2019 Navajo-Churro Breeding Goals

This year's breeding line up was selected for color. We originally started our flock with only colored ewes and one white ram, who gave us mostly colored offspring. With the demand for white rams being higher in Navajo Nation, we spent a few years building up the white sheep in our flock until we had reached a balance between white and colored animals that more closely resembles that seen in the typical weaver's flock. With drought striking across the US in 2018, we skipped a year of breeding and just focused on reseeding our own pastures, and improving our fences. For 2019, we had originally intended on a smaller breeding year, but we found openings in new markets and decided to breed about 70 ewes. We also had more demand for brown and black non fading sheep this year, so we chose three rams that we had never used before. Thanks to friends in Navajo Nation, we were able to bring in SixTea, and thanks to an old friend in Idaho, we brought in Ambrose. The goal of increasing our browns and blacks succeeded, and Texas Gold gave us some really nice, low kemp color patterns as well. So, this year we have a wider variety of lamb colors to choose from. As always, first dibs is reserved for Navajo weavers, with priority given to buyers who reach out via email or phone to reserve or request particular lambs.

2019 Navajo-Churro Breeding Groups

LN SixTea (N-CSA Registration Pending)

SixTea is a big six horn fused ram straight out of Shonto, AZ. His breeder is Lorena Noelson, known for her wool quality and good choice in breeding stock. He holds a rich, deep dark brown, even at over two years of age, and has an incredible inner coat that just spins like a dream. This big guy was used as our clean up ram this year, and gave us a number of gorgeous ram lambs. We won't be selling any of his daughters, and we're holding back almost all of his ram lambs to sell as yearlings in 2020. This was the only year we used him, although I can guarantee I'll be heading back to Shonto for more rams in the future.

LN SixTea's Sire: Pending Info; Sire's Sire: Pending Info; Sire's Dam: Pending Info

LN SixTea's Dam: Pending Info; Dam's Sire: Pending Info; Dam's Dam: Pending Info

DR Rau (N-CSA #:8014-18)

Rau is a really pretty phaeo/white ewe, with fantastic, low kemp fleece. We were hoping that putting her with a brown ram would bring out a brown lamb, and it worked like a charm! She's a little bit on the flighty side, personality wise, but she is a fantastic, attentive mom who birthed easily in the field and gave us little trouble when we jugged her and her newborn. Rau has a very pretty, above average luster to her fleece, with a dense undercoat that gives her a bit of a poofy appearance as she grows her wool out. She birthed a gorgeous four horn fused ram lamb, with a deep red brown color.

DR Rau's Sire: DoT Frederic 104 (N-CSA #:A7427-17); Sire's Sire: Mel Gibson (N-CSA #:4771-06); Sire's Dam: CNF Mariah Carey (N-CSA #:5624-09).

DR Rau's Dam: ALS Buffalo (N-CSA #:B6546-12); Dam's Sire: baw Reese (N-CSA #:C4146); Dam's Dam: RNJ Goody (N-CSA #:A5353-08).

DR Jennifer (N-CSA #:A8015-18)

Jennifer is a gray and white spotted ewe with very clean face and points. Her lamb fleece was gorgeous, but her adult fleece quality was not the greatest. She has a good inner to outer coat ratio, but she has more kemp than we prefer to see. Because of this, we're breeding her to low kemp rams only, to see if the lambs come out more acceptable. Her ewe lamb will not be available for sale, as we want to see what her yearling fleece looks like kemp wise. Jennifer did produce nice lambs on her first breeding, but we want to ensure that she's consistently producing decent lambs before we release any as breeding stock.

DR Jennifer's Sire: SSC Rodeo (N-CSA #:B7710-17); Sire's Sire: SDA Crosby (N-CSA #:A5918-10); Sire's Dam: CMW Fiona (N-CSA #:B4869-06).

DR Jennifer's Dam: DoT Deja (N-CSA #:6789-13); Dam's Sire: MTF Sebastian; Dam's Dam: Noir (N-CSA #5274-08).

DR Summer (N-CSA #:B8038-18)

Summer is a gorgeous non-fading black ewe. She has excellent fleece with very low kemp, a richly dense undercoat, and a beautiful, highly lustrous outer coat. She's a slightly scurred ewe, although she presents as polled. She's also a real flighty beast, but her fleece more than makes up for her heightened flight reflex. Her mothering skills were a little rugged the first year we bred her, but this year she proved to be a fantastic dam. She comes from a line of sheep that have consistently produced non fading blacks and NSP Blues, so we'll continue to pair this ewe with colored rams in the hopes of more non fading offspring.

