Yellow Simmental Calves

I've been trying to breed traditionally marked Simmental (like the ones in the Simme Valley, Switzerland) for the past 15 or so years. One step forward, two steps back has been the norm for me, so this year i was pleased to see THREE calves that are yellow!

I've been very fortunate to have THREE yellow calves born this year to purebred/fullblood Simmental cows. Below is SenSim Cricket (the red cow). She is out of a yellow spotted bull I raised and a wildy spotted red cow. I'm so surprised she came out so 'red' (little white). She was bred to the older bull RS Polled Ringeye. He is also wildly spotted red/white with goggle face (yuglet for you Shetland breeders) and her bull calf is the one that was born the day I left for BSG. He's the one that she is nosing in the photo. His 3/4 sibling is the one of the left. The yellow spotted girl out of Ramona that I thought was out of UK bull. I checked my breeding records and she is NOT out of that bull. But that's ok. She's yellow :)

Here is a bigger view (its not as blurry) I have to zoom from the sheep pasture or the cows don't stay in their 'normal/candid' state. The black cow is 100% Simmental, but is purebred, not fullblood (meaning she was bred up from an Angus x Simmental). The dark red bull in the right is our rented Red Angus bull. He's much more mellow and well behaved that our bull we leased from the same guy last year. The Simmental x Red Angus are THE hottest cross on the market now. The Hereford/Angus cross here died out a long time ago as a popular cross. The continental x british cross is by far way better in most any heterosis or crossbreeding program. All of my dad's black cows and my solid reds get bred to that bull. This year however, since our calves are so late (note not Mid March like normal) I'm trying to get them all bred back faster this year so I can do AI again on them next year.
The calf standing above is the girl, the boy is laying down.

Below is the UK sired yellow bull that we are bottling. He wouldn't stand still as it was evening meal and he was excited but he is a gorgeous BIG boy. Already close to 150 pounds. He was out of a wild s.o.b. first time mom and we had to pull him as she was not dilating and it had been 5 hours since her water broke (WAY TOO LONG!) and nothing was happening. His head was swollen for a few days. Its the first one we've had to pull in 7 years of purebred breeding. I was amazed. Even our big calves are born with ease. Apparently this wasn't meant to be.
he'll most likely be available as a butcher animal this fall/spring, but we are doing our best to not interact with him much, in the case he is our only UK bull calf and I want to keep him for breeding. His mother's line is not known for birthing issues so I was amazed his mom had any difficulties. It'll be closely monitored.

if none of this makes sense I can go into more detail, but didn't want to bore any of you non cattle people :)

Photos from our AI clinic

Here are some photos of the AI clinic we did on Saturday. Here is Sarah with my group of ewes waiting to take their turns going in for their 'shot at love'.

Below, Mary and Sarah watching the girls pre-procedure.

Below is Beechtree Kearsley telling Sarah a story. I'm sure Kearsley was trying to bribe her way out of this!


Here Erica and Sarah are getting Kearsley situated in the cradle (you can see my head behind Erica)AHA!!!! We DID get a photo of Kim!!! :P And she did a fantastic job of trimming the belly wool off the girls! (girl sheep)


Erica and Sarah's friend Jessie preparing the pipettes for the clinic.
Here are Kearsley and I posing before I wheel her into the procedure area! :D

Thanks to Erica for posting these on Facebook!

AI is done, and now we wait

Our AI is done for another year.......

I wanted to thank hugely my friends who drove from all over the place to come and help me! Kim Nikolai came from Prior Lake, MN to assist me with my AI and she brought her shears which were used to clip the belly wool. She was a trooper and helped me load and unload my ewes for the trip to town. Mary Morris and Erica Morris the mother/daughter duo from Wahpeton, ND came to assit me. Erica and her friend Sarah are dog friends of mine and They both ROCKED coming to help me with the AI. Since I was sick with the 24 hour stomach flu (i'm better NOW) they did a lot of the loading and unloading onto the cradle, holding the ewes in place while AI'ing and many of the scrubbing and shots. Their classmate Jessie was also there from a local town of Ottertail and she helped get the semen ready for Martin and double check which ewe was next. Mary Morris aside from running the CO2 tank kept things going in a timely fashion and kept us on track. Shona the vet tech from the clinic was ever helpful with preparing all of the supplies I needed and had everything ready and in order for them. Amanda Covington a DVM from the Minneapolis area who specialies in goats and sheep only, was there also to assist in any function and eventually took over the semen preparation when Kelly had to go. I ordered pizza for everynoe who helped and was VERY grateful considering I was not up to speed due to my sickness.

