Clun Forest Ram Feature: Prairie U51 aka Trojan

I have decided to write features on the rams used for breeding last fall and Prairie U51 gets the first nod. He is a twin born in 2008 and was named by Rachel I assume after the East Troy Trojans! His sister is also in our flock but this is his first year used as a sire. He was retained as a breeding ram because he was a growthy twin born out of a particular aged ewe and with a goal in mind. In 2000 following breeding season and after I discovered some import semen I thought I had purchased did not survive the trip to the U.S. I made arrangements to go to Ohio and buy a first generation F1 ram from Dan Emmett from his AI 2 years previous. Dan had also purchased the same new semen which would have represented a 3rd UK Clun ram brought into this country by Elite Genetics. We discovered there was no viable semen and it took a trip to Iowa small claims court to get my money back and I set my sights on Ohio with a new goal. I packed up the family including 6 month old Rachel. The ram I specifically went to purchase was Emmett Farm J034 and he did not disappoint. I had decided before leaving I'd also like to bring home a ewe lamb so Dan had a list for me to choose from. I basically picked the longest and tallest ewe lamb, Emmett Farm
K35 (although I knew her by her scrapie tag #1134 so she was K1134) aka Emma for 5 years until I received the registration papers for both animals. I guess I lucked out as both animals were still alive and producing although I sweated whether they or any of their offspring would be registered. In 2005, I was headed to the Cardigan Western Reserve shows with my Cardigan Welsh Corgi puppy in Ohio and I made plans to go in person to get the papers or help with the papers I needed for the registrations after years of trying and then my 6 month old puppy won Winner's Dog out of 26 males for a 5 point major and I had to cancel that part of the trip. I was excited beyond belief for one thing but disappointed for another. Soon after the papers were finalized and in hand. SO AFTER ALL THAT EFFORT to have a son of that ewe and to have Rachel pick Trojan for his name just seems fitting. He also has some good physical attributes such as size and depth, a handsome head, and good numbers behind him.

Prairie U51's pedigree on the sire's side goes back to Prairie Danny Boy, a ram I bought in dam from Linden Hill in PA., and Emmett Farm K35 is a grand-daughter of Williams Beater S334 from the Pen-Y-Wern flock in the UK and also a grand-daughter of Gordito 75Z from the Duncan flock in Ontario, Canada. K35 was retired this past June at age 10 after giving me a set of very nice twin ewe lambs. It was a difficult decision but felt had to move her on and go with her up and coming offspring.

I am very excited by this year's breeding of Trojan to the daughters and grand-daughters of Emmett Farm J034 "Dirk" who was the son of UK import Danyreglyws Derek to after all these years start what will become my "Emmett line". He has also bred some F1 daughters from the Netherlands import rams. This is only 12 ewes total and "Yes" I think these will be some nice pairings. This year's lambs are represented with the year letter "Y". I am hoping to look across my pastures and say to myself it pays to never give up, work hard at what you choose, and/or Plan B can be a good option, and sometimes you are just lucky and things work out!

Two photos are included: one from this past summer and one current in the snow. Stay tuned for more upcoming features.

New Shelter

The rams (and pony) have a new home-built shelter! It has been in the plans for a couple of years and is finished and ready for use. The pony was the first to try it out and I doubted for awhile if any rams would actually get to use it. I have seen sheep droppings in it although no sheep yet. In the mid-late 90's when I only had a couple of rams and we had no pony, the rams had a calf hut for shelter and the ram flock has been without since the numbers outgrew the hut. In really bad weather I have brought the rams in a few times a year since they are upland a bit and in the wind. Jim built it and it is on skids so it can be moved.
Michele

Friend or Foe

My sheep are treating me a bit like an enemy or at least are viewing me that way lately. The cause is I have upgraded to a new chore jacket, duck black vs. the duck brown and torn version. Now when I enter their yard I get the flight response. I am wearing the same winter hat, pants, etc. but find it very interesting that they don't recognize me immediately. They will settle but are uneasy. I speak to them but usually by then someone is already in alarmist mode and it does no good. Is it the color that makes the difference I am wondering? They should come to know me again by lambing and yes they will find out they are still alive and unharmed, and I hope they feel really silly about it. Actually, I am pleased they respond to something new in a survival mode as it is their instinct afterall but seems a bit over-reactive.

Peace & Merry Wishes

Winter is a peaceful time of year. It is now officially here. A few of my peace symbols have volunteered to help with the visual part of my greeting. May the gentle spirit fill your hearts this season. Merry Christmas!

Checking In and Giving Thanks!

Hi all,
Thought I'd check in and let everyone know what I've been up to-- keeping me away from updating my blog. My summer was spent with a couple of projects. Adding patio block walkways from the existing patio, then getting in a partial privacy fence, and some landscaping. I had assistance with a friend and it ended up much nicer with his help (he also put in a underground drainage pipe) which was a problem in the past. I ended up pulling out my initial attempt and redoing it! Good thing my back was feeling good at that time!

