July Update

It's been a long time since the last blog post, so here is a little update and some pictures.

Lambing started and ended with purebred Hampshire ewes this year. Our first lamb was born February 9 and our last lamb was born May 15 (next year we are hoping lambing season won't stretch out this far). The sires we used this year were Bell Hank 21Z, Prairie Winds 6Y and our black Suffolk cross ram. The majority of our ewes chose to lamb in March when we got some extremely cold weather here in Alberta and this didn't make lambing easy. Even though the weather made it a tough year we are very happy with how this year's lamb crop turned out.

We had to wait longer than usual before moving the ewes out onto pasture because of the late winter. We sold our first batch of 25 lambs and a few cull ewes on June 3. They made two pretty nice pens of feeder lambs averaging 79 and 89 lbs. per animal.

 About a week ago we made a new acquisition of two alpacas to be used as guardian animals for the flock when they are out on summer pasture as we had a couple of lambs go missing. They are currently in a 'trial phase' with 20 ewes to see how they will work out.

We are looking forward to participating in the Priddis and Millarville Fair again this year coming up in August and are also hoping to head back out to Regina this year to show at Agribition in November (weather permitting of course).

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Alberta Winters

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year!

We have been getting our fair share of snow here this month. This morning it took over three hours to clean out the driveway with the tractor and we had to shovel out the ram shelter and the path through a drift to the water trough for the ewes. The snow piles and drifts from earlier in the month grew again with the snow and wind we got last night. We are thankful that we are not lambing in this weather but we did get an early Christmas surprise when one of the cows calved a couple of days before Christmas. Both mom and baby are doing good.

We are expecting lambing to start for most of the flock in late February/ early March. The rams we used this year were Bell Hank 21Z, Prairie Winds 6Y and our commercial black Suffolk ram.

Here are some pictures of the farm yard with the snow

Canadian Sheep Breeder's Scholarship

This year I was chosen as one of the recipients of the Canadian Sheep Breeder's Scholarship. I feel honoured to be chosen and would like to congratulate my fellow recipient Emily Mastine! A short profile of the scholarship recipients can be found on the Canadian Sheep Breeders' Association Website. I encourage anyone who is eligible to apply next year, I know from experience that scholarships can really have an impact when paying for school. Thank-you to the CSBA for supporting my educational pursuits, I will put the money to good use!

PWH at the Priddis and Millarville Fair

On Saturday we attended our 5th Priddis and Millarville Fair. Friday was a busy day of washing, trimming and delivering fair entries and we worked until we ran out of daylight on the 15 sheep entered in the fair.

Saturday was an early morning, waking up just after 4:00 to pack and load the show string up so that we could make it to the fair grounds with time to spare. The sheep show started at 9:00 and it was good to see that there were lots of entries in all sections of the show like last year. We had stock entered in the purebred, grade, market lamb, junior and coloured sections of the show. Once again we also enjoyed warm, sunny weather for the outdoor event and there were a lot of people that came out to see the fair. 

The final placing for the Purebred Ewe 2 yrs. or older class. 

The Coloured Sheep class being judged.

The fair is always a highlight of our summer and we can't wait to go back next year. It was great to visit with all the sheep producers we have got to know over the years and see some new faces as well. A big thank-you to all the organizing volunteers, judges and sponsors that work so hard to make this day a success! 

Our complete show results can be found by clicking the Show News tab.

PWH at the All Canada Classic 2013

Last Thursday we packed up the trailer and drove out to Barriere BC for our first All Canada Classic as exhibitors. With the recent flooding in Alberta earlier in the week we were unsure if we would even be able to make the trip and the day before we left we were sure we would have to make a detour. Luckily thanks to the hard work of the road crews the highway through Canmore was cleared and we made it into town before dark. It was good to see the barn full of sheep and that lots of breeders were able to make the trip to Barriere safely.

Friday the sheep were vet and tattoo checked before being painted with the numbers for the sale. The vet and culling committee worked a very long day to get through the over 300 sheep that were entered in the show and sale. This process is very important to ensure that the animals being sold are all up to a high health standard and have legible tattoos.

The ewe lambs with their lot numbers for the sale.

Show day was Saturday and the Hampshire class was judged by Raymond Read from South Africa. Our lambs stood 5th and 7th in a tough class of Jr. Ewe Lambs. Saturday night was the Banquet and we enjoyed a lamb dinner.

Left: Prairie Winds 40A Middle: Prairie Winds 52A

The sale was held on Sunday with over 300 sheep moving through the sale ring. Luckily the order went alphabetically by breed and the Hampshires weren't too far down the line. 

Prairie Winds 40A sold for $400

Prairie Winds 52A sold for $350

Thank-you to our buyers, the show committee and sponsors for putting on a great event and making our first Classic a successful one. Looking forward to maybe seeing everyone again next year in Ontario.

Summer Synergy Fundraising Auction

Have you heard about Summer Synergy? What about the Summer Synergy Fundraising Auction?

This year the Senior competitors all submitted an auction item as part of the marketing component to be eligible for scholarship money. The proceeds from the auction will benefit the event and go towards supporting the youth that attend this event who are passionate about agriculture. There are some great items, but be sure to check out my brother Dale's entry: http://www.livestockxchange.ca/sale/summer-synergys-online-fundraising-auction/bullseye-print
I featured the original drawing on a previous post when I won the Calgary Stampede Art Scholarship for the rural division with it in 2011. The winning bid will take home a framed art print of 'Bullseye'.

Make sure to register as a bidder and bid on an item or items that grab your eye. The auction ends on June 18 at 7:00 PM. Your support of this event and its youth participants is greatly appreciated!