DR Summer's Sire: SSC Rodeo (N-CSA #:B7710-17); Sire's Sire: SDA Crosby (N-CSA #:A5918-10); Sire's Dam: CMW Fiona (N-CSA #:B4869-06).

DR Summer's Dam: BHF Zalinga (N-CSA #:A6820-13); Dam's Sire: PDF Bryce (N-CSA #:B4537-05); Dam's Dam: Skunky (N-CSA #5276-08).

DR Tiger Lily (N-CSA #:A8007-18)

Tiger Lily is one of my favorite 2017 lambs. She's a really pretty phaeo tan ewe with excellent fleece and the sweetest disposition you could ever ask for. Her dam has consistently produced small but feisty twins with beautiful fleeces, often times 4 horned with great horn sets. I'm partial to horned ewes, so Tiger Lily was a natural shoo in to our breeding flock. She gave us a cute little ewe lamb with nearly the exact same birth color as Tiger Lily had herself, and we will be keeping young Sunbird. Tiger Lily is very low kemp, with a richly packed undercoat and good, open locked outer coat, so we expect great things to come out of this lamb in the future.

DR Tiger Lily's Sire: HTP Teddy Bear (N-CSA #:7985-18); Sire's Sire: Unknown; Sire's Dam: Unknown.

DR Tiger Lily's Dam: FCC Trinity (N-CSA #:6822-13); Dam's Sire: Unknown; Dam's Dam: Unknown.

SSC Grace (N-CSA #:A6800-13)

Grace is a super chill older white ewe who continues to produce stunning lambs. She's been a favorite ever since we brought her home from Sheep is Life in 2012, and she just has a really classy, old school Navajo-Churro look to her that I'm crazy about. With exceptionally clean points and no belly wool, she has the prettiest golden horns and hooves and a nice smattering of pigment around her eyes and nose. She has great fleece, with a dense inner coat, and although her outer coat is starting to fade with age, she still has perfect lock structure. She's an attentive mom who always raises larger than average lambs, and she's given us both white and colored lambs in the past. Her 2019 ewe lamb, Pathfinder, is not for sale.

SSC Grace's Sire: SDA Crosby (N-CSA #:A5918-10); Sire's Sire: SDA Shadow (N-CSA #:4725-06); Sire's Dam: SDA Nutmeg (N-CSA #:A5035-07).

SSC Grace's Dam: ALG Fancy (N-CSA #4811-06); Dam's Sire: SUS 4 White; Dam's Dam: W34.

DR Midnight Moon (N-CSA #:B8004-18)

Midnight Moon is one of the most elegant black ewes we have. A VRI Jango daughter, she has fantastic, super low kemp fleece with a great inner too outer coat ratio that has not changed with time. She is a slow fading black, and we were hoping that pairing her with SixTea would give us more nonfading blacks and browns. We didn't expect her to deliver triplets though! She gave us two brown ram lambs and one black ram lamb, all three of which will be held back for the winter to see how they mature. Gotta hand it to her, she was a bit of an overachiever, but she's raising all three without any supplemental feeding.

DR Midnight Moon's Sire: VRI Jango (N-CSA #:A6806-13); Sire's Sire: SW Fuego (N-CSA #:5923-10); Sire's Dam: HwS Athena (N-CSA #:A5766-09).

DR Midnight Moon's Dam: ALS Buffalo (N-CSA #:B6546-12); Dam's Sire: baw Reese (N-CSA #:C4146); Dam's Dam: RNJ Goody (N-CSA #:A5353-08).

DR Chrysanthememum (Registration Pending)

Chrysanthemum is one of our 2017 Teddy Bear daughters. She has excellent fleece with a great low kemp inner coat, a well defined outer coat, and good, consistent coverage. She's got good flocking instincts, and made a fantastic first time mom. Her ewe lamb was just about half her size at birth, as you can see here! Despite the large lamb, Chrysanthemum did great, needing no assistance at all, and giving us no trouble when we brought both ewe and lamb in from the rainy day. This ewe will be available for sale, possibly with lamb at side.

DR Chrysanthemum's Sire: HTP Teddy Bear (N-CSA #:7985-18; Sire's Sire: Unknown; Sire's Dam: Unknown.

DR Chrysanthemum's Dam: ALS Helena (N-CSA #:A8036-18); Dam's Sire: ALS Cowboy (N-CSA #:B6834-13); Dam's Dam: CW White Helena (N-CSA #:6833-13).

