Random Pictures ...

Lambs on the Loose @ Wild Rose Farm!

We were out shopping and had just come down the driveway … Hey! What are those sheep doing under the cherry trees?!?  Mr. Wild Rose Farm walked up & into the barn to get some feed while I stayed out here to head off anyone who might break in this direction.  I needn't have worried.  The lambs scampered back in through their gate into the pen.  It's where they were safe & where they get fed!  By the time I got my cell phone out to take a picture, you can see the last lamb just outside of the gate heading in to safety … Whew.  We've had the donkey loose on the lawn before, but never any sheep. And of course, the donkey thinks it's a game, high steps, and kicks her heels when you try to catch her, lol.

Rambouillet Ram Lamb Turned in With Breeding Ewes

Breeding season started here on November 26th. We turned a young Dorset ram in with the Dorset & crossbred ewes. We also turned in this triplet registered Rambouillet ram in with a separate group of  Rambouillet ewes.  The ewes know where to go and had headed down the runway, but the ram turned back around to look at me … not sure of what was up!  You can just see the green marking paint on his chest. As of today about 1/2 to 2/3rds of all the ewes are marked.

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillets - Ram Looking Back

Off To A New Home!

Dorset Ram - You Say New Ewes Are Waiting For Me? 

Three sheep left this week for a new home. Our Dorset ram is off to new pastures where he'll be turned in with a new flock of ewes. We trimmed his hooves and put fresh raddle paint on his chest as an added bonus, lol.

Wild Rose Farm - Dorset Ewe Lamb

Two Dorset ewe lambs were selected and went along too. They are twin siblings born on May 11th out of our ewe Wild Rose Farm #117. We're keeping one Dorset ewe lamb & seven Rambouillet ewe lamb replacements for ourselves this year. Now all of the breeding ewes are in one group again with the Rambouillet ram. He'll stay out with them until some time in March. He's happier outside in a group and we don't have to take hay and water buckets to him every day in the barn pen.

Wild Rose Farm - Twin Ewe Lambs Loaded Up & Ready To Roll!

Pasture Scene ...

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ram & Ewes In Light Snow

There's really not much going on at all around the farm at this time of year. We had light snow early last week and now we've transitioned back to rain (again!). All of the ewes have been marked by the rams, so now we just leave them out there to clean up in case a breeding didn't "catch" … The Rambouillet ram above is enjoying his time with his band of 9 Rambouillet ewes. It goes without saying that you must exercise extra caution working around the sheep when a breeding ram is in the mix.

The Rams Are Busy Now!

Wild Rose Farm - Breeding Season Supplies ...

The sheep breeding season started the day after Thanksgiving here at Wild Rose Farm.  It was a little muddy around the barn with all of the rain we've had, but it was a relatively pleasant day.  The raddle powder is mixed with mineral oil and rubbed on the chest of the rams. The ewes are then marked on their rumps when they've been bred. That gives us a date to track so the we know when to expect the ewe to deliver her lambs in the spring. We also use the special spray paint to put each ewe's ear tag number on her hip. It's much easier to read the painted number than an ear tag from a distance! The paints weather or wash off over the winter. The little color remaining at shearing time is able to be scoured off of the wool. We also use the craft shears to trim up the back end of the ewes if needed, but everyone was pretty clean this fall.

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewes & Ram - Just Mixed Together

 This year we have our Rambouillet ram in with Rambouillet ewes & our Dorset ram in with the Dorset & crossbred ewes.  The 2 breeding groups are separated into different pastures. We also move the llama out of the pasture groups and into the barn with the ewe lambs.

Rambouillet Ram Panting After An Hour With The Ewes!

The first few hours in with the ewes are pretty exciting (and tiring!) for the rams.  The ram above immediately started following everyone and narrowed it down pretty quickly to one receptive ewe.
As of today, just under half of the ewes are marked and it's time to freshen the raddle paint over the weekend.

A Great Weekend!

