A NEW DIRECTION FOR THE OLD RAM

Hi, does her woolly coat get any longer than this? She looks to have a "clean undercarriage",does it extend all the way to the rear and up to the tail? I am hoping to use a clean shedding fat tail over the Assafs and if i can achieve a "clean undercarriage " the full length and up under the tail i will be very happy with that result.

Where did your Aussie embryo's come from NSW or Queensland? I am going to contact some people in Israel who are members of my LinkedIn group,because i have yet to see a shorn Awassi sheep in any of their pic's.Two come to mind immediately who are high up in the dairy sheep industry.

So i was thinking ,when a chicken goes through the "moult" it stop laying ,only to begin again after it has grown new feathers and to hasten the process it is recommended that you increase the protein in the feed .So it stands to reason that if you shear mid-lactation would the ewe not direct energy and food intake to regrow it again?

We have just come back from checking the 1080 fox baits and the elite group of ewes have started to lamb ,they are the Wiltshire Horns and they went to a Wiltipol ram.Also the "not so good shedders" have started ,they went to very good shedding W.H.Doper rams and a line of Wiltipol ewes that we purchased in lamb supposedly joined to a stud ram have also started.It is going to be a very busy time from now on i think......T.O.R.

The Old Ram-Australia said:

Hi, does her woolly coat get any longer than this? She looks to have a "clean undercarriage",does it extend all the way to the rear and up to the tail? I am hoping to use a clean shedding fat tail over the Assafs and if i can achieve a "clean undercarriage " the full length and up under the tail i will be very happy with that result.

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I was going to take a picture of her so you could judge for yourself but this morning was a bit of a rough morning so I forgot. I'll feet one sometime today and post it here for you. Her wool, that which keeps her warm in winter, does get longer. I'll also post a pic of one of them when their will is a year long. Please remember, these are mixed with sheep such as Lacaune or East Friesian etc, so the genetics from that line may also be incorporated into the wool formation.

The Old Ram-Australia said:

Where did your Aussie embryo's come from NSW or Queensland? I am going to contact some people in Israel who are members of my LinkedIn group,because i have yet to see a shorn Awassi sheep in any of their pic's.Two come to mind immediately who are high up in the dairy sheep industry.

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I personally did not but any embryo, (much too expensive for me) but Larry Meissegeir and Andy Karas are the persons who I know dealt in embryos for Awassi here in the states. Larry is who I bought mine from. His contract is here: https://m.facebook.com/larry.meisegeier
Andy is here https://m.facebook.com/karrasfarm/
I would personally talk to Larry first as I trust him more.

The Old Ram-Australia said:

So i was thinking ,when a chicken goes through the "moult" it stop laying ,only to begin again after it has grown new feathers and to hasten the process it is recommended that you increase the protein in the feed .So it stands to reason that if you shear mid-lactation would the ewe not direct energy and food intake to regrow it again?

Click to expand...

That's a good question and observation. As I don't have and have never dealt with hair sheep I can simply add my questions. For those who have hair sheep, when they begin to lose their hair do you find that you need to supplement their feed because they begin to lose weight? If so then I would say that lactating sheep would need some supplement as well, though a lactating sheep is normally in some supplement anyway so this in itself might be enough to keep the weight on and their milk production at normal levels.

I have hair sheep and they do not lose weight when they shed. Since I don't have good pasture, they get fed free choice grass hay and a measured amount of pellets.

G'day Gang,thanks for the links mystang,Andy Karas is in fact a long time member of the LinkedIn group,but i suspect his first priority is "making money " from sheep rather than an interest in the animals themselves.

Your observation on "shedding sheep",in the case of Hair breeds they evolved to naturally "shed" rather than in the case of wool sheep it is forced upon them in what seems to them to be unnatural circumstances and their natural response is to return to what they perceive as a normal situation.The difference i have noticed is that the Assafs have a totally different coat to the Aswassi's.

Please don't underestimate the amount of knowledge you have acquired with your sheep because "stuff" you take for granted will be come as a complete surprise to newcomers to sheep.Although we came to sheep over 20 years ago ,we came from 20 years of raising Goats (milk,meat and fiber) and because there are lots of similarity's between the two species we naturally had a big head start on someone who just purchased their first flock.BTW ,i would never cast judgement on anybody else's stock or methods as everyone comes at sheep from a slightly colored by their environment and stock.I look forward to the pictures "when time permits".

Yesterday the next step in the project was started ,we have a nice line of B.H. Dorpers which have just lambed and i introduced them to 2 young Persian rams which should prove interesting as the Persians carry the "speckle" gene and the dorpers are quite a meaty type.We have more B.H.'s which were joined to the Van Rooys and when they lamb they will join this new mating....T.O.R.

Ok, so this first picture is the same sheep whose picture I posted already. This is her underside. It's not real great but hopefully it'll give you an idea of what it looks like right now.


This next is a video of the same sheep after the game birth. She had not been sheered in a year. The back side is a bit dirty but that was due to her living conditions which have since improved, not her self.
This is a picture of the Awassi/East Friesian before we purchased her. Her wool though, is of a different texture than my other Awassi's so take it for what it's worth.

Next is a picture from sheering or 75% Awassi. Hopefully you'll be able to tell something from it.

This one is the same sheep.
View attachment 65544
That is her actual belly, not her honches.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth a million words (actually they don't say that last part but it sounded good,) so hopefully these will speak to you.

Concerning Andy,I agree and that is why I chose not to go with him. I suppose in the end it's "all about the money" but at least with the Larry I felt like he cared a bit more.

Thanks for that mystang,i tried the link pic ,but it would not work for me? In the first 2 she looks to be pretty clean along the belly and up the tail.The other ewe at first glance i would say has a "fair cut" of Border Leicester in her,those long curly locks look to be pretty broad "say 36 mic"?

Today's news : the first lamb born of the B.H.Dorper with a Van Rooy ram was born last night it will take a day or so to spot the impact of the VR though.A few more of the "mountain Wiltipol's" were born as well,i will need a day or two to "spot the spots".Have not had a chance to look at the elite group today but will see them tomorrow.

Today's pic's:The first two are out of Awassi ewes and i suspect a W.H.Dorper ram.they are almost 2t and their wool is very short ,with "clean undercarriages".The second one has twins (black and white and white) and i think is the same X as the first.The third pic is a "beauty",Aswassi ewe and ram and a great ewe lamb...hope you enjoy.......T.O.R. .

Love the lambs! Can’t wait to see more pictures! You are having fun with all these crosses aren’t you!

That's the pic that didn't upload properly.

Congrats on the lambs!!

Love those lambs

G'day folks,now because i am "definitely biased" i want you to be the judge of the lamb pic's.All the lambs are about 24 hrs old ,some a little less some a little more.Can you spot the difference in the bodies,between the B.h.'s and the W.H.'s? Also i can see a difference in the tails,can you ?

Checked the Elite group 5 more have lambed ,with 2 sets of twins.There were also a few more in the 2nd class group today.