Willow Springs Farm

05/26/2023

What a wonderful opportunity! Thank you!

04/06/2022

This giveaway has now ended.
Congratulations to Kia Black Woven by Kia for winning the little brother electric drum carder!!
Brother Drum Carder is having another giveaway!! Our Little Brother small motorized model Drum Carder!!!

This is a full size electric drum carder and includes a large and small cleaning brush and doffer for removing batts.

Please be aware of scams that require you to give your credit card or personal information. We don’t ever ask for your credit card.

A $920 value!!!
To enter you must do one or all of the following:
1. Like our page on Facebook or follow us on Instagram.
2. Comment on our post below.
3. Share this post.
We will randomly choose a winner on May 11th, 2022. Don't miss out!!

02/25/2022

Romeldale sheep are an American fine wool breed and the California Variegated Mutant (CVM) is its multi-colored derivative. Both the CVM and the Romeldale are unique to the United States and are endangered.

A. T. Spencer developed the Romeldale in California in the early 1900s. Spencer bought the prize-winning New Zealand Romneys in 1915 in San Francisco at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. He bred these rams to his Rambouillet ewes, with the goal of improving both the meat and wool qualities of his stock.

This group of Romney-Rambouillet crosses were bred for several years and selected for both wool and meat quality. They became known as Romeldales. Much of the establishment of the Romeldale breed was accomplished by the J. K. Sexton family during the 1940s and 1950s. The Sextons selected the sheep for high rates of twinning, maternal ability, and non-seasonal reproduction. Soft-handling wool was also a priority, as was fleece weight (ten to fifteen pounds) with a fiber diameter of 21-25 microns. The wool of the Sexton flocks was so highly regarded that for many years the entire clip was sold to Pendleton Mills.

Romeldale sheep are white, but the classic color pattern of the CVM is the badger-face, a light body with a dark belly and dark head. This pattern creates a range of shades of color on a single fleece. Selection has increased the range of colors to include gray, black, brown, and moorit. Fleece colors darken during maturation rather than fading as the sheep ages. The sheep weigh 150 to 275 pounds. The rams are active breeders, while the ewes are excellent mothers, prolific and long-lived. Twinning and ease of lambing are considered important breed attributes.

The breed’s fleece quality and performance characteristics, however, make them useful for many production systems and valuable to handspinners and other fiber artists.

Learn more at http://ow.ly/YBSO50HUTNy

02/14/2022

We finally have a bit of a break from lambing, and what an unusual, but lovely Valentine's Day! The lambs have been enjoying the snow, while still figuring out what this white fluffy stuff is! The count is now up to a solid dozen lambs, with more to come! There are definitely a few keepers in this mix..... Enjoy a few photos from around the farm, with a few of our babies. Focused posts will be incoming to identify specific lambs.

02/05/2022

Been a little bit crazy here, so catching up on lamb announcements! Once the ewes start lambing, it is a constant game of catch up!

But in any case, the next arrival of the year is this gorgeous black and white ewe lamb from Gretchen, a light blue ewe, and Ollie! This big girl has found a favorite spot playing Queen of the Hill on her mama's back!

01/25/2022

This is a fabulous set of illustrations that show just how wild lambing (or kidding!) can get. Learning how to accurately identify lamb limbs and help the mama safely give birth if needed is an essential part of any lambing season!

By request - here is a full album of the goat birth presentation images. These pictures will help you visualize what you may be feeling in a birth malpresentation. We do not use a snare when assisting.These illustrations originally appeared in Dairy Goat Journal - now Goat Journal - in an article by Linda Carlson. Please do not share these images without crediting the source.The article is here:
https://countrysidenetwork.com/topics/livestock-topics/goats-livestock-topics/what-to-do-in-a-kidding-emergency/?utm_source=LTWG&utm_medium=FB&utm_campaign=Apr2019

These are available in Printable Goat Note format to online subscribers of Goat Journal magazine.

01/25/2022

Our first lambs of the season arrived on Sunday morning! Nefertiti graced us with twin beautiful CVM marked lambs by our handsome ram Ollie, one ram and one ewe! Nefertiti is a beautiful spotted silver ewe who has a fabulous udder for milking and a deep, stocky body. Both lambs have brown markings on their legs, so they may carry moorit, and will be available once weaned!

01/25/2022

Hello and welcome to Willow Springs Farm, where dreams can become a reality!

Our little farm is now fifth generation in the family, located in Silver Run, MD. It began with a dream, to promote sustainable farming in the community, offer a local alternative for a variety of products, and raise gentle, sweet-natured livestock.

As the farm grew, we fell in love with several heritage breeds of livestock, and now proudly offer Romeldale/CVM Sheep as our primary herd. This triple purpose sheep is used for exceptional fleece, meat, and milk, and was developed here in the United States! We regularly have lambs and wool available!

But what farm is complete without draft horses? And what draft horse could better fit a dream than the fairy tale looks of the Gypsy Vanner? We fell in love with the gentle nature of the Gypsy breed years ago, and have slowly built up a small herd with fantastic bloodlines and extraordinarily gentle temperaments. We occasionally have weanlings and young stock available.

Willow Springs Farm is also home to Dreamcatcher Angoras, our budding French Angora rabbitry. This docile, sweet breed of fiber bunny comes in a rainbow of colors, perfect for the small-scale handspinner! We will periodically have both pedigreed and wooler rabbits available!

Keep an eye out for new baby posts and updates of life around the farm!

And always, keep dreaming!