My husband and I started raising a few sheep for fun in 2006. we started with 10 lambs that we bought at the local sale barn and enjoyed watching them play and grow throughout the summer of 2006. In the Spring of 2007 we took all the wethers back to the sale barn to be sold To my suprise, they sold for an average of 130.00 each!! Needless to say, we didn't walk out of the sale barn with any money but instead bought more lambs. They also brought in 2 baby goats that were absolutely adorable.....so now we have 2 pet goats too.
Fall of 2006.....who knew sheep reached maturity at 6 months old? Sorry to say that it wasn't a city girl like me. We still had all our "Sale Barn sheep" running around in the pasture together 2 rams 4 ewes and 5 wethers. They all appeared to be happy, healthy and doing just fine. By early spring they were all very very wooly and fat, so wooly that we couldn't tell which was a ewe and which was a wether without up close and personal inspection. Imagine our suprise and stupidity when Joe went out to feed one morning and found a set of twin lambs. They did not survive. We're not sure if it's because we weren't feeding correctly or the fact that it was cold. I don't want to go into much detail but I can only say that out of the 4 Ewes that lambed we only had 1 lamb survive. I can only assume that it was our ignorance that caused this.
In June 2007 Joe, Grandpa, and I went to the Iowa Sheep and Wool festival and learned alot about raising sheep, bought several books on lambing and taking care of sheep and also watched the sheep shearer who had a Rambouillet Ram that he was shearing. My husband thought that was the "coolest" sheep he'd ever seen and really liked the big horns on him. We tried to buy the Ram from the shearer but he wasn't for sale. Soon after, I started browsing websites looking for a horned Rambouillet Ram for my husband and came across the website owned by Tom Boyer out of Utah. It just so happened that Tom would be driving through Des Moines in August and said he would deliver them to us!!.
After talking with a few sheep breeders at the 2007 Iowa state fair and a few people online, you would have thought I told them I was a devil worshipper when I told them we bought sheep from "The Sale Barn". Apparently there are still alot of people that will take their sick or deformed animals in there to be sold. I admit I did see some sheep come through with some pretty NASTY prolapses....but other than that the sheep being sold at the Colfax salebarn appeared to be in good health. My dad and I bought some lambs from there and they were all healthy. We did lose 2 lambs to pnemonia in the spring of 2007 but you have to admit the weather was really bad. Warm then cold then warm again. Remember all the plants we lost when everthing started to bud and then we had a freeze?
Fall 2007 we took a trip down to southern Iowa to go to an Exotic sale mostly out of pure boredom. Now THAT is where the sick and maimed animals are. Other than Chickens and guinea pigs and a few other unwanted/neglected animals, that's about all they had. Needless to say it was a huge disappointment!!! Our neighbor bought a goat at that sale and it died within a week. OK, I'm rambling....but I just wanted to fill you in on my experience with "The Sale Barn".
Iowa State Fair 2007. It seems like Joe and I spent most of our time at the sheep barn watching the shows and trying to talk to people about sheep. I'm not sure if it was just the days we were there or what, but it seems like the majority of the exhibitors were for 4H and FFA, which is good, but I was hoping to talk to other adults that could fill me in on things I need to know about raising sheep. Joe and I took the day off from work to watch the Rambouillet show and were pretty disappointed that there were only 4 exhibitors and only 1 from Iowa. We tried talking to one of the exhibitors from either Minnesota or Wisconsin...I can't remember which and they wouldn't even give us the time of day. They had an entire trailer FULL of sheep so they could exhibit them all and as soon as the show was over they were loading up to head to the next fair. As we were wandering around looking at sheep and watching how they prepare them for showing we saw a horned Rambouillet!!!!! He was beautiful. :) Joe was in awe immediately. The owners of him were from right here in IOWA too. We spent alot of time talking to the lady and her young daughter about their sheep and why they raise them etc. Which leads to a GREAT story I've just got to tell you about.
We were visiting with the lady from Iowa and her daughter who were going to be showing their Rambouillets when I noticed that the RAM had a sever case of diarrea and the Ewes were matted from head to toe with cockle burrs. The lady began to explain that these were her 10 year old daughters sheep and they had been in the field all summer and got into a huge patch of cockle burrs just a few days before. When the sheep were brought up to their barn yard lot to get them ready for show the mother tried to convice the daughter to take some different sheep to the fair that didn't have cockle burrs. The daughter loved the 2 Ewes and her horned ram and refused to take any other sheep. The daughter also decided to feed the sheep an entire bucket of grain the night before leaving for the fair. If you know anything at all about sheep it's the fact that a quick change in diet will give them diarrea, or scours as it's called in the livestock industry really really bad. Anyway, being the great person and mother that she seemed to be the lady loaded up her young daughter and the miserable looking and feeling sheep and took them to the Iowa State Fair.