We did the two BFLs first, followed by the Shetlands. There were two ewes who jumped as he inserted the right horn so we made note of it that we may not have those bred as Martin says typically the right horn is the horn that gets settled when doing LAI. He told me I should not expect to be as good as last year with my conception rates. He said since I had 100% last year, not to expect that or be that lucky again, but I wouldn't complain if that DID happen :)

So now I wait two weeks before I put the clean up rams in with them. They'll only be in with the clean up ram 10 days as I have to have all my lambs born before April 20th as I have my Cardigan National Specialty out in Gettysburg,PA from April 23-May 1!

It was a sad day when I used the last of my Holly, Timothy and Minder straws. I still have 11 straws left to use in the future but will probably wait a few years to do most of the F1 ewe lambs. I will however probably do quite a few BFLs next year to AI as I have quite a few of those straws now.

AI tomorrow

I've been so busy with fall clean ups that I haven't had much time to check email or phone messages and for that I apologize! Tomorrow is my AI date with Martin Dally of Super Sires, Ltd doing the procedure. I'm in good hands tomorrow as I have 5 Vet Techs and a DVM who specializes in goats and sheep helping with the clinic tomorrow. AND I have Kim Nikolai helping out too so that should be a blast!

I am so busy right now that I"m not even going to be deer hunting this year...the first time EVER as I have gotten so far behind with work due to all of the rain and snow we've been getting. Naturally tomorrow is supposed to be 55 degrees...the last nicest day of the year and I'll be doing AI in the morning. If I can get everyone else OUT of the clinic by noon I could still have about 5 hours of daylight to get a few more yards picked up.....

wish me luck!

CIDRs in!

19 Shetlands and 2 BFLs were inserted today with CIDRs. I myself am hoping to AI 18 shetlands and both BFLs and having someone lease another ewe from me for the AI.

Overall I'm extremely pleased with the girls I've chosen and look forward to the AI date and more importantly the lambing :) Several girls seem, ahem.....more receptive....than others so I feel like the rest of the girls should be cycling normal now, as we have had some super low night time temps (its currently 27 F at 11pm)

Change of Plans

After a lack of sleep last night from a fear of breeding the AI ewes to the wrong rams, I conferred with my mentor, whom I respect highly and appreciate her opinion more than anyone else!

After much discussion both pros and cons this will be my final decision on the ewes to AI. the CIDRs go in on Friday. 18 Shetlands and 2 BFLs, read on about all of them! (maybe get a cup of coffee or tea).

I still after all of this is said and done will have 9 straws of semen to use down the road...be it next year or 5 years...depends on how my lambs keep turning out :)

Campaign Timothy - black ram - a ram with unknown microns, a more intermediate fleece type that was not super consistent. His strengths were his perfect horns, his non iset fleece at 8 years of age and conformation that was astounding. These ewes we picked for him are ewes that are consistent in fleece and its structure, soft, crimpy fleeces. They excel in conformation as well so the lambs should have spot on conformation, with hopes of improving fleece style and consistency.

Timothy will be bred to the following three ewes:

WhitePine Centennial - gray katmoget ewe 56% UK F2 Jericho F3 Minder F3 Drum Ram etc
AFD 26.7, SD 4.9, CV 18.3%, CEM 8.6

RiverOaks Eliza - white ewe 18% UK - (Holly and Greyling genetics) four year old ewe.
AFD 26.6, SD 5.6, CV 21.1, CEM 10.8

OwlHill Pranilla - gray ewe 75%UK F1 Greyling, F2 Orion
AFD 29.9, SD 5.9, CV 19.8, CEM 10.2.


Greenholme Holly - blaget black ram - Holly is a proven poll carrier and some have said he is a modfied ram or carries it. Not much else is known about this ram from trying to find any information. The thing to remember about these rams that were in the first importation was that they were used on ewes that are not of the caliber of todays current ewe flock. That being said I think the results will be better as the ewes overall have better conformation and fleece qualities that I can find any information on. Again someone correct me if I'm mistaken!

