Coffee anyone ?

[farmerjan]

@Blue Sky what breed are your sheep? Are they the Painted Mountain ? Maybe I missed you saying. My son has the White Texas Dall sheep. And color is not wanted in the rams he sells to the hunting preserves. But.... yours are very nice looking. And looks are the first attraction to get people in the door... Then as @Ridgetop says, you have to look beyond the FLASH.....

 

[Blue Sky]

@Blue Sky what breed are your sheep? Are they the Painted Mountain ? Maybe I missed you saying. My son has the White Texas Dall sheep. And color is not wanted in the rams he sells to the hunting preserves. But.... yours are very nice looking. And looks are the first attraction to get people in the door... Then as @Ridgetop says, you have to look beyond the FLASH.....

I have Painted Desert Sheep. I was involved with a couple of clubs but ultimately my buyers didn’t care about or pay more for registration. I have regular buyers for horns and meat. The meat buyers tell me they enjoy the flavor and the convenience of preparing animals that are smaller and can be spitted whole in a backyard.

 

[farmerjan]

The horns are very similar, I think the Dalls have a little bigger horn with more curl... they are very similar to Bighorns.... The size seems to be somewhat similar too... Yours are nice to look at and look to be in very good condition. Ours do not have very big hindquarters or much meat on the legs and such as @Ridgetop was talking about. We have tried to breed for parasite resistance along with better feet and better heads (horns).

 

[Ridgetop]

I do love the colors on that flashy buck. In fact in a pet type breed that would be worth bring in. I have WHITE Dorpers and breed strictly for meat and type. Luckily in all Dorpers, both BH & W, the standard is completely based on meat. And the body type needed to get it. I love my White Dorpers because they are so much are calmer than the black headed Dorpers. All Dorper breeders with both types will agree that the Black Headed Dorpers can be wild and crazy!

Luckily with my all white sheep I don't have to pick color over type since any color is a flaw. This can be confusing since the standard calls for "good pigment" which means black eyelids in the WDs. LOL Like everything else in this South African breed, the pigment requirement has a health reason. Lack of pigment can lead to skin cancers in the stark sun of the South African veld. Keeping good pigment in white Dorpers can be harder since good pigment can also lead to other black spots which are not desirable and not allowed in registered animals. Whatever breed you are breeding for has a type and a "Standard of Perfection". This Standard is never reached but we strive for it.

Whatever breed you breed for, you need to remember your market. If you are breeding for game ranches you will want to breed for a large heavy rack of horns. No hunter wants to pay to shoot a hornless sheep, they want that trophy rack. Many will not even want the meat from the carcass. Good feet and legs are necessary in any breeding program since the animal has to be able to get around over any kind of territory in search of food. The game ranch is not going to go out every month and round up all those trophy rams and trim hooves. The same goes for parasite resistance since if the animal is wormy it will not make a valuable trophy carcass.

If you are breeding registered animals, go to the ranches that have achieved your ideal for breedings rams. You can pay a little more since those ranches have already done all the upgrading with expensive animals and you will get the results of their years of breeding.

If you are not breeding registered animals, you have more leeway. Then you can bring in rams of a different breed to add the meat you want if you can't find any registered ones you like.

Remember that bringing in expensive rams will not always give you the magic "NICK" in offspring. The magic "NICK" is the cross where the offspring are better than the parents and give you what you want. Some bloodlines of the same registered animals don't combine well with others. Some do. Often the best winning rams don't produce as well as their brothers or cousins that are not as good. One of my rams out of terrific bloodlines is only a Grade 3 (commercial) but 80% of his offspring are Grade 5 no matter to which ewe he is bred. Another Grade 4 ram has been sold because his get were not the same quality - only 20% Grade 5. (5 is the highest grade). The same goes for ewe production.

