PWH at the Canadian Western Agribition

The decision to enter Agribition was made back in September. It was a show I wanted to go to for a couple of years but either scheduling conflicts or bad weather had prevented us from making the trip from Alberta. 

The sheep left the farm on Wednesday morning and we were planning on having them arrive in Regina sometime that evening. However my parents who were driving the truck and trailer ran into a storm and had to stay overnight in Gull Lake and try to make it the rest of the way in the morning. 
Around 2:00 in the afternoon on Thursday they made it to Barn 5 and got unloaded. Later that afternoon the sheep were vet checked and the Commercial Sheep Show took place. I was planning on driving down that night from Saskatoon, but the road report still had a significant area highlighted with 'travel not recommended' so I stayed put and made the drive in the morning. 

Two of my ewes all settled in.

Friday morning I made it to the grounds around noon and started trimming sheep right away. I got three of my ewes done before the Purebred Show started at 2:30. There were lots of sheep in the barn and they were able to have five breed shows: Dorper, Dorset, Hampshire, North Country Cheviot and Suffolk. There were two other Hampshire breeders showing and I had four entries in the Hampshire section of the show: two yearling ewes and two ewes 2yrs. or older. In both classes my ewes came in 1st and 2nd place and got to advance to the Champion Hampshire Ewe class. My yearling ewe Prairie Winds 8Y won the Reserve Champion Ewe for the Hampshire breed. After the Grand Champions were crowned the Interprovincial Competition took place. I brought my four ewes back in along with a Yearling Hampshire ram from another Alberta breeder to make up the unit to compete against a Saskatchewan group of Hampshires, an Alberta group of Dorsets and a Saskatchewan group of Hampshires. After the show was over we went to the banquet and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

The Hampshire class of ewes 2 years and older. The middle ewe is Prairie Winds 1X and the ewe on the right is Prairie Winds 2X.

Saturday morning I was back at the barns early to feed and finish trimming my ewes for the Jr. Show. I wanted to make sure my animals looked their best as this would be the last year I would be young enough to enter in it. My yearling ewe Prairie Winds 8Y won the yearling class and my mature ewe Prairie Winds 1X placed 2nd in her class, both moved on to the Champion Class where Prairie Winds 1X won Reserve Champion. 

After the Jr. Show was over we sat and watched the SSBA sale, we didn't do any buying but there were definitely some ewes I would have liked to take home. That afternoon we finally had a chance to wander around and have a look at the massive trade fair and other exhibits. It was an eye opener to find out how much there was to see beyond the sheep barn. Just after 4:00 we walked over to the beef show ring to watch the RBC Beef Supreme Challenge. Of all the things going on at Agribition I would say that is a must see event because of all of the different breeds of Champion cattle showing in one ring. Sadly we weren't able to watch the Champions be selected because the sheep move out time was 6:00 and we had to get our stalls packed up. 

Watching the female portion of the Beef Supreme, there was so many animals we couldn't get them all in one shot.

The truck and trailer making their way back to Alberta on Saturday morning.

Overall it was a very successful and fun Agribition for PWH. We will be back next year for the show, hopefully driving through nice sunny weather and with more animals.

Sheep Snapshot Sunday: Agribition

Ribbons from the SSBA and Junior Shows at Agribition 2012.

Alberta Agiculture

This video has lots of facts about how awesome Alberta's agriculture industry is. Enjoy!

Rams for Sale

Here are pictures and links to pedigrees of the Hampshire rams I currently have for sale. 

Prairie Winds 2Y~ Pedigree

Prairie Winds 4X~ Pedigree

Comment for more information.

PWH at the Priddis & Millarville Fair

Last Saturday we travelled to our 4th Priddis & Millarville Fair with 20 sheep for the sheep show. We had entries in all section of the showing including Purebred, Grade, Market Lamb, Junior and Coloured Sheep which was why we had so many going. The day before was spent washing and trimming with a break in the afternoon to deliver our photography and art entries.
The number of entries was definitely up this year and hopefully next year the show will be just as big. It was a very good day for our family with success in many classes including the Champion Purebred Ewe and Ram. Because I won with these animals I was also chosen as the Award of Excellence winner  for the 12-18 yr. old category.

Tank aka Prairie Winds 1Y was the Champion Purebred Ewe, she also won this award last year as a ewe lamb.

My ram lamb Prairie Winds 21Z was the Champion Purebred Ram.

In the Grade section we had the 1st place Ewe Lamb and Ewe 2yrs. or Over and in the Coloured Sheep  section we had 1st place in the Coloured Sheep class and 1st place in the Coloured Ewe with Lambs class. For a full list of placings go to the Show News tab.

The fair is a lot of fun to attend and we will be back next year. The show is very relaxed and it is nice to see everyone have fun showing. Thank-you to all the volunteers and sponsors for putting on a great show and fair!

Why do sheep wear blankets?

Q: Why do sheep wear blankets?

A: Blankets or spandex tubes are worn by sheep that have been groomed for show to keep them clean until they go into the ring. A lot of work can go into washing and trimming an animal to make it look its best and usually this prep happens awhile before show time. This gap of time between grooming and showing gives your animals the opportunity to really get dirty, it is amazing how you can put a clean blanket on your lamb one night and come back the next morning to find it not looking so clean anymore. Blankets definitely save time the morning of the show because they eliminate most of the need to spot wash and dust off any shavings/hay.

Fluff aka Prairie Winds 1X in her blanket won at the Provincial Sheep Show in 2011.

This is one of the most common questions people have when we have our sheep on display before a show. Most think their purpose is too keep the sheep warm, but even though some of the lambs have been slick shorn this is not the case. The shows we usually attend are during the summer so it is nice and warm and during the winter their wool provides enough insulation that blankets are not needed like they might be for horses. 

We order our blankets from the CCWG in Lethbridge where they come in three sizes. A size one fits smaller lambs with full fleece or a bit larger lambs that are slick shorn. Most of our market lambs end up wearing ones if they are under 120 lbs. if they are a bigger framed lamb then they wear a size two. Smaller ewes also wear twos and the rest of the ewes and rams wear threes. Fluff is pictured here wearing a size three.

Lamb tubes are also another option, they are made from spandex and come in a variety of different colors and patterns. This website really has a great selection of tubes and even colored blankets: Show Stopper Equipment .

Sheep Snapshot Sunday: Vermillion Fair

My ewes at the Vermillion Fair last week.