Holly will get the following two ewes:

RiverOaks Lucy - gray katmoget ewe - proven poll carrier (produced my Levi this year from a non poll carrier ram Jamie). She is F3 Dillon F3/F4 Holly. I wouldn't really call it a linebreeding as its fourth generation now in the lamb, but it still goes back to Holly :)
AFD:27.7, SD 4.9, CV 17.8, CEM 7.9

ShelteringPines Fleur de Lis - smirslet gray katmoget ewe. F3/F3 Minder, F4 Holly, F4 Timothy, etc. I'm trying for spots with this breeding as well as a good fleece improvement incase the ram is super high, since we don't know his tests.
AFD: 27.3, SD 5.8, CV 21.3, CEM 11


Willowcroft Jamie - moorit ram. His conformation and depth of color were stunning and he had no iset in his fleece as a mature ram. I'm saving one of these straws for a future breeding, and the other is going to:

FirthofFifth Rahu- white illget ewe F3 Dillon, F4/F4 Lightning, F4 Greyling. Her conformation and fleece structure are fabulous! Her lambs have been great and her numbers are very promising from an improvement standpoint. She carries solid and 'could' carry moorit. I'm dying to find out!
AFD 27.6, SD 5.1, CV 18.6, CEM 9.2


Heatheram Lightning - white ram- I was so surprised to have SIX different breeders inquire about white ewes this past year, and didn't raise a single white ewe lamb! Aside from my four white ewes and a white F1 Orion ram I'm using this fall I thought it wise to use a few of these Lightning straws I had here. He carries black so we could have the possibility of something other than white, but white we are hoping for! Lightning in the photo I have seen of him seems to be quite large and long, with a 'coarse' looking face. By breeding him to two typey, feminine ewes with more breed characteristic, and finer fleeces, we are hoping for the whole package. I can be optimistic right?

FirthofFifth Koosi - gray katmoget - F1 Jericho F3 Minder etc. Proven producer and homozygous katmoget. Even the white lambs will carry katmoget so that is good to know! Consistent from front to her rear, with crimpy, even lock structure.
AFD 25.6, SD 4.4, CV17.2, CEM 7.2

BlackForest Tilly - black gulmoget - F3 Dillon etc. I had thought about using her to Orion but wanted to use those straws on solid black carrying moorit or moorit ewes to try and find those fine fleeced solid ewes and rams!
AFD 22.8, SD 5.7, CV 24.1, CEM 12.7


Shirehill Minder - Ag katmoget (moorit based). I've heard he carries or is modified and he is a proven spot producer too! I was really impressed with his ram lambs out of Ulla this year. Consistent from front to rear, very crimpy and decent microns for lambs. Not super fine but not garbage (25.5 and 25.7 AFD). Conformation and horns are stunning on them and I needed to use Minder on different styles of ewes to see what i could get:

FirthofFifth Taika - black gulmoget. She was my last 'meet the ewe' in my previous blog post

OwlHill Butter - musket - F2 Greyling F2/F3 Orion F4 Holly etc. A tall, large bodied yearling who has super soft and crimpy/consistent fleece. I am praying for no AgAg lambs but I'm sure if I got one it would be nice :)
AFD 24.4, SD 5.6, CV23.1

Justalit'l Chloe - fawn katmoget. yes she's homozygous. I can only get fawn katmogets or fawn Ag katmogets from this pairing. Chloe has really proven herself with AI to Jericho and to Holly. This will be a linebreeding as she is F2 Minder. she previous post on 'meet the ewe'

ShelteringPines Nessebar - smirslet gray katmoget. carries moorit and spots. Minder produces spots and is moorit based. The worst? Ag katmogets or AgAa lambs or homozygous katmogets. If the fleece is great why complain? Greyling, Minder, Timothy lines.


Todhill Jericho - homozygous gray katmoget. carries moorit and spotting. He is one of the two rams who I think can do the most for the NA flocks. His micron test was 25 AFD and his lambs fleeces that I've seen are incredible (think Jazz/Blues and Koosi). Since all he can throw is MORE katmoget, I'm using him selectively.....

Justalit'l Black Lambo - black ewe, no iset at nearly 9 years old. Lambo has proven herself as a producer to Dillon, Orion and hopefully to Jericho. She truly is a great ewe! Check her 'meet the ewe' profile for more info on her.

FifthofFifth Ashegon - moorit ewe - F2 Jericho. Yes we are breeding her back to her grandsire. A linebreeding may be wise in this situation. Again all lambs will be katmoget but will carry Aa (solid). Its a win:win situation
AFD 23.5, SD 5.2, CV22.2, CEM 9.8

ShelteringPines Nirvana - horned gray katmoget ewe - F3 Minder F4 Timothy/Holly/Holly/Jamie. She really produced with Blues this past year giving me two great ewe lambs so wanted to see what she'd do bred back to Jericho.
AFD 28.5, SD 5.9, CV 20.6, CEM 10.2


Heights Orion - moorit modified ram - with the ultimate in fleece improvement and modifier genes. Wide sweeping horns, consistent from neck to britch, he's been our best import to date in terms of fleece fineness. His 5 or 6 year old fleece microned at 26 AFD. Amazing for that old of ram here in North America. I used him heavily last year and was impressed with most of his offspring. This year he is going to three solid ewes to improve those lines in my flock.