Wild Rose Farm Naturally Dyed Yarn

We had a great weekend at the Old Economy Village "Christmas At The Village" event.  It was good to see old friends and customers and to meet some new folks!  Our new Rambouillet wool yarn spun at Mill At The Meadowlands was super soft and popular with the knitters who stopped & gave it a squeeze ...  Many of our collection of vintage woolen sweaters, scarves, hats, & blankets found new homes too. Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed the historical site and the wonderful food and entertainment.

Rambouillet Ram & Ewes

The rams have been in with the ewes for almost 2 weeks now. Most of the ewes have been marked since they have an approximately 17 day cycle. We'll have to get an updated picture of the ewes in the next few days to post on the blog. It goes without saying that the sheep love this colder weather!

Come See Us This Weekend!

Wild Rose Farm Will Be At Old Economy Village!

Wild Rose Farm will be set up at Old Economy Village in Ambridge, PA this weekend. It looks like we will be in the Feast Hall on the 2nd floor. Come and visit with us. The grounds of Old Economy Village are lovely with candle lanterns lighting the walk ways outside. We'll have our new farm yarn made from our Rambouillet wool and other wool items. We'll also bring vintage woolen sweaters, hats, scarves, & blankets.  Come on down!

Snow White in the Barn With the Ewe Lambs

Breeding season started on the 25th, so Snow White is pulled out of the ewe flock and moved indoors with the ewe lambs. Here she is with the lambs. She does some humming for the first day or two as she settles in ... she misses the ewes and has to adapt to the lambs that she hasn't seen since July.

Rambouillet Ram (center) & Rambouillet Ewes

We have the sheep split up into two groups this year. The Dorset ram is in with 22 Dorset & crossbred ewes and a young Rambouillet ram is in with 10 Rambouillet ewes.  His dam is in a separate pen with another unrelated young Rambouillet ram ... we've got to keep things straight for registration!

New Ram Joins The Flock

Suffolk & Dorset Rams Ready To Unload

We traveled to the annual PDA Performance Tested Ram & Buck Sale on Saturday and brought home a new Dorset ram. Our friend went with us and got a Suffolk ram for his flock. It's always amusing on the ride home as passing cars, with both kids & adults, stare, smile, & point at the sheep.

Bidding Underway On A Suffolk Ram 

The auction picture above shows an interesting aspect of the sale ... the man seated on the stage is accepting internet bids while the Amish men in the front row join their English counterparts in the live bidding from the floor.  Hair sheep (Dorpers at this sale) seem to be getting more popular as sheep shearers are getting harder to find and year to year wool prices are erratic.  Also, meat goat bucks now far outnumber the rams being tested & sold. In watching the bidders, most of the goats were sold to folks from Eastern PA.

Dorset Ram Settles In At Wild Rose Farm 

More New Lambs!

New Ewe Lamb at Wild Rose Farm!

Well, who knows what happened, but we have a group of 3 ewes that are now lambing. These are their first lambs and we figured that they were not bred for some reason. Then they seemed to be getting a little bigger, so we penned them in the barn to keep a closer eye on them. Sure enough, their udders started to fill in and we now have 2 new lambs. The first one from #146 was born on Tuesday and last night #147 had a ewe lamb. One more ewe to go!  We pulled the ram out on February 4th, once he started to rough house with the bred ewes, so it was possible for these three to get bred. Let's just say that this saved them from the auction as non-breeders (and the lamb & rice "natural" dog food bag).

Black Friday At Wild Rose Farm?

Wild Rose Farm Ewes Waiting To Be Processed!

We didn't celebrate Black Friday at the farm, we celebrated "Bum Friday" ... yes, this is the day that we put the ram in to kick off breeding season. This means that we process the ewes first by trimming hooves and cleaning up back ends (bums!) as needed.  We check for any missing ear tags and also do a little clean up of any burrs that we might find in their fleeces.

