So rare these days! Non-greying is also rare, but not as rare.

 

[AmberLops]

Love how dark black she still is!! So rare these days! Non-greying is also rare, but not as rare.

I think the black is my favorite color so far...and the brown ones! Not sure what brown is called in a sheep ?
Only ever had St. Croix and they were all white...I never thought of looking into sheep colors

 

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I think the black is my favorite color so far...and the brown ones! Not sure what brown is called in a sheep ?
Only ever had St. Croix and they were all white...I never thought of looking into sheep colors

There is no brown/moorit in Southdown or Babydoll Southdown, just black & white.

Black sun bleaches to brown, just like brown hair in people bleaches to blond & how other black haired animals have brownish hair when shedding out.

There are breeders who are trying to breed for resistant sun bleachers. In horses, there's genetics for blacks that resist sun bleaching, but most have the genetics to dull out. Some believe there aren't genetic differences & others say it's related to beling homozygous vs heterozygous.

There is also greying in black. Some grey/fade early on as lambs = rapid color loss. Others grey under 4yrs old. And then there's "aging grey", considered when they start going grey at or after 4yrs old. The latter is usually uncommon.

Some people believe that there might be moorit hidden, since a couple pictures have surfaced, but no proof & no way to prove that the sheep is purebred.

Some sun bleaching/old hair examples in other animals. The horse & dog are mine, the rabbits from Google.

My mini is a Smokey Silver Black. Her mane & tail bleaches to blond, same with her coat.
Underside of mane shows her true color for mane & coat.

Lovely highlights!

two toned neck.

Old, bleached coat on bottom-

The red here is the old, bleached coat.

My dog.
The yellowing around thigh, tail, dock and neck is the old, bleached hair. Main body has been brushed & you can see it's a bright white mixed with new, black hair.
Side of head vs tail dock is most obvious.

Then Babydoll wool, my sheep. The sun bleaching gradient can be seen when sheared.

The grey stripe in this one doesn't seem to be from fade greying, but possibly from a period of lack of certain minerals.