Re: [Blackbelly] dispatching gun
I think what is nice about that diagram is not so much the angle of the shot line that it gives you, but more the location of the brain. Then you can pick your own angle which will best suit your circumstances. If an animal is sick and on the ground then you can line up for a top of the head angle. If the animal is still walking then either a head gate to secure it, and like you said you could then severe the neck, or you could line up an angle for a shot at a distance. Of course you will need to take into acct that distance vs caliber of gun, also how far that caliber will reach past the animal as well. For the number of animals that one might need to dispatch, I can't imagine buying a gun strictly for that purpose. So I would also try and figure out what else you could use it for. Which is tough for the Auburn area. The best I got might be a snake gun. So another thought could be a shotgun such as a 20 gauge, or a 410 with slugs. Im not a gun expert so not sure how much of a mess that might make. Also accuracy will drop for a shotgun vs a rifle. I think I would look at a .223 or a .243 as options. So then it would come down to cost of ammo. Since a .223 is also a NATO round, this should be much more accessible and cheaper ammo. I have not shot a .223, but I'd imagine it is still small enough that you might get away with not disturbing your neighbors too much up there. If I were to add a rifle to my current collection which includes .308 and .22, I would choose .223. It would be my in between gun. If money was not a concern, I'd find a pre 1968 lever action 30-30 or .357. Those things make you feel like an Old West cowboy. I hope this helps some more. -Steve On 3/31/2015 8:35 PM, Rick Krach wrote: Thanks to all the people helping with gun info. I will definitely find another gun than my .22. I do agree with the curiousness of the avma website because to shoot an animal on the top of the head, one would have to be holding it; and if that were the case, I would just slit its throat. Rick Krach in Auburn, CA 1. Re: dispatching gun (Steve) On 3/30/2015 11:23 AM, Stephan A Wildeus wrote: Here is a link to the AVMA guidelines on euthanasia in animals: https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf The description on sheep and goats starts on page 55, and includes a diagram on where and at what angle the gunshot should be placed, along with a quick discussion on pros and cons on different types of guns and ammunition to be used. Regards, Stephan Stephan Wildeus, Ph.D., PAS, Dipl. ACAP Research Professor ? Small Ruminants Box 9061 Agricultural Research Station Virginia State University Petersburg, VA 23806 e-mail: swild...@vsu.edu Ph.: 804-524-6716 Fax: 804-524-5186 -Original Message- From: Blackbelly [mailto:blackbelly-boun...@lists.blackbellysheep.info] On Behalf Of Steve Sent: Monday, March 30, 2015 12:30 AM To: blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] dispatching gun This is one of the better diagrams I have seen. Since this shows where the brain is, and how small it is. It also gives you some sight lines to follow. However for Blackbellies, think about how thick their foreheads must be from all the head butting. I would never attempt a frontal line, especially with a small caliber round. -Steve ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] dispatching gun
The diagram in that PDF, looks to be the same as the one I sent. So I defer to the PDF. -Steve On 3/30/2015 11:23 AM, Stephan A Wildeus wrote: Here is a link to the AVMA guidelines on euthanasia in animals: https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf The description on sheep and goats starts on page 55, and includes a diagram on where and at what angle the gunshot should be placed, along with a quick discussion on pros and cons on different types of guns and ammunition to be used. Regards, Stephan Stephan Wildeus, Ph.D., PAS, Dipl. ACAP Research Professor – Small Ruminants Box 9061 Agricultural Research Station Virginia State University Petersburg, VA 23806 e-mail: swild...@vsu.edu Ph.: 804-524-6716 Fax: 804-524-5186 -Original Message- From: Blackbelly [mailto:blackbelly-boun...@lists.blackbellysheep.info] On Behalf Of Steve Sent: Monday, March 30, 2015 12:30 AM To: blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] dispatching gun This is one of the better diagrams I have seen. Since this shows where the brain is, and how small it is. It also gives you some sight lines to follow. However for Blackbellies, think about how thick their foreheads must be from all the head butting. I would never attempt a frontal line, especially with a small caliber round. -Steve On 3/29/2015 8:14 PM, Michael Smith wrote: I've never dispatched a sheep before. When you all say behind the ear, in what direction are you aiming? towards the spine, or towards the other side, or towards the front of the head? I would have thought the best entrance would be behind the head into the brain, trying to break the spine and also stop the brain. No? -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies. On Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 6:59 PM, Eileen Breedlove epbreedl...