Present Flock Sires

Breeding season of 2010 taught me a lot about rams.  It was the first year I had a ram here older than a year and a half, and the first time I didn't move all mature rams out after breeding season.  At present I am wintering over 4 rams.  So far so good...we will see how it goes.  If all goes well, all will likely be the flock sires for fall 2011.  I can't wait to see their lambs I will get from this year.   If I get a ram lamb I have to keep, one of these boys may  be for sale next fall.  I think I have learned I like 4 as the number of rams.  Everyone has a buddy and someone to be in charge of, but there is enough of them to diffuse most situations.  I plan to start my ewe of the day introductions soon, but before I do I wanted to briefly reintroduce the rams.

 Swiftriver Neville AI (Heights Orion X Swiftriver Frosty)

Neville is a 2008 black twin ram.  His maternal grandmother is Maple Ridge Althea.  So my solution to a back to basics approach with UK and old NE combination.   His fall micron was 26.5 with a SD of 4.8 and a CV of 18.2.  He as a small patch of white behind his horns so I am curious to see if he carries spots. He is a warm  or Shetland black with a white dam and moorit sire.  He has a fantastic behind...great stance and square legs and a perfect tail.  His temperament is wonderful at this point.  Respectful and calm.  And I don't need to say much about his horns.  They speak for themselves.  In his lamb crop had one musket, two greys, one fawn(Ag too?), one moorit, and one fawn katmoget, and was back up ram for a fawn gully.  So I am expecting a variety of solid colors in his lamb crop and maybe even a few spots or patterns. 

  

 Mapleton Zeus (Mapleton Cooper X Pike Hill Olympia)

Zeus is golden boy of the home grown lambs here.  He is a 2009 single fawn katmoget.  His spring micron was 22.9 with a SD of 6.6 and a CV 29.  He has wonderful conformation and a temperament to match.  It is hard to tell because he has so much wool near his cheeks, but I can easily fit my hand between his cheek and horn...a more compact style horn but they do clear.  His dad did carry spots.  He had only three lambs this past year.  Hester's twins:  Silvermist a grey katmoget and Archie a solid black ram, and solid moorit wether of Violet's.  The fleece on all his lambs was so soft and had a tremendous amount of luster and crimp.  He may carry the modifer from his mom.  There is a great variety of possibilities in the lambs we are waiting for...colors, patterns, and maybe even those spots will come through a little.  In his breeding group he had two black, one moorit, one black gully, both non Shetlands, and was back up ram for one black and one fawn katmoget.

 

 Mapleton Storm (Minwawe Bahama X  Minwawe Serendippity)

This moorit 2010 twin ram lamb has the best of both his parents.  His sire's coloring, great horns and wonderfully soft fleece, and his mom's great tail and wide stance...hard to tell here as he is stepping.  From both he got great markings and level topline.   To date his personality is wonderful.   I retained his black and white full sisters Hope (twin)  and Dessie(2009).  His mom and dad are now at Spring Hills Farm in PA with my friend Mac.  Which is where I got the ram below.  Storm spent a short time with a moorit ewe lamb this breeding season, so may have one lamb this spring.

 Spring Hill Patches (Twin Springs Buster X Twin Springs Juniper)

This spotted black  and white katmoget may even be emsket!  He had Storm's twin Hope in a breeding group for a few days...we will see this spring!  I hope I get a lamb from this pair.  I really like this ram.  His fleece has great hand and when you part it the crimp and color is surprising.  I would have used him heavier this fall and even thought about letting him be back up ram, but in the end wanted to wait on that right horn.  He is low man in the pecking order but doesn't seem to mind.  They all actually seem to really like him because he rarely challenges any of them.  His sire is my Cotton Candy's half brother.  Many of my flock is related to Cotton Candy, which also makes him related to Zeus.  However he is not related to my Minwawe sheep or my Bahama babies, so he could potentially get many of my spotted ewes this fall. Patches is a Dailly katmoget and Zeus is a Enfiled Greyling katmoget so two different origins of that pattern in my flock.

Well I will introduce the currnet flock ewes next.  Featuring one ewe each post, over the next few weeks.  By then it will be almost time for lambs.  I am hoping it makes the waiting easier.