JB Peaches (N-CSA #:8028-18)

Peaches is a seriously camera shy ewe, but she's a gorgeous girl out of Jay Begay's flock in Hard Rocks, AZ. She's got dainty legs but a good solid body above them, and what she lacks in camera confidence she makes up in instinct and beautiful, high density undercoat. Her fleece is very open, even with the super undercoat, so she stays pretty darn clean for a white sheep on a mountain made of red clay. This ewe's lambs are not yet available for purchase.

JB Peaches' Sire: Unknown; Sire's Sire: Unknown; Sire's Dam: Unknown.

JB Peache's Dam: Unknown; Dam's Sire: Unknown; Dam's Dam: Unknown.

ALS Mist (N-CSA #:B6802-13)

Mist has long been a fan favorite here at Dot Ranch, both for her super sweet, completely unabashed personality, and for her lustrous, rich wool. A fawn brown ewe whose fleece still retains good pigment, she is very low kemp and has an amazing undercoat. Her lambs tend towards the fatty side of the house, much like Mist herself. She gave us beautiful brown twins this year, and we're waiting to see if they will be non fading like their sire or not.

ALS Mist's Sire: SDA Mahogany (N-CSA #A5037-07); Sire's Sire: CNF Moab Thackeray (N-CSA #B4405-05); Sire's Dam: SDA Anna Nichole (N-CSA #4399-05)

ALS Mist's Dam: ALS Rose (N-CSA #B5627-09); Dam's Sire: baw Reese (N-CSA #C4146); Dam's Dam: ALS Lavender (N-CSA #A5391-08)

DR Dawney (N-CSA #:A8009-18)

Dawney is the last remaining daughter of the infamous Moonstruck, a massive brown ram from Utah who was as devilish as he was handsome. Dawney luckily did not inherit Moonstruck's bad attitude, but she never has been on the friendly list. Still, this ewe has fleece to justify her less than stellar personality, and she has been a really good mom. She is one of the finer fleeced ewes out of our flock, and her legs, belly, and face clean up nicely during the summer months. Like many brown based sheep, she can get a good bit of winter fuzz on her back legs, but it sheds cleanly and doesn't require shearing. Dawney is super tall, with ultra fine boned legs and an excellent fleece, so the combination of her and SixTea should make something very special. We were hoping for more browns out of her and SixTea, and we were not disappointed this year! This year's Dawney lamb will not be available for sale.

DR Dawney's Sire: BS Moonstruck (N-CSA #:7988-18); Sire's Sire: BS Rambo; Sire's Dam: BS Sumatra (N-CSA #:6796-13).

DR Dawney's Dam: ALS Shawna (N-CSA #:8008-18); Dam's Sire: Unknown; Dam's Dam: ALS Buffalo (N-CSA #B6546-12).

DR Illium (N-CSA #:A8279-20)

Illium is a stunning white ewe with a really traditional, old style look to her. She is very fine boned, with the characteristic black pigment at eyes, muzzle, and ears, and hooves. Naturally polled, she's another Teddy Bear daughter, so she most likely carries four horned genetics from her sire's side. Her fleece is rich, dense, and lustrous, with full coverage all the way up her neck. She's got really nice legs, a decent personality, and good flocking instincts. A particularly ditzy first time mom, she got a teensy bit over eager with her mothering instincts and ended up nursing somebody else's lambs, while letting another ewe nurse her own. We aren't holding it against her though, and she'll be bred again for 2020.

DR Illium's Sire: HTP Teddy Bear (N-CSA #:7985-18; Sire's Sire: Unknown; Sire's Dam: Unknown.

DR Illium's Dam: CMW Sprinkles (N-CSA #:B5958-10); Dam's Sire: CMW Applejack (N-CSA #:A4703-06); Dam's Dam: CMW Malarky (N-CSA #:A3304-02).

ROB Dove (N-CSA #:A8040-18)

Dove is a huge white ewe from Robbin Robbinson's flock in Flagstaff, AZ. A Mel Gibson daughter, Dove has amazing fleece with killer luster and a rich lock structure that just produces to die for roving. She's a little bit of a knucklehead personality wise, but she's a great mom and she will not hesitate to stomp the ever loving snot out of a dog that gets close to her lambs. Her dam was Buttbiter, another real character of a ewe who earned her name by literally biting Robbin on the butt during shearing one year. So you see, we really can't blame Dove for her spunk and fire.

ROB Dove's Sire: Mel Gibson (N-CSA #:4771-06); Sire's Sire: CNF Griffindor; Sire's Dam: Yak (N-CSA #:3157-02).

ROB Dove's Dam: ROB Buttbiter (N-CSA #:A5112-07); Dam's Sire: NSP Dinnebito (N-CSA #:3528-03); Dam's Dam: ROB Yas (N-CSA #:B3457-03).

