Tag: breeding

Poseidon’s Girls

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Our five-year-old colored ram, Poseidon, is a Cotswald – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross.  He is the most agressive of the rams, and you learn very quickly not to turn your back on him.  He is very large and can deliver a real wallop if you are not paying attention.  Let’s just say he definitely commands respect.  He also produces an amazing fleece, and vigorous lambs with beautiful, long curly locks.

4014   Fiona   Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester cross
40      Athena   Coopworth – Border Leicester cross

41      Hera   Coopworth – Border Leicester cross
620    Daireann   Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester cross
817    Dierdre   Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester – Wensleydale cross
910    Julie   Coopworth – Border Leicester cross
930    Havva   Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester – Border Leicester – Wensleydale cross
1008  Poppy   Lincoln – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
1025  Nettie   Border Leicester

Ready… Set… Go

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We were so excited Saturday to get the last of our 32 breeding ewes all set for breeding; all the hooves were trimmed and crutching finished.  We put up (and later took down) 820 feet of temporary fencing for moving lanes; moved dogs, dog houses and watering troughs.  We were excited that we got the ram’s bellies trimmed and marking harnesses on before dark, and were not working by truck light. We were even more thrilled that it was a beautiful day and not 20 degrees, not raining or snowing, as in previous years.
Today, we are proud to present the first of the 2011 breeding groups – Liam’s Ladies.  Liam is our six year old registered Border Leicester, purchased from Kelly at Spring Breeze Farm as a yearling.  He has great lineage and a super disposition.  He throws a beautiful lamb with a long top and lovely wool.

613 –   Hebe  Coopworth – Border Leicester – Wensleydale cross
711 –   Daisy   Lincoln – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
716 –   Harmonia   Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
801 –   Patience   Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
809 –   Hestia   Coopworth – Border Leicester – Cotswald cross
821 –   Siar   Cotswald – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
924 –   Meara   Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester – Wensleydale cross
1004 – Aurora – Registered Border Leicester  





Big Weekend Plans

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The breeding ewes have spent the last six weeks or so in one of the hayfields, giving some of the pasture paddocks a rest.  They spend the day in temporary fencing, coming inside the pine grove paddock’s perimeter fencing at night.  We have moved the large temporary paddock twice which has allowed the ewes to graze a large portion of the hayfield.  We have followed this plan for a couple years and it seems to have really improved the hayfield along with eliminating many of the weed problems.
This weekend we plan to move the ewes back to the barn paddock and begin hoof trimming and crutching in preparation for breeding season.  It won’t be long now… the circle of life begins again.

What a Weekend!

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In a stroke of luck, the stockyard was open on New Year’s Day, and the roads were open enough that our neighbors could finally get their trailer into the barnyard. We took the cull ewes and seven more of the ewe lambs to Grantsville.  This will surely help our hay bale count.

The stars just seemed to align this weekend, and the combination of snow melt, fairly warm and mostly decent weather blessed these shepherdess/s with hours of pretty comfortable outside farm work.  This and the fact that not one single ewe was marked the second time around meant that the breeding was complete and the groups could be moved.

Breeding harnesses came off.  (That Davita… she will snuggle with anything that is not another cat.)

Liam, Aragorn and Poseidon, the three older rams, were crammed and twenty-four hours later moved back to their original pasture.

A brand spanking new, fancy shelter was put together (by Terry) for the goat boys and they were moved to the pine grove paddock via halter and truck.  You have no idea how exciting this is to have them in a virtually, inescapable paddock for the remainder of the winter.   No longer will we be greeted by surprises in the barn when going to feed in the mornings… no tearing down of fencing… no leading the ewe lambs into trouble.  (They only do these things in the winter… maybe they find winter boring.)  Right now there is a lot of noisy complaining but they will adjust, and there are plenty of rocks and fallen trees to amuse them.

