By Linda Fullmer
January 18, 2000
What's it like to be disabled women staying "on the farm"
on the Upper Great Plains? Easy answer to that one! It's "tougher'n'hell!!"
Partly because it's a constant struggle to remain credible with other
producers and those "powers that be" who dictate production
trends.
When we first decided to move our little flock of Blackbelly Barbados and handful of commercial type sheep into a breeding program to develop commercially viable hair sheep. We were fortunate in having good friends who are also sheep producers, and one in particular that has realized incredible success on both the local and National level with her flock of Montadales. Maria Dosch was kind enough to introduce me to the head shepherd at North Dakota State University, who readily took on the task of assisting us. It was through Wes Limesand that we gained the greatest amount of knowledge, both about market trends for hair sheep, and about the potential to develop a commercially viable hair sheep from the genetic base that we have. Quite like Kathy and I, both Maria and Wes believe that knowledge does little good unless it's shared. There was also the secondary bonus that NDSU has recently begun to explore using hair sheep and we are able to share data from our flock with NDSU.
Because both Kathy and I have disabilities that make it difficult to manage labor intensive animals, choosing hair sheep seemed feasible. There's not shearing, no docking tails (although we routine dock tails on wethers when we band them, for marketing purposes), and because they are highly disease and parasite resistant, over-all management is relatively simple. The only real challenge with Blackbelly Barbados is fencing. They are capable of clearing a four foot fence without much effort and can be skilled escape artists when they put their minds to it! The other side of this coin, however, is their great capacity for bonding and once they learn that they have a "safe place" (the barn, or an area within the lot) they will quickly return.
Our flock is bonded to our horses and will always stay within sight of the mares. It's an interesting event when I call everything back to the barn for chores! If both the mares and the sheep are at the far end of the pasture, they all come running! Once at the barn, the mares wait at their door to be allowed in and the sheep go to their door.
In a recent wind storm (sustained winds of 40+ m.p.h., gusts in excess of 60 m.p.h.), calling the two home wasn't particularly easy. Everything had taken shelter behind the hay stacks and were having a hard time hearing me call. Once I was heard, though, they came as quickly as they could, considering that they had to head directly into the wind to come back to the barn. A few of my "little brown ewes" were literally blinded by the hard blown grit, but trusted my voice to bring them back to the barn. It was one of those times that all the handling and care paid off! Had my sheep not known that they could trust me to bring them to shelter, the results could have been down right awful.
For those of you who have never seen a Blackbelly, I'm including a few photo's, taken in November, the one below is one of my original ewe. And yes, for those who might question, her name is Jenny! you will notice the collar and the tag ..... we tried ear tags with our brown ewes, but almost everyone of them rubbed them out, so we went to dog collars and plastic dairy tags as identifiers for the producing ewes. We haven't had any of becoming caught on anything, although a few have slipped their collars and will half to be re-fitted.
Jenny is a well marked Blackbelly and is of good size. She's been a prolific producer, and true to her nature, a fantastic mother! We're looking forward to her year 2000 lamb by a registered Montadale ram. All our Blackbelly eves are bred to a Montadale for a second set of F-1 lambs. Our first F-1's were sired by a purebred Cheviot, and we are hoping that a Montadale will bring as much substance to the flock as the Cheviot did during his tenure.
The next photo is one of our first set of planned F-1 lambs. In a few short weeks, this next photo is one of our first set of planned F-1 lambs. In a few short weeks this ewe lamb and her "sisters" will be delivering the first set of planned F-2 lambs. It has been an interesting study between these lambs and their dams. We have been able to observe a unique personality difference between the two and have formulated a tentative hypothesis that the centuries of domestication between the Cheviot provided a mellowing influence on the lambs.
Although market trends often demand much larger sheep, for us, our smaller framed flock works quite well. We're able to work them without having to tussle with an animal weighs in excess of 200 pounds, and although we're working toward toward a heavier meat animal, that doesn't necessarily mean they have be huge. We seek a better meat type meat type frame and will continue working toward that goal. Moving forward with our flock has become somewhat easier now that most people have realized that our little brown ewes are sheep and not goats.
When we first brought our small group of Blackbelly's to this area, we had to contend with our state considering them "exotic" which meant paying paying for the privilege of keeping them, registering each animal with the state Animal Industry Board and being denied the right to take them across the Missouri River (that was for the protection of the Big Horn Sheep I guess) and having to document and report all additions and losses, including that those we butchered for our own consumption. (The lamb produced through the Blackbelly is exceptional in flavor, lower in fat content, and cholesterol!) It took two years of argument with that state agency before our sheep were accepted as "Domestic," and the restriction were ended. It was a relief to have these restrictions lifted, especially after the long hours of research, arguments, unanswered questions,, and the financial drain of having to pay the state to have our sheep. When we did prove our case to the state, there was no precedence for reimbursing what we'd payed to the agency. But it was a barrier broken, a prejudice ended! Needless to say we take pride in that accomplishment.
We would certainly be very interested in hearing from others who are raising livestock "considered out of the norm, and would to share information, both positive and negative.
Note:
Click here to see the
little lamb with only her face showing as a new mother with twins.
Until Next Time,
Linda
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