DR Elsie (N-CSA #:A7995-18)

Elsie is a really nice looking black ewe. She was named after a yellow tulip in honor of a good friend's mom, and her fleece is perpetually spoken for by the same friend. Speaking of fleece, Elsie is exceptionally lustrous, with an inner coat that is densely stacked and a well balanced outer coat. Her kemp is low, and heavy enough to card out without extra effort. Her ewe lamb is not for sale, as Elsie is the last lamb out of two different bloodlines that we want to preserve here. Elsie is a teensy bit standoffish to strangers, but she's not a flighty ewe, and she is a really dedicated mother.

DRElsie's Sire:

CNF Crockett (N-CSA #:A7987-18); Sire's Sire: OVR Bullmoose (N-CSA #6888-14); Sire's Dam: CNF Sister Rosa (N-CSA #:B6886-14).

DR Elsie's Dam: FCC Marita's Girl (N-CSA #:7993-18); Dam's Sire: Unknown; Dam's Dam: baw Marita (N-CSA #:B3248-02).

DR Uchida (N-CSA #:B8003-18)

Uchida is one of the prettiest brown ewes that we've produced. Another Crockett daughter, Uchida is starting to fade, so we were hoping that putting her with SixTea would help lock in the color on her. She has really pretty fleece, with medium luster, and a lofty undercoat that is deceptively springy instead of dense. Her lambs fleece just about caused a spinner's brawl when it was listed for sale, but luckily nobody got bludgeoned over it. Uchida has a sterling personality, both as a mother and as a dainty treat snatcher who has yet to take any fingers along with her treats. She's the perfect balance of friendly but not pushy, and she handles well for shearing day. Her ewe lamb is not for sale.

DR Uchida's Sire: CNF Crockett (N-CSA #:A7987-18); Sire's Sire: OVR Bullmoose (N-CSA #6888-14); Sire's Dam: CNF Sister Rosa (N-CSA #:B6886-14).

DR Uchida's Dam: DR Lt. McKay (N-CSA #:A8002-18); Dam's Sire: Mel Gibson (N-CSA #:4771-06); Dam's Dam: BS Godiva (N-CSA #:6797-13).

FCC Trinity (N-CSA #6822-13)

Trinity is a three horned Rio Grande brown ewe who has never once failed to give us twins. This girl was out of Deanna Thomas's flock in Flynn Creek, CA, and she has finally earned her retirement from the breeding flock. This year she gave us some fancy ram lambs, and her daughters from the two previous breedings gave us some fine lambs as well. Trinity is a feisty ewe, unafraid to bash dogs or humans alike if she feels her lambs are threatened, and she's equally unafraid to bite a hole through your jacket if you're trying to hide alfalfa cubes inside it. She's a cute scourge of hounds and pockets, and her lambs always have a very high luster fleece, not to mention interesting colors. We were hoping for another set of daughters from her, but her ram lambs didn't disappoint either.

FCC Trinity's Sire: Unknown; Sire's Sire: Unknown; Sire's Dam: Unknown.

FCC Trinity's Dam: Unknown; Dam's Sire: Unknown; Dam's Dam: Unknown.

DR Corolla (N-CSA #A8022-18)

Corolla is another elegant black ewe out of VRI Jango. She has Jango's classic black body and white snip nose, and she held her true black for six years, making her a slow fading black. Several of Corolla's daughters have turned out to be non fading black, so we are really hoping for more non fading blacks out of this mix. Corolla is a great mom and a fairly decent ewe all around, not too friendly but not too flighty. She has good fleece, with a rich and springy undercoat, and a well defined but not overly long outer coat. Her fleece is particularly coveted by felters, as it is easy to felt but still very soft to touch. It will be really interesting to see how her ewe lamb develops this year!

DR Corolla's Sire: VRI Jango (N-CSA #:A6806-13); Sire's Sire: SW Fuego (N-CSA #:5923-10); Sire's Dam: HwS Athena (N-CSA #:A5766-09).

DR Corolla's Dam: BS Sumatra (N-CSA #:6796-13); Dam's Sire: Unknown; Dam's Dam: Unknown.

DR Coco (N-CSA #:7999-18)

Coco is quite possibly one of the poofiest, craziest, zaniest ewes we have. We named her after Coco Puffs, because, well, it just fit. We keep hoping she'll mellow out someday, but so far, it just hasn't happened. Her fleece is just so extraordinary that we can't bring ourselves to part with her until she gives us a mellow daughter. Hopefully, this year's ewe lamb will be the one we've all been waiting for! Her dam is super mellow, so I don't think her bad attitude is genetic, but she really is a handful to deal with.

