I had an amazing time on Sunday! I thought I would get to have the morning to roam the vendors and the fairgrounds ( I have YET to watch the working Border Collies either!) but I found out the Mule show as at 10:30am. I was asked to help the Gygi's with their mules and was glad to do, since I had decided before the show to purchase two of the Shetland mules from them. As luck would have it, they took 1st and 2nd in the class of mule ewe lambs, and then the 1st place ewe lamb also went on to win Champion mule ewe with dam and reserve champion mule ewe! To say that I was pretty pleased is an understatement :) Below is the photo of the winning mule ewe lamb with her dam.
I also had talked to Theresa earlier about her Cheviot x Shetland cross ewe lambs. I loved the faces on her ewe lamb crosses she brought last year to Jefferson. I had been really thinking about adding a few just as a small 'science project' and boy am I glad I did! These girls are just as stunning as the Shetland mules, but slightly different, which is good! I wish I could catch their pretty faces UP :)
I have plans to mate all 5 to a Texel ram lamb this fall to get my first 3rd tier UK system of grass fed lamb data for those hard to prove to local producers :) I am REALLY excited about the Shetland mules after what our judge John Stott said about them. Just because of this I've changed my entire Shetland breeding groups and am going to take 15-20 Shetland ewes and breed them to the BFL for mule lambs !!
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3 comments:
I am so glad you have taken up the cause of testing the three tier system. I look forward to the data on lambing and growth weights.
P.S. Shetland mule fleeces seem to be the best of both worlds. Soft, lustrous, and dense.
Oh my goodness, what did the judge say about Shetland mules? Last year's British judge dismissed them as not a good thing at all. Congrats to you on buying winners and congrats to the Gygi's for raising them!
Thanks Garrett for helping to show the mules! Now I've got to decide which of the mule girls (other than B5's twin) to keep for myself!
Jeff has decided that we probably won't use the NCC and just put the ewes that will be used for crossing (~40, same as last year) to the BFL this fall. One less mouth to feed this winter. Which BFL ram (genetics) are you going to use on the Shetlands?
I'd love to know what your Texel looks like when you get him. We are still debating about getting one - or leasing one. I'll probably call the local guy up and see what is available.
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