Reg. Shetland Ram for Sale: $100

Our former herd sire Robert Emery needs a new home! He's a proven breeder, but we don't need him any more. He's five years old this year so we've lowered the price for him to $100.

He was very cute as a lamb--- tan all over--- but faded to pure white as an adult.

NPPRC: Feather and Fur Spring Swap Schedule

I missed out on selling at the swap in Stephenson, MI, though I did stop by when I saw all the cars, and bought a nice male turkey as a mate for my female turkey, Imelda.

In case anyone else wants the schedule for the rest of the spring swaps, here it is (all are 8am-12 noon local time):

May 14--- Tammy's Tack & Feed, Ashwaubenon, WI
May 21--- Tractor Supply Company, Iron Mountain, MI
May 28--- Tractor Supply Company, Marinette, WI
June 4--- Peshtigo Feed Mill, Peshtigo, WI

(I might be going out to the Marinette swap, maybe even the Peshtigo one, and try to sell a few lambs.)

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Plowing with Ducks

Forget plowing with horses. My current garden plot was plowed by duck power.

Last year I had my duck and chicken pens all in a row in the front yard. I had some small plastic 'pools' for the ducks to swim in. The ducks did what ducks do to the ground. In fall I moved the pens to fresh ground for the winter.

The old pen area looked like a garden plot this spring, so I took out my Magic Hoe and hoed up a bit. It was just like fine garden soil! So I got busy planting!

In addition to a few garden plants and flowers--- plus a row of Mangel-wurzel beets for stock feed---- I'm starting a small fruit garden. I've bought some yellow raspberries and some blackberries. I also will have some goumi berries--- an Asian berry which has medicinal properties. (Don't confuse goumi/gomi berries with goji berries, another medicinal Asian berry. Goumi berries are self-fertile, while with goji one needs two different varieties to make a crop.)

I've also ordered some strawberry plants (King Kong giant strawberries). So I hope to have some berries for sale this year--- they will be raised 'organic-style'--- no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, but no government 'organic' red tape either.



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Tagventory Day: Figuring out This Year's Perfect Ear-Tagging System

Every year I do this, sort through the old ear tags that I have remaining, count them, and figure out how many more I need.

This is done each year in conjunction with my current Perfect Ear-Tagging System.

My perfect system depends on each animal having 2 tags-- one numbered tag, and one tag, purchased blank, which has the animal's name written on it with a tag pen.

I've been buying Premier One Easy-Tags, size two, in a wide variety of colors to indicate things like birth year, single/twin status, breeding group.... And every couple years I scrap the system and start a new one.

It's the same this year, but now I'm going for simplification. My major problem with the tags is that they are hard to read from a distance--- and boy, do my girls know how to keep their distance when I'm looking at their ear tags!

I've decided to go with a baby tag system this year--- lambs will be tagged with a size 1, pink or blue numbered tag. When they get to weaning age, (or some point afterward) the baby tag will be replaced by a size 5 adult tag--- the next size larger than the size 2 tags I have been using.

In place of the many colors I've used, I'm down to 2--- yellow for purebred Shetlands, and blue for Shetland-Dorper crosses. No, wait, the government owns the color blue (on scrapie-numbered eartags, anyway) and so I've had to order lime-green instead.

The hand-written name tags and the number tags will be the same color. (I'll also be writing the name and number on the underside of the hand-written tags, in case one of the girls loses her numbered tag and her name tag is faded.)

I do have a lot of spare numbered tags, and I do plan to use them up. Single (non-twin) lambs will be getting the old tags until they are gone. This will remind me to not get so attached to the singles that I keep them for breeders instead of the twins.

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Moonshine, our new herd sire

I got Moonshine last fall from a breeder in lower Michigan, and am quite pleased with him, adds a little diversity to the herd since I usually use my sires I bred myself since I am trying to preserve the good shedding genetics I have in my herd (I have some purebred Shetlands that shed their fleece just as well as the ones that are 1/2 to 3/4 Dorper).

It was an eventful trip down to pick Moonshine up. Some guy in the parking lot of a Tractor Supply store wanted to sell me some sheep thinking I was a professional livestock dealer, and then there was the fun of trying to smuggle my new sheep back into the UP. The inspector guy says, whaddaya got? and I say, Moonshine....


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Robert Emery pictures--- last year's herd sire

Robert Emery, 2007

 Robert Emery was all golden when he was born. I was very surprised. But last year I had quite a few lambs sired by Robert Emery who were born that exact color.  They turn white as they become adults.

Robert Emery, Claudius


When I took Robert Emery in the house to take some lamb pictures, my neurologically disabled cat Claudius came over to be in the picture. Yes, the cat is wearing a dog sweater.

This is a picture of Robert Emery taken today, Mar. 13, 2011. Boy, does he ever need a haircut! He's penned with Rhys, Rei, Moonshine and Sharkey. Used to have my Dorper ram and 2 Dorper cross rams lambs in there with them, but had to move the Dorpers out to keep 'em from getting murdered by the little guys--- Shetland rams are WAY tougher than Dorpers even though Dorpers are bigger.




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Quiche's Lambs 2011



Majun (male) and Misun (female)



Quiche and Misun

Quiche had twin lambs, a boy and a girl, on Feb. 16, 2011. This is her second year in a row of having the first lamb of the year. It's also the second year in a row of her getting unintentionally bred.

Last year it was a broken fence issue. This year it was a quick-maturing ram lamb that wasn't moved out in time. I think it was probably Takgu, who was the biggest and handsomest of the White Dorper cross ram lambs. I used him to breed to some of my ram Harry's offspring, but Takgu died in the bad weather. That happens sometimes when a ram lamb is used for breeding which is why I usually don't do it.

The female lamb is named Misun and the male is named Majun. Both are Korean names. I took them in the house for the past two days to nap for an hour in my lap so they will bond to me as well as to their mamma. So far Majun is friendlier and Misun is fussier.