Barn Updates

As is the 'norm' around here, things continually change and I need to be ready for it when it happens. A few weeks ago I applied for a job with Washington State University. I planned on moving and needed to make the barns as efficient as possible for the sheep to stay at the farm over winter until I could afford to bring them out in the spring. That may be on hold for now, but in the mean time my barn is FINALLY becoming much more efficient :)

Something that I wanted to do for a few years was build a better way to feed my sheep. Round bales are terrible on the fleeces, I lose ear tags on some of the sheep, and unrolling them take a lot of time and I have to feed them outside in a pasture.

This is the lean to our old dairy barn. This alleyway is used about 90% of the time when entering the barn now so I needed to keep the space wide open. The plywood used for the small square bale flakes of hay is perfect.  They fit in there snugly against the metal hog panel and still allows me a clean, open, bright place to walk.

Inside the pen shows enough feeder space for the 60+ Shetland adult ewes that will be here over the winter. There is room to add three more 8 foot sections, giving me head space for 24 more Shetland adult ewes if I ever needed it.

Below is the south side (left side in photo above) showing some of the feeders.

A better close up below showing only the smallest holes in the hog panel exposed, while using lightweight plywood for the top. The hay all fits in there (more actually on the north side) and still there is room in the small trough for the beet pulp and hay chaff that falls down. No eating on the floor (unless they eat the bedding/oat straw). Little to no hay on their backs or the neighbors' backs.

Reinforced mineral tubs. The ewes kept rubbing their butts on them and breaking/snapping them off of the board they were on. This makes them much sturdier.

Above is the ewe lamb pen feeders that I am using for now. they were 55 gallon plastic drums that I cut in half and screwed on boards for the ends so as to not flip them over. They are lower, and easier for the lambs to eat out of so I am using them in their part of the barn.

Above and below, the girls are approving of the finished feeders.

Above is my home made chute system. This used to be the manger of the dairy barn where we fed the cows and walked with he wheelbarrow. It works nicely for the smaller sheep and I can get an entire system within an area that wasn't utilized before. The middle aisle is for myself. Its not the largest area but this allows me access to both sides of the chute and the digital scale is to the right where the plywood 'gates' slide up and down to allow a new sheep to enter or exit. I've not had any jump over it yet and its low enough I can access the sheep ear tags and check eyelids and worm if necessary.


And below are two samples of the new Whistlestop rams I described in my last post. The 'white' fleece is actually a light badgerface ram (black based) yearling ram that I am SO pleased I got. He is everything I'm looking for in a rams: fine fleece, conformation, horns (my preference only), rare color pattern, depth of body and capacity yet still fine boned, and some unrelated lines to work with. He's a yearling that I hope to use a LOT in the future.

The moorit fleece is of a ram lamb. I was able to go through Jim and Brandy's entire flock and take my pick of the lamb crop. There was a ram lamb with wider horns but this one was finer in my opinion. They will both be going to quite a few ewes in the next week or two.

Home

Being away (yes again) for a few days always gives me a refreshed and sometimes new outlook on my flock or herd.

I was gone to Jackson, Wyoming, where my cousin got married. Her new hubby lived out there before he met her and it is JUST AMAZING. I would move my entire operation out there if I had somewhere to work. Unfortunately most 'towns' are really just a post office and a general store (no really!)

I came home and found a package from a UK friend full of SSS Magazines, fleece samples, photos of their sheep and other neat articles. I explained most of it on the Finewool Shetland list.

When I went to the pasture, I was able to look at ram lambs and see horn growth with a new eye (instead of the same one that looks at them 5 times a day). I was able to see ewes' condition better after being away, and some sheep that were hidden in the flock before presented themselves tonight with a 'wow' factor.

It was all very exciting.

This week I have several people coming to pick up sheep. I'm pretty excited for them to see my flock and new lambs, as well as get them their 'new' sheep. I hope they are very happy with them and that they go on to produce well for them. I love that I have animals in my flock that others are interested in and for that, I am honored.

I am off to bed. I am too tired to function much more and need to snuggle my dogs before I crash on the bed!