OwlHill Miss Lilly - F1/F4 Holly, F2 Orion black ewe that carries moorit. She is 81.25% UK, my highest % ewe and consistent from front to rear, conformation is spot on and she looks as though she can really produce put to anything! Thanks again Susan :)
AFD 28.5, SD 5, CV 17.5, CEM 8

FirthofFifth Ashanti - moorit smirslet F3 Dillon, F4 Timothy with a gorgeous deep moorit color and so consistent. I'm really hoping Orion might carry spots? :) Regardless the lambs will be moorit and soft and that is what I'm hoping for!
AFD 26.1, SD 5.2, CV 19.9, CEM 9.2

WhitePine Skor - shaela ewe. My first homebred girl that I retained for purebred breeding. Please check our her 'meet the ewe' blog post from earlier today.


That's 18 Shetland ewes I've decided on using. Underhill Ulla who I thought I'd use on Orion, is instead going to an F1 mioget Orion son Ephraim instead. Ephraim thanked me :)

The two BFLs that I am AI'ing are both going to Beeston Titan who is a heavier fleeced ram that was collected and imported. Both girls I am using are finer fleeced mother/daughter duo.

Beechtree Kearsley - homozygous white ewe. Always produces nice pigemented lambs. She only has two UK rams in her background so I can use her in just about any direction.

Beechtree Kershope - white ewe carries color. Again lovely pigment in her. She's also finer fleeced so breeding to a heavier fleeced ram should do them both good in that department! Thanks Lisa for letting me get the Titan semen from you!

Shetland AI group

The following girls are slated for LAI this fall. Each has a list of merits that I feel are worthy of using on LAI.

Justalit'l Black Lambo - black ewe - 25% UK - proven poll carrier Bramble Dixen daughter. She had fabulous lambs out of Heights Orion this past year and I need to use her again this year. She is slated for Todhill Jericho. She has very little iset as an 8 year old, good teeth yet and was in great condition feeding twins all year. Her microns were, as an 8 year old, AFD 27.2, SD 6.2, CV22.7, CEM 10.9, CF of 70%

Justlit'l Chloe - fawn katmoget (homozygous for katmoget) 31.25% UK - Underhill Bartok daughter. She has amazing conformation and a great mom. Last year was bred to Greenholme Holly and gave me beautiful lambs. This year will be bred to either Heights Orion or Heatheram Lightning. Her fleece tests were AFD 30.3, SD 6.3, CV 20.7 CEM of 13.3 and CF of 56.8%. Although not super soft, her lambs have all been dynamite when bred to AI.

RiverOaks Eliza - white ewe - 18% UK - last year we tried to AI her but the day before the sponges were to be pulled, hers came out :( We'll try again this year and we are breeding her to Campaign Timothy. Eliza is my softest mature ewe with AFD of 26.6, SD 5.6, CV of 21.1 and a CEM of 10.8, CF of 79.3%

RiverOaks Lucy - gray katmoget ewe - proven poll carrier. 34% UK - Last year we used her on Willowcroft Jamie and got an amazing smooth polled krunet black ram lamb. This year she will be bred to Greenholme Holly. Lucy's fleece test was AFD 27.7, SD 4.9, CV of 17.8, CEM of 7.9, CF of 70.6%

Underhill Ulla - moorit ewe - 38% UK - last year was bred to Shirehill Minder and gave me two gorgeous rams. This year I will breed her to Heights Orion in hopes of some pretty moorits (I have hardly any solid moorit ewes!) AFD 29.7, SD 6.5, CV 22.1, CEM 11.9, CF 59.2%. Her daughter last year out of a ground breeding had phenominal fleece. Her Minder ram lambs i think will also be something special.

