Jo&Tex Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 I met a guy yesterday who was promoting his very own brand of sheep. He calls them Calico Sheep and wanted me to think that the secret of their creation was as mysterious as the Cadbury Secret/KFC recipe. Actually, they looked like a Shetland - Katahdin blend and he mentioned that they also had Dorset and Suffolk lineage. They are very tiny and pretty sheep. He will sell lots of them to people who want a few cute sheep for around the hobby farm. Their fleece was neither hair or wool and he recommended that they only be shorn every 2 or 3 years. I like my sheep to be bigger than a breadbox and more useful, but these were pleasant to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Sounds like someone who has come up with a good marketing scheme for what's essentially a very crossbred flock. Dorper cross sheep often come in the same "calico" pattern (I've got several out in the pasture right now with the same color pattern). So he could have crossed dorpers with katahdins and then added in shetland or babydoll southdown genetics to "miniaturize" them. Not my cup of tea, but since miniature anything seems to sell well to the general public, he'll probably make a killing selling his new "breed." J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo&Tex Posted May 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Dorpers were my first thought too. I asked him and he said no. He said he started by crossing Suffolk and Dorsets and then only keeping the white faced ewes that resulted. I am guessing that Dorper is probably one of the 11 herbs and spices that went into this mix somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyF Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 I have seen tri-colored Katahdin sheep before. I am getting a ram this year from a guy who calls it a calico ram and it is a purebred Katahdin ram. Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewie'sMom Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 I met a guy yesterday who was promoting his very own brand of sheep. He calls them Calico Sheep and wanted me to think that the secret of their creation was as mysterious as the Cadbury Secret/KFC recipe. Actually, they looked like a Shetland - Katahdin blend and he mentioned that they also had Dorset and Suffolk lineage.They are very tiny and pretty sheep. He will sell lots of them to people who want a few cute sheep for around the hobby farm. Their fleece was neither hair or wool and he recommended that they only be shorn every 2 or 3 years. I like my sheep to be bigger than a breadbox and more useful, but these were pleasant to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Yeah, I saw a katahdin at the MD SWF who was a beautiful brown-grey color, so katahdins can throw color too, red and black included. Remember that the dorper is a breed that was created from dorsets (dor) and persian blackheads (per), so the breeder may not be using dorpers per se, but certainly is using some of the same elements used to create the dorper.... Interesting that he crossed white face to black face and kept only the white faces. I guess he was hoping the black genetics in the suffolk would carry over onto the bodies of his white-faced sheep. And he picked some of the tallest/largest breeds to start with. Oh well, I guess if he can make money with his "calico sheep" more power to him. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Regarding the Suffolk/Dorset background, I think he was blowing smoke. The two easiest, most easily recognizable phenotype traits to lock in via inbreeding are odd colorations and reduced size. He's just a snakeoil salesman hoping to start the next Olde English Babydoll Southdown craze among people who have more money than sense and want "cute" and "rare" sheep. He needs to develop a better origin myth, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnrs Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 We had a Calico ewe also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Regarding the Suffolk/Dorset background, I think he was blowing smoke. The two easiest, most easily recognizable phenotype traits to lock in via inbreeding are odd colorations and reduced size. He's just a snakeoil salesman hoping to start the next Olde English Babydoll Southdown craze among people who have more money than sense and want "cute" and "rare" sheep. He needs to develop a better origin myth, though. I think your right on, I have an old horse trader that wonders in now and then to see what we have for lambs, he picks out the smallest and most colorful, tries to get them as cheaply as possible from us. Then he turns around and sells them into backyards as something special, gotta have pretty sheep to look at when you gaze out your kitchen window . Maybe I'm making a mistake by outcrossing to try to get a little more size and not being concerned with color in our flock, I should be going the other way, inbreeding to get smaller and more color... Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Maybe I'm making a mistake by outcrossing to try to get a little more size and not being concerned with color in our flock, I should be going the other way, inbreeding to get smaller and more color... Sure, if you want to sell to the horse trader for bargain basement prices, or onesey-twoseys to backyard people who will freak out and call you at 2 in the morning when the lambie coughs. If, on the other hand, you want to produce a commercially-viable product that you can sell by the trailer load, you're paying attention to the right traits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Bizarre. I just heard the term "calico sheep" for the first time in a conversation today, on the other side of the country...the other country even (Sierra foothills). A friend mentioned he had a pyrshep and I asked him if he also had livestock. "Nope, but my wife's been making noises about calico sheep." So then I come home to this thread, and figure that people must be learning about these new sheepies from something making the rounds of the internet. But no, google has barely heard the term. All I could find (that pertains to live sheep) was: 1) youtube video of a guy named Carl Hagedorn and his personal flock (no indication that he has any interest in selling, and these sheep look a bit bigger than Jo's) 2) Bebee's Calico Ranch, which raises and sells "painted desert sheep" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo&Tex Posted May 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Alaska, that youtube video is of the guy I was talking to at the spring sale. He lives about an hour past a ferry ride from me. His sheep on display were smaller than the beasts in the video. Much smaller than any in my mixed flock of Suffolks, Dorsets and Rideau Arcott. He was asking $600 for a trio...2 young adult ewes and a ram lamb from one generation away. Not what I fancy in a sheep, but he was making sales and I wish him well. I read an article recently about a breed called the California Variegated Mutant Sheep in Countryside Magazine. Their claim to fame was that the wool contained several colours on each strand and could be spun. Ever heard of those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Check the Oklahoma State livestock breeds website for info on the CVM (and a gazillion other sheep breeds, "Calicos" excepted). It's in alphabetical order, so just check under "C". I have a friend who had a few at one time. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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