Remember Netty, the Navajo-Churro sheep that came to live with Holley teen Claudia Drechsel as part of the Youth Conservationist Program? Well, Netty is now a mom. She gave birth to twin lambs on the first full day of spring – March 20.
“I named them Elsa and Anna after the characters in the movie “Frozen” because it was such a long, hard winter,” said Claudia.
The program, which enables youth to experience the joys and responsibilities of conserving heritage wool sheep breeds, requires the new owner to breed the ewe to a registered ram in the fall. Claudia and her mom, Trina, brought Netty to Ithaca last fall where she was bred to a dark ram resulting in the two black lambs with white spots on their foreheads.
“I’m glad the lambs turned out to have dark coats because the wool will be easier to keep clean,” said Claudia, who enjoys working on felted projects and spinning wool for scarves.
This year, Claudia’s brother, Andrew, has applied for an endangered sheep through the Youth Conservationist Program and will hear later this month if he was selected. He would like either a Tunis, which is a medium-sized sheep that is naturally hornless, with cream-colored wool and a cinnamon-red face and legs; or a Hog Island sheep, which make up one of the few feral sheep populations in the U.S. If he is selected, Andrew and his family will have to travel to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in May to pick up his sheep.
As for Elsa and Anna, they will be spending their days with the Drechsels, who have decided to keep both of the lambs.
Note: Grace Griffee’s first article about the sheep rearing project was printed in the July 21, 2013 issues of Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald. The article is available in our archives.
