Category: Farm Life
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What Are Clusters, Anyway?
Black Welsh Mountain sheep in North America are highly inbred. Our founding population was very small, so we do not have much variation from which to select. The USDA’s National Animal Germplasm Program performed a cluster analysis study on the population. This study looked at individual pedigree information and the population as a whole, then… Continue reading
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Ram Evaluations are Done!
One of the tasks we conduct every year is evaluating all of the sheep and deciding their fate. We try to provide top-quality sheep as breeding stock, and that only happens because we cull heavily. Today, we evaluated all of the adult rams. We currently have 28 rams on the property, and we want to… Continue reading
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98 Degrees, <10% Humidity... What to Cook?
It’s hot, hot, hot! We’ve had no rain, and our temperatures are soaring with low humidity. I don’t want to cook anything inside and heat up the house, but we have severe fire restrictions. No open flames are allowed, so outdoor BBQ isn’t an option, either. Luckily, I’ve just discovered the Instant Pot. I know… Continue reading
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Hay Is Arriving
Our first batch of hay for the season has arrived. We were expecting to get about seven tons, but the cutting was smaller than expected, so we only got 3.5 tons. At least it’s in the barn now, and the sheep will be fed over winter. Continue reading
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More Wide Loads
Warning: wide loads ahead! One of the Wide Load sheep still hasn’t lambed yet. We’re both anxiously waiting! I’m sure she’ll be more comfortable once those lambs are on the outside. Continue reading
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Wide Loads
Our expected start of lambing is April 22nd. Normally, we’re out on pasture by now, but the grass hasn’t grown enough yet, so I’m holding the sheep on hay for longer. These two sisters are some of our top-producing sheep, with great EBVs. They and their other relatives always carry their lambs like this. I… Continue reading
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Ram Semen Collection
I’m behind in posting here, as per usual. We spent a week in October working with the USDA NAGP to collect and freeze semen from our rams. Some will be used later this year in our flock as part of their AI experiment. We’ll be using it to fine-tune the insemination timing of synchronized ewes… Continue reading
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Sorting Sheep
We just finished the ewe evaluations for fall. I’ve updated our sales list to show the dozen yearlings we’re offering as breeding stock. We’re keeping 52 breeding ewes, and these yearlings will be some great breeding sheep. They’re all double-registered in the US and UK. All are NSIP recorded with Self Replacing Carcass EBVs ranging… Continue reading
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Getting Ready for Winter
We’ve been scraping manure out of winter feeding corrals and rebuilding them. We hadn’t done a full teardown and rebuild in several years, so it was high time. Everything is now up and ready for winter. Continue reading