Wild Rose Farm Dorset Yearling Ewe #117 - Daughter of "U"

 Most of the ewes are very clean and in good shape. Check. We note that #99 needs a new ear tag. Check. We needed to trim hooves on about 10 in the flock of 38. Check. As we handle each ewe, we spray paint her ear tag number on her right hip. Check. Oops, I painted 135 on ewe #134! Not a big deal ... #134 is a horned ewe and we recognize her by sight. Whew ... that worked out. See how complicated this is?  :~0
It's much easier to tell who has been bred by reading a large number, rather than trying to get close enough to read the ear tag, especially at dusk!

WRF Rambouillet Ewe #410 - Wonderful Fleece
& Our Largest Ewe

We had perfect weather in the 50's today for this chore. We ran the ewes and the ram into the hospital pen to settle down overnight ... the ram races around for a couple of hours checking everyone before he finds a ewe that is interested!  You can spot the ram in the picture below ... click to enlarge & you can see his breeding harness.

Ewes With Ram In Hospital Pen

 Meanwhile, back in the barn, we've put Snow White in with the ewe lambs. They haven't seen her since July, so they are curious, but jumpy as she walks around in the pen. The feeling is mutual ... Snow White is humming every so often.  That means that she is a bit stressed after being separated from her flock of ewes and put in a pen with these strange little lambs again. It's not easy being a llama or a lamb! :)

OMG!  What's That Big Thing?!?

Wild Rose Farm Summer Routines

Wild Rose Farm - Snow White & Ewes Getting New Hay

It's the time of summer when things have settled into a routine ... "sort of".  Here the ewes are waiting for the new round bale of hay to be set out for them.  Snow White is really laid back as she waits!  The other exciting break for them is when we dump in a bucket of apple drops for them to munch.   After a long run of dry weather, we got a heavy T-storm that contributed to the apples falling in the yard.  They make perfect sheepy treats, but I stay with the sheep until they finish so no one chokes on a round slobbery apple piece.
In other news, our young Rambouillet ram managed to knock off both of his horn scurs in the last 2 weeks.  The first one wasn't bad, but the second one really had to be cleaned up.  How?  A drenching hydrogen peroxide rinse, drying off the stump as much as possible, a generous dump of "blood stop" powder, and finally a liberal coating of an aluminum based wound spray to cap it off and seal the area.  Then he got an antibiotic shot & also an iron shot for good measure.
Keep in mind that this is a 2 man job - it's not like they stand quietly for the process.  As they say, never a dull moment!  :~0

New Rambouillet Ram Comes Home!

REP 2513 - Grand Champion Rambouillet Ram @ Great Lakes Eastern Regional Rambouillet  Sale 

Wild Rose Farm had the winning bid and brought home the Grand Champion Rambouillet Ram today from the Great Lakes Sheep Show & Sale in Wooster, OH.   For my Rambouillet junkie friends (!), he is from REP Rambouillets in Cayuga, NY.   He has Cunningham, Powell, Crawford, Bobb, Wall, & Wil-Hi genetics in his background.  Hopefully he'll work out as well for us as the previous Pinckney Farms Rambouillet ram that we purchased at the 2009 PDA Performance Tested Ram Test Sale.  See our 8/5/09 blog post for pics of that ram!

Munching Hay In The Ram Pen

OK, So Where Are The Ewes?

We also took care of other business at the Great Lakes Sheep & Wool Show.  We dropped off Dorset wool with Zeilinger's of Michigan to be processed into quilt batts ... can't wait to see how that turns out!  Lead time is 8 - 10 weeks, so we'll have them in time for fall shows.

2014 Hookstown Fair Pics

Judging Of The 4-H Poultry Projects

We have a couple of pictures from the Hookstown Fair ... I forgot the camera for 2 nights.  Then we had rain storms on the nights when I had the camera, so it only came out in the larger buildings.  Friday night was a real mess, especially in the parking areas.  We went past the fairground this morning and the one of the back lots still had about 20 "stuck" cars ... oh yea, and 1 stuck "jacked up" 4WD pickup.  Didn't do "the boys" any good when they were flinging mud, but sliding sideways towards the cars.   Hoo boy!  Have to wait to tow all of them out now.    :(

Feeding Time For The Ram Pens

This is the first time that we've seen Tunis sheep at the fair ... their pen sign says "It's A Red Thing!".

