Reference Ram
Rugby was a very well built and flashy colored ram, and was calm and handle-able. I used him for a few years before selling him to another local farm. Pictured here breeding as an eighteen month old. You can see his current EBVs here.
| BWT | WWT | PWWT | NLB | NLW | MBWT | MWWT | MAT$ | HAIR |
| KMC5088 Single birth DOB:Â 4/10/15 RR at Codon 171 |
WRN006 | KRK00168 | KRK905 |
| VJ8135 | |||
| BME006 | KRK857 | ||
| KRK0856 | |||
| BC C 298 | CMG10019 | TMD8-106 | |
| CMG236 | |||
| BC T 14-33 | FAH06137 | ||
| BC9916-132 |
Reference: Herd Sire (2008-2010 breeding seasons)
Hershey was the first ram I used, a non-NSIP ram whose only data was generated from his performance here. I bought him from Shirley Hasbrouck in Shelton, who had used him for several years prior. She bought him from Bert Martineau, who used to have a very large commercial flock of Katahdins in SW Washington state. Bert has since retired, so this is some of the last of his unique line of production sheep. One thing really valuable about this ram is his pedigree lacks any of the popular sires that were over-used in our region and appear in most lines (often multiple times); creating genetic bottlenecks and risk to the gene pool. This is a very diverse, “old stock” ram who made a good outcross to line-bred ewes. Several people have intentionally chosen breeding stock out of Hershey just for that reason, to try to escape some of those frequently-used-sires, and re-establish some genetic diversity in their flocks.
Hershey was a pretty red color, and was very gentle and easy to work with. He had a true “AA” coat, where no wooly fibers extended beyond the hair coat in winter. He did a great job as a sire through almost age ten, easily servicing a few dozen ewes in his “assigned group”; but was starting to show some signs of age, so I retired him at the end of 2010. Â He threw healthy, pretty lambs and was a good sire. I’ve kept a few different rams out of his line that improved upon his genetics via some excellent ewes. Over time, we can see that his EBVs declined, reflecting that he was really only an average/mediocre ram for production traits. But, that’s the power of EBVs, is showing us where the true performers are; I never would have been able to guess he was less strong than his peers just based on visual appraisal of his lambs and daughters. Only the numbers tell the truth! Hershey is several generations back in the pedigrees of a lot of my ewes; but every generation gets stronger with selection on ever-increasing EBVs for growth and maternal traits. I don’t regret using Hershey for the vigorous old-stock genetics he brought; and now I bring those forward into improved generations for growth and maternal traits.
Click here to see his current EBVs on the NSIP website. Pictured here as a ten year old.
| BWT | WWT | PWWT | NLB | NLW | MBWT | MWWT | MAT$ | HAIR |
| BLM417 Twin birth DOB:Â 3/14/02 RR at Codon 171 |
BRM1AA | TDA003 | CF4173 |
| CF4148 | |||
| CCR007 | NF419 | ||
| DJ802 | |||
| BLM0479 | TDA003 | CF4173 | |
| CF4148 | |||
| BSA71 | BSA1 | ||
| HR14 |
Offered for sale as a proven herd sire $650
“Iowa” comes from John Bare’s Thistle Grove Farm breeding program in Iowa. He is a “maternal sire” meaning that his EBVs are focused most on prolificacy and milk, with some of the top scores in the nation. He merits the Certified NSIP Maternal Sire label. His growth scores are positive, but not super impressive. This guy’s genetic lineup is meant for producing replacement ewes that promise a high twinning/triplet rate, good milk, and really strong lamb survival, while still producing adequate butcher lambs for the short-term.
He is solid white, long-bodied, well proportioned with a meaty hind end and a moderate adult frame size (which is desirable from a maintenance standpoint for breeding stock). He is a curious, friendly, intelligent and interactive ram, but has also needed some reminding to keep him on good behavior. He has a small scur on one side that breaks off now and then, and thus a small percentage of his lambs will be scurred or horned. I have used this ram for three years and kept a lot of daughters out of him, as well as two sons, so it’s time for him to bring some Iowa NSIP genetics to a new place!
EBVs from up-to-date 2017 lamb crop sixty day weight data. Pictured here as a two year old.
| BWT | WWT | PWWT | NLB | NLW | MBWT | MWWT | MAT$ | HAIR |
| 0.497 | 1.193 | 1.262 | 15% | 13% | 0.272 | 0.673 | 107.71 | 106.45 |
| JRB14007 Twin birth DOB: 3/3/14 RR at Codon 171 |
MOF1107 | WJF0905 | WJF0743 |
| WJF0737 | |||
| MOF4001 | BC M 58-22 | ||
| MOF3015 | |||
| JRB1232 | GF9329 | PAS1K | |
| Y81 | |||
| JRB1034 | BUL9386 | ||
| JRB0917 |
Offered for sale as a registered ewe $300- SOLD
This pretty girl is out of our red sire, Yeti. She is a red roan, with a long, well-proportioned frame and substantial hindquarters. She has good, balanced numbers across the board; she will likely be a solid twinner that raises good-growing lambs. She was the product of an accidental breeding last fall; one of a triplet set where all three lambs had a different sire (as determined by DNA test)!  She’s been in the barn, so is fairly acclimated to people and somewhat friendly. She is weaned now and ready to go to a new home today.