@dsl-only.net wrote: ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.blackbellysheep.infod=AwICAgc=M6jrGf-tsbVD-_IIQXm5t9QIANL_IQIQ77prrocxArUr=AMm7GJj7Dc3dDaRcrxQrrQm=OP--daDDE1-bYw1uPRDtGe3ZOvj39bI4q2r0vhwDxKcs=rqQpTcSqIfDA-CGiJvxSN2nHKFJkwOZTU_GLiwa1YDoe= “The information in this email and any attachments may be confidential and privileged. Access to this email by anyone other than the intended addressee is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient (or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this information to the intended recipient) please notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete this email and any copies from your computer and/or storage system. The sender does not authorize the use, distribution, disclosure or reproduction of this email (or any part of its contents) by anyone other than the intended recipient(s). No representation is made that this email and any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient.” ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] hoof trimming tutorial
Hi Kathleen, I'm also in a dry area, but without rocks. I have to trim once or twice a year since my BB's don't have anything to wear down their feet. I use both a sheep hoof trimmer(The Premier Trimmer, from Premier1), and I also have horse hoof nippers on hand. I use the horse nippers if their toes are a bit out of control, and for the dew claw if that needs a trim. The rest of the hoof should be easily cut with regular trimmers. Keep both the trimmer and nippers nice and sharp and things will be much easier. Although I have not had too many problems with hard feet, to help soften them up, flood their water source so that they have to stand in water to drink. After a few days they should be softer. -Steve ninemilesheep.com On 3/28/2015 4:17 PM, Kathleen Wallis wrote: Hi, Carol, I found this article video very helpful. I live in typically dry Southern California, my sheep pens are on a boulder-filled hilly area. In the 6 yrs. I've been raising American Blackbelly sheep, I've never had to trim any of my sheeps' hooves. I've attributed it to the hard, rocky ground they are on every day that must sand them down. Inside their shed, the dirt is much softer but they rarely go in there. (I do fill it with straw during lambing in case the ewes want to go in there, but they usually don't.) However after returning to SoCal after 1 1/2 yrs. in Virginia (we temporarily moved there for my husband's job but weren't sure how long we'd stay so I left my sheep here to be cared for by our foreman), I noticed an elderly ewe had noticeably overgrown hooves. I asked my vet to show me how to trim them. He said this breeds' hooves are typically very hard difficult to cut through, so he did it with a horse's hoof trimmer. The Shear Magic Hoof Trimmers suggested in this article look alot easier to handle so I'm tempted to buy them give them a try. My question to you is, have you found AB's hooves to be harder than most sheeps' hooves, or is this maybe just a SoCal phenomenon? Thanx, Kathleen Wallis Eagle Rock Farm On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 3:39 PM, Carol Elkins celk...@critterhaven.biz wrote: Erik, the video plays fine for me, so I'm not sure what the problem might be on your end. You can view the video directly at YouTube.com here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/6ffU_cBjlsk? When you have trouble viewing an embedded video, right-click the link and select Copy Embed Code. Paste it temporarily in a Word doc. It will look something like this: iframe width=640 height=360 src=https://www.youtube.com/ embed/6ffU_cBjlsk?feature=player_embedded frameborder=0 allowfullscreen/iframe Within that nonsense there is a URL to YouTube.com that contains the video ID. Copy and paste the URL in your browser to go directly to the video in YouTube. Hope that helps. Carol At 04:26 PM 3/27/2015, you wrote: Hi, Carol, Excellent hoof trimming article. Thank you very much for forwarding. For some reason, I can't get the video link at the bottom of the photo article to come up. If others are having a similar problem, might there be a separate link to it that could be sent our? ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Barn siding/building material