The 33 breeding ewes and the ram lamb, Braveheart, are all now in the barn pasture.  Moving lanes were built with temporary fencing and this all went pretty smoothly.  This group of ewes appears to be kind of flighty.  Hopefully they will settle down before lambing.  Speaking of lambing season… there was much excitement around here that everyone appears to have been caught  during the first 17 day cycle… until it sunk in that all 33 ewes will probably lamb within an intense 3 week period.  We will have to start planning for that.


And last, but certainly not least, Betty Lou Moo Moo and Beefcakes were brought over the pasture and through the woods from Madison.  They followed Jonathan and Megan up the hill to about 50 feet away from the fence line.  Surprisingly they came closer and closer by calling “C’mon Betty” “C’mon Beef” (all of our animals seem to equate the word “C’mon” with the word “Food”)  and it went pretty smoothly once they were enticed through the open gate with a little grain.  More temporary fence lanes were put up to connect the two gate openings and we had a bale of hay waiting on the other side. Ahhh, success.

There is still a little bit of organizing and housekeeping to do, but all in all, considering last year’s winter feeding challenges, we are pretty (pardon our language) damn excited!

Poseidon and His Girls

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Poseidon is our 4-year old colored ram.  He is a Cotswald – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross.  He is probably the most agressive of the rams, especially when he is in with the ewes.  He growls at us when we try to come in the gate, but is usually easily distracted.  The quickest lesson learned by a shepherd/ess is to not turn your back on a ram; especially when he is in a breeding group.  Poseidon produces an amazing fleece with long, curly locks, and his lambs do the same.

Poseidon

Dierdre



Hera and Athena (triplets)



Poseidon is in with a grand group of girls:
4014 – Fiona – Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester cross
40 – Athena – Coopworth – Border Leicester cross
41 – Hera – Coopworth – Border Leicester cross
620 – Daireann – Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester cross
817 – Dierdre – Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester – Wensleydale cross
910 – Julie – Coopworth – Border Leicester cross
930 – Havva – Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester – Border Leicester – Wensleydale cross

Aragorn

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Aragorn is our 2-year old registered Border Leicester ram, purchased last year from Sarah Beamer.  He is the current wild child of the group, a little impatient with all the preparation and very anxious to do his job.  He produced a high percentage of twins last season; all with lovely, long, curly fleece.

Aibreann and Fidelma

Serenity

Hestia

Aragorn breeding group
612 – Princess – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale
707 – Charity – Registered Border Leicester
711 – Daisy – Lincoln – Coopworth – Wensleydale
721 – Hannah – Border Leicester
722 – Jill – Romney – Coopworth – Wensleydale
801 – Patience – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale
809 – Hestia – Coopworth – Border Leicester – Wensleydale
815 – Aibreann – Border Leicester
824 – Fidelma – Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester – Costwald
917 – Flora – Border Leicester – Lincoln – Coopworth – Wensleydale
919 – Serenity – Registered Border Leicester
936 – Granuaille – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester

Liam’s Ladies

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Liam (in the foreground below) is our 5-year old registered Border Leicester ram, purchased as a yearling from Kelly at Spring Breeze Farm.  He still has a wonderful temperment and throws a great lamb with a long top and beautiful wool.

Liam’s ladies are kind of scattered about but a few are pictured above.  He is turned in with a wonderful group.
604 – Sweet Pea – Lincoln – Wensleydale – Coopworth cross
616 – Rosey – Border Leicester – Wensleydale – Coopworth cross
716 – Harmonia – Coopworth – Border Leicester – Wensleydale cross
720 – Cassidy – Cotswald – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
802 – Prudence – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
821 – Siar – Cotswald – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
906 – Lucy – Romney – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
907 – Ceres – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
914 – Bertha – Cotswald – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
931 – Minerva – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross


Let the Games Begin!

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After taking a group of ram lambs to the stockyard, Saturday morning, we settled into establishing our breeding groups for this season.  We have been working them out on paper for a couple weeks; finally Saturday is THE day!