FirthofFifth Rahu - white ewe - 31% UK - She will be bred to Willowcroft Jamie this fall. Rahu carries solid (Aa) and I'm hoping for moorit or white ewe lambs! Her micron was just spectacular this year. 27.6 AFD, SD 5.1, CV 18.6, CEM 9.2, CF 73.8%

FirthofFifth Taika - black gulmoget - 44% UK - She will be bred to Shirehill Minder this fall (I'm hoping for my Ag gulmoget ewe lamb!) 23.2 AFD, SD 5.7, CV 24.8, CEM 12.4, CF 88.5%

ShelteringPines Fleur de Lis - smirslet gray katmoget - 44%UK - she will be bred to Greenholme Holly in hopes of those spots! 27.3 AFD, SD 5.8, CV 21.3, CEM 11, CF 72.2%

ShelteringPines Nirvana - horned gray katmoget ewe - 36.5% UK - she gave me awesome twin ewe lambs out of Wintertime Blues (F1 Jericho) this past year and will be bred to Heights Orion this fall. AFD 28.5, SD 5.9, CV 20.6, CEM 10.2, CF 65.2%

ShelteringPines Myra - fawn katmoget - 22% UK - gave me a gorgeous ram lamb this spring from Jazz (F1 Jericho) and will be bred to Heights Orion this fall. pending new micron results

WhitePine Skor - shaela ewe - 28% UK - will be bred to Heights Orion in hopes of getting more modified lambs. AFD 22.8, SD 6.2, CV 27.2, CEM 13.4, CF 85.9%

OwlHill Butter - musket ewe 72%UK - will be bred to Todhill Jericho. Jericho is homozygous katmoget, but I really would like an AgAb moget faced ewe again! AFD 24.4, SD 5.6, CV 23.1, CF of 85.7%

Owlhill Pranilla - gray ewe - 75%UK - will be bred to either Todhill Jericho or Willowcroft Jamie. I'm waiting micron results to decide. waiting on results

Owlhill Miss Lilly - black ewe - 81% UK - will be bred to Todhill Jericho. Both she and Jericho carry moorit so that could be an exciting blend also. waiting on results

Owlhill Sarafina - gray ewe - 53% UK - will be bred most likely to Campaign Timothy, pending micron results.

Several others ewes I"m on the fence about (gosh you are thinking ISN"T THAT ENOUGH ALREADY?) are:

FirthofFifth Booto - fawn katmoget F1 Timothy 53% UK - last fall was bred to heights orion. her ram lamb is just stunning and would like to put her on perhaps Lightning to give her lambs some size as she is quite dainty at 60 pounds. AFD 26.1, SD 6.8, CV 26.3, CEM 13.8, CF 77%

ShelteringPines Nessebar - gray smirslet katmoget - 38%UK - I'm waiting on micron results to find out if I should use her or not.

Wintertime Galina - black gulmoget (solid sided) 47% UK - I'm also waiting on her micron results to find out if I should AI her.

I have two other yearlings that I'm thinking about using, however they haven't really grown much this year and think perhaps I should wait a year with them when I know they can carry twins with the AI more readily, but I'm so impatient..I just don't know.

And I think I'll sponge a few 'extra' girls in case any of the 'chosen' ones pop their sponge out early or can't be AI'ed at all, like what happened last year (one ewe in each instance).

AI confirmed

Our AI for November 7th has been confirmed!

Details on ewes and semen will be forthcoming.

If you'd like to AI along with us, do send me a note!

1 week.....

I've been spending a LOT of time in the barn waiting and watching the expectant ewes. Only one week until their official due date but now I am expecting them at any time. Becky Utecht reminded me today that she was going to put her 'ewe tube' out in the barn. What a great idea! I don't have to do middle of the night barn checks in the cold! I have one coming overnight from walmart.com!

Since it WAS nice outside today (almost 30 here) I did spend some time in the sun with them. Unfortunately for me, only a few girls are interested in scratches this year. Last year I had 6-8 ewes pushing and shoving for my attention. Most of them are now in IL at a petting zoo! Lucky girls. I digress. So I of course am checking udders, bellies, position of lambs in the ewes. I'm so amazed the way the ewes carry them differently. Kim pointed out yesterday that she thought Booto was indeed bred due to the belly hanging so low underneath herself. I DID notice a couple of days ago that Booto's back end was a bit more swollen than a typical ewe that is not due in a matter of days :) Her udder had also gone from nonexistant to somewhat of a hint of an udder ;) Today I'm happy to report an ever growing udder. Almost like watching grass grow. Ok nothing like watching grass grow other than the fact that its growing FAST!

Tomorrow night in Fargo we are having our annual Awards Banquet for the FMKC. Sadie gets two plaques for her CGC and NAJ as she earned them prior to 2009. Oliver gets his RN as he earned his prior to 2009. So it should be a fun night with dog friends!

My 400th post, and AI girls

Wow! 400 posts in just over two years. Thanks to those blogger friends who comment and/or at least read my blog. It helps keep me sane and attached to the world! So thank you and please continue to read and comment about it!

