Our Columbias

Our small flock of purebred Columbia sheep came to the farm in 1991. Columbias are a large, hardy, gregarious breed, initially established in in US by crossing fine wooled Rambouillet (French Merino) with lustrous wooled English Leicester. Ewe grew well over 200 lbs., one line over 250, and our original flock sire weighed well over 300 lbs. The flock lived year round on pasture, even through our harsh Canadian winters. They came into the barn only on shearing day, or if an individual needed to come in for sick bay.

15 – 20 lb. fleeces were common, with wethers yielding 25 lbs. The wool was processed at Canadian mills into a wide range of hand knitting yarns, from fingering weight to chunky. We hand dyed much of the yarn at the farm. The flock grew to 250 ewes with a lambing rate of 1.8.with pastures carrying a total of 700 head of up to sheep and lambs.