We gathered the breeding ewes into a small paddock that we set up with temporary fencing, and armed with our breeding master list began to split and move them.  We set this up right at the corner of our two largest breeding group paddocks.  So the majority of the ewes didn’t have to be coaxed to move very far.  They are separated by sturdy perimeter fencing as we have found that no matter how many ewes a ram has to himself, he does indeed tend to think that the grass is greener on other side.   




After the ringing (removing the wool from the belly) of Poseidon and Aragorn, we positioned the rams’ breeding harnesses.  These have a wax marking crayon attached that enables us to identify on our breeding chart when a ewe has been bred.  We will change the color of the crayon in 17 days and if a ewe is marked a second time, we know that she was not caught during her first cycle. 

We moved the lovely Juliet, last year’s bottle baby to the graveyard field paddock with the ewe lambs as she is still quite small.  Hopefully she will do some catching up this winter and can be bred next fall.

We decided to keep the ram lamb 1032, Braveheart, and put him with a small breeding group in the barnyard.  He has great registered Border Leicester bloodlines.  His dam is Charity and his sire is Aragorn.  Charity is out of Hope and Liam.  We will use him this year and maybe next, then sell him as a proven ram to another farm.
Braveheart’s breeding group (left to right)
924 – Meara – Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester – Wensleydale cross
613 – Hebe –  Coopworth – Wensleydale – Border Leicester cross
912 – Roisin – Border Leicester – Coopworth – Wensleydale cross
922 – Funella – Coopworth – Blue-faced Leicester – Cotswald cross
We think that these ladies’ breed and fleece characteristics combined with those of Braveheart’s will produce wonderful lambs with beautiful wool.
More on the other breeding groups tomorrow.

Groundwork for Breeding

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We began laying the groundwork for breeding season this weekend.  We brought all the ewes back over to the barn paddock, and reviewed their health and lambing records with a critical eye.  We then made culling decisions, one of the hardest and least pleasant tasks leading up to breeding.  But tough decisions must be made, and once they are, the ewe is silently thanked for the joy she has provided with her unique personality, for the contributions she made to the flock and for the memories she has given our family.

We then began work on the breeding ewes.  We are so grateful for the deck chair that we purchased several years ago.  It makes these tasks so much easier.  Lucy was the first victim lucky ewe, and her best friend, Minerva, seemed quite concerned; offering her support during the entire process.  To get the ewe into the chair, we get on each side of her, back her up, position her legs, gain leverage and (as gently as humanly possible) tip her into the deck chair.  This can become quite comical with some of the larger ewes, as we are a bit on the petite side, but with tactical positioning and leverage, eventually we have been able to tip even our largest rams.

As we catch each ewe, we do a quick FAMACHA test.  Next, we clean and trim her hooves.  This gives her a good foundation for the extra weight she will be carrying come spring time.  Most of the ewes are quite content lying in the chair, and Lucy, although this was her first time, acted as if she was at the spa – stretching and pawing at us when we paused and turned to pick up a different tool.

The final task in breeding ewe preparation is crutching.  We use blade shears to trim away the wool in the area surrounding the vulva.  We feel this is necessary in our long wool sheep to ensure that a greater percentage of the ewes are settled during breeding season, and indeed we have had very few open ewes.
After two long days, we were very happy to finish just before twilight on Sunday.  We managed to get all the breeding ewes moved over to the paddock on top of the hill, near the ram paddock, for flushing.  We seem to running a little behind with everything this year, so it feels really good to be one step closer to “The Turning In of the Rams’.

Working Women’s Wednesdays

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Wednesday was another BUSY workday. We moved Poseidon in with a small group of ewes in the nursery area near the barn. We can keep a close eye on him there and see how he gets along. We have not put a marking harness on him as we are wary that there might be some lingering injury from the ram nonsense. He has grown into a really beautiful… err handsome… fellow. Must make sure to take some updated pictures this weekend.

We also managed to get quite a few more lambs’ fleeces skirted. Watch for them in the shop. We are trying to get a few things posted each day.