We still have NO AI lambs....which is thankful! During the blizzard and snow and now -18 degree temps without windchill....winter is still here in west central MN. They threaten us witha 15 day forecast of in the lower 40's, upper 30's which would indeed feel like spring. Then we just need to have our 2 feet of snow melt so we can SEE if the grass is turning green LOL.

With no AI lambs yet...the NAME THAT EWE contest is still open to anyone who wishes to guess! It is two parts remember so this is the first phase and then in another 3 weeks or so i will post the ground breeding girls to have you guess the second part. For more details scroll down to read about a past blog that has all the info.

I am impatient and GUESS THAT EWE!

I cannot STAND waiting for these AI ewes to lamb. Udders and bellies fool me into thinking they could go at any minute. Yesterday I was watching a lamb do a jig inside his momma's belly (Shasta for those curious). Today Rachildas was calling out to some imaginary lamb ...in her mother alert/protective call. They are so close I can nearly smell them lol. And i Know I have 2 weeks from today until their official due date!

This is my first attempt at AI with sheep and I was extremely nervous I did it wrong, even though I was given step by step instructions for sponges and hormones. I was wondering if I did it wrong, took them out too soon, too early, not enough hormones, etc. I was also nervous as its some of the last straws of many of the rams I used so if they didn't take I'm out that expensive semen as well. All risks I had to take, and I'm glad I did! I'm already planning another AI :)

Last year I was taking photos of big bellies, udders, rears and contemplating when they would go after I had put the rams in with them. I was off by about 2 weeks on most. Now this year I am at the same time frame with the AI girls....taking photos of big bellies, udders, rears and I know they are due March 22, give or take a few days.

So with that being said: I am going to start the first ever "Guess that ewe" contest!

This will be two part. First part will be to guess the first ewe to lamb in the AI group, and the second part will be who lambs first in the ground breeding group in April. But more on that in April.

The first part will guessing a) which ewe will lamb first, b) how many lambs are born to the ewe, c) sex of the lamb(s) and d) color of lamb(s)

I will write down all ewes that were bred AI and their genotype. The person that is exactly correct for both the AI and ground breeding group will get a complimentary LAMB out of the ground breeding group! That's right a FREE LAMB! Details will be forthcoming in April for the exact lamb, but it would be mutually agreed upon by both myself and the winner.

Those that get either the AI ewe or the ground breeding ewe all correct (but not both) will get $100 off of a lamb purchase here to be used this year (2009).

If no one guesses completely correct, the person who is the CLOSEST in guessing the AI ewe OR the ground breeding ewe OR both, will get $50 off purchase of a lamb from the 2009 lamb crop, OR $50 towards raw fleeces of their choosing from my flock.

I encourage all family, dog friends, sheep friends and pigeon friends to join in the guessing. Guesses can and should be posted on this blog. If you don't want a lamb or can't have one, we can work something else out :)

The ewes for the AI group:
Justalit'l Chloe fawn katmoget (Ab/Ab, Bb/Bb) bred to Greenholme Holly black (Aa/Aa, BB/Bb)

Justalit'l Black Lambo black (BB/B?, Aa/Aa) bred to Heights Orion moorit (Bb/Bb, Aa/Aa)

Underhill Peep musket (Bb/Bb, Ag/Aa) bred to Heights Orion moorit(Bb/Bb, Aa/Aa)

Underhill Ulla moorit (Bb/Bb, Aa/Aa) bred to Shirehill Minder Ag Katmoget(Ag/Ab, Bb/Bb)

River Oaks Lucy -gray katmoget (BB/Bb, Ab/Aa) bred to Willowcroft Jamie moorit (Aa/Aa, Bb/Bb)

Justalit'l Shasta Ag flecket (Ag/Aa, BB/B?) bred to Campaign Timothy black (Aa/Aa, BB/Bb)

RYL Rachildas white illget (Awt/Ag, BB/B?) bred to Heights Orion moorit (Aa/Aa, Bb/Bb)

FirthofFifth Evidence of Autumn mioget (Aa/Aa, Bb/Bb) bred to Heights Orion moorit (Aa/Aa, Bb/Bb)

FirthofFifth Rooibos fawn (Aa/Aa, Bb/Bb) bred to Heights Orion moorit (Aa/Aa, Bb/Bb)

FirthofFifth Booto fawn katmoget (Ab/Aa, Bb/Bb) bred to Heights Orion moorit (Aa/Aa, Bb/Bb) This ewe is more than likely NOT bred to AI but I am including her here anyway.

