White Diamond Ranch - Goat Information

We have created this page to provide you with answers to some of the questions you may have about our animals. If you have a question that isn't answered here, please contact us.

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Sheep have been domesticated for thousands of years There are hundreds of different breeds suited to many different environments around the world. Breeds have been selected to produce different types of wool, meat and milk to meet different needs.

A very comfortable uniquely colored lamb.

In years past, the breed has not been heavily promoted, but the fleeces are highly prized by hand spinners for their fine, soft handle and tight crimp, which makes it pleasant to wear and very resilient. Another popular feature is that they come in a large variety of natural colors, including moorit (brown) and spotted. The fleeces should have a Bradford spin count of 60-64.

White Romeldale Ewe

Look-a-like buddies

The Romeldale/CVM breed is one of the rarest modern breeds of sheep in existence. It was developed by A. T. Spencer in 1915. He purchased seven imported New Zealand Romney rams at the Pan American Exposition in San Francisco. He crossed these rams on his Rambouillet ewes to increase staple length and density in the fleece and carcass quality in the meat. Several members of the Spencer-Sexton family still raise Romeldales to this day.

Moorit ewe

The CVM or California Variegated Mutant portion of the breed was developed in California in the 1960s when Glen Ideman was raising Romeldales in partnership with the Sexton family. Glen became very interested in a color mutation that sometimes occurred with a gray body, black legs and belly and a badger face. He saved these colored sheep and bred them together for many years to create the CVM strain. A primary interest was the wool, but he did not forget to continue to breed for good mothering ability and meat quality too.

Typical CVM patterned ewes along with some natural colored Romeldales

CVM patterned horned ram. Rams can be either polled or horned.

All though they are sometimes called by different names, the two strains are still considered one breed, and are registered with the American Romeldale/CVM Association Inc. (ARCA)