Random Act of Culture

I LOVE all of the wonderful posts about Random Acts of Culture. This one is my favourite. And the 'Hallelujah Chorus' is my favourite piece of music. I want it sung at my memorial service ... or better still ... on my death bed ... in 35 years.

But ... with all due respect ... this version makes me smile even bigger.

Life is good!

Shetland Sales ... Why Can't I just say ... 'SOLD OUT'!

I continue to get requests from previous customers to add another ewe to their flock. In the past two weeks I have sold three girls that were NOT on my sale list, but all are either bred, or will be bred to one of my rams ... and I always ask for 'first right of refusal' on lambs from stock that I sell ... sooo ... here is what I sold ...

The little mioget girl in the middle ... WillowGarden Baltimore ... went to a non-registered flock just down the road.

... as did Fibre Works Kallisto, bred to Spring Water Lamb Friday.

WillowGarden Grenadine, one of my finest fleeced ewes, but homozygous for katmoget (I think), went to a new flock nearby that will be registering their sheep. She is bred to V Creek Leo.

This leaves me with 16 adult Shetland ewes ... and six of these are extension dominant and bred to a Cormo ram!

So ... I decided to breed the seven ewe lambs that I have.

The four that are Ab/At will be bred to an Extension dominant ram that is either Ab ... At ... Ag ... or a combination of these ... :-) I'm hoping for a few more ewes for my Corland project from this group.

The remaining three will be bred to Friday.

Breeding Plan For Willow Garden Dexters

Dexters are primarily a horned breed of cattle. Most folks de-horn their cattle. Seven Oaks Honeybun here is a good example of a de-horned Dexter. She is also a good example of the 'type' that I will be selecting for.

Honeybun will be a foundation cow as I breed for a polled herd of Dexters. I bought some homozygous polled semen from a beautiful red bull and will use it on ALL of my foundation cows for 2011 calves.

This is Amberdawn Ramona, another of my foundation cows. She is also an example of the'type' I want. Unfortunately, she will have to be de-horned in December as she uses them as weapons against de-horned cows.

Earlona Petula, another foundation cow is also fine example of 'type' for my herd. Again, though ... her horns will be removed in December as she uses them as weapons

My beloved Aldebaran Hollis is de-horned and perfect in 'type' and colour ... I'd LOVE an entire herd of dun Dexters. Unfortunately, when I tested her recently, she came back as a PHA carrier. If she were bred to a PHA carrier bull, the calf would die, and likely the cow as well. She has MUCH to offer to my program though and will be retained as a foundation cow as well. Bulls will be selected carefully, with all of her off spring being tested, and all carriers culled to the freezer.

Marjori is a lovely example of a young Dexter cow, but unfortunately, she is a Chondro carrier, and thus her size is due to this 'dwarf gene' and not just to her being a small cow. That is one more thing for me to test for and cull for as I breed toward a herd of homozygous polled Dexters and I have chosen to keep my herd Chondro free.

There are lots of people breeding with these 'short leg Dexters'. As long as they are bred to a 'long leg', or better yet, a tested non-carrier, there will be no issues. Marjori will be for sale next summer, after she has calved (May/June), and once she has been trained as a family milking cow. She will be a nice size for someone looking for a small, easy to handle, family milk cow. She was a bottle baby and is dog tame. Let me know if you are interested and we can chat more.

So ... these are my 4 foundation cows ... and one that will be for sale.

I also have 4 yearling heifers and I am in the process of evaluating them. My goal is for a foundation herd of 6 cows, but I COULD go as high as 8 ... :-).

New Cow Paddock!

When I got my first cows a little over a year ago, I put their paddock into a convenient space for ME. Unfortunately, it was a very low area ... and one of the few areas that is not on bedrock or gravel!

The mud became VERY deep, and as the number of cattle increased, it was really a bad seen for both cows and cowboy.

A few days ago, I moved them to their new paddock, which is about 6 times larger than where they were. It is a gravel knoll and right beside the back yard, so I get to scratch noses more often.

Life is good!

My Daily Message ... :-)

No matter how hard you work, prepare, or calculate, Bill, the final ingredient necessary to leap hurdles and manifest dreams will always come down to a little spark of magic that no amount of physical maneuvering can ensure. While simply remembering that you're not alone, can.

Flick my bic,
The Universe

New Ram For 2011

I have all of my extension dominant Shetland ewes in with a Cormo ram for breeding. I was looking for another ram to add to the fleece mix in my line of 'Corlands' when I came across this beautiful Coloured Merino at Ugly Dog's Farm, in Michigan. I have reserved him and hope to bring him home next March. He seems a natural choice as Merino is one of the two breeds used to develop Cormo sheep.

I Like him a lot ... :-)

Life is good!