I have not done it yet, but when I do overhaul my shelters, I plane on adding butt boards to the interior of the shelters and the outside corners. The butt boards will be 2x6 pressure treated lumber attached in such a way as to be able to replace them easily as they wear out. If you look at the majority of damage, it seams to be about 18 or so high, so I will be putting the boards about that high. I currently have 2x4 no climb fencing on T-posts between my ewes and polled rams, it's holding but has seen better days, so my next pens will either have walkways between pens, or I will use 2x4 no climb on 5-6 wood posts with 2x6 butt boards on both sides. My rams like to rub so I figure give them something to rub on. Steve ninemilesheep.com On 8/26/2014 6:36 AM, mtnrdgr...@aol.com wrote: My barns are the prefab metal over plywood. They hold up fine to the mashing. They do however, mar it so I put up plywood panels on the lower half. They have a little give as they are attached to the frame and stick out from the wall itself a quarter inch. I find this very satisfactory. My one barn that is corrugated on the outside is going to get smashed so I put goat panels along the outside to keep them off the metal itself. Best Wishes, Jann Mountain Ridge Ranch and KayaKyi Kennels American Blackbelly Sheep Tibetan Mastiffs PBGVs and GBGVs mrr.mysite.com https://www.facebook.com/KayakyiPBGVsAndGBGVs AKC Breeder of Merit -Original Message- From: Rick Krach rickkr...@hotmail.com To: blackbelly Blackbelly List blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info Sent: Mon, Aug 25, 2014 11:17 pm Subject: [Blackbelly] Barn siding/building material David, I have corrugated steel siding on my current, antique barn and it is all smashed in. I have no steel rails, however. Nearly 100% of all barns are made of wood; I've never seen anything else, and that's why I'm asking what most of you do about rams butting into your walls and wearing them down. Any more suggestions? I can imagine the lower 3 feet made with cement blocks, but I don't think that'll look good and I've seen no barns like that either. My barn was originally build with the beautiful, inch thick barn-wood planks which were replaced with corrugated steel as they wore out. Now the steel panels are smashed, too. Rick Krach in Auburn, CA -- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 20:24:17 -0700 From: Rick Krach rickkr...@hotmail.com To: blackbelly Blackbelly List blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info Subject: [Blackbelly] barn siding/building material Message-ID: bay175-w1244e266a9b72861f57f65af...@phx.gbl Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 I'm beginning the process of refurbishing a 70 year old barn whose walls have been destroyed in recent years by my American Blackbelly rams. ?I need to know what kind of material, wall thickness, and building construction has worked for the others of you for your barns? ?All my sheep, 6 adults (1ram) and each year's lambs live in this barn during cold and rainy times.? Rick Krach in Auburn, CA? -- Message: 2 Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 23:39:37 -0400 From: David Sussman david.gadog...@gmail.com To: blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] barn siding/building material Message-ID: cagqr2qpzr05raxeyftrqdyxlcndfoiee+t4xoeodhdgb8hs...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Steel siding on 2 steel rails works for us... ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Trees or bushes in the pasture
They LOVE sage brush. To the dismay of those that think the Sage Grouse are soon to be endangered. Steve On 6/30/2014 5:27 PM, Eileen Breedlove wrote: We have hawthorne trees that the birds seed in our pastures, and the sheep let them alone. They also do not eat tansy ragwort or thistles, but I wish they would! We also have tussocks that the sheep ignore. Eileen Breedlove ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Coyote fence ideas
Hi All, I have also heard that Llamas and burros make great flock guards. I luckily dont have any problems here in the desert, but if I did, I'd go with LGDs. Brenda Negri out of Winnemucca, NV breeds and raises some great LGDs. I have stopped by her place and talked with her. She raises her dogs in a social setting with sheep, miniature cows, and her other dogs. She would be a great source for dogs that would be stout enough for even the bigger coyotes in the east. Her website is: http://lgdnevada.com/ Steve www.ninemilesheep.com On 5/11/2014 6:00 AM, Elizabeth Radi wrote: Michael. we have a male and a female team. The female is spayed, and the male is whole, but he is not used for breeding, although many have asked to use him. We got him at 8 months old, and he would not go into buildings or vehicles, that is why he was not neutered. He was raised with alpacas, and his parents showed him the ropes, they were good dogs. These LGD mature around 2 years old. I would not trust them with babies until after that time. And they know what they are supposed to do. Just because a LGD is a guardian breed, does not mean that it will be a good guard dog. Just like, a female has a uterus, does not mean she will automatically be a good mother. Liz Radi Nubian goats and Katahdin Hair Sheep Nunn, Colorado 970-716-7218 idaralpaca.blogspot.com --- winterm...