Tunis Sheep

Southdown Sheep - Where's My Feed?

Hay Season Goes On ...

Backing Down The Driveway With A Round Bale

Temps are in the 80's now, headed to 90 (ugh), and yesterday we got another batch of hay hauled in and stored.  The skid steer makes it much easier to stack bales in the barn and it saves a lot of space.  We put all of our hay under cover keeping the loss to an absolute minimum.

Filling The Empty Barn

Since we have a dirt floor, we also put the bales on top of pallets  ... farmers are always looking for sources of used pallets to scrounge for free or to buy very cheaply!   So many uses around the farm ...

Dorset Ram Approval On The 1st Bale Of New Hay

We're expecting heavy T-storms for the rest of the week, so no one has hay cut and down right now.  We need about a dozen more and then we're stocked up on big round bales for the upcoming year. 

Yep, This Bale Is Good Too! 

Thanksgiving Weekend At Wild Rose Farm

Wild Rose Farm Ewes At Dusk Feeding Time

We had a typical Thanksgiving weekend here at Wild Rose Farm.  Those who have been following us know that this is the weekend when we put the rams in with the ewes to kick off the breeding season.  That timing puts our lambing season in late April/early May. 
This year we are using 2 rams.  The first is our new performance tested Dorset ram & he has 30 ewes.  The second is our homebred horned Rambouillet ram.  He has 12 ewes, none of them yearlings because they're all his siblings ..... his dam is also in with the Dorset ram.  We will use him just for this breeding season and then he will be sold.  If you're in the market for a young registered Rambouillet ram, he's your man!   He would also add some fine wool to a commercial flock.
By the time we got done working with the sheep on Friday, it was getting late, as you can see.  The groups are now in 2 different pastures.
Both rams got right down to business and here is "U" below with the the Dorset ram courting along side ..... you can see his harness if you look closely.

Wild Rose Farm Performance Tested Dorset Ram & "U"

Current standings as of Sunday afternoon?  Rambouillet ram six, Dorset ram four. 
We still have the 2 registered Rambouillet & 2 Dorset/Rambouillet x-bred yearling ewes for sale .... they are in with the Dorset ram, so they can be purchased as "exposed or bred" ewes. 
We still have some spring ewe lambs for sale too ...... Christmas is coming!

It's Almost Time!

Wild Rose Farm Ewes Grazing After Light Snow

We had an inch or two of snow last night and the temps were in the 20's today.  It wasn't too bad outside since the sun was shining while we were working with the sheep.  Look closely and you can see the ewes have green numbers on their hips in preparation for the start of breeding season.  We added flock number ear tags to the yearlings, trimmed them up as needed, and sprayed on their tag numbers ..... it's much easier to read a big painted number than try to read the ear tags when we're looking to see which ewe has been marked as being bred by the ram.  We'll be using more than 1 rams this year.  The new Dorset ram from the PA Performance Tested Ram Sale will be in with most of the ewes.  He is definitely eager to get out with the ewes .......

Dorset Ram Standing Up And Watching The Ewes!

We'll also use the Rambouillet rams on select groups of Rambouillet ewes.  The rams will go in over the Thanksgiving weekend.  We ordered crayons for the breeding harnesses & FedEx tracking says that they're on the way! 


