WHAT comes to mind when you hear the idiom: black sheep of the family?
Perhaps it is an outcast, someone who is different, disreputable and therefore doesn't fit in or is excluded by a group.
The term rings true for the wool industry where black, brown, grey and multi-coloured sheep are usually considered less than desirable.
But while most woolgrowers chase a bright, white fleece, Kelarah Coloured Sheep owner Meegan Cavanagh breeds animals with a naturally coloured coat.
It is a niche market, which services the craft industry for the likes of spinning, knitting, felting and crocheting.
Ms Cavanagh's small hobby farm is nestled comfortably in the green pastures, unspoilt forest and native bush of Perth's Darling Range at Gidgegannup.
Ironically, she always had an interest in coloured sheep, but never imagined she would one day breed them.
"Growing up, I remember visiting my grandparent's farm, where I would love seeing the little black lambs,'' Ms Cavanagh said.
"I knew they were culled and the reasons why."
About six years ago, Ms Cavanagh started looking at what livestock she could keep on her family's small hobby farm.
At the same time she watched an ABC Landline story about Quebon Coloured Sheep owner Melissa Henry and other coloured sheep and wool producers in New South Wales that sparked her interest.
"The genetics of coloured sheep fascinated me,'' she said.
"I thought going coloured and marketing individual fleece to spinners and handcrafters could be a viable option."
Already Ms Cavanagh had some experience with sheep, having worked in shearing sheds and farms in the Wheatbelt as a school leaver.
And it was her enjoyment of the farm life and desire to do something different that prompted her to start Kelarah.
She has since also developed an interest in fibre craft, which came with running coloured sheep and having a supply of wool on hand.
In 2018, the first of Kelarah's flock was formed with six Corriedale ewes and one ram, purchased from two members of Western Australia's Melanian Sheep Breeders Society of Australia.
The foundation sheep provided strong Moorit lines in the Corriedales.
"Those sheep were relatively small in comparison to the modern day, commercially-bred Merino or Corriedale," Ms Cavanagh said.
"They were bred from different lines, many originating back to well-known and highly respected coloured sheep breeders Ray and Ellie Eaton.
"The Eatons were among founding members of the Melanian Society 45 years ago and ran a very large flock near Goomalling.
"As well as that, the sheep may have had some old breed influences in them. such as Romney, of which one breeder has a particular interest."
In Kelarah's first two years, Ms Cavanagh had wool samples tested for fibre characteristics and properties.
She said a top quality cut of wool had good length with no breaks.
"You class coloured wool the same as you would white wool - it is just a bit more picky,'' she said.
"In white fleece, if there is a small amount of water staining, if it is dirt or anything like that it still goes in the triple A basket.
"Whereas, coloured wool needs to be clean, there can't be too much damage on the tips and it has to be over a certain length.
"That's what makes it easiest to spin."
Ms Cavanagh added that shorter wool could be spun, however it had to be combed a different way when fed into the spinner.
Some breeders even coat their sheep with a white sheet, which they change as the wool grows in size.
Keeping animals coated also keeps the sun off the wool, so the tips aren't damaged by the sun or affected by vegetable matter.
In 2019, ultrafine coloured Merino ewes were purchased with the idea of crossing them into the Corriedale line to improve fleece comfort factor and also increase frame size.
"I could see that our NSW counterparts had achieved higher comfort factors with their fleece and that it was fairly standard 100 per cent in stud Merino fleece," Ms Cavanagh said.
"These crosses would then be bred back to Corriedale.
"It seems there are a variety of uses for our wool with different buyers looking for different properties in their fleece.
"This led us to purchase a few white Border Leicester sheep last year, with no coloured in WA that we could find."
Ms Cavanagh said it would take many generations before coloured genes were bred into Border Leicesters.
In the meantime, she hoped to breed some purebred Border Leicesters with the view of selling rams for prime lamb production.
The Border Leicester ram would also be put over the coloured Merino, giving a Border Leicester/Merino first cross.
That cross would carry the coloured gene.
Sheep are crutched in early April and ideally are shorn in September.
Wet weather and no shed, pulled shearing back to October-November in the past two years.
As for lambing, Ms Cavanagh said May-June was her preference.
