Leafhaven Shetlands

15/06/2024

For anyone interested in sheep and wool! Deborah Robson is a fantastic resource. She is the fibre author of The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook and of The Field Guide to Fleece and a former editor of Spin-Off. Her website is independentstitch.com.

This presentation is online so you can attend from anywhere!

Send a message to learn more

15/06/2024

Meanwhile, down the road at Kylie’s … spots!! Or as the traditional Shetland descriptions might say: the ewe lamb is moorit gulmoget flecket yuglet sokket and the ram lamb is black gulmoget smirslet sokket bioget. Also known as dang cute.

12/06/2024

This handsome yearling is Leafhaven Nelson, currently the main man in the Long Way Homestead flock of registered Shetlands and the proud father of their 2024 lambs.

09/06/2024

Three shades of the Shetland rainbow and three variations of the gulmoget pattern expressed in these young rams.

05/06/2024

What an honour to get on the winners list at the Blue Hills Fibre Festival wool show! Thank you to Judge Susie Gourlay and scribe Gerry Oliver who put in a long day assessing fleeces.

And thanks to Jane and Pat for buying our prize winning fleece! It’s such a good feeling to know the results of our work are appreciated and put to good use. I look forward to seeing what these talented fibre artists do with the fleece.

Fleece Competition held June 1 at the Blue Hills Fibre Festival, Carberry, MB. A new high of 28 fleeces were entered, many first-time competitors. The results include:

Grand Champion - Spiritsands Shepherds, Carberry, MB - Wensleydale cross coloured fleece
Reserve Champion - Leaf Haven Shetlands, Winnipeg, MB - Shetland fleece

Fine Wool
1st - Graham Rannie, Binscarth, MB - Rambouillet fleece
2nd- Graham Rannie, Binscarth, MB - Rambouillet fleece
3rd - Graham Rannie, Binscarth - Rambouillet fleece

Down Wool
1st - Janice Johnson, Binscarth, MB - Border Cheviot fleece
2nd - Janice Johnson, Binscarth, MB - Border Cheviot fleece
3rd - Lundgren Farms, Glenora, MB - Clun x fleece

Long Wool
1st - Spiritsands Shepherd - Wensleydale x Romney coloured fleece
2nd - Spiritsands Shepherds - Wensleydale x fleece
3rd - Spiritsands Shepherd - Wensleydale x fleece

Specialty
1st - Leaf Haven Farms , Winnipeg, MB - Shetland coloured fleece
2nd - Shirley Harvey, Pipestone, MB - Navaho Churro fleece
3rd - Mia Michalchuk, Russell, MB - Jacob fleece

Sponsors for the competition and festival included Canadian Cooperative Wool Growers, MB Sheep Association and Austin Woollen Mills.

28/05/2024

Flora's ram lamb is a poser!

22/05/2024

Looks like the 2024 lamb crew races - no rules, no speed limit, and heaven help the old lady with a cane in the middle of the chaos!

22/05/2024

The attitude on this one! Sticking her tongue out for the camera.

19/05/2024

We continue to discover variations on the gulmoget theme! Dark brown ram and black based ewe; thanks to mama Flora.
Sire is that flashy guy, Forever Prairie Aragorn.

16/05/2024

In between rain showers (hurray for rain!) the fleeces are getting skirted and sorted.
If you are interested in fleeces get in touch!

12/05/2024

Holly is going to be busy keeping up to these two! Just arrived today and they are SO enthusiastic about being alive. The flashy one is a ewe, Oracle, the dark one a ram, Odin. Sire is Forever Prairie Aragorn.

11/05/2024

Lambing has begun with Guinevere’s smooth delivery of two ewes, a solid moorit and a black with sweep markings. Sire is Forever Prairie Archer, one of the 2023 AI lambs.
Gwen is a wonderful mother, and best of all she is calm and friendly so we expect her girls will be too. Now we know both Guinevere and Archer carry the recessive gene for moorit. It’s always fun to sort out another piece of the genetics puzzle.

20/04/2024

Weather permitting, next Friday is shearing day! This is Holly; her fleece is a katmoget pattern in lovely shades of gray.

18/04/2024

The lovely Flora. ❤️

05/01/2024

It is a privilege to be connected to the long history of Shetland wool through our flock here on the Canadian prairies. Shetland sheep have adapted well to our climate and continue the legacy of producing high quality wool even though far from their original home.

Textile maker and designer Ella Gordon is passionate about Shetland wool. Inspired by the fascinating history she believes there is a long and bright future for Shetland's famous textiles industry.

24/10/2023

Our Manitoba Shetland team got together at Kylie’s place today to look at rams and discuss potential breeding groups. After re-assessing, second guessing, and a welcome pot of tea, we all agreed A) nobody’s perfect, and B)everyone has something unique to offer.

So we are going to use all five of this year’s ram lambs, pairing them with ewes we hope will move us towards the overall flock goals of great conformation, dense crimpy fleeces, pleasant disposition, and sufficient genetic diversity to grow the Manitoba flock well into the future.

11/07/2023

This handsome young fellow is in with the wethers now that he is four months old and getting interested in the girls. We would love him to find a flock of his own to join this fall. He is the son of our much loved ram Harris, and related to too many of our ewes for him to stay here.

27/06/2023

Fleece sorting time!

07/06/2023

Lambs are growing fast!

16/05/2023

It’s hard to get the lambs to stay still for a photo, but eventually they all need a nap!
This is Isabelle’s daughter Nell, sired by the UK ram Powdermill Dustin via AI.

We will be keeping Nell, but if you are interested in adding UK genetics to your Canadian Shetland flock, do get in touch. Once we have had a chance to assess the ram lambs some will likely be available.

07/01/2023

We have big hopes for the flock this spring!

A group of Manitoba Shetland breeders hopes the next round of lambs will mark a new era for flock genetics. Three farms joined forces to give their