Category Archives: Ewes

December 2022 to April 2023 Updates

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It’s been quite awhile since I have posted on our website.  I tend to post on Facebook more and forget to update the website.  Here are a few photos and happenings that have gone on over the winter.

In December, we were surprised, humbled and happy to be among the finalists in the All Canada GenOvis Recognition Awards 2022 – maternal breed category!
We placed 3rd!

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We added a new pup to our pack in January.  His name is Kozan and he was 4 months old when we brought him home from Manitoba.  He is settling in nicely.

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We had a very mild January this year, which was so nice for lambing about 50 ewes.
We had turned the rams out for 1 week last August and just lambed for 11 days.

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Our next group of ewes lambed from March 14 to April 1.  We were very happy with a drop of 200%.***************************************************************************************************
The January lambs are coming along nicely.  We will be taking their 100 day weights on April 20.  There are some like this one that stand out.

LAIing Ewes

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On Friday, we had OC Flock Management from Alberta, Laproscopically AI twenty four of our yearling Dorset ewes.
We used semen from two outstanding Australian rams: Gooramma ‘Guru’ 308-2016 and Gooramma 723-2015.
We are looking forward to March 18 when the lambs start to arrive!
Hopefully we have a good success rate.  Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

 

 

 

 

Winter Lambing 2020

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Our December/January lambing group is done!
It has been a busy 25 days with 170 ewes giving birth to 326 lambs for an average drop of 192%. This is our best drop ever with these Dorset ewes in 14 years, so we are really happy about that.

Trying to get comfortable by sitting like a dog!

One of our two sets of quads this year, weighing 9, 9, 10, and 12 pounds. The ewe, McDermit 272Z, is eight years old.

The bucket fed lambs, full and content.

The matriarch of the flock, 11 year old “943″ gave us a beautiful set of twin ram lambs.

The -30C weather didn’t bother the 2 week old lambs. They were quite comfortable, burrowed into the fluffy straw in the lean-to.

2019 All Canada Classic Sheep Show and Sale

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We attended the Classic in Humboldt, SK on July 19-21 with our Dorsets.
We were very pleased to have 1st place Junior Ewe Lamb, 2nd place Junior Ram Lamb, 3rd place Yearling Ewe and 6th place Yearling Ram.
The sale was well attended and prices were really strong, with a lot of animals going for over $1000.  The sheep industry in Canada is doing very well!

Our son, Carson and grandkids, Tyrell 9, Taylen 7 and Hunter 6 came with me and they were all a great help.  The kids took part in the Junior Show for the first time and had lots of fun.  They worked hard to halter train their ewe lambs for the show.

May Happenings

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We had a very busy and productive day on Saturday.
We weaned, weighed, vaccinated, dewormed and Vetoliced the 200+ March born lambs. Then sorted them into ram lamb and ewe lamb pens.
We also mouthed, bagged and Vetoliced the ewes and dewormed them as needed.

Tonight, I finally got our entries done for the All Canada Classic Show & Sale in Humboldt in July. I am bad for leaving things like that to the last minute because I have hard time deciding what to take.
Here is the ad I made for the catalogue. The rams in the photo are some of our stud rams.

Yearling Dorset Ewes

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We had our flock shorn on Saturday and now we can see what was under all that wool!
We are happy with how our April 2018 born yearling ewes are turning out.  Most of them are bred to start lambing April 14 to May 9.
They  are sired by 3 different rams:  McDermit 1110Y, McDermit 39Z and Briar Glen 100B.

We are planning to consign a couple of these ewes to the All Canada Classic Show & Sale in Humboldt, SK on July 18-21, along with some ewe lambs and ram lambs.

March Lambing 2019

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After a record cold February, we are glad to have the weather turn warmer for our March lambing group.  We started on the 1st and are in full swing, with over 125 lambs on the ground so far.  They are strong, healthy lambs.

Pregnant ewes enjoying the warm, sunny day.

The first lamb, that 6 year old grandson, Hunter has seen born. (That he remembers, anyway).

503 and her triplets. This lamb always gets on her back whenever she lies down.
Photo credits: Laurie Genik

 

Ewes in a Music Video

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Something quite out of the ordinary happened at the ranch today.
This afternoon, some of our Dorset ewes co-starred in a video shoot with Marie-Véronique Bourque, who is a professional Jazz flutist from Regina. She will be releasing her first album on October 19 which includes the song, “The Swingin’ Shepherd Blues”.
It was nice to meet Marie-Véronique and her husband, Daniel Paquet, who is a photographer. We are really looking forward to seeing the video.

