I maintain a flock of 10 purebred, registered Finn ewes. These ewes are selected for their wool color and quality as well as maternal traits. My goals are to produce high quality Finnsheep in a variety of colors while maintaining the good maternal traits of the Finn ewe.
The health of my flock is of utmost importance: I have tested for Johne's Disease and OPP since 1998. For health reasons, my flock has been closed since 2000 and will remain so. The semen that I imported will enable me to continue producing quality Finnsheep without exposing my flock to the risk of disease by bringing in more rams. The flock is also a Certified Scrapie-Free flock and is free of foot rot. "Princie", F1 ram
In 1996 I traveled to Finland to pursue my dream of producing colored Finnsheep. My goal was to import semen from a variety of different colored Finn rams from the state flock at Pelso. (At the time of my trip, we had only white and black Finnsheep in the US.) After many trials and tribulations, the importation came to pass and I now own semen from nine unrelated Finn rams (white, black, brown, and gray).
This semen has made its mark on my flock! I now have white, black, gray, fawn, and brown colored Finnsheep. The F1 crosses (first generation crosses) are larger and have more bone than our US Finnsheep. My aim is to continue improving my flock with the help of these new genetics.
Platon, a brown Finn ram at Stentorp in Finland. Grand sire of many of my brown lambs.
Photo courtesy of Jill Von Weymarn
Each year I have a number of ewe lambs and ram lambs for sale. These lambs are chosen using the same criteria that I use for selecting my replacement stock: their dams must be prolific, exhibit strong maternal traits, and produce quality wool. All lambs must show good growth and be robust.
The price of these lambs varies depending on the lineage of the lamb. I charge $225 for ewe lambs that are out of US genetics and $450 for ewes out of the imported genetics. Ram lambs cost $300 for US genetics and $500 for the imported genetics. I do offer a discount for a purchase of three or more lambs. For those sheep being transported outside of Wisconsin, there is an additional charge for the cost of the traveling papers.
From time to time I also have a few registered Finn ewes and rams for sale. Prices vary depending on the animal's performance. I also offer wethers each year to individuals who may want some pet sheep or sheep with quality wool for handspinning flocks. The price for a quality wether is $100.
If you are interested in contacting me about my breeding program or my stock, please e-mail me at weecroft@hughes.net.
Wee Croft Finnsheep
Sandy De Master
(last update: 1/31/2008)
