Romeldale CVM

The sheep we raise are the Romeldale CVM. It's a breed developed by A.T. Spencer in the early 1900's by cross-breeding the New Zeeland Romney ram with Rambouillet ewes. The Romeldale is, as a result, an American fine wool breed, and the CVM, or California Variegated Mutant, a multi-colored result of that mix. Both the CVM and the Romeldale are unique to the United States and are on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy endangered list. That's one of the reasons we chose the breed - to help preserve an American treasure.
Romeldale sheep are typically white, but the color pattern of the CVM is what's known as the "badger-face" - which is evident in Kismet, Lola and Lobelia. They have a light-colored body with a dark belly and dark head. The body of their fleece has a range of shades of color - white, grey, black, moorit, brown, and everything in between. Their legs and belly are typically black, and/or brown/grey stripes or patches. A cherished characteristic of their fleece, is that it darkens rather than fades as the sheep ages.
Another reason we chose the breed is because of its fleece quality and performance characteristics. Our flock wear coats year round, from birth. This helps ensure a super clean and top quality fleece for handspinners and fleece artists. My oldest daughter, is one of those.  This spring we did a "fleece class" together.  We learned cleaning techniques, a little weaving, and most important - that we are right on in figuring out which fleeces are top of the line.  Out of 100's of people who have attended the classes, we are two of the four only people who placed the fleece in the correct order of quality. That tells me I'm in the right business.
Next month we'll be introducing Kismet and Katrina to Korinth, our moorit ram, with the hope of that meeting being the production of our first lambs born at Sunny Silver Maple Farm.  In October, we'll introduce Lobelia and Lola. Lannie was a late born lamb, so she'll wait until next year.  My dream is to produce some moorit ewes - a rare occurrence in the breed.  Because of the bloodlines of my flock, however, I have at least a 25% chance of moorit showing up somewhere.  Regardless of their color, though, I know the fleece will be top quality and of fine color - Romeldale CVM, a sheep that never disappoints.