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KMC2003

Offered for sale as a registered ewe $275. With two registered ewelambs at side before July 4th: $775.

This is a chocolate ewe with white spotted legs, a white “krunet” head marking and various other white spots. She is a very faithful mother and delivers lambs freely. She has modest growth scores and a low milk score, but very high prolificacy. This boosts her index score: she comes from a family that has a lot of multiple births that survive and thrive, which is considered the key factor in profitability. The one year she had triplets, she was raising all three fine, but one died of e. coli infection, which is just environmental and bad luck, not the fault of the ewe. Her sire comes from White Post Farm stock on the East Coast, a producer who retired, so this is the legacy of his breeding program. Her maternal grandfather is from old Bert Martineau stock in SW WA, also no longer available. Her maternal granddam was 1/4 Dorper, so she’s got some hybrid vigor in the pedigree. This is an “old stock” pedigree which avoids some of the problematic “frequently used sires” in the region that have created genetic bottlenecks for everyone. I’m selling her because I’m always working on increasing my maternal milk scores, and she is low here. But she is a good mother who can raise triplets, they’ll just grow slower on grass. If she is fed a richer diet (alfalfa and/or grain), and/or the lambs are creep-fed, they will perform as well as others, and you’re likely to get higher yields out of her because of those strong prolificacy scores.

Her twin ewelambs (7025 and 7026), pictured with her below, are both dark chocolate. They are sired by Rugby. He has very high growth and milk scores, but is more modest on prolificacy, so this is a nice pairing where the hope is that the lambs will combine the best of both parents and offer generational improvement.

Lambing history starting as a yearling: 1/1, 2/2, 3/2, 2/2, 2/2. EBVs from 2017 lamb crop birth data. Photos taken in April with this year’s twin ewelambs.

BWT WWT PWWT NLB NLW MBWT MWWT MAT$ HAIR
-0.03 0.38 0.14 14.1% 13.1% -0.610 -1.633 106.93 101.28
KMC2003
Triplet
DOB: 4/1/12
QR or RR
SJG494 SWP06-214 “CORNERSTONE” SWP05-137
SWP05-122
SJG78 (100%) PAS28L
SJG60 (75%)
KMC0906 (100%) BLM417 BRM1AA
BLM0479
HHS107 (75%) GJ080
HHS014 (50%)

 

KMC 5071 “Yeti”

Reference Sire

Yeti was a very balanced, moderate ram across the board, no extremes here. He was a very pretty Hereford-red ram with a long body and muscular hindquarters. A moderate-sized adult and very calm and easy to handle. His maternal side captures genetics from David Coplen’s Birch Cove Farm in Missouri, where heavy selection pressure is placed on easy-care pasture-raised sheep with measured parasite resistance, coming from a long line of NSIP-focused breeding programs. His sire traced back to local genetics, including a lot of old-stock WA genetics like Bert Martineau’s line. I used this ram for two years (2015-2016 winters) and got some good lambs out of him.

EBVs from 2017 lamb crop sixty day weight data. Pictured here breeding in his yearling year. Click here to see current EBVs in the database for this ram.

BWT WWT PWWT NLB NLW MBWT MWWT MAT$ HAIR
KMC5071
Single birth
DOB: 4/9/15
RR at Codon 171
KMC2022 KMC0024 BLM417
JPS60224
JJK0010 KRK640
KRK4141
BC C 291 JRB1231 GF9398
JRB0941
BC Z 067-13 BC X 301
BC T 14-33

 

KMC 5088 “Rugby”

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: 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

 

BLM417 “Hershey”

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.  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: 3/14/02
RR at Codon 171
BRM1AA TDA003 CF4173
CF4148
CCR007 NF419
DJ802
BLM0479 TDA003 CF4173
CF4148
BSA71 BSA1
HR14

 

JRB14007 “Iowa”

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

 

KMC7003

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
BC Z 067-13
KMC4021 WRN006 KRK00168
BME006
KMC3034 KMC1016
JPS60224

 

KMC7002

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

 

Seeking the Holy Grail of Livestock Supps

j0405454[1]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 “more stuff” 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 can’t do this with the Purina goat mix, because there is no low-copper version that’s otherwise identical. Purina and Land O’Lakes apparently don’t make sheep minerals.

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New Computers- Whoo Hoo!

image My five-year-old Compaq Presario laptop has had hardware problems and failures since the first year I bought it. Twice I’ve had the motherboard replaced, once on HP’s 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.

Continue reading “New Computers- Whoo Hoo!”