Then I acquired a new position as appointed Treasurer for the Town of Troy as the elected Treasurer resigned effective July 31. That works fine as I had time to get things organized a few months before getting thrown in to tax collection like last year. I will retain my Plan Commission Secretary position and I am now office and election help as I cannot be Deputy Clerk which was my previous job title. I will complete the current elected term until April and if I want to keep the job I will have to run to be elected to the office. I am continuing also a couple of days per month at Harmony Pet Care.

Spent the summer doing some things Rachel likes such as swimming, taking her to horse riding lessons/camp,and helping her get the rabbits ready for fair/shows. I took part as a vendor in the East Troy Marketplace on Saturdays selling lamb, wool products, and some produce.

September was busy with fair, followed by Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival, and then the North American Clun Forest Association meeting in Ontario, Canada. I took care of getting the import paperwork in order to export one of my rams and a fellow Clun breeder's ram as well. Had a good trip and it was great seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and of course--Cluns and beautiful farms/country. I was the first to recommend a place to lodge based on the idea it would be nice to support a local long-term business vs. a chain motel and soon most of the NACFA members had booked rooms there. It made for some laughs as we had slivers of soap, exfoliating skimpy towels, non-symmetrical non-fitting bathroom doors, interesting wall art, train traffic within ft. of the rooms (and lots of it), Egor the housekeeper, and you get the point it was an unforgetable place BUT was clean. I don't think we can beat this place next year in Iowa!

The highlight for October was preparing for artificial insemination of my ewes and ewes from Bramble Hill and the visiting LAI vet. It went very smoothly and it was a new experience for some of my help (they had some good stories to share locally!)
After that I was very busy preparing for the November election with lots of absentee voters and then post-election duties, budget preparation for the Town, and getting ready to send out those lovely tax bills right before the X-mas holiday.

Most of the lambs are now gone but a handful reserved for ethnic holidays. Sheep stayed local in Wisconsin, to traveling to Michigan, to Ontario, to Colorado. I want to thank my breed stock buyers, meat lamb customers, and farmer's market buyers for giving me a good year. It seems fitting even though I missed sending the Thanksgiving message on the proper day! Hey at least it is the right month. Oh, and the sheep have enjoyed the post-Halloween & Thanksgiving pumpkins. And let's hope those market lamb prices stay high for another year!
Michele

School's Out

School's out and summer is almost here to enjoy! Once again, I've been absent for awhile as spring chores/projects and good weather for the most part have allowed me to spend most of my time outdoors. Chores have been moving sheep between pasture paddocks and hauling water, whacking thistles, mowing, etc. Schools out for the lambs this week as well as they will be weaned and on their own for awhile. The garden is in and I've been keeping up with the weeding so far in spite of the rain. Projects have included putting in patio block walkways. I've started Saturday Farmer's Market as part of Experience Historic East Troy on the square. This is a new time and venue in a way so will see how it goes. Hope to add some more direct market customers as the season goes along. So far the lamb gyro patties are the most popular.

We have had a month of birthdays including Rachel's 10th. Rachel's Rabbitry has been busy with 3 foster baby Mini Rex rabbits and hope to get some little thriving buns of our own this week.

I found out also why Indian Runner Ducks are called Runners because they run away from home. We lost all of our adult (7)Runner Ducks BUT have 2 eggs incubating that we hope will hatch.

Last week was another Tex & I adventure as we have secured his future by collecting the stud dog. His boys are frozen and stored at the International Canine Semen Bank which is about an hour and a half away. He turned out to be a Super Stud as he performed like a 90 lb. dog so I was wishing he was like the goose who lays the golden eggs! He always seems to give better than what I expect. One of his recent pleasant suprises was coming back Normal on his DM (Degenerative Myopathy) test so his pups should have a life without PRA, DM, or dysplastic hips.

With the green grass and misty rain this eve. it feels a bit like jolly ole' England so decided to post a bit of the flock on the green (photo taken last month)!

Enjoy the Upcoming Summer!

Easter Bunnies & Lambs!

Happy Easter to Everyone from a few of our resident Bunnies, aka Rachel's Rabbitry.

The Mini Lop is Samantha, our litterbox trained adoptee and the most photogenic! Thankful, she knows the difference between an Easter basket and her litterbox. Next, are our Mini Rex does: Beauty the Black Otter, and Lesley the Black Broken. Not pictured are Mini Rex bucks, Buddy & CJ, both Black Otters; and Rachel's Holland Lop's Cupcake, a broken Tort doe and Cupid, a Tort buck. Rachel is showing all but Samatha and Buddy.

I also want to share a first for our flock: What is looking to be a black fleeced Clun Forest ewe lamb. Guess, what I have named her? Clue is in the above paragraph. That is Rachel holding her still for a moment. The lamb has a twin sister (white fleece and medium brown face & legs) and in fact her aunt produced a natural colored fleeced Mule ewe lamb last year.