@earthlink.net wrote: From: Mark Wintermute winterm...@earthlink.net To: blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Coyote fence ideas Date: Sat, 10 May 2014 15:56:08 -0500 Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Coyote fence ideas starting to look into LGDs locally. I'll try googling on the subject regarding the dogs themselves, but there are some AB-BB questions related to dogs I'd like to ask: male or female dog? does it matter? at what weight/age are the AB-BB lambs, that they are less likely to get played with and accidentally killed? at what age are the dogs when they are less likely to accidentally kill a AB-BB lamb? since we only breed once a year--in this case, once in 3 years-- and only two or three ewes at a time, we don't have a bunch of spare lambs around to spend allowing a puppy to figure things out. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
[Blackbelly] Looking for Sheep AB/ BB
I received this email from James a few days ago. Since he is looking for AB/BB sheep I will forward this to everyone since I do not have 40 sheep to part with. There is an AB breeder near Marysville/ Yuba City right? Might be a good fit since you are right down the hill from him. Thanks, Steve www.ninemilesheep.com ** Good morning Steve, how's your lambing season? Will you have any ready to wean for sale anytime soon? If so, how much each? I'm looking to buy about 40 of them (both lamb rams/ewes). Please advise... /*Respectful, James Thao* 30530 George Smith Road/ /Squaw Valley, CA 93675/ /559-515-1426 tel:559-515-1426 *** / ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
[Blackbelly] Temperament/ Disposition
Hey All, I want to ask the experts about temperament/disposition. First of all, in your eyes are these the same thing; temperament vs disposition? What is important to watch out for and why? Has anyone culled for bad temperament/disposition or kept despite bad temperament/disposition and did that cause problems later on? Is temperament/disposition hereditary? Is there a difference in AB vs BB on this subject or are they similar? Thanks all, Steve NineMileSheep.com ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Tumbleweeds
Hey Jann, Welcome to the list. Being fairly new to it as well, it's nice not being the ranking newbie. I have Barbados Blackbellies in Eastern Oregon. I wanted to add to or rephrase your question to the group a little for my own curiosities. I have seen my sheep eradicate Sage brush and weeds quite effectively here. As the weed list here is probably of decent size, and some of those weeds did not seem to be as delectable as others Has anyone run into problems with their sheep eating something that got them sick, or are the sheep smart enough to know what not to eat? Thanks All, Steve Burns, OR On 11/22/2013 12:26 PM, mtnrdgr...@aol.com wrote: I have a question for the list. My new sheep love tumbleweeds. Is that ok for them to eat? Jann ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] possible causes for low fertility rate and more Breeding Questions -please disregard-
Sorry for the wrong list again. -Steve On 9/9/2013 12:54 PM, Steve wrote: Thanks a ton for the catch on cobalt as a possible factor. I will find that article and study up. I am also going to ask the group about my next breeding. I think Atticus is giving me some great sheep so far, but I do have two other Rams that I can use to keep bloodlines going for Teddy and Ulysses. For those who dont know, those are two bloodlines from Mary Swindell's farm. Like Carol says, Cain and Aofie are Stunning. So far so are my other lambs from Atticus as well. I'd really like to take advantage of this ram more and try to carry on the St Lucy bloodline but I dont have any ewes that are related to him, except for two daughters. How does the breeding paradigm change when you are trying to create a bloodline with a ram. My first thought was to go ahead and use a conservation program approach and breed my other rams from Teddy and Ulysses to the whole flock for my next two cycles. That should give me replacement rams for those two lines and it will answer some questions in regards to Atticus's breeding issues. If anyone has more to comment please do so. Im still new to this as well. Im really hooked on the smoky faces in my sheep. I think they are very striking. Although the two open face lambs we also got this year are real cute too. Im looking forward to seeing how they grow up. Ursala has lambed twins this year and last year giving me 4 smokey faced