Decide what you want in your flock, obtain a copy of the Standard of Perfection from the breeding society, then compare your ewes to what you really want and decide what type of ram to put on them. Go to some shows and listen to what the judge says about meat distribution on the carcass. If your extension office offers classes, go to them - a carcass class is really useful to show where the meat actually is on the carcass. It is much cheaper to upgrade buying a new ram than it is ewes. A lot of the breed societies will offer seminars. Remember not to focus on breeding for lambs like club lambs at the Fair. Youth auction club lambs are usually a black face Suffolk, Hamp, or cross. They are leggy, cylindrical, and elegant looking BUT they don't carry as much meat as a true meat breed. The judge will point out where the meat is carried on the lambs which can help you learn what you are looking for. If you are selling meat that leggy silhouette is not for you. There is little meat on the long legs of a tall club lamb. If you are selling to a meat buyer or packing plant, those type lambs will be discriminated against in pricing.

It is better to find a picture of what you want in your sheep and compare your ewes to it. Make a note of where your ewes need improvement, i.e.
Remember when cross breeding .

 

[Ridgetop]

OOPS! I type too fast.

Make a note of where your ewes need improvement, i.e., butt and rear leg (the money cut), length of loin, width of loin, (the second big money cut) and work from there.

You don't need to spend big money on a ram, find one you like for the price you want to pay and if he doesn't work out, sell him and move on with another.

Online auctions of registered animals usually post pix, often videos. Study those lots then sign up with a top amount in mind and bid. Have several picks in case others outbid you. Remember that good rams are plentiful and in any registered breed auction will account for half the sale animals. The ram may be half your herd, but you still need the other half in ewes, and I have noticed that the really nice ewes are going for much more than the rams. There will be a base price set by the seller or the auction. You can usually get a decent ram for around $400 if you research the bloodlines beforehand and know what you are looking for. Sometimes there will be no other offers and you will get a good ram at the bottom offer. I got the Reserve Champion for $500.00 at a large show one time because the owner forgot to put a reserve on the animal! Bought him for a friend, but it shows what you can get.

Shows have auctions too and there you can get the benefit of the judges' comments. Write the comments down and you will be in a better position to bid. The show is held on one day and the auction afterwards. Go around to the exhibitors' pens after the show and look at the different animals with the judges' comments to compare the animals.
If you explain to the judge that you are trying to improve your flock the judges will often look at the animals you are thinking of buying and give you their opinions. The breeders will also tell you about their animals too and give you lots of information.

Sounds like a lot of work? Not really, more like a lot of FUN!!!

 

[Poka_Doodle]

Just dropping in, got a lot of work to get done this week, and a lot that already has been done. Living the dream life though for a couple more weeks.

 

[farmerjan]

@Mike CHS , see on a post by creal critter in SS about the horrendous temps and storm threats encompassing Tenn and other areas. Is it hitting you also?

 

[Bruce]

Just dropping in, got a lot of work to get done this week, and a lot that already has been done. Living the dream life though for a couple more weeks.

Hi Poka, nice to be living the dream life.

Across the road neighbor called me over as I was coming up from closing up the coop and barn. Said he finished up string trimming a couple of days ago just as a friend came by they were sitting outside when the friend said there was a bobcat at the edge of the woods behind my neighbor. He turned and looked. He described it as the size of a German shepard with a cat head, LONG tail, smooth light brown fur. No way it was a bobcat. The last catamount in Vermont was killed in the 1800's. Looks like they are making their way back in. Might have to put a trail cam out on the fence. At the moment the field is mowed only on the perimeter so potentially any animal passing through might choose the mowed path to the 5' tall grasses.

 

[Mike CHS]

@Mike CHS , see on a post by creal critter in SS about the horrendous temps and storm threats encompassing Tenn and other areas. Is it hitting you also?

We are setting records but it still isn't as bad as many other places. I was out for most of the day yesterday and according to the scales, I lost 4 pounds of water weight. There has been a lot of storm activity around but not much on us.

 

[Baymule]

Taking a sweet iced tea break. Been rolling out a 330’ roll of sheep and goat wire. It was parallel to the fence line,, I couldn’t turn it. Ran a T-post through it, wrapped a chain on one end and pulled it around with the mule. Got down to almost rolled out and a stay wire got snagged by a end stone of wire. Was too hot and pooped out to argue with it. Tea time!