Here in Manitoba we are blessed with a very talented carver of horn canes – Graeme MacKendrick of Balmoral, Manitoba. He says that what he actually makes are crooks and sticks. The crook (what we refer to as a cane with a curved handle) being for use or show with shepherding. The shafts are made of hardwood and the handles are carved from the horns of domestic sheep. He also makes thumb sticks that are used for hiking and shooting.

MacKendrick uses moose antlers as a canvas to produce beautiful scenes on, and nothing is wasted, as any small pieces of antler that are removed are carved into earrings, pendants, brooches, napkin rings, Christmas tree ornaments, letter openers or buttons. Cribbage boards are another of his designs carved from elk antler.

Graeme MacKendrick can be reached by calling 204-467-9127 or emailing ghmtam@gmail.com.

– Lorna Wall raises White Dorper sheep and border collies with her husband Pete in Poplarfield, Manitoba

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The best time to shop for a ram is about four months prior to when you want to introduce him to the ewes.

The ram you purchase, be it a purebred or crossbred, registered or not, is going to be the basis of half your lamb crop.

The ewes in your flock provide half the genetic information for each lamb but the ram provides half the genetic information for your entire lamb crop.

Each year as the weather starts to head for winter norms, I get a call from at least one fellow shepherd about a problem with his or her new breeding ram.

The call always goes like this: “I was wondering if you could help me with some advice… I bought this new ram (between one week and two months ago)… and it is having this problem (usually a bowel/urinary problem) and I tried to treat it with (all manner of different treatments of drugs on hand) … but I can’t seem to sort it out.”

“Well, where did you get this ram and what had it been given before you purchased it?”

“I got it at the auction and paid over $200 for it, but don’t know who was selling it, or where it came from, (or how old, what breeding, why it was being sold.)”

WHY?

In the past, I tried to assist these friends with possible solutions, but recently I have begun to just ask why? Why didn’t you buy from a flock you could look at and see what is happening there?

We are purebred breeders and do believe that if you get a good ram you are miles ahead of the pack. But there are many good crossbred rams out there as well. If you go to any seminar they will always tell you to buy the best ram/bull/stud you can afford for your operation, which is always good advice.

Unfortunately many people think that means that they have to have a papered ram and they would be too expensive for small operations. Not all papered rams are equal either, only the cream of the crop should be offered for breeding rams.

The real issue here now is how you choose the basis of what you want for that half of the genetic makeup of your lamb crop. Do you just go to the auction and wait for a ram to pass through the ring that bids low enough to fit a dollar amount you think is reasonable, or do you do some homework and think about the strengths of your ewes and look for a breed or style of ram to complement what the ewes have to offer?

ASKING QUESTIONS

With a little time and effort you can change your bottom line considerably. Even going to the back of the sale barn and talking to the other shepherds bringing in animals can provide you with better information about prospective animals. If you really like something you see at the auction ask the seller why it is at the auction, what he has at home, is he a reasonable distance from you for visiting to view related animals that would be of a breeding standard.

Make some phone calls and go look at other shepherds’ animals to know what is available. There are many good flocks in Manitoba, but all too often we see people not bothering to do a little shopping.

The best time to shop for a ram is about four months prior to when you want to introduce him to the ewes,

which allows you to vaccinate and worm with a proper period for drug withdrawal before introduction to the ewes. Make a shopping list and compare several, just as you would for any other significant purchase:

What are the best “breed qualities” to match my flock strengths?

What traits would improve or enhance the quality or traits of my flock?

How many ewes does this ram have to service?

How many years can I use the same ram? Do I have enough genetic diversity to use him for two or more breeding seasons? Do I retain replacement ewe lambs?

Is my flock in the early building stages? What is the main purpose of my lamb crop?

What kind of history is available on his bloodlines and maternal lambing history? Has his sire been used enough to show a significant view of what the genetics will produce?

The very last question should be the price. Realistically, it should be equal to the return on two to three lambs from your operation.

You will find with a better-quality ram the return on those lambs will increase as well. Always, always, always try to buy a step up from where you were last year. With a little preplanning and investigative work you will see a great increase in both your bottom line and the pleasure you get from seeing those quality lambs in your barnyard at lambing time.

Lorna and Pete Wall raise White Dorper sheep and border collies in Poplarfield, Man.www.wall2wallsheep.com

The post Do Some Research Before Buying A Breeding Ram – for Aug. 12, 2010 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The ewes in your flock provide half the genetic information for each lamb but the ram provides half the genetic information for your entire lamb crop.

