Winter Ram Sale

For those of you looking to get a jump on ram shopping for next year, I've got a couple of solid options for you, and priced for winter/early spring sale.

Prairie W6 Shooter
He is a 3 year old proven ram linebred on a top ram "Emmett Farm J034", a son of UK import "Derek" Saltersford P512. He is a twin and has a good solid build. I am keeping his sire Prairie T102 instead so have decided to sell him to get my numbers down a bit. He is priced at $300.

Prairie TBV Y21
Y21 is a triplet and coming 2 year old ram. He was produced by LAI from Netherlands imported semen TBV 071. He is from my most productive ewe line and has 3 generations of proven Registry of Merit ewes behind him. He is scrapie genotype RR. I had a difficult time deciding to put him for sale but have decided to keep just one TBV line ram. He is priced at $450.

Ram lamb Prairie Z6 is a twin and his sire Prairie FAF R7 is a son of the import FAF 025, and his sire also goes back to my original ewe lines here. He is priced at $300.

Email me for pictures and more information if interested.

Lambs are Weaned and All has Been Quiet!

Had a very successful lambing season with mostly twins, very little assistance, good mothering and no true bottle lambs. Even a few sets of triplets. Just how it is suppose to go! Now the challenge will be having enough forage to feed all the stock as we are in drought conditions and it is only about July 1 and the pastures are about grazed out with no regrowth due to lack of rain. Hay is short for the same reason so we will see what the rest of the year brings. Will try to move out lambs and sold stock earlier than later. Of course the direct market order lambs will have to sit a few months to get to weight. Rabbit production hasn't gone as well with small to no litters, markings not for show, etc. so we will see if we can raise any good young Juniors for Rachel for the fair. We have a few in the nest box now. If not the Seniors will have to get in shape and hope they won't be molting their fur. I am excited about Hope's(brindle female Cardigan corgi)abilities and progress training for agility. I am a newbie but I think we have gelled into a good newbie team and I need to learn how to run courses better for us to have good success. We are also attending dow shows as we need 6 points yet including a major to finish her Championship. She is maturing nicely. So life just plugs along and all has been pretty quiet yet plenty to do. Wish watering things weren't one of the daily chores. And the raccoons who were causing havoc and killing chickens are out of the picture now. Let's hope no more move in.

Spring Line-Up

Well with baseball season just around the corner, time to let everyone know our Spring Line-Up and Upcoming Events! The ewes are looking to be shaping up with nice round mid-sections and we are about a month away from the first lambs. The main Clun ram this year is Prairie T102 "Devon", who is well put together, and pictured. He bred about 16 pure ewes. The other Clun ram used primarily was Prairie R7, a FAF son from import semen and going back to lines of one of my original ewes. He has been a clean-up ram the last couple of years so this year got prime duty and bred about 11 pure ewes. Twin Creek U12 "Hal" was the clean-up fellow and only saw him mark one ewe so most should be bred early. I've only got 7 Clun ewes bred this year by the Bluefaced Leicester for Mules, and have 10 Mule ewes bred to Sully the terminal sire for market lambs. May have a few yearlings bred but didn't push them as I needed to be done lambing so I can go to the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Nationals in April. The Clun youngsters from AI are looking pretty good but want to wait until after they are shorn and have a few months grazing under them to evaluate them better. Will have some new ram possibilities for the flock from those efforts!

New baby rabbits will start arriving next month as well and throughout the spring/early summer and Rachel will have to make fair selections!

Hope and I will be hitting a fair number of the area dog shows and make a push to get more conformation points. She is half way to her Championship with one major and 7 points. She is shedding her coat now so maybe she will be in more coat for Nationals? Our other new venture is agility. She is eager about it and to date likes the tunnels, dog walk, and has just conquered the A-frame on her own. She is not crazy about multiple jumps but also she likes to plan her own course and do it her way! Right now the goal of class is for her to just learn the obstacles and like to do them happily so we are meeting our goals there and we'll see what the future holds. I think she has the right personality/attitude to make it work so it is fun to do and watch. I am a newbie at this so we will learn together.