BIG sheep. Aofie is already bigger than her mother and Cain is bigger than his father. This year Ursala delivered two rams near 9 lbs each, whereas last year, Aofie and Cain were near 6 lbs each. As far as who is giving us the smokey face, my third ewe that lambed is Theresa, she was sired by Teddy and came from Noelle. Unfortunately, her single ram was still born but he also had a pretty smokey face. And to make things even more interesting, Yanica who gave me two open face lambs was also sired by Teddy. I will have more pictures up on the website soon, so that everyone can see these cuties. As far as my pedigrees go. The original starter flock family trees were compiled by Mary. Aofie and Cain's pedigrees were done by hand via MS Power Point. -Steve Schmidt Burns, Oregon On 9/8/2013 3:49 PM, Carol J. Elkins wrote: Hi Steve, When we talked on the phone a couple weeks ago, you mentioned that two of your ewes had failed to conceive during either of the two breedings you've done so far. You bred them both to the same ram, and I said that I thought it might be likely that he was the culprit. Perhaps he has low sperm count, low sperm motility, or simply has a personality conflict with the two ewes. I suggested that you breed them to a different ram next time before you decide that they are the source of the problem. I was reading the current issue of Sheep! Magazine and there is an article on cobalt deficiency that I thought you might want to read. (The current issue has not yet been posted to the Sheepmagazine.com Web site, so check back in a week or so and they might link to the article.) It suggested that a cobalt deficiency might cause low fertility rates in a flock. If you don't subscribe to Sheep!, I can highly recommend it. You should be able to pick up a copy at a magazine shop or at your local library. Let me know what you think. I really like how you've lain out your pedigrees on your Web site. What flock record program are you using that generates these pedigrees? Your sheep are stunning. I'm trying to figure out where the smokey faces on your new lambs came from. Their dam Ursula is open faced; her sire Ulysses came from my farm and I had no smokey faced sheep in his bloodline. But Ursula also sired Aofie, another smokey faced girl, so either Ursula or Atticus (sire of both Aofie and the new lambs) is carrying the smokey faced trait. Since it hasn't shown up in your other lambs, I'm guessing Ursula has it, but it will be interesting to see if that pans out. I personally like an occasional smokey face in the flock. I like the diversity in an otherwise fairly homogenous color pattern, and I just think a smokey face it pretty. The breed standard is okay with smokey faces as long as the facial barbs are clearly distinguishable from the rest of the color on the face. Carol At 09:46 PM 9/6/2013, you wrote: I am currently going through my second lambing. My first go round was not as successful as I had hoped for, but I did learn a lot. This time things are going much better, and I am hoping that my final pregnant ewe will actually lamb in the next few hours. ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] possible causes for low fertility rate and more Breeding Questions
Thanks a ton for the catch on cobalt as a possible factor. I will find that article and study up. I am also going to ask the group about my next breeding. I think Atticus is giving me some great sheep so far, but I do have two other Rams that I can use to keep bloodlines going for Teddy and Ulysses. For those who dont know, those are two bloodlines from Mary Swindell's farm. Like Carol says, Cain and Aofie are Stunning. So far so are my other lambs from Atticus as well. I'd really like to take advantage of this ram more and try to carry on the St Lucy bloodline but I dont have any ewes that are related to him, except for two daughters. How does the breeding paradigm change when you are trying to create a bloodline with a ram. My first thought was to go ahead and use a conservation program approach and breed my other rams from Teddy and Ulysses to the whole flock for my next two cycles. That should give me replacement rams for those two lines and it will answer some questions in regards to Atticus's breeding issues. If anyone has more to comment please do so. Im still new to this as well. Im really hooked on the smoky faces in my sheep. I think they are very striking. Although the two open face lambs we also got this year are real cute too. Im looking forward to seeing how they grow up. Ursala has lambed twins this year and last year giving me 4 smokey faced BIG sheep. Aofie is already bigger than her mother and Cain is bigger than his father. This year Ursala delivered two rams near 9 lbs each, whereas last year, Aofie and Cain were near 6 lbs each. As far as who is giving us the