2013 Hookstown Fair - Over 'til Next Year!

Feeding Time At The 2013 Hookstown Fair!

Don't we all feel this way on the first day of the fair, wide-eyed & eager like the sheep above?  Excited and happy to be out & about checking the exhibits, the animals, and visiting with all of our friends?  The Hookstown Fair enjoyed fine weather for fair week ..... not too hot, just a bit of rain late one night, and cool enough temperatures that the animals were comfortable.  

Exhibits For The Fiber Folks & A Backstory .....

Here was a bit of serendipity in the fiber arts exhibits ..... right next to each other, entries from 2 people who have been Wild Rose Farm customers!  Norma & her husband bought a WRF ram years ago, and Maria came with her mother to buy yarn and combed top as a young person just learning to knit & spin.  Both of them are quite prolific with their entries and I was pleasantly surprised to see these 2 blue ribbons side by side. 

Fair Week .... It's Finally Over .... Whew!

We get a "season pass", so we're at the fair for all 5 nights watching the 4H livestock shows, checking all of the exhibits, visiting the Southside Historical Village, and bidding at the 4H livestock auction to support the kids and fill the freezer.  By the end of fair season in a few weeks, we'll be "all faired out", just like the piggy sleeping it off above! 

Hope you get to enjoy your local fair, even for a day!  

Lone Lamb ......

Lamb On The Loose .....

This little lamb was not doing well in the pen with all of the others.  Nothing specific, she just looked droopy & poor.  So she gets to roam around the barn and come out and munch in front on the lawn area.  She won't be running off since all of her friends are back behind the barn.  Hopefully she snaps out of it ..... sometimes they don't. 
Maybe I'll remember to get a picture of #401.  She was thinking about dying about a month ago.  Again, nothing we could put a finger on, just suddenly hanging her head and looking sickly.  Well, she made a complete recovery in a week or so, but the proof of her stress shows in her wool.  She has "wool break" and is a shaggy creature as she looses the short fleece that she had. 
Anyway, you consult the books, try to troubleshoot symptoms, and "sometimes", "something" works.  It's not always cut & dried with animals.

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". 

Ram Sale

2013 PA Performance Tested Ram Sale - Suffolk Ram In Ring

Wild Rose Farm went to the 2013 Pennsylvania Performance Tested Ram Sale on Saturday.  We were successful bidders and brought home a new Polled Dorset ram for our crossbreeding program.
The picture below shows our Senior Dorset ram behind a Suffolk ram purchased by our friend who rode up to the sale with us.  More sale details & pictures later ..... it's been a busy weekend!

 

Suffolk & Dorset Rams - Time To Unload The Suffolk ...

He Knows Sheep!

For your amusement, here's a link to the Baxter Black column in the Farm & Dairy this week ....... :)

Dumb But Useful by Baxter Black

Check Out The Background!

Grazing Ewes, But Look Closely In The Upper Right!

We walked over to look at the progress of the new doors on the Loafing Shed and then went around to look at the sheep.  The ewes started to follow us as I was taking a few "Wild Rose Farm" pictures.  Then we noticed hen turkeys foraging in the background!  They are around enough when the work has been going on, so they didn't immediately scatter when they saw us.
Here they are below the water tank .......... click to enlarge on both pictures.

Hen Turkeys Scratching Along .....

They didn't have any young birds from the spring hatch with them, so maybe there are other groups around & maybe those hens are more cautious .......

Cherry Pie Time !!!

Wild Rose Farm - Sour Cherries Ready!

Well --- here's the project for the evening!   The sour cherries have ripened enough that they'll be ahead of the birds for a couple of days.   Time to make a cherry pie & put some cherries in the freezer for later.  The temps will be in the 90's this afternoon and the humidity is up today too.  Just below the cherry trees are a couple of blueberry bushes that we'll have to cover before they start to ripen .... you definitely can't keep ahead of the birds on them!

WRF Rambouillet #401 & Twins Grazing

WRF #401 was limping around two days ago.  We looked at her right front foot and couldn't find anything in there, but she definitely poked it somehow.  We brought her up to the barn with her twins & gave her a shot of a long acting antibiotic.  A second shot will clear that up and she's already walking better.  Her lambs are doing well - one ewe - one ram.