But without teaser rams the reality was that lambing could drag on over four to six weeks.
"We are considering bringing that earlier and shearing three to four weeks before crunching in spring," Ms Cavanagh said.
"Fleece is in higher demand over the winter months with people coming indoors and spinning more.
"But the test would be if grass seeds became a problem."
With the support of neighbours, who have offered extra grazing land, Kelarah has been able to expand on sheep numbers and experiment further with breeding.
Ms Cavanagh hand feeds sheep extra hay, minerals and some lupins over the drier months to ensure fleece quality remains high.
She has always had an interest in regenerative agriculture and land management with a view of protecting the environment.
"Although I didn't have my own farm I understood it was a big step to take for career farmers,'' she said.
"But I could see anecdotal evidence building that you could farm differently and still be commercially viable.
"I can remember trying to discuss the crop grazing Colin Seis pioneered with some WA farmers in the 1990s and being laughed at.
"I was told it may work over there, but not in WA - years later it became a widespread practice."
In 2019, Ms Cavanagh completed a holistic management course with Brian Wehlberg, from Inside Out Management.
It changed the way she viewed things both environmentally and personally.
"We are gradually implementing more regenerative techniques and practices into our farm," she said.
"I would highly recommend his course, but unfortunately with COVID-19 it has been difficult for him to get to WA to run them."
As is the case with running most businesses, breeding coloured sheep has its set of challenges.
Among those has been transitioning from a small hobby flock to a larger number without established infrastructure or equipment, finding a shearer and even marketing of wool.
"With the infrastructure side of things we prioritise what is essential and make do with what we have," Ms Cavanagh said.
"As for shearing, it is difficult to find a shearer for a larger mob, which is still relatively small.
"Many local shearers shear pet sheep, but don't want to shear a flock of 50 and others are very busy with slightly larger farms.
"Currently we do not qualify as a primary producer, so we cannot offset expenses to other farm income.
"We are looking at changing up our timetable with shearing and lambing.
"That is so we can avoid high demand times and minimise flystrike, which has particularly been an issue in the past two years with wet spring weather."
Juggling family life outside of farm life is another challenge that the Cavanaghs make work.
Meanwhile, finding somewhere to store the wool also proves difficult.
"Moth is nemesis number one," Ms Cavanagh said.
"In an ideal world you can shift your product quickly, although it is not always that easy.
"The Melanian Society has an annual wool collection where members get together and co-operatively bale fleece.
"Weights are recorded for each contributor to distribute income from sale of bales to a wool buyer."
The best fleece is sold through Bilby Yarns, which serves as a depot for the society, or Kelarah can sell privately.
Ms Cavanagh has been focusing on value adding to the better quality fleece produced that the shop may not want to sell.
As part of this she has been researching processing - something that is not commercially available in WA.
"There is so much to learn about fibre and animal husbandry and we certainly have made some mistakes," she said.
"Some of those include late unplanned lambing this year, due to leaving a young ram with the ewes too late.
"Or in our first year, not having quite high enough nutrition when we had just a few pregnant ewes giving us a break in the fibre.
"You learn a separated sheep can jump fences, much like a show jumper and twins are much more vulnerable to fox attacks."
Lambing is Ms Cavanagh's favourite time of year, as it is always a surprise as to what colour combinations there will be in the wool.
She also enjoys shearing as it showcases the natural tones under the weathered tips of fleece as it is taken.
"Seeing this raw fleece transformed into a wearable garment in its lovely, earthy, natural tones is also very rewarding,'' she said.
"Having sheep with individual colours which are easily recognised means you get to know them, their characters and social interactions.
"Corriedales are known as the friendliest sheep breed and that is certainly true."
Ms Cavanagh said she endeavoured to use low-stress handling and found it only takes a few extra minutes as most.
As for the future of the industry, she said she would love to see more people involved in breeding coloured sheep.
"In the 1970s there were hundreds of breeders registered in WA," she said.
"Sadly, this number is very low now.
"There is a renewed demand for coloured fibre and with lifestyle properties looking for pets they make for the ideal lawn mower.
"And it comes with the bonus of a beautiful, unique fleece, as an extra reward each year."
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