My goodness!! I have been reading over what I wrote over 8 months ago. Ahhh yes, how things change! We are once again entering our down time here on the farm...........but wait.............our un-cooperative, un-breedable, unruly, utterly gorgeous(for pigs, that is) Tamworths, have decided that July was the month for love. So three months, three weeks and three days later.......Perscilla and Atilla have produced two litters of piglets for us with the help of our Alberta-born Boar, Diego. Perscilla produced 8 lovely piglets on November 21st, managed to step on one- but we have four females and three males. Attila, the 'big' girl, must have thought there was some sort of food reward for the largest litter, and produced 12 piglets on November 26th. Three of them are on the smaller side, and the tinest female has gotten itself stepped on- but everyone else is doing fine so far- though I really worry about the little ones. I know there are more males than females- I think it's about a 8:4 split but I could very well be wrong. Atilla unlike her half-sister, really does not want me messing about with her babies.....I think her name really suits her :) 
In other news, we attended our first sheep show- the Rockton Worlds Fair. We managed to bring home a rosette for the Champion Shetland Ram. We also won first place for the Breeders Flock. Since this was our first show- obviously there is only one place for us to go from here!!! Ha!
I am trying to focus my breeding efforts with my Shetlands, and last year I bought some nice rams to try to furthur my goals. I bought a huge moiget ram, a spotted gulmoget ram, a fawn katmoget ram, as well as a white ram. I think out of the four of them I am most happy with the lambs out of the moiget boy- but we'll have to wait and see what maturity does for the lambs I have kept back. I did not keep any ram-lambs back from the 2007 lambing season- I figured the Champion boy would be better used in another flock, and since I still have all the sires, keeping more rams simply would not be necessary.
In other news, we attended our first sheep show- the Rockton Worlds Fair. We managed to bring home a rosette for the Champion Shetland Ram. We also won first place for the Breeders Flock. Since this was our first show- obviously there is only one place for us to go from here!!! Ha!
I am trying to focus my breeding efforts with my Shetlands, and last year I bought some nice rams to try to furthur my goals. I bought a huge moiget ram, a spotted gulmoget ram, a fawn katmoget ram, as well as a white ram. I think out of the four of them I am most happy with the lambs out of the moiget boy- but we'll have to wait and see what maturity does for the lambs I have kept back. I did not keep any ram-lambs back from the 2007 lambing season- I figured the Champion boy would be better used in another flock, and since I still have all the sires, keeping more rams simply would not be necessary.