smokey face, my third ewe that lambed is Theresa, she was sired by Teddy and came from Noelle. Unfortunately, her single ram was still born but he also had a pretty smokey face. And to make things even more interesting, Yanica who gave me two open face lambs was also sired by Teddy. I will have more pictures up on the website soon, so that everyone can see these cuties. As far as my pedigrees go. The original starter flock family trees were compiled by Mary. Aofie and Cain's pedigrees were done by hand via MS Power Point. -Steve Schmidt Burns, Oregon On 9/8/2013 3:49 PM, Carol J. Elkins wrote: Hi Steve, When we talked on the phone a couple weeks ago, you mentioned that two of your ewes had failed to conceive during either of the two breedings you've done so far. You bred them both to the same ram, and I said that I thought it might be likely that he was the culprit. Perhaps he has low sperm count, low sperm motility, or simply has a personality conflict with the two ewes. I suggested that you breed them to a different ram next time before you decide that they are the source of the problem. I was reading the current issue of Sheep! Magazine and there is an article on cobalt deficiency that I thought you might want to read. (The current issue has not yet been posted to the Sheepmagazine.com Web site, so check back in a week or so and they might link to the article.) It suggested that a cobalt deficiency might cause low fertility rates in a flock. If you don't subscribe to Sheep!, I can highly recommend it. You should be able to pick up a copy at a magazine shop or at your local library. Let me know what you think. I really like how you've lain out your pedigrees on your Web site. What flock record program are you using that generates these pedigrees? Your sheep are stunning. I'm trying to figure out where the smokey faces on your new lambs came from. Their dam Ursula is open faced; her sire Ulysses came from my farm and I had no smokey faced sheep in his bloodline. But Ursula also sired Aofie, another smokey faced girl, so either Ursula or Atticus (sire of both Aofie and the new lambs) is carrying the smokey faced trait. Since it hasn't shown up in your other lambs, I'm guessing Ursula has it, but it will be interesting to see if that pans out. I personally like an occasional smokey face in the flock. I like the diversity in an otherwise fairly homogenous color pattern, and I just think a smokey face it pretty. The breed standard is okay with smokey faces as long as the facial barbs are clearly distinguishable from the rest of the color on the face. Carol At 09:46 PM 9/6/2013, you wrote: I am currently going through my second lambing. My first go round was not as successful as I had hoped for, but I did learn a lot. This time things are going much better, and I am hoping that my final pregnant ewe will actually lamb in the next few hours. ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
[blackbelly] RE: Lousy Waco Prices
We have always placed more emphasis to eating hair sheep than to other market uses. So we attributed the poor hair sheep prices and its demand here to the following. A very true fact--they do not eat lamb here nor have ever tasted it! Last five years this common statement here is as frequent as calling hair sheep goats. We are not giving anymore away for free to try/eat. We have no knowledge of herd dog-trainers or traveling petting zoos operating around us. I have lived all over this nation so I realize lamb-loving people like myself moved and retired to Florida and down the road to Austin. The Waco area is too economically impoverished, and does not experience an influx as CA, FL and Austin and Houston--where I have lived. I approched locally to place lamb with two small-town supermarket chains; namely, Davids and Brookshire. Those who actually had hair sheep at one time in the vicinity around us, it seemed to have been a novelty as the passing emu fad. I have met countless that rather have ALL goats. Over many months since last summer, around the Waco and Hillsboro areas, I found many offerings in ads selling off their entire flocks--hair barbado, horned, and dorper crossed with the blackbellysridding them just to have and raise ONLY goats. So, God willing, we hope this causes scarcity and rising prices for our dorper/bb cross. For now, I go to Houston having found a few who desire and enjoy my hair sheep on their dinner table. I am aware of the distant Hamilton and Goldthwaite TX hair-sheep markets, but rather go to Houston. Sincerely, Backwoods _ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ ___ This message is from the Blackbelly-blackbellysheep.info mailing list Visit the list's homepage at Blackbelly-blackbellysheep.info@lists.blackbellysheep.info http://lists.blackbellysheep.info/listinfo.cgi/blackbelly-blackbellysheep.info