Sheltering Pines Nirvana gray katmoget (Ab/Aa, BB/B?) bred to Wintertime Blues (Ab/Aa, BB/Bb) This ewe was not bred AI but is due anytime. She is living with the AI girls as they will lamb first so she is included in this group for guessing as well.

Ok bring on the guesses!

Hopeful

Well I've taken fleece samples, trimmed hooves, vaccinated and checked udders on the AI girls (and everyone else). My ground breedings are not due until after April 20th, when I will be home from the Cardigan Nationals. Its not fair to have my dad checking for lambs while I"m away like last year!

I checked udders on the AI girls and 8 of the girls are for sure growing udders now at a daily rate almost. A 9th is more than likely bred, but her udder is not as large. The 10th more than likely is NOT bred to AI, as she has no udder at all, a lot more like the girls that are due after April 20th.

Another ewe that is due anytime is Sheltering Pines Nirvana. She is bred to Jazz's twin brother, Winterime Blues. Her udder is as large as the AI girls so I'm thinking she is due any day as well.

For those that have forgotten who I AI'ed:

Justalit'l Chloe - fawn katmoget (homozygous katmoget) F2 Minder was bred to Greenholme Holly. I'm hoping for polled genetics here!

RiverOaks Lucy - gray katmoget was bred to Willowcroft Jamie. I"m pretty excited for this potential

Justalit'l Shasta - Ag flecket horned ewe was bred to Campaign Timothy. This girl is as big as house...I wouldn't doubt triplets in this one!

Underhill Ulla - moorit F2 Jamie ewe was bred to Shirehill Minder. I'm expecting fawn katmogets or muskets from this breeding.

Heights Orion was bred to the following ewes:
Underhill Peep - F2 Greyling, F2 Jamie musket ewe
FirthofFifth Evidence of Autumn - mioget ewe (repeat breeding of Aman)
FirthofFifth Rooibos - fawn ewe
RYL Rachildas - white illget ewe. Last year bred to Aman F1 Orion son gave me gorgeous lambs with soft soft flece. I"m hoping bred directly to Orion that they are knock outs. Expecting only White or Ag lambs (she is homozygous black and Awt/Ag)
Justalit'l Black Lambo - black ewe (homozygous black) who when Stephen has her, was bred to Roban Dillon and produced two very gorgeous rams. Let's hope for the same :)

WHEW! Its nearly 45 degrees outside and i'm out in a T-shirt and shoes (no winter boots) and no winter cap! I just rotated the girls into new paddocks that no one has been in since last May. The sheep from Lori and Stephen have come out of quarantine and I'm out now to take photos!

Cost of AI'ing my sheep

So I finally was able to sit down and figure out my cost of AI'ing 10 ewes for AI. Remember I wasn't able to AI two ewes due to one having a sponge fall out a day too early, and the other had too much damage to her uterus to AI. However whether I used 12 sponges or not, I still wasted most of the PMS-G hormones as one vial is only good for what, 40 ewes? and its only good for 48 hours.

At any rate without boring you with details, the total of my expenses including gas which at the time was around 3.89/gallon and driving a total of 1040 miles round trip to get to the AI site driving a huge SUV pulling the cattle trailer; my cost including semen, gas, hormones, supplies, etc was only $167/ewe! While that sounds like a lot of money for 10 ewes, yes it was, but it was spread out mostly throughout the year as I bought semen well in advance of the AI date. I have heard that some people have had an average of $250-300/ewe for their AI. Anyone have any other data for their ewes that did AI?

Photos from AI weekend

Hooray for photos!!


Here is Gail Former getting ready to scrub the ewe, while she watches Maureen Koch shear the belly wool. Maureen's brother Johnny is in the background trying to get out of the photo. NO SUCH LUCK BUDDY!

Theresa Gygi was the 'lab tech assistant' and thawed our 'little buddies' for us and made sure everyone went to the right ewe...thanks Theresa!!

Getting a better close up of Maureen and the serious business of shearing


Jeff Gygi (theresa's hubby) watching and waiting for Martin to get done so he can wheel the ewe over to me where he and I worked together stapling and spraying and injecting.



Another shot of Maureen, Gail and Johnny, with LeAnne Reichert (on the far left) and Carol Wagner (in the vest) joining in on the help


A better shot of Marin Daly of Super Sires doing the Laproscopic AI

AI weekend

Well I"m back from a long weekend at our AI 'camp' at Paul and Carol Wagner's farm near Manitowoc, WI (near Lake Michigan). We did close to 100 ewes in eight hours and everyone's sheep were done within the time frame for the AI to be most fertile.