Fall chores and In Training

Fall is always a favorite time of year and time for lots of activities--some I look forward to and others not so much. Following fair weekend, it was shearing time for the ewes (not a favorite activity but needs to be done), then off to Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Fesitval with a small group of ewes-Cluns and Clun Mules. Thanks to Mark & Brenda Lelli enjoyed once again being able to hopefully learn something from the across the big pond Judge in the Mule Show. Enjoyed talking sheep and seeing old friends. Brought home (unplanned but a good plan) the new flock project, an 8 week old LGD (Livestock Guardian pup)from Connie and Kerri who came up for the weekend and camped. Hmmm, that makes 2 puppies from Davenitch in 2011! Gulliver is 1/2 Italian Maremma, 1/4 Great Pyrenees, and a 1/4 Anatolian Shepherd dog. He is now 4 months old and DOES live with the sheep not in Rachel's bed. He initially was an escape artist and also got a little too closely attached to his original runt lamb buddies and ended up playing a little rough with them but besides that he is a workable fellow and is doing better than expected!

Next favorite activity was the NACFA Annual Meeting in Iowa this year. Got to visit with the regular attendees plus some newer members. October was on the road a couple of weekends to dog shows. Hope had some success and will share once I get her blog up and running. Also, played match-maker with the sheep and we'll see how that turns out next mid-March to April. Most the market lambs are gone and good to touch base with the regular lamb customers, and do appreciate the repeat business. Garden is clean and have a few things we will enjoy from it yet. Buttoning up in preparation for the winter, and just finished a new dog yard to simplify dog pottying (plus a play-yard).

To Win and to Lose?

Well following Rachel's showing of rabbits in the breed groups on Saturday, I couldn't help but not think about the Mini Rex Black Otter Jr. Doe that was awarded Best of Breed over our Black Jr. Buck, and who went onto win Best In Show!! I thought gee it is the same age category, how many people around here breed Black Otters, and the owner is local (East Troy/Mukwonago area) so I just had to ask if they bought the doe and if so from TSC (Tractor Supply)? Well the answer was yes and we had sold 5 babies including 2 Otter does at 8 weeks of age for $10 each. We kept the Black Jr. Buck (as I figured at the time we already had 2 Otter does) and he is a fine rabbit in his own right but on that day not as good as his sister. I felt pretty stupid when I realized it but Rachel and I chuckle about it and she wrote in her fair project book on what she learned "not to let my mom sell my babies so soon!"
Some would think we lost but it was a great unforgettable day. We also discovered we have some nicer rabbits than we realized before the day began, and we also made the doe's owner happy as we offered her the pedigree. Rachel will always be remembered as the girl who sold the BIS doe for $10 to TSC. The girl paid $19.99. We joke the kids will be flocking to TSC next spring to find the next BIS rabbit. Rachel is shown with her Jr. Buck who was Best of Opposite Sex and shown is the BIS sister resting in her cage after her big day!

Summer?

I guess I must have been having too much fun this summer to keep up on this blog. It is now Labor Day weekend and summer is soon to be offically gone. Lambs have been leaving, Hope is now a 6 month old puppy, Rachel is almost as tall as me and getting ready to start middle school. We are completing fair week at the Walworth County Fair and Rachel had all blue ribons on her 4H projects including a Grand Champion pet rabbit in costume, a Best of Opposite Sex Mini Rex Jr. Buck we bred, Best of Variety. Highlights were a Metra trip to Chicago Shedd Aquarium & Navy Pier, Wisconsin River trip at my sister's including pontoon boating, Wisconsin Dells Noah's Ark & Mt. Olympus, and I attended the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Specialty in Ohio with Hope's litter families. Will get back to a normal routine again. Have another busy week preparing for display and Mule Show at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival in Jefferson and the ewes will get shorn this week also. Come and see us at the Festival!

New Farm-Hand/Paw

After a cool/delayed spring it is nice to have the sheep out grazing. The first week of May was when we started tasting grass on the lawn and "Hope" our new Cardigan Corgi was interested in the sheep. Actually I wasn't prepared as she zipped right through the electronet and the sheep moved. Second time a ewe was giving her the eye and waiting so I saved her from an unpleasant lesson. The ewes and lambs moved out to their pasture. Rachel & Hope learned how protective ewes came be the day of our gator ride out to check on the sheep as a ewe came after them. Hope and Rachel each took a seat but look who's driving! No one looks worse for the wear. I need some farm hands/paws.