Each year as the weather starts to head for winter norms, I get a call from at least one fellow shepherd about a problem with his or her new breeding ram.

The call always goes like this: “I was wondering if you could help me with some advice… I bought this new ram (between one week and two months ago)… and it is having this problem (usually a bowel/urinary problem) and I tried to treat it with (all manner of different treatments of drugs on hand) … but I can’t seem to sort it out.”

“Well, where did you get this ram and what had it been given before you purchased it?”

“I got it at the auction and paid over $200 for it, but don’t know who was selling it, or where it came from, (or how old, what breeding, why it was being sold.)”

WHY?

In the past, I tried to assist these friends with possible solutions, but recently I have begun to just ask why? Why didn’t you buy from a flock you could look at and see what is happening there?

We are purebred breeders and do believe that if you get a good ram you are miles ahead of the pack. But there are many good crossbred rams out there as well. If you go to any seminar they will always tell you to buy the best ram/bull/stud you can afford for your operation, which is always good advice.

Unfortunately many people think that means that they have to have a papered ram and they would be too expensive for small operations. Not all papered rams are equal either, only the cream of the crop should be offered for breeding rams.

The real issue here now is how you choose the basis of what you want for that half of the genetic makeup of your lamb crop. Do you just go to the auction and wait for a ram to pass through the ring that bids low enough to fit a dollar amount you think is reasonable, or do you do some homework and think about the strengths of your ewes and look for a breed or style of ram to complement what the ewes have to offer?

ASKING QUESTIONS

With a little time and effort you can change your bottom line considerably. Even going to the back of the sale barn and talking to the other shepherds bringing in animals can provide you with better information about prospective animals. If you really like something you see at the auction ask the seller why it is at the auction, what he has at home, is he a reasonable distance from you for visiting to view related animals that would be of a breeding standard.

Make some phone calls and go look at other shepherds’ animals to know what is available. There are many good flocks in Manitoba, but all too often we see people not bothering to do a little shopping.

The best time to shop for a ram is about four months prior to when you want to introduce him to the ewes,

which allows you to vaccinate and worm with a proper period for drug withdrawal before introduction to the ewes. Make a shopping list and compare several, just as you would for any other significant purchase:

What are the best “breed qualities” to match my flock strengths?

What traits would improve or enhance the quality or traits of my flock?

How many ewes does this ram have to service?

How many years can I use the same ram? Do I have enough genetic diversity to use him for two or more breeding seasons? Do I retain replacement ewe lambs?

Is my flock in the early building stages? What is the main purpose of my lamb crop?

What kind of history is available on his bloodlines and maternal lambing history? Has his sire been used enough to show a significant view of what the genetics will produce?

The very last question should be the price. Realistically, it should be equal to the return on two to three lambs from your operation.

You will find with a better-quality ram the return on those lambs will increase as well. Always, always, always try to buy a step up from where you were last year. With a little preplanning and investigative work you will see a great increase in both your bottom line and the pleasure you get from seeing those quality lambs in your barnyard at lambing time.

Lorna and Pete Wall raise White Dorper sheep and border collies in Poplarfield, Man.www.wall2wallsheep.com

———

Thebesttimetoshop foraramisaboutfour monthspriortowhen youwanttointroduce himtotheewes.

The post Do Some Research Before Buying A Breeding Ram – for Aug. 12, 2010 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Ewes have calls that are as individual as mothers calling their children by name in the playground.

It is not unusual for any shepherd with a large number of sheep to have a lamb in a box to be fed. We have many different ways of ensuring a lamb has a mother and is out in the fresh air getting the exercise it needs to stimulate good growth and health. The first trick is to try to ensure that each ewe has the right number of lambs for her milk. This can mean adding or taking away a lamb. If a ewe does not have enough milk for two you can supplement one or both lambs, which we often do with triplets. She has two and I have one part time. This is a win-win situation as I don’t have to feed as often (middle of the night) and she raises three good lambs.

If you have a ewe that has lost a lamb that is not milk related then we have a head gate system that will often in two days have a ewe adopt another lamb as long as the lamb is healthy enough to suck. After that step we usually put the ewe and adopted lamb in a small area where they get used to following each other before going out to the large group. This also works for adding another lamb to a ewe that has a lot of milk, but only had a single lamb herself.

