Yes another sheep post.

Well it had to happen. It was time to start looking for another ram. The first daughters from Samson our White Dorper ram will be old enough to breed this fall.

Samson

We have been saving money to make the purchase and had plans to tour several flocks.

This was before the Covid 19 shut down.

The resiliancy of Agriculture came through as Online Auctions suddenly became more popular.

We set our budget and got a list of characteristics we wanted in a ram.

Then we watched sales. There were a lot in Texas, too far away. Some on the west coast, too expensive. Some didn't have ram prospects that suited us so we kept looking. 

   

Then we found a new sale in Missouri. Called the Show Me Classic Dorper and White Dorper sale. It had a number of very nice rams. 

So we studied them, they had photos and videos as well. Finally we called the consigner of two we really liked.

Talking sheep is almost as much fun as watching them.  I enjoyed the conversation and the honest information and assessment of the rams.

So we decided Lot #4 was our number 1 pick with #3 our back up.

Sale Day was June 3rd. Online sales run all day. This one from 8 AM CST to 7 PM CST.

Ralph worked out his  plan. He would watch the sale but not bid until the very end. The waiting made me a bit crazy. Then we placed our first bid. We watched our bidder number go up as our bid was the top.

Now this sale is what is called "Racehorse Style". This means when the main sale time has run out there is a last minute bidding war.

If there was a bid on any lot in the sale 5 minutes would be added to clock. We had no idea what to expect!

Well it got crazy. At sale close our bid was top bid. Below budget, we were confident. After about 20 minutes of Racehorse bidding we were NOT  confident. Two more bids came in on Lot #4. We bid again to stay in the lead.

The budget limit was close, very close. We watched the time counter go down to 50 seconds.....boom...someone would bid on a lot and the time was back to 4:45 minutes! We found the problem, a bidding war on another ram, a very flashy Black headed Dorper with an incredible pedigree.

It took almost an hour of extra time for the ram to sell.

By then Ralph and I were nervous wrecks and had been forced to bid twice more. This time we had gone over by $30.00, not too bad but we knew as each additional bit of time was added we would not be able to bid again. 

We set to make sure if we did not succeed in getting #4 we would be rrady to bid on Lot #3. (He had not had as many bids)

Well finally we watched the counter wind down to zero.  We held our breath and suddenly were the new owners of RRA 1889, a long yearling White Dorper ram.!

So here he is:

He is arriving on Saturday, we will meet the trucker north of here and bring this handsome fellow home.

The online auction was a repreive from the insanity going on in this country.  Agriculture, with its core of hard work to earn a living seems not to have lost its mind. These sheep breeders are positive and hopeful.

I hope the tale of this purchase made you smile and know there are still people out there with values and integrity. People who are betting on the future and trusting God to show us the way.

Be safe and God Bless all of you.

Sheep Obsession

We are so behind due to rain and more rain. We have been spending a lot of time watching the sheep graze and dealing with the rapid grass growth from the rain. It is a wonderful predicament after last years drought. However we are watching our hay degrade as it gets too ripe with no haying weather in sight. Yes Sheep therapy is needed.

So here we go.
12 ewes gave us 26 lambs. 24 survived and are thriving.
   Two ewes had triplets, 11 who had hers all by herself when we didnt expect her to. She was early (we suspect because of triplets, they were very small). She loves all three and is a very good Mom.
Specks was overdue and had triplets. They were all big lambs and the first one was sideways. I had to help and The first lamb was stillborn. The other two were just fine. I think perhaps I delayed too long in assisting her and will know better next time.
Barbados had twins, a lovely ewe lamb first... with a normal delivery. Her second was dead and had been for some hours. Genetics amaze me because the stillborn lamb was the true Barbados coloring of brown with black accents.

It was sad to loose two but that is the way of livestock. The joy outweighs the loss.

Momo

Beanie

 Argyll

                              "Nickle"

                           The Triplets

                  #12 and her Twins

                      There is a lot of bounding to find each other in the tall grass.

As you can see we continue to be blessed. Our health is good and we thank God everyday for our farm and the life it gives us. It keeps us physically active and gives us mental peace. We pray everyone is safe and managing with all that is taking place.

God Bless you all.