Wild Rose Farm Yearling Rambouillet Ram #339

2013 PA Perfomance Tested Ram Sale Results

Suffolk Ram Heads To The Barn At JAS Registered Stock Farm

Our last post ended as the truck pulled in at JAS Registered Stock Farm & we dropped off the Suffolk ram - you can bet he was an RR ram!  We haven't seen the auction results posted yet, so here are some highlights from the  2013 Pennsylvania Performance Tested Ram Sale :
Suffolk rams - 7 offered/sold - Top indexing ram sold for $475 & price ranges from $350 to 2 rams that sold for $750 each.  Texels - 6 offered/sold - Top indexing ram sold for $550 & price ranges from $450 to $725.  These chunky rams are definitely becoming more popular.  Senior Dorpers - 2 offered & sold for $300 each.  Junior Dorpers - 7 offered/5 sold/2 walked - Top indexing ram sold for $1050 - others sold for $300 - $325.  White Dorpers - 2 offered/sold - Top indexing ram sold for $725, 2nd ram sold for $550.

Maple Spring Farms - Lovell 13-566 TW RR 4.21 LEA

Senior Dorsets - 6 offered/sold - Top indexing fall born ram above sold to Wild Rose Farm for $600 - others sold for $375 - $650.  Junior Dorsets - 2 offered/sold - Top indexing ram sold for $500, 2nd ram sold for $450. The Shopshire ram from Calvert Farm sold for $600.  Katadin - 3 offered/2 sold - the top indexing ram was walked, the other 2 sold for $600 & $300.  Polypay - 2 offered/1 sold - Top indexing ram sold for $300.  Hampshire - 2 offered/sold - Top indexing ram sold for $450 & 2nd for $350 - both were RR.  Southdown - 1 ram - walked.  And the story of the day - the Merino ram - an entry from Robert Calvert of Calvert Farm sold for $1000.  This QR twin represents years of progress in breeding Merinos and was a great looking ram ..... unfortunately, my picture was blurred, but you can see him in the on-line sale catalog Lot # 138.
Yes, we dabble in Dorsets as a cross when we have enough Rambouillets.  They make a great cross and a good ram, like this performance tested ram, sires some nice replacement females and meaty market lambs.  We can also get some nice longer staple spinning fleeces from the x-bred ewes.
Oh - and here are some of the Suffolk ewes at JAS Farm ...... since we have the same sheep shearer, I may be able to get a fleece or two by spring for my friend Feisty!  You know who you are ..... :)

Suffolk Ewes & Polled Hereford Cattle

Thanks once again to the registered sheep producers who make this sale possible by sending their best rams in to be performance tested.  Not all of the rams make it to the sale - the top indexing rams are considered "flock improvers". 

A Couple of Cool & Sunny Days!

Wild Rose Farm Yearling Rambouillet Rams Out & About!

The rams above were delighted to be out on pasture!  After evenings of thunder showers for the last week, Memorial Day weekend turned out to be sunny, but cool here.  There were hard frosts again late last week overnight, so all of the local gardens were covered up.  We had 2 more ewes lamb last week and we completed a round of booster shots for the 2nd batch of lambs ....

Wild Rose Farm Lambs Booster Shots Done

 As we sort them off and give them their shots, we freshen up their paint number, & drop them in a lambing pen so they don't get pushed around, but the ewes can still see them ....


Ram Lamb Thinks .... You Want Me To Go Out Now???

Then it was out to pasture to join the 1st group of ewes & lambs ...... herding lambs for the first time is like herding cats.   It's just soooo lamby confusing!



Rambouillet Ram Rambles .....

Securing Wild Rose Farm #402!

On Friday, our big Rambouillet ram left for a new home in South Central PA.  His new "job" will be with a commercial Rambouillet farm flock.   After breeding our ewes this fall, we're glad to see him move on to another farm.  He'll be 3 in July, so he has several good breeding years ahead of him.
The gentleman & his son also left us with a jar of their own homemade maple syrup!  They were able to squeeze in a trip to pick up the ram in the midst of their maple boiling season .....  :)

Wild Rose Farm Ram #402

An Artistic Mood ......

Wild Rose Farm Ewe Lamb

Wild Rose Farm Triplet Ram Lamb

Here are a couple of pictures taken with a little different look ...... black & white seemed to suit them.