Spring Lambing In The New Barn

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Our spring lambing is in full swing, with 250 Dorset, Scotch Mule and Blackface ewes lambing. I am so grateful for my Dad and Mom (Dave and Norma King), who drove 8 hours from Alberta to come help me get our new jug room set up. Dad, who is 78, built 43 jugs and a watering system for them. Mom, 77, kept us fed with delicious meals, while I was doing sheep stuff and helping Dad. Here are some photos to show how we have set things up. We plan to finish the barn this summer.

Shearing 2018

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Yesterday was our annual shearing day and the first time in our new, not quite finished barn.
Big thanks to our shearers: Lorrie Reed, Logan McDermit, Donald Struck, Bonnie McNary and Reba McNeil.
Also, very glad to have help from our son, Carson; grandkids, Taylen and Hunter McDermit; and friends, Heather and Julian Ireland.
The snow storm arrived at 2:30 and we were all done by 7:30. What a good feeling to have all the sheep in the barn, as snug as bugs in a rug with the nasty weather going on outside.  (Click on the photos to enlarge them).

Feeding Ewes and Dogs

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Feeding the guardian dogs and ewes. Our yard is half a mile south of our son’s place, so the dogs go back and forth across the field. I have anywhere from no dogs, to six dogs to feed in the morning.
We shred the hay for the ewes on fresh ground each day until the paddock has been covered. Then we move and feed in a different paddock. The nutrients from the sheep manure and leftover hay help the growth of the plants the next season. It also cuts down on cleaning corrals and we feel the sheep are healthier when not closely confined.

Feeding the 6 Guardian Dogs

Our flock of 300 Dorset, Blackface and Scotch Mule ewes, lined up to eat their freshly shredded hay.

This photo shows the even distribution of manure and leftover hay on the paddock after we have shredded on it for the ewes.

Spring Lambing 2017

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Lambing is pretty colorful this year with 5 different breeds of lambs being born.
We have Dorsets, Blackface, Scotch Mules, Scotch Mule x Suffolks, and 3/4 Bluefaced Leicesters.

It has been a 2 1/2 year process since we started our Scotch Mule program, and we have been waiting anxiously to see how they perform.  So far, we absolutely love them.  Their mothering is second to none, and their Suffolk sired lambs are gorgeous!  They have not disappointed us.  Now we know for ourselves, why there are millions of Scotch Mules in the UK!  We will be keeping track of the rate of gain on their lambs to see how they do.

We plan to continue to build up a flock of about 100 Scotch Mule breeding ewes and then we will start selling ewe lambs and yearling ewes.

Scotch Mule x Suffolk ewe lamb.

3/4 Bluefaced Leicester day old ram lamb.

Scotch Mule ewe lamb.

Twin Blackface ewe lambs.

Dorset lamb.

Autumn is here!

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Where has the summer gone?  It’s hard to believe it is the first day of Autumn!

Lambs off to market on the semi.

The market lambs are all gone, except for a few for farm-gate customers.
The ewes are fattening up on alfalfa regrowth, the ewe lambs are in their own pasture, growing out….. and the rams are itching to get out with the ewes!

We will be winter lambing a group of purebred ewes in January and some commercial ewes in February.  Hope the weather is kind!

We drilled a well in the new yard so we have lots of work to do before freeze up – trenching waterlines to waterbowls, building corrals and getting the pole barn ready for winter lambing.

Getting the well drilled.

 

February and March Happenings

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We have been very lucky to have a mild winter with very little snow.  It has been easy on the livestock (and the shepherds).
When I took hay out to the Dorset ewes one morning in February, they were all waiting for me on top of the hill – along with the three Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs.
We had very heavy hoar frost on February 25 which made for some neat photos.  It also means we will get rain in 3 months (May 25) and 6 months (August 25).
We are so glad for the livestock guardian dogs alerting us when something isn’t right!
When I went out to feed the dogs and sheep one morning in March, Ben didn’t come for his dog food. I found him standing beside a ewe that was “cast”.
(This happens to sheep and cows sometimes that are heavily pregnant and full of hay and water. When they lay out on their side, the weight over-balances toward their backbone and they inadvertently roll onto their back and can’t get up). If not found in time, they will suffocate.
I helped this ewe up and she walked away, although a bit wobbly at first.