Category Archives: Ranch News

December 2022 to April 2023 Updates

Posted on by
Fb-Button

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!

****************************************************************************************************
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.

***************************************************************************************************
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.

***************************************************************************************************
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.

Our Exciting New Venture!

Posted on by
Fb-Button

Today, we are excited to announce that we joined Hipcamp!
What is Hipcamp, you say?
From Hipcamp.com:
“Hipcamp is a growing community of good-natured people and the most comprehensive resource for unique outdoor stays. We work with landowners to offer tent camping, RV parks, cabins, treehouses, and glamping—everywhere from national parks to blueberry farms. By creating opportunities for landowners to earn money hosting nature lovers, Hipcamp works to support those who care for the land and get more people out under the stars.”

So, if you would like to enjoy a unique camping experience, book your stay with us by clicking on this link:

https://www.hipcamp.com/en-CA/land/saskatchewan-mcdermit-ranch-camp-9mxhwx66

There is still some time before it gets cold.  See you soon!

LAIing Ewes

Posted on by
Fb-Button
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

Posted on by
Fb-Button

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.

Happy New Year 2020

Posted on by
Fb-Button

This is a bit late, but here’s hoping that everyone had a nice holiday season.  We were in the middle of lambing 180 ewes and are now waiting for the last 10 to go. I haven’t written on here since July, so here are a few things that have happened since then:

July 28:  These are our January born replacement ewe lambs, learning to come when we call, since we don’t use a herding dog.

July 30: Kind of glad, kind of sad, to see our March/April born Dorset ram lambs leave on the truck.  In only 3 to 4.5 months, they are gone.  They weighed 81 to 136 pounds and averaged 115 pounds.  Now the pens are empty and quiet, and we have less chores to do.

October 21:  As usual, we are always looking for ways to make things easier and more efficient, so my 79 year old dad, Dave King, made me this cart for hauling pails of grain.  I love it!  It is so light and maneuverable and will save my arms and back.

November 5:  The ram has been busy the last few weeks. He has all 41 of the January born ewe lambs marked to lamb in March.
The March born ewe lambs, who are in a different pen, are also marked by their ram to lamb at the same time.

November 18:  We are using raw, unwashed wool to insulate a little old 16 x 30 barn so it can be used for a chicken house.
Along with being fire and pest resistant insulation, wool is such a great renewable, environmentally friendly product that can be used for so many things!
“Sheep wool is a natural insulator because it has a crimped nature which traps air in millions of tiny pockets. Sheep wool insulation has an R-value of approximately 3.5 to 3.8 per inch of material thickness, 0.3 to 0.6 points higher than fiberglass, cellulose, or mineral wool.” – Healthy House Institute

December 28:  The weather has been so warm that we have been feeding the ewes outside and putting them in the barn at night in case something lambs.
Today, this ewe decided to lamb a long way from the barn so I brought her lambs in on the toboggan with a big “ewe escort”!

 

 

 

2019 All Canada Classic Sheep Show and Sale

Posted on by
Fb-Button

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

Posted on by
Fb-Button

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.

January Born Lambs

Posted on by
Fb-Button

Even though it’s a lot of work, and we lose lots of sleep doing night checks in the dead of winter, it’s worth it when we can watch beautiful, healthy lambs running around.
We still find them cute even after 33 years!
These are some of our January born purebred polled Dorset lambs.  We are looking forward to seeing how they turn out.Five day old Dorset lambs.
1 1/2 week old Dorset lambs.

Ewes in a Music Video

Posted on by
Fb-Button

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.

Changes

Posted on by
Fb-Button

It was with much deliberation that we have decided to sell our Scotch Mules and Blackface sheep and concentrate on our Dorset flock.  It wasn’t an easy choice, but with the hay and grass shortage for the second year in a row, we decided it was something we had to do.

They have gone to a new home in Ontario, where the folks will be continuing the program that we started in 2014.  We would like to wish them success and we hope they enjoy them as much as we did.  They are truly beautiful sheep.

Flushing Ewes

Posted on by
Fb-Button

Breeding season is upon us, so our purebred Dorset ewes are getting flushed with a bit of grain and second growth alfalfa grazing. They will soon be going with the rams to be bred for January lambing.

Our Purebred Dorset Ewes at the Grain Bunk

Exciting News!

Posted on by
Fb-Button

New Dorset genetics for Canada!
We have just ordered semen from these two powerful Australian rams and are really looking forward to seeing their lambs in the new year!  UPDATE:  It will be spring of 2020 when we get lambs from these rams.

Gooramma 308 Guru

Gooramma 723

Shearing 2018

Posted on by
Fb-Button

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).

Happy New Year

Posted on by
Fb-Button

This is a bit late, but we hope everyone had a nice holiday season and we wish everyone the best in the New Year.

This year, we don’t start lambing until mid March, so these days there is not very much exciting going on at the ranch.  Just feeding sheep and guardian dogs…….

Winter Feeding the Ewes