# question on fleece choices



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I am buying a new ram. I am considering a CVM or a CVMx Rambouillet ram. I am used to finnsheep and finnsheep pretty much only. However, I only own two of those now. I wanted larger sheep. 

Now to finally get to the point. Rambouillet have nice merino-like wool. And lots of it. What are the processing issues I might have? What is the difference in handling fine wool and handling medium wool? Though my finns were on the fine side of medium is there a huge difference that I need to be aware of before I make this leap?

I appreciate any information or experience you have with the sheep or the fleece. I'll be out of town for a few days so I might not get right back here. I'll try my best but I wanted to put this out there so I could make a choice this week. Thanks!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I believe the lanolin content is going to be the biggest difference. I'm not that familiar with Finn and their lanolin but Rambo sheep tend to have a pretty high lanolin content. A general rule of thumb I've always gone by, and I really don't know if it is true and fact, is that the finer the fleece the greasier or higher in lanolin content they tend to be.

Maybe others will have better insight than I do. Like I said I have no clue if it no act true or not but it seems to be in my own experience. I also have no idea why that would be.


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

The finer fleeces like to be spun finer from what I've noticed. The medium fleeces are a lot easier to just grab and spin raw which is one of my preferred methods of spinning. If you want bulky yarn, then a finer fleece is gonna fight you the entire way. For fine soft yarns, the Rambouillet and Merinos are great. It all depends on what you want.

I see the medium fleeces as sort of a fast processing rough and tumble sort of fleece, not real fussy and they are easy to spin. They draft easy in big wide chunks and flow real well in wide streams. The fine fleeces take more precision in processing and go slower. Instead of drafting big wide streams, it is just a narrow trickle made into a fine yarn instead of a big bulky yarn. But, that's just my experiences, YMMV.


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## DragonFlyFarm (Oct 12, 2012)

Rambouillet is lovely to spin. In my experience it does like being spun finer. You will loose an easy 40% (weight) when you scour. They are big sheep!


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I visited a farm today with a CVM. That fleece is way different than I thought. They were short ( I'm not sure how long between shearing) and much greasier. The ones I have samples of remind me of merino- very fine, very crimpy. 

Do you do anything different to process a fine-wool. Do they felt more easily? I don't mind spinning fine. I prefer sport-weight yarns.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Callie you do have to be careful while processing them. If you are carding them you would definitely want fine toothed cards, the fibers can easily be over carded and they can snap creating nubs. I believe they also felt fairly easily. You will need to wash in extra hot water with lots of good soap to get the lanolin out. If you send it off to be processed make sure the mill is properly equipped to deal with fine fleeces. I. Not a comber so I can't say how they would be to comb. Maybe WIHH will stop by and give you more info.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I had Corriedale x Ramb. The fleece was fine, it varied between sheep, with one fleece being extremely fine. As Hot wrote, fine fleece wants to be spun fine. This is great if you want sport weight because you can easily spin two or three that will ply into sport. But, more delicate. I stopped sending mine to the processor because of all the nubs. I comb it.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I was a bit afraid of that 'fine cards' thing. it's a beautiful fleece. Perhaps I'd like a cross better though. I bought some merino top at our fiber festival last year and loved it. But it was already processed for me.


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## lambs.are.cute (Aug 15, 2010)

Rambouillet is a type of merino. They have large frame size, fewer wrinkles and a shorter fleece length. They are mid to fine on the merino range. They were originally from Spain (as all merinos were) and gifted it a farm in Rambouillet France where they were somewhat crossed with the local stock to improve their conformation with out totally losing the fleece quality. 

Romadale was created in the 70s by crossing New Zealand Romney rams with Rambouillet ewes to improve meat qualities and fleece length. CMV is really a romadale but wiith a "mutant" gene which gives them pretty colors. These two breeds can be use as cmv, cmv/romadale, or romadale. People seem to interchange them willy nilly and the breed registry uses both when possible. 

The problem is when the creator finally sold his cmv flock most people didn't treat them like a pure bred flock but saw them as cross breeds. So they were crossed with a bunch of different breeds to suit the breeders needs, which is fine but then they registered them....... And the chaos ensued. I have head of cmv with merino like fineness and have seen cmv that was like a brill pad.


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## lambs.are.cute (Aug 15, 2010)

I would suggest Romney for you. It has the fleece length, is bigger but no as big as the Rambouillet, cross well with the Finns, and have the sweetest personalities. 

I am 5'6 and under 30 and have already found that I'm too old and small to deal with the suffolks (Rambouillets are about the same size). One of my last Suffolk ewes is 300 lbs. foot trimming, shots, worming, shearing, etc is a battle. She can and has knocked me off my feet and drug me across the pen. My Romney ram is about 250-300 lbs and has the personality of a dog. It is still difficult to worm him some times and finding skin for his yearly shots can be impossible due to wool length, but my Romney ewes are at most 200 lbs. I can do everything by myself upto and including shearing. They are big enough to sell market lambs off of (especially if it is direct to customers like the smaller lamb sizes since with the Suffolk lambs I was getting legs the size to feed 12, and all he chops had to be cut in half due to massive size) and you actually get more meat per pound of lamb (40% Suffolk, 60% Romney). 

If you do get a Rambouillet make sure of the temperament. They can be pretty flighty.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Thanks for all that great info. I have thought of Romneys also. I don't need a stinker in the sheep pen. I only have 1 finn ewe now. The BFL ewe is about as big as I'd want to go. I like merino fleece and the possibility for crossing is great. I've seen polypays with great fleeces and those with rough, uneven fleeces.


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

I used to raise Polypays and just loved their temperament. I found them very easy to handle. They are a relatively newer breed so, yes, you can have variation. My first ram I bought from a very careful breeder and I was able to see several years worth offspring to see how well he was stamping those lambs with his characteristics. I was able to review his flock records (genetics, rate of gain, fleece quality, ease of lambing, etc). That helped me make a good choice. Even though they are dual purpose sheep you will find breeders who are more focused on carcass quality and don't care as much about the fleece...and others who are the opposite and are more focused on the fleece.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Callie Weever has Polypay. Maybe you should contact her to go have a look at her sheep.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Good suggestion! Thanks!


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