Unfortuantely we were unable to AI Bono Creek Lavender Brown as she had a lot of damaged tissues around her uterus and Martin could not get through the tissues to get to the tubes to insert the semen. She will have to be bred via ground breeding.

River Oaks Eliza had the sponge come out a day early and Martin said that we shouldn't run the chance of wasting the semen as she didn't seem 'receptive' to do the AI.

So I had 10 ewes AI'ed out of 12, and there were a few changes....since the straw from Lavender was already thawing, I had to last minute swtich FirfthofFifth Booto from Jamie to Orion.

So there were six ewes bred to Heights Orion:
FirthofFifth Booto - fawn katmoget F1 Timothy (all moorit based lambs expected)
FirthofFifth Evidence of Autumn - a mioget ewe (all moorit based lambs expected)
FirthofFifth Rooibos - fawn - (all lambs will be moorit based lambs)
RYL Rachildas - white ewe (all lambs will be white or Ag grey but carry moorit)
Underhill Peep - musket - (all lambs will be moorit based)
Justalitl Black Lambo - black - (all lambs will be black based but carry moorit)

The following four rams only had one ewe bred to each:
Campaign Timothy x Justalit'l Shasta Ag grey flecket smirslet ewe (all lambs will be black or Ag grey)

Willowcroft Jamie x RiverOaks Lucy - all lambs will be black based (possibly moorit if Lucy carries it)

Shirehill Minder x Underhill Ulla - all lambs will be moorit based and either katmoget or Ag musket

Greenholme Holly x Justalit'l Chloe - all lambs will be katmoget, either black or moorit and possibly polled.


I still have 10 straws left for a future LAI, with all of the above rams but also including one straw of Heatheram Lightning and just for pure curiousity, one Drum Jings straw. I know! TWO WHITE RAMS but I may or may not use them, only time will tell if the proper ewe presents herself to be bred to either of them.

Photos of the LAI helpers and sheep will be posted probably tomorrow when I have more time and some REST! Overall it was a great learning day and was great to see all my friends and to make new ones!

Oh Eliza!

We trudged out to the barn this morning in the wee hours of the night, in the rain and in the fog and in the dark......to pull sponges on ewes. I've been diligently watching the girls and they've all stayed in.....This morning I'm going through the girls, pulling sponges, giving hormones and we come to ELIZA and there is no string.....so I reach in a little bit thinking it must have gotten sucked up in there and nothing. Then dad finds one right in front of the feeder and exclaims...."well this can't be it". Yup it was. All the other girls had their sponges in. So it had to of happened in the last 18 hours because I fed them before going to dog class last night and everyone's sponges were in. I"m taking her with anyway and Martin is going to check her out, but it doesn't look good. What a bummer!

She'll probably get put with Jazz then this fall when I put the breeding groups together in a month or so. She'll have to wait her turn for the NEXT AI, and hopefully by then we'll have new rams imported to use! I guess she didn't want to be AI"ed this year. D'oh!

AI this weekend

Our Laproscopic Artificial Insemination is this weekend in a tiny town near Green Bay Wisconsin. I have twelve 'ladies in waiting' that are slotted for the trip. Most of them are getting quite experienced in the art of trailer travel. An update to the trip are hay nets for hay (for on the way home, on the way there they cannot be fed) and lights to dine by in the evening after AI is done on Sunday sometime.

The entire AI will be at Carol Wagner's wool mill and I was hoping to have some fleeces to take with, but am behind in skirting so they'll just have to wait. that is what winters are for right?

I'm excited I get to see Maureen Koch, Gail Former and Theresa Gygi again, as well as meeting LeAnne Reichert for the first time, as I missed her at WS&WF. Martin Dailey is our tech so it should be a good laugh working with him again.

I am heading out Saturday morning at some point and will get to Carol's after dark. Sunday will be a LONG day with many ewes to AI (I think there are at least 75+) and then either head back sunday night part way or stay over and go back Monday morning. Its a nine hour drive.

Ell and Zoe are headed to Sioux Falls, SD this weekend to go play show dog with Erica and Mary Morris. Both only need a major to finish (Ell needs a 5pt major or a major and a few single points) so let's hope that the judges like my girls better and give them the nod. It'd be nice to have Zo-Zo finished, but I guess why rush? She's gotten all her points in the last 3 months!

I'll keep you posted on both accounts!