BLACK PINES SHEEP

Black Pines is situated in Weld County in Northern Colorado, where the Great Plains meet the majestic Rockies. With a strong agricultural background, Weld County has more livestock than any county in the USA. The ranch, now consisting of 80 acres, began as a registered Black Angus and Quarter Horse ranch in 1962.

For the past 23 years, it has been run as the ultimate handspinning flock, consisting of 90 head of ewes, recently scaled down from 150 with 8 different breeds, ranging from the finest (Merino & Rambouillet) to the coarsest (Karakul). Being a very labor-intensive business, the operation has been tailored over the years to minimize time and physical labor.

Being very particular, Roy has done most of our shearing until two years ago. Now, World Champion Kiwi shearers have taken over this strenuous task. Roy still likes to keep in practice. Our wide range of fleece types with different growth rates, means four to five shearing days a year. There are always fresh fleeces available.

As the results of Father Time and our Wensleydale and Teeswater upgrade program, Black Pines is in a transition period. As well as scaling down the flock size, the plan is to reduce our existing eight breeds to five. The ewes from the other three breeds will be retained for fleece, but will no longer be bred for purebred lambs.

Years of careful crossbreeding experiments have produced a variety of premium fleeces in some unusual colors, one of which is a "moorit" longwool type fleece.

Black Pines has always set high standards for its sheep and wool by maintaining these goals:

1. To raise the finest examples of each of its breeds with uniform fleece, size, conformation, prolificy, lambing ease, and mothering ability for each breed given top priority.
2. To produce the cleanest, best skirted and most unique fleeces possible. (To help meet this goal all of the sheep, except the Karakuls, have worn covers from shearing to shearing.)
3. Complete customer satisfaction.

Today our emphasis is centered on our upgrading program of the Wensleydale and Teeswater sheep, which is entering its seventh year. The program has had its triumphs and heartbreaks, but this year we saw our first 87% Wensleydale lambs on the ground and find ourselves more enthusiastic than ever. They are everything we had hoped for and are producing vigorous growth lambs with lustrous curly fleece. The opportunity to raise these magnificent sheep is the culmination of a twenty-year dream.

Raising strong healthy lambs and producing premium quality fleeces requires a healthy flock. Black Pines has been enrolled in the Voluntary Scrapie Flock Certification Program, since 1997, which meant closing the flock. Random tests for OPP have been run over the years with no positive results to date. All lambs are vaccinated at birth for soremouth (a must if you show) and the flock is foot rot and pinkeye free. Parasite control is given high priority.

Since 1983, Black Pines has maintained a show string of from one to three different breeds and exhibited both sheep and fleeces at 8 to 10 shows a year, ranging from coast to coast. Show results have been very positive, as sales of both fleece and sheep will attest. Visitors are always welcome at Black Pines. Please check ahead of arrival.

Look for us each year at the Estes Park Wool Market and the Wool Festival at Taos, as well as the Black Sheep Gathering.