Microns are IN!!

I was a procrastinator with the fleece samples to be sent in. I knew whose fleece I didn't like and kind of knew who would probably move on just based on their fleeces, although they had many other outstanding attributes. Since my #1 goal is fineness of fleece, these reports are of a lot of merit to me.

Granted yes I still do structural exams and cull accordingly but sometimes if they have nice structure and not so great fleece I keep them around as they throw nice lambs when bred to soft rams. Opposite is true if I have a nicely fleeced animal but not so great in structure. Now that I am in a position where I feel I really have the basis for what I want my flock to look like, I can start to move out ewes that are not necessarily the softest themselves, but will produce it, and can move out softer ewes that are not so structurally correct. Again, all have their merits or I would not have kept them so long! :)

I did all yearling and mature rams as well as all of the BFLs and all of my mature Shetland ewes (I did not do yearling shetland ewes as I did them last fall).

I'm very happy to report that my flock average is AFD 26.1, SD 6, CV 22.9! My goal of 25 AFD, 5 SD and 25 CV is within reach! And all from just choosing the sheep with the most promise and breeding specifically for an end result as well as culling quite heavily!

Yes that is for all mature ewes even! Like eight and nine years old! :)

I did also butcher a ram that I didn't like his hind end the last few months and he was my most cosistent along the fiber, as well as softest yearling. He was out of Jazz and Bono Creek Lavender Brown. Lavender incidentally found a new home this weekend in Wisconsin :P

I"m a very happy shepherd! I'll be adding numbers as I have time. I had a busy weekend this weekend :) :) More on that later!

A few flock photos

I had a brief chance today to take new photos of some of the sheep. I moved them into another pasture for a few hours before I brought them in for the night.

Below here you will see Tilly and her BLACK daugther Terah. She has a krunet on her head and super crimpy fleece. Notice how Tilly is now getting side dusting after her first fleece.
Here is a shot for my fellow BFL breeders :) Kacy is really growing up already! To her right is "Ears" aka Sheltering Pines Morovia, and Kacy's mom Beechtree Kershope.

A little big bigger photo of some of the flock before I moved them to their new pasture.

here is part of the flock in their new pasture. Click to biggify!

Below is Winter Sky Layla AI, who is my F1 Orion ewe. She is moving to Michigan in August. Her fleece is the most beautiful mioget color and very single coated. I think she is 67% UK but would have to double check.

WhitePine Lydia is out of Layla (above) and Wintertime Jazz. She is 76% UK.

Here are my F1 Orion Boys out of Rachildas. My early favorite was the one on the left (Rhodes) but Roman is really coming into himself. I can't keep them both, so one will be for sale later, but I'm just not certain which. To reserve the other white boy, do let me know. They are 56.5% UK and carry moorit, modfied and possibly spots (from their mother)Here is my last lamb of the year, a full sister to Sedalia. This girls name is Selah, meaning 'the end'. She isn't as crazy spotted but spotted nontheless. Under that baby hair she has tight crimpy fleece like her sister so I'm cautiously optimistic she will be as soft as Sedalia is.

Below is a photo of my two gray katmoget F1 rams. Wintertime Jazz is F1 Jericho F2 Drum Ram and 87.5% UK. FifthofFifth Barish is an F1 Timothy and is 53% UK. Notice how much darker Barish is (and he has those eye flashes Michelle and Juliann that his daughter has). Jazz's face is spotted so you can see the markings much clearer. Barish carries spots and modifier producing both last year and this year.

All the boys are in a newly constructed movable pasture. I took the idea from Gail Vonbargen and modified it a little. It beats mowing that grass when something could be eating it! They were gorged today...not even cud chewing....just laying there rather full....LOL. Silly boys.
And I couldn't get rid of the Guineas after all. Being such good tick eaters I just had to keep them. That and I think they are very pretty. But man are they LOUD! They never shut up! Thankfully I am away from the barn most of the time now LOL

Above is a normal Pearl guinea. They are all hens. Below is a lavender guinea. So handy around the farm :)