Tag Archives: Jacob sheep

Dallisgrass revisited

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I have  posted several times about dallisgrass in the pasture. It features in this post a few years ago, this this post about burning it, this post in August 2011 and this post in August 2012. Please ignore the fact that I have spelled it differently in several of this posts. It is dallisgrass and here is a definition: “a tall tufted tropical South American perennial grass (Paspalum dilatatum) introduced as a pasture and forage grass in the southern United States”.

This came up in an e-mail conversation last night. Why don’t I shear before breeding season to avoid the blue and red and green markings on the wool?

Good question and that is a discussion for another post. I was thinking about pros and cons of shearing before breeding–sometime in September. I was explaining that the dallisgrass grows so tall and develops seed heads in the late summer. At some point in the cycle the seed heads are very sticky and the sheep (and Rusty…

…and my pants) are covered with sticky goo that catches dirt and the seeds that come off of the grass. After a few weeks the sticky part goes away and then fall rains clean the sheep. I thought I’d look this up to see why the seed heads are so sticky. I was surprised to learn that the goo is actually the result of a fungus that is common on dallis grass and is toxic to cattle. Who would have thought? That doesn’t change anything, but I find it interesting. So this morning I wanted to see for myself.

This dallisgrass looks “clean”.

This one is infected.

The dry grass here is dallisgrass.

See how tall and thick it is? Some of the leaves are still green, but they are so coarse that the sheep will choose to eat the dallisgrass only after they have eaten all the grass and clover that they prefer.

A few sheep photos. This is Sierra.

This is Aurelia, the ewe I got from Kreutzer Farms  in Nebraska.

Onyx, the Jacob x BFL cross. Notice the ewe in the top right corner of the photo that is almost invisible in the tall grass.

And while I’m talking about fungus in the pasture, what about this one?

 It is huge.

Overheard in the Pasture After Shearing

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Does this haircut make my rear look big?

Does this haircut make my head look big?

If I don’t move she won’t see me.

Where did all those freckles come from?

 

I can finally reach that itch.

Overheard in the Ram Pen, after weaning the ram lambs born at the State Fair in July:

MOM !

Does this haircut make my …uh…horns look big?

 

Shearing Day

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Shearing Day was yesterday. What a wonderful time. Farm Club came through (as always) and handled all the various tasks of the day. (Except for Rusty’s job, which he describes in his blog so I am not duplicating his photos here). I am grateful to the great shearer who has come for the last few years. He does a wonderful job–the sheep look good and the fleeces look good. John is so fast that he finished with 64 sheep in about 2 1/2 hours.

 

One important job is making sure that the shearer always has a sheep to shear as soon as he finishes with the last one.

I took some videos too but it will take me awhile to get those edited. You can sign up on the Meridian Jacobs YouTube Channel and see them when they are ready.

This is the BFL/Jacob crossbred ewe. I probably could have started a bidding war on her fleece, but I’m keeping it.

 

A couple of people bagged fleeces after shearing and  then each fleece was weighed.

Alison and Linda helped many new Farm Club members and other visitors evaluate fleeces at the skirting table.

 

The warm afternoon sun was welcome after the cold morning.

Good friendships and sharing the work make a day like this extra fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breeding Season is Here

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Four Farm Club members came today to help me sort out breeding groups. I told myself that using four rams was plenty but in the end I put ewes with six rams. I don’t have a very big place and by the time I save spaces for non-breeding rams (a few ram lambs left), non-breeding ewes (my State Fair ewes and lambs and a few ewe lambs that I don’t want to breed yet) and try to leave buffer spaces between breeding groups it gets tricky to find space for everyone.

Kenleigh’s Matrix, a ram lamb, was the first to go out with 14 ewes.

Meridian Loretta was obviously in heat, but we wondered if Matrix, smaller than the ewes, was going to manage the job.

Meridian Fogerty, a yearling ram, was next. He has 8 ewes.

Faulkner was happy to be given eight ewes.

Meridian Clapton, the ram who has been behaving badly wanted some of the action.

Clapton is temporarily in a small pen so he has just three ewes.

Puddleduck Sullivan has ten ewes.

When you first put the rams with the ewes they get a little carried away trying to find a ewe in heat and you may see random marks on some of the ewes. One of the Farm Club members asked how you can tell if the marks from the ram harnesses are the “real thing”. I told her that you can tell.

This is in Fogerty’s pen later in the day.

These are two of Matrix’s ewes. One is Loretta, the ewe in the first photo.

It wasn’t until the end of the day that I picked up the marker for the sixth ram harness so Meridian Miller (the ram lamb who was champion at the State Fair) didn’t get his 7 ewes until evening. He is in the pen right behind my shop.

You could say that the ewes were a bit stand-offish, but Miller didn’t let that deter him.

Where will you be February 21? I’ll be in the barn with new lambs.

CA State Fair

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The sheep show is during the last 4 days of the CA State Fair although my ewes with lambs were there for the whole three weeks.

Mary is a 5-time veteran of the Livestock Nursery.

My main focus of the sheep week is the award given for the Marketing Program. This is a stiff competition that is awarded for the display in the sheep barn. I didn’t change last year’s display very much but I tightened up some things that I wasn’t happy with last year. I also learned to make a DVD with several of the videos that I’ve been working on (some of which are on YouTube) so I had a 45 minute loop that included lambing, lambs playing, and Farm Club.

 

I wasn’t sure how people would react to the lambing video but it certainly caught their attention and most people were in awe.

 

My friends and I demonstrated spinning and drum carding and that meant that we had a crowd around the exhibit most of the time. In fact this year we were given an area where we could expand into the wide alley.

The real reason to be at the fair is the sheep show. I gave Fogerty to my husband to show because that ram is so strong and I didn’t want to risk him getting away from me. However, Sullivan didn’t cooperate too well. We switched places and Sullivan followed Fogerty without trouble. Fogerty placed 3rd in this class that included Shetlands and St. Croix sheep.

The best placing of the day was my young ram who placed first in his class…

…and then Champion Ram of the Primitive Breeds show.

The most exciting awards for me were presented at the end of the four days.

 

I finally won the 1st place Marketing Award (that’s one of the leather banners) and Best Educational Presentatation in the Sheep Show and overall for all the livestock divisions at the fair! Should I retire while I’m ahead?

But that’s not all there is to the fair. Here are some other photos I like:

Farm Club members, Mary and Dona, cutting up temporary tattoos for give away.

 

Here is how the tattoos look in use.

 

 

There were other animals with horns in the barn.

 

And other animals with nice fiber.

 

 

Animals that combined horns and fiber.

 

 

But look at the Supreme Champion Merino ram owned by Terry Mendanhall…

 

…and see his fantastic fleece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Younger Generation

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It simple math. If I had 65 sheep last November and  want 65 sheep next November, but  81 lambs were born, that means that  I need to sell 81 sheep before November. So out of all the lambs that were born I need to be very selective about which ones I will keep. Here are the chosen lambs so far.

This is Sonata, daughter of Meridian Moon and Sweetgrass Clint.

Lila, a lilac ewe, daughter of  Meridian Lola and Mud Ranch’s Hudson.

Fandangle, daughter of Meridian Fran and Sweetgrass Clint.

Kenleigh’s Isadora who came from Kenleigh’s Acres in Oregon.

Mud Ranch’s Foxglove and …

…Mud Ranch’s Ginseng, both lilac lambs from Mud Ranch in Lewiston, CA.

There are plenty of other pretty lambs, but most of them will need to find homes elsewhere. I have my eye on one appealing ram lamb:

Axle, son of Meridian Tina and Sweetgrass Clint.

I almost forgot someone:

Onyx, daughter of Sparkle and Faulkner.

This is Fogerty, a ram who was born last spring. He is one of the rams that I will use for breeding this fall. Here is another photo:

 

Ladies in Waiting

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It’s that time of year again.

We’re off to the CA State Fair Livestock Nursery.

Mary is a veteran of the fair. This will be her fifth time lambing here. Don’t worry Mary. It’s just the camera angle that makes your rear look so big.

Mary brought novices with her. That’s a yearling ewe, Toffee, lying down and a three year old ewe, Shelby, standing. Shelby is one of the ewes that we “rescued” from a foreclosure last year. (Yes, it’s still camera angle, Shelby.)

The State Fair opens tomorrow and runs through the last weekend of July. That’s when I’ll have more sheep there for the sheep show. In the meantime these three ewes will be well taken care of by the staff and students of the UC Davis VMTH (Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital). We look forward to lambs in the next couple of weeks.