I’m slow getting breeding season started this year & I know those of you getting bred ewes are waiting on this. Thank you for your patience!
Whitman
I love this ram. I credit him with the easy going harmony I’ve come to expect from my ram herd. I’ve never seen him pick a fight. I’ve seen him step in between fighting rams a multitude of times. Despite never seeing him in a conflict, he has a scarred nose & is missing the tip off both his horns, so I can only imagine the work he puts in to keep the flock calm for me.
He is not a massive ram. Depending on the season he weighs in between 190-205 lbs. He is well built & has improved our carcasses. He is average in body length, with a good horn set at 5 years old. His parasite & heat resistance are average in our Midwest heat & humidity. I feel as an F2 on both his maternal & paternal side that he has handled the challenges of the Midwest quite well. His fleece is above average with an equal balance of tog & thel even as he ages. He has repeatedly produced 70% ewes 30% rams.
I like to look at a ram’s progeny. Whitman’s progeny list is decent in length, but his sire Kind Horn Valor is especially impressive. Valor is in his 9th breeding season in Vermont, a feat in itself in a large flock, & when I met him, he displayed the same laidback, relaxed demeanor that Whitman does. When I spoke to his owner she shared that she’d never sell Valor. I feel that exact sentiment for Whitman. This will be his 6th breeding season, his 4th at Firefly Hollow.
He is black/grey spotted.
Lamborghini
This ram makes me smile because he was an ‘afterthought’ ram for years. We keep a line of SGGM sheep for the unique pattern, but it’s not a focus of our flock. The last two seasons, I only gave him 2-3 ewes, yet I was so happy with the results he’ll finally get a decent sized breeding group this year. His offspring aren’t huge, but they’re extremely hardy with thick fleeces I’ve found good for yarn, but especially nice for sheepskins. Actually he’s going to breed some of my nicest ewes before he departs for Virginia where he’ll get an entirely new group of ewes. So if you like the sound of Lamborghini, they’ll be lambs being born in Virginia as well! I love the balanced proportions, wool & clean top lines on his offspring.
He is a midsized ram at 170-180 lbs most of the year. He has a balanced confirmation with a nice loin & square proportions. Excellent horn set. His wool is extremely dense with a curly tog. He has above average heat tolerance & parasite resistance in our Midwest climate. He was an afterthought most of the time until I suddenly realized he was requiring nearly nothing from me even in the most trying conditions.
He is black mouflon/SGGM. Could carry spotting.
Ragnar
You can find this ram highlighted in the ‘mean ram’ blog. Poor Ragnar. He acquired some dislikable habits while off farm, but I’m happy (& surprised) to say that he’s made huge strides. I’m actually coming to like him. After quarantine & testing, he eventually became glued to Whitman’s (his sire) side much of the time. I credit this with his mellowing.
He was the last lamb born to one of my all time favorite ewes. Aretha, a 2015 ewe bred by Lavender Fleece. A graddaughter of an obscure AI sire called Ljufur, imported in 2008. This line was never ‘fancy’ looking. Aretha was a homozygous grey, just like Ragnar, yet I credit her with much improvement in my flock. Her daughters were extremely milky, her lambs always large by fall, their wool above average & all of this with minimal support & low inputs (she was Lamborghini’s grandmother). When I had the opportunity to bring home Ragnar, despite his bad habits, I had to do it. Now, I couldn’t be happier I took a chance on him.
Ragnar is larger than his sire. He has weighed in between 205- 220 lbs. His horn set is above average, but may require rasping by 4-5 years old. His wool is plentiful with a fine thel undercoat he inherited from his dam. In the 4 months I’ve had him back he has displayed average heat tolerance & parasite resistance in our Midwest climate. I anticipate him helping to improve carcass traits without sacrificing wool quality, perhaps even improving it.
He is homozygous grey & caries spotting. He could carry moorit.
Denim
(14 months old)
This ram arrived only 8 weeks ago from California. I don’t have many pictures, but before departing his fleece was sheared & entered in the California National Wool Show. It took second place overall in the ram category. The first & third prizes went to Merinos, which indicates the fierce competition of fine wool breeds. It’s somewhat remarkable for an Icelandic to place so highly in a competitive fine wool breed environment. His grandsire, AI sire Drifandi, has high fleece marks after thorough evaluations in Iceland. Before shearing, Denim’s fleece nearly drug the ground & I can’t wait to see it in the Spring.