Being a mother myself, I have to admit that taking those poor sheep to the fair was the bravest most unselfish thing I've ever seen!!! The little girl was grinning from ear to ear as she proudly displayed her matted ewes around the ring for the judge to see and was completely blind to their flaws by her love of those sheep. It was really really heart touching and Joe and I clapped as loud as we could for her.
After the show was over Joe asked the lady why the ram wasn't being shown and she explained that she just didn't have the heart to make him walk around because he was feeling miserable. What a wonderful lady, not only a good mother but also a great sheperdess.
Finally around the end of August our Rambouillets were on their way to Des Moines. Tom Boyer was on his way to a sheep and goat show and would be delivering our sheep to the Flying J truck stop on I-80. I was so excited I could hardly work that day. I left work early to meet Tom and see our new sheep. Joe and Brandi arrived with the truck and trailer soon after I got there.
Tom and the Rambouillets arrived at the Flying J truck stop right on schedule. Joe and I were so anxious meet Tom and see our new sheep I can't even describe it, I was absolutely amazed at how huge these sheep were. The ram Tom picked out for us was 7 months old and already had massive horns, he also recommended 2 older ewes and 2 ewe lambs for our starter flock. Joe backed our small trailer up to the back of Toms trailer and together they coaxed and cooerced the 5 sheep into our trailer. After a short time of visiting and of course the exchange of money it was time for us to be on our way back to the farm.
We had decided ahead of time to put our newly purchased Rambouillets in a small pasture to be quaranteened for 2 weeks before we moved them to the 1.5 acre pasture with access to the barn with our Suffolks. It took awhile for them to get used to each other, but now they're all one big happy family. Except of course for my tiny little pygmy nanny "Flower" who rules the roost.
We had our vet come out to check our Rambouillet flock to make sure they were all healthy and he commented several times on how big and nice looking they were. We're very pleased with our starter flock of registered Rambouillets and can't thank Tom enough for his honesty in deliverying high quality sheep at a reasonable price.
After a pretty rocky start in the sheep business last year, Joe and I have been learning everything we can about raising sheep and what to expect and do for a successful lambing season.
This time we kept the Ram seperated from the Ewes until around the 2nd week of October, and Joe put a marking harness on him prior to turning him in with the Ewes so we would know almost exactly when to expect our first lambs. We also have been giving our sheep year round access to mineral salt with a high Selenium content and making sure it is for Sheep with has a lower copper content. We also have ordered some sheep pellets recommended for ewes in late gestation through weaning and are planning to start mixing that with corn for our Ewes starting in February since we're expecting our first lambs around the 2nd week of March. Joe already has 2 lambing pens setup and bought straw for bedding. The only thing left to buy is some colostrum and milk replacer just in case we have to end up bottle feeding.
Joe and I will be attending the Iowa Sheep and Wool festival being held at the Dallas County fairgrounds in Adel, Iowa on June 14-15. http://www.iowasheep.com/Festival.html
I didn't see any Rambouillets at the festival last year other than the one being shorn, so I sent an email offering to exhibit 2 of our Rambouillets in the hall of breeds they were very pleased to hear that there is a Rambouillet breeder in Iowa and said they would be happy to have us come. They will be sending us more information when it gets closer to June.
Joe and I have also made plans to attend the annual Rambouillet show being held in Evanston, WY on July 7-12. I've emailed Tom to let him know we are planning to come and he has gratiously invited us to come to his farm and also introduce us to other Rambouillet sheep breeders. We are planning to drive and bring the stock trailer with us just in case we get the urge to buy a few more sheep....which of course I probably will. I'm thinking of getting another Ram so we can alternate breeding and keep a fresh bloodline in our little flock. We'll keep Boris for one more season before trading or selling him. I've already requested my vacation time from work.....so if anyone that Joe works with is reading this please remind him to do the same. :)
I'm hoping for some really great lambs to take to the Iowa State Fair this year....I've pretty much decided that even if they're NOT really great but maybe just average, I still want to take them for 3 reasons really.
1.) I was really dissappointed that there was only one exhibitor in the Rambouillet show from Iowa.
2.) To learn and gain experience showing sheep
3.) To meet more people that have sheep!!!
Please keep in mind that Joe and I know absolutely NOTHING about showing sheep besides what we've read in the books we have and by watching other people. I've been reading up on how to train your lambs to lead and walk but as you may know sometimes animals are just like kids...what they're supposed to do and what they decide to do are usually not the same thing, so when you come to the Iowa State Fair this year and see some Iowa Rednecks trying to lead a gyrating lamb around the show ring.....THAT'LL be us!! :) I CAN"T WAIT!
Just keep in mind that it doesn't mean our sheep aren't high quality purebreds, it just means that we're still new to all this....and need as much help as we can get.
One last comment before I leave this website alone for while. I admit I can't spell and my grammer sometimes stinks....please don't tell me about it, I prefer to remain blissfully ignorant. :)
Thanks for visiting our website and come back soon.