DR Coco's Sire: FCC Moss; Sire's Sire: Unknown; Sire's Dam: FCC Trinity (N-CSA #:6822-13).

DR Coco's Dam: ROB Lark (N-CSA #:A7998-18); Dam's Sire: Mel Gibson (N-CSA #4771-06); Dam's Dam: ROB Buttbiter (N-CSA #:A5112-07).

SW Ambrose (N-CSA #:6600-12)

Ambrose is a massive brown 4 horned ram with an exceptionally nice and symmetrical set of horns. Even tempered for a ram, with a clean belly and legs, Ambrose has a beautiful fleece despite his advanced age. It's hard to judge what the fleece ratio would have been when he was younger, as older animals can have a tendency to lose outer coat, and we never saw him in his youth, but he still had a very acceptable inner to outer ratio, and his wool was lustrous and strong. Ambrose gave us a number of very nice ram lambs with perfect eyes, and we will be holding back one for our own future ram line up. All of his ram lambs were four horned, and most of them were 4 fused.

SW Ambrose's Sire: SW Grillo; Sire's Sire: Unknown; Sire's Dam: Unknown.

SW Ambrose's Dam: SW Bea (N-CSA #:A6298-11); Dam's Sire: SW Fuego (N-CSA #:5923-10); Dam's Dam: SW Melanie (N-CSA #:5920-10).

DR Lt. McKay (N-CSA #:A8002-18)

Lt. McKay is a big brown ewe who has held her undercoat a rich milk chocolate through the years. She has a supremely sproingy undercoat, and a higher than average luster to her outercoat. For a big ewe, her bone structure is remarkably fine, but that doesn't stop her from scrambling around like she's still a lamb. Her personality used to be super flighty, but she has calmed down and become quite the little cupcake... as long as you have treats for her. We might have to call her like she is: A Treat Trollop. Once your pockets are emptied, she'll stick her nose in the air and waltz off as if you never mattered.

DR Lt. McKay's Sire: Mel Gibson (N-CSA #:4771-06); Sire's Sire: CNF Griffindor; Sire's Dam: Yak (N-CSA #:3157-02).

DR Lt. McKay's Dam: BS Godiva (N-CSA #:6797-13); Dam's Sire: BS Rambo; Dam's Dam: BS Sumatra (N-CSA #:6797-13).

SW GeeTee (N-CSA #:A8273-20)

GeeTee is an older ewe, but she is an absolute darling. She was very stand offish when she first arrived, and her previous owner swore up and down that she was untamable. That has never stopped Tyger, who promptly took this ewe under his wing and turned her into yet another Treat Trollop. GeeTee gifted us with beautiful twins in return, and has earned a place in our flock until she's too old to enjoy it here anymore. Her fleece is very low kemp, with a fantastic inner coat and a really good outer coat for her age. Her spots go all the way down to her skin color, which means her fleece is both white and black, and spins out to a really pretty gray.

SW GeeTee's Sire: SW Fuego (N-CSA #:5923-10); Sire's Sire: SW Andrew; Sire's Dam: SW Quiet.

SW GeeTee's Dam: RG Eclipse (N-CSA #:5745-09); Dam's Sire: COPB 29/1052; Dam's Dam: RG Pepper (N-CSA #5267-08).

SSC Texas Gold (N-CSA #:A7986-18)

Texas Gold is a majestic old ram from Colorado. His color is pretty unusual, a black and tan with restricted facial markings, also called a Burrit. He has incredible fleece with very low kemp, especially for a more wild type color pattern. His inner coat is lengthy and well distributed, and both inner and outer coat are high luster. He has held the black very well on his inner coat, while his outer coat has blued out nicely, resulting in a gorgeous chrome-gray yarn. This guy is very clean faced, with gorgeous straight legs and a slightly daintier body than the other rams we used this year. His lambs were exceptional, with a very consistent quality and his ram lambs have the same super wide, sweeping horns that he carries himself. This ram will be used again next year, so all of his ram lambs are available for sale this year.

SSC Texas Gold's Sire: SDA Crosby (N-CSA #:A5918-10); Sire's Sire: SDA Shadow (N-CSA #:4725-06); Sire's Dam: SDA Nutmeg (N-CSA #:A5035-07).

SSC Texas Gold's Dam: MAYW Daffodil (N-CSA #:4497-05); Dam's Sire: SVS 2; Dam's Dam: MAYW Lily (N-CSA #:4495-05)