EBVs from 60 day data. Photo taken at 90 days of age.
| BWT | WWT | PWWT | NLB | NLW | MBWT | MWWT | MAT$ | HAIR |
| 0.23 | 1.83 | 3.39 | 7.9% | 7.1% | 0.0165 | 0.402 | 109.77 | 103.97 |
| KMC7003 Triplet DOB: 1/5/17 QR or RR |
KMC5071 | KMC2022 | KMC0024 |
| JJK0010 | |||
| BC C 291 | JRB1231 | ||
| BCÂ Z 067-13 | |||
| KMC4021 | WRN006 | KRK00168 | |
| BME006 | |||
| KMC3034 | KMC1016 | ||
| JPS60224 |
Offered for sale as a registered ewe $300- SOLD
This beefy girl is out of our very high growth EBV ram, Rugby. She is a red roan, and very substantial in size and growth. Very strong growth and milk EBVs, with moderate prolificacy, so shouldn’t be a high # of triplets here. She was the product of an accidental breeding last fall; one of a triplet set where all three lambs had a different sire (as determined by DNA test)!  I raised her as an orphan-rear to give her mother a break, since she wasn’t on the right feeding schedule, lambing so early. This lamb is pretty friendly, and if you wanted her to be even more social, you could bottle feed her for a little longer, as a treat. She is weaned and ready to go to a new home today.
EBVs from 60 day data. Photo taken at 90 days of age.
| BWT | WWT | PWWT | NLB | NLW | MBWT | MWWT | MAT$ | HAIR |
| 0.46 | 2.43 | 4.43 | 9.3% | 4.6% | 0.328 | 1.038 | 110.62 | 104.62 |
| KMC7002 Triplet DOB: 1/5/17 QR or RR |
KMC5088 | WRN006 | KRK00168 |
| BME006 | |||
| BC C 298 | CMG10019 | ||
| BC T 14-33 | |||
| KMC4021 | WRN006 | KRK00168 | |
| BME006 | |||
| KMC3034 | KMC1016 | ||
| JPS60224 |
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After seeing excellent results from offering the Purina goat mineral mix to my sheep, I decided to do a little more experimentation. Before I got my forage analysis results back, I decided to offer two varieties of Sweetlix brand of supplements as an option side-by-side with the Purina mineral.
I had several reasons for wanting to do this, at the time. For one, Sweetlix looked like a better brand overall, it had âmore stuffâ in it than the Purina mix. And, it offered me the ability to put two similar tasting minerals side-by-side, one with a lot of copper and one with a little copper, because they have both a sheep and a goat variation. I figured this would give the sheep greater control over their own copper consumption. I canât do this with the Purina goat mix, because there is no low-copper version thatâs otherwise identical. Purina and Land OâLakes apparently donât make sheep minerals.
Continue reading “Seeking the Holy Grail of Livestock Supps”
I had put a batch of chicken eggs into our Little Giant foam incubator, mostly as an experiment to see if chickens would render a higher yield than ducks do in that incubator. And, indeed they do!
My five-year-old Compaq Presario laptop has had hardware problems and failures since the first year I bought it. Twice Iâve had the motherboard replaced, once on HPâs dime, and once split with them. I think it had a design flaw that allowed it to overheat, which in turn would end up corrupting something in the master boot record. So, ever few months, it would suddenly make a helpless frog chirp sound from somewhere deep in the hardware, freeze up and then could not be rebooted.
Our eldest Border Collie, Spanky, is about thirteen years old (Iâm not sure if his exact age because heâs a rescue, but I know he is at least that old). He is having the same problem many old dogs suffer- weak rear quarters. This, combined with our wood floors, make it very difficult for him to get up from lying down. He lacks the muscle strength and coordination to get traction. Sometimes he collapses midway, sprawling out like a frog, and would need assistance to get back up. Itâs sad to see once-spry dogs suffer these old-age maladies, and Iâm sure it impacts their quality of life. So, weâve gotten him some shoes to help!
Here is a plug for an upcoming event in Stanwood, WA that should be well worth attending. WSUâs Country Living Expo and Cattlemenâs Winterschool is an amazing array of 135 classes on all sorts of topics,a jam-packed day of learning, plus a prime rib lunch. The hardest part is choosing which classes to attend! đ
Here is a sampling of some of the topics:
Fruit Tree Maintenance, Hands on Hay judging, Frisbee Dog Training, Growing Giant Pumpkins and Vegetables, Building Your Own Greenhouse, Native Plants for Wetland Restoration, Arc Welding- Hands on, Soap Making, Cheese Making, Growing Vegetables Year Around, Wild Game Dressing in the Field, Raising and Processing Pastured Poultry, Palatability Control Points for Direct Marketed beef, pork and lamb, Plethora of Pasture and Forage Classes, Chain Saw Maintenance, Beginning through Advanced Specialty Canning, Frisbee Dog Training, Marketing Small Businesses, Cider Making, Honey Bees, Raising Beef, Sheep, Swine, Goats, Spinning, Weaving, equine classes and more.
How can you resist? Get yourself over to the Skagit County Extension website and register asap, as I understand the classes fill fast.