Often it will take a day or so for the ewe to have her milk come in fully. Sometimes especially with a first-time lamber it is a good idea to carefully watch the mom and lamb to ensure that both are doing their part – ewe providing milk and lamb getting up under there and sucking. I often walk the pens with a bottle and quietly check to ensure new lambs are staying strong. Most ewes soon figure out that you are helping and now I often have ewes that can’t find their lamb come and holler at me to help find their wayward lambs.

Ewes have calls that are as individual as mothers calling their children by name in the playground. Some have a deep voice and short call and some are high-pitched screamers.

I was surprised the other day by one of our very old faithful ewes (twins consistently and never a problem and comes for a scratch all the time) calling her lambs. One didn’t come right the first time so she hollered in her deep voice, usually two short “baas.”

When it did get there, she let go a tirade the likes I’ve never heard from her before. You just knew that lamb was in trouble with mom!

Lambs are equally individual and have their own little variation of voice. You can even tell who is calling if you pay attention. Unfortunately that means you spend a lot more time in the barn than in your house. Sheep also remember faces and understand when you call them by name. The lambs I bottle all answer their name (number on their eartag) when I call them and most continue to answer their name even as they get older and have lambs of their own.

Pete and Lorna Wall raise White Dorpers, Black Dorpers

and Katahdin Sheep as well as border collies

in Poplarfield, Man.

The post There Is A Lamb In My Kitchen appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

With a little bit of preparation and a little work in marketing, this would not have happened. If you have a product – breeding ewes or does – and you advertise properly through the newspaper, Internet, other producers, flyers or posters, and have clean animals, you can sell these at a reasonable breeding-market price.

Even if you are taking them to the auction, if you notify them enough in advance they will put that in their advertisement to entice more buyers to that sale. It is not the dire end of the sheep and goat industry that is foretold. Saskatchewan Sheep Development Board has another alternative marketing strategy for their members in that they have an arranged shipment with a guaranteed price for a specific size or weight. You bring your animal and they say right there if it meets the criteria. You know ahead of time if your lamb looks good you will have that price.

Know your market

That brings us to the second part of selling. Know your market. Decide what market to which you want to sell and choose a breed that you can finish to that set of specifications in a manner that you know your costs and needed profit from that animal. Just breeding willy-nilly will give you no consistency of finished product and no firm place in the market. Your animal has to finish in an economical manner that leaves a profit margin. The market has changed in that there are very few lamb feedlots operating due to higher feed costs, so this market class has poor prices due to too much supply for the actual demand.

In the second article (Page 18, Jan. 22) titled “Will 2009 bring surprises?” Mark asked a few questions. Producers are not bringing the animals to the auction …” Is this due to location of various slaughter facilities, within appropriate distances from a producer?”

No, in most cases there are no available slaughter facilities for sheep or goats. Most that are within range are not inspected slaughter facilities, so you still have the dilemma of uninspected slaughter.

Unlike the hog or cattle sectors in Manitoba, neither the sheep nor goat associations have lobbied for any significant assistance. We do however, get the tag ends from the cattle programs. So the thought that we would see incentives to receive comparable prices to Ontario producers is not realistic.

Future

“What is the future for the Manitoba sheep and goat producer?” From the calls I get requesting breeding stock and butcher lambs, I cannot see a bad future, even with our lack of marketing tools within the Manitoba associations and the lack of inspected slaughtering facilities.

There is a huge market locally for our lamb if we could get it processed in a provincially inspected facility and make it available to restaurants, stores and for private purchase. If you know your market, know how to finish your lambs to slaughter weight, can organize your operation to utilize non-peak sales periods, and maximize your operation while minimizing expenses, you can make a decent living as a shepherd.

This means taking better care of your animals to ensure optimal health and productivity. Ensure good food and mineral as well as proper worming is taken care of. Cleanliness also helps determine a good bottom line: clean housing, clean pens and pasture will all increase the value of the “finished product,” which is your lamb on the table.

Value driven

If we treated ourselves and our livestock as valuable then we would garner more respect. I have had and heard of many producers having people come and offer to “take it off your hands” as if purchasing our animal for their table was done as a favour to us.

We need to promote our product as valuable. What is the product offered in the store and how does it compare to what we are offering? What is the true value of our product? People have sometimes balked at our prices quoted, yet broken down by the pound it is much cheaper than the imported inferior product.

Too many shepherds do not rely on their sheep and goats for their total income so do not crunch the numbers closely enough to see the real cost and the real needed price. If all private sales of prime product accept yard sale prices then the bottom is torn out of the market for the rest of us.

