All CVM's are Romeldales but all Romeldales are not CVM's--*What can I possibly mean by this? CVM stands for California Variegated Mutant and is a color pattern in the Romeldale breed, which was created by A.T. Spencer when he bought several New Zealand Romney rams in 1915. He used these Romneys to increase the staple length and improve carcass quality of his Rambouillet ewes. After many generations the Romeldale breed was established. Glen Eidman came into the picture years later when white Romeldales produced a few unexpected colored "mutants" . Eidman built his flock from these colored sheep and the California Variegated Mutant Sheep was born. Eidman spent 15 years developing the breed, then they were dispersed in several sales to farms in western states. *A CVM must have the badger markings, which are stripes from the muzzle to the eyes, and/or dark legs and underbelly. They can come in dark gray, black, brown and moorit. *Solid colored Romeldales do not have the badger markings and can come in most any color: black, white, and moorit and any pattern variation (spots, stripes). *CVM/Romeldales are very gentle and easy-to-care for breed. The rams are not overly aggressive or harmful to fences and barns. Ewes are wonderful mothers and produce ample amounts of milk. *If you are looking for wool to blend, consider this fine wool for blends with your alpaca, angora, llama, and kid mohair. |
| CVM Sheep |
Some people have asked us why we chose one registry over another, to sum it up, please read the article in this link by a well-known conservationist. We have sheep that were originally registered with both registries, but we only use ARCA, Inc. at this time. The group is a very friendly, they also include a breeders list on their website, and you only need to join one group, not 2 or 3 to be listed on a breeder page. To us, who are in over 10 different breed registries that include everything from sheep to dairy cattle, poultry, rabbits, and dog groups, I will take the savings where I can get it! ARCA members are concerned with preserving the breed and they provide the support, information and capabilities to do so, the above article raves about the rapid progress being made with conserving this special animal. We appreciate that down-to-business attitude when we are registering an animal, looking for breeding stock, or networking with others in the business. ~About our flock of Romeldale sheep~ Our flock has been established for 7 years, we have tried different bloodlines of the CVM/Romeldale breed. We have no crossbred animals in our flock. We have met many breeders across the nation, and made some very dear friends as well. We found some of our purchases to be excellent, others, sadly were (or should of been) other's culls. One lambing season can speak volumes, and each year we learn more and more about this breed, what it is hiding in it's genetic make up can astound you.
to getting bigger, parasite resistant, and extremely hardy sheep is to not use lines that have family trees with one or two branches. Think, instead: how can I get the most genetically diverse flock that has all the traits I am looking for? Since such a large portion of our farm income comes from wool sales, we do breed with wool in mind. Bigger fleeces equal bigger profits. A sound, healthy animal is going to produce a sound, healthy fleece. What you put in is what you get out.
excellent starter breed and are available in a rainbow of colors. **My best piece of advice for this or any fine wool breed: if you are not purchasing or sewing your own sheep covers, plan on making a lot of felt or throwing away the wool, no matter what your feeding program is. The handspinning market is very particular about getting CLEAN fleeces, so it is worth the extra effort. ** |
 |  |  |  |  |
| | | | |