We have two new Finnsheep ewes on the farm. They are both from Gale Woods Farm in Minnetrista, MN. So we officially have the start of our Finn flock at Roundabout Acres. We have almost all the Finnsheep colors represented – black, white, brown and spotting (piebald.) We do not have grey.
I have decided to name the white ewe Elina which means “torch” or “bright light.” The extremely friendly black ewe is named Emmi, which means “friendly, soft, emmulating.” Emmi was sheared a few weeks ago but her fleece feels super soft already. After I picked the names, I realized that our Finn flock names all begin with “E” – Eino, Emmi, and Elina!
The new girls have fit right in and weren’t frightened of the llamas at all.
Finn ewe lamb Elina. What a pretty face!
Elina's fleece. I know it's not a great shot...I promise to get a better one soon!
Finn ewe lamb Emmi. She carries spots; she has a spot on her lip and one lower leg. She stayed in this position until the Shepherdess gave her plenty of chin scratching!
Tim, the Farm Manager at Gale Woods weighed the ewes before they went into my vehicle. I didn't write down the numbers but as near as I remember, Emmi weighs 86 lb. and Elina weighs 78 lb.
I like this photo because it shows the difference in size between the Finns and Shetlands. Shetland ewe lamb Glory is following behind the Finn ewes. Glory was born about six weeks later than the Finns. (As a side note, you can see the grey tail and grey on Glory's neck. She is Shaela under the black!)
A Sustainable Life at Roundabout Acres 
Posted by Garrett on 11/11/2009 at 10:28 PM
Does this mean you are no longer breeding Shetlands, ever? What made you change to Finns? Multiple births? Personality? Just curious! My neighbor had 300 Finn x ewes (all whites) back about a decade ago. He wanted the 5-6 lambs he got each year but I thought that was just crazy 🙂
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Posted by The Shepherdess on 11/12/2009 at 1:22 AM
Hi Garrett – thanks for the question. I will continue breeding Shetlands. In fact, I have Roundabout Acres Baab with two ewes right now. He will go to his new home in December. My issue is more the horned vs. polled and keeping separate pens. Trophy Husband and I both work full-time in addition to the farm. We have to haul water in the winter and it gets to be too much with all the different pens. Becky suggested I may want to consider polled Shetlands – and that may be what we do in the future. I LOVE the fiber from the BFL X Mules (both the Shetland and NC Cheviot crosses.) Additionally, I LOVE to spin the Finnsheep fiber. I looked into Finns before I got started with the Shetlands but at the time, I was intimidated by the multiple births. Also, with a bigger sheep than a Shetland, such as a BFL X or a Finnsheep, we can grow a lamb to butcher weight in one summer. I really don’t want to overwinter boys for slaughter the next year. That adds another pen to manage over the winter. As far as personality, the Finn girls have already endeared themselves to me! They are sweet and curious like the Shetlands but seem to be calmer and more steady. And the fiber – ooh, la, la!!
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Posted by becky utecht on 11/15/2009 at 5:20 PM
I have to say, I’m tempted by those Finn ewes myself! They have naturally short tails, nice fleece in lots of colors and spots, friendly personalities and a nice size. The main thing that holds me back is the large litter size. But the Gale Woods people said they don’t get that many quads and quints, mostly twins and triplets, so maybe that aspect is over-inflated. I know Finn fiber felts really well. It will be interesting to see how Terri and Gail’s Finn ewes do next spring at lambing.
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Posted by The Shepherdess on 11/15/2009 at 5:42 PM
Ditto, ditto! I have to say I AM a bit nervous about litter size, but I am committed to make it work because I like the sheep and fiber so much! 😉
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