There are many tools for marketing your lamb on the Canadian Sheep Federation Site: http://www.freshcanadianlamb.ca/whichincludes recipes and even labels for packaging.

There are many positive directions for 2009 available to the sheep and goat industry. Shepherds need to become proactive and start seeing the value in themselves and their animals.

Lorna and Pete Wall raise Dorper sheep and border collies in Poplarfield, Man.

The post Pre-marketing preparation pays off appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

LGDs are just like children and go through all the same stages.

David Brennan with Alberta Agriculture Predator Management control offered some useful insights into reducing lamb losses due to coyotes in the Nov. 20 issue of the Manitoba Co-operator.

However, although Brennan described the coyote’s hunting style, he did not include that a coyote can, if calm enough, sidle up into the midst of a flock of sheep and quietly grab a sleeping new lamb. This lamb will not make a sound until it is set down. There is no excitement to warn the rest of the sheep or the shepherd.

Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs), work best in pairs, which give them the ability to corner or trap a predator.

I have heard stories of people trying to sneak up on them where one appears to be sleeping and the other suddenly has the person trapped between them. I have also witnessed them using the sheep as a cover – such as when a border collie is gathering the herd with an LGD on her tail. The second LGD runs with the sheep but moves himself through the middle of the flock by allowing the sheep to overtake him. As the last of the sheep move past him he turns on the border collie, which is now caught between the two LGDs.

In this instance, this particular pair of LGDs respected the border collie. Plus, I yelled. She passed unscathed but there was a moment of panic on my part. With our pair, only one usually leaves the sheep to go after a threat, the other positions himself between the threat and the sheep.

Bonding

LGDs need to bond well to the flock or what-ever you need them to guard. This is best done dur ing lambing time where they can be with small lambs at weaning (six weeks) and learn that they are his/her family. They cannot be with the farm family at the house and should not be able to leave the area where their bonding mates are, but they do need to have some basic commands for their own safety.

One trick I found worked was locking them in a lambing jug with several bottle lambs when I fed the lambs so they did not associate being penned as a bad or terrifying thing. When all the lambs had been moved out after being fed then I gave the pups a cookie (treat). Now I can move them into any enclosure, small or large and even have them “kenneled” for a few days if necessary. This is important for providing safety or medical treatments. Each evening when I feed them I call them by name and after they have eaten, I give them a cookie. This solidifies the fact that if I call they should come as that is a good experience. Now if I need to retrieve them from some area they will come to or with me. They still need to respond to basic commands: “Back to your sheep” “come” “out” and “no.”

Childlike

LGDs are just like children and go through all the same stages. If they are alone then the required response is not always there. If they are too rough another dog will bite back – a sheep or goat or calf cannot. Sheep “mauling” may happen when a female is in heat; she will often pick one animal and can cause it great distress. The Shepherd’s Journal had a very good article that explained the stages of development that really helps prevent mishaps with the LGD by helping you know what to watch for ahead of time.

LGDs come in several breeds with very different guarding styles. Some are perimeter guards, some are just right wherever the flock is, and others clear an area around their home pasture. We employ two Akbash males who basically stay with the sheep, but will push any predators away from the livestock for approximately four miles. They have no issue with border collies in the house yard, but stray or unattended dogs are not tolerated in the sheep pens or pastures.

Respect

Treat LGDs with respect. They have the ability to hurt you. They need to know that you are the boss. Do not hit or otherwise abuse them to chastise or put them in their place, but rather use the lowest growling noise that you can make and tell them that you are not pleased with them.

Never let them jump on you as you could be hurt. These dogs grow to a standing height of over six feet and weigh in the range of 150 lbs. For your safety if you are going to have to “wrestle” with a difficult sheep in a way that appears to the dog that you are being aggressive to the sheep – then remove the dog first. I have found during lambing that they keep other sheep away from a lambing in progress and also tend to move between you and the sheep, which can make checking the sheep difficult. So putting the dog in with a different group of sheep may be necessary. A good dog will stay with a sick or injured sheep until you come to provide assistance. They will not chew on a carcass unless you tell them they can have it. They are unlikely to kill for themselves unless you are not providing any food.

Know your dog. Only buy a pup from working parents. Keep a good relationship with your dog so that they work for you not against you. And remember to provide rabies vaccinations for these gentle guardians.

– Pete and Lorna Wall raise white dorper, black dorper and katahadin sheep as well as border collies in Poplarfield.

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