This has been one historical winter here in Western NY! Over 110 inches of snow, too many (>15) days below 0, and storms galore. While most people would probably agree that spring is coming in