Denim is midsized. At 18 months he weighed 158 lbs. I expect him to fill out considerably this upcoming season. He has excellent teeth & hard dark feet. His confirmation is well balanced. His horn set is superb. He is neither friendly, or aggressive. He is curious but stays out of the way. His fleece is black but shows small signs of natural silvering. I expect him to make contributions in the wool & horn-set categories. I can’t speak to how he will handle the heat & parasites. He has needed no assistance since arriving. I purchased his dam’s twin in 2023 & she handled the transition very well, so I’m hoping this will be a good indicator.
He is solid black.
Dragonfly
I am perplexed by this ram. He appears to be only slightly larger than Denim & Aslan, but when I weighed all three, Dragonfly was significantly heavier. I’ve weighed him multiple times now because I just don’t see it. Each time he falls between 188-192 lbs. At 18 months this is a nice sized yearling. I can only credit the weight to better muscling. Needless to say, Dragonfly’s breeding group has gotten larger.
He is well balanced & for his size I’m very happy with his smooth shoulders. The last 220+ lb ram we owned (Aslan’s sire) had coarse shoulders which made delivery, of ram lambs particularly, challenging. My goal is to produce large lambs that can be delivered unassisted. I’m hoping Dragonfly will contribute to that goal. He has a good horn set & I can’t speak to his wool yet. He was sheared before I picked him up, but his sire had extremely soft fleece.
His sire, Melbourne, was the last lamb born to probably one of the most impressive ewes I’ve ever seen on paper. She was named Matilda the Great & traveled across the country. Honestly, she’s so impressive I’ll include her CLRC link. Every time I look at it, I’m blown away. She was bred by Susan Webb, the first breeder to import Icelandics into the US, & Matilda’s progeny list is more impressive than many rams!
He is black mouflon with spotting.
Matilda:
Dragonfly:
Aslan
This ram arrived at 13.4 lbs & I barely got him delivered. He was 116 lbs by the end of his first September with nothing but pasture grass. He is extremely gentle & halter trained. His wool is moderately thick with more thel than tog. He has a good horn set & he is extremely long in the body.
Despite his early fast growth Aslan is average sized now, weighing 162 lbs. I cannot predict if, or when, he will fill out. His heat tolerance is excellent, but by late summer his parasite resistance was not as strong as I would have predicted. At this point, due to my concern on inheriting coarse shoulders & possibly not displaying the level of parasite resistance we expect, I will only be breeding him to two ewes.
(13 months)
I feel his contributions will be fast early growth & body length. I prefer long ewes because my experience is that they lamb more easily & there is less entanglement of limbs etc. I would like to see all my ewes with long bodies at sone point. This is the primary reason (other then his wonderful temperament & easy trainability) for breeding Aslan this year.
He is moorit grey badgerface & could carry spotting.
It’s my intention to be as forthcoming as possible. No ram is perfect, they come with strengths & weaknesses. They also surprise us with their offspring at times. A great looking ram can produce a flop, just like an average looking ram can give you fabulous lambs. It’s the joy & frustration of genetics.
It helps to make a list of your long & short term goals. I’m going to post another blog very soon with some thoughts on genotype, productivity & phenotype, but wanted to share this as soon as possible for those of you picking rams. Enjoy! Nothing beats ram shopping when you don’t even have to take one home to enjoy his traits in the Spring.
Keep in mind, I take a lot of video & share it on our Instgram page. Check Rams 2024 Highlights. There are lots of photos & video. Also don’t hesitate to ask questions.
We’ll also be using 5-6 AI rams this year. My percentage was abysmal last year, but with the help of a teaser ram (that’s a whole other blog post) named Jefferson, hopefully I’ll fare better. Jefferson is not a wether so the bulk you see below is not fat. He’s just a big boy. I aspire to having a ram herd where this is the teaser ram choice! I inherited him from Alder Creek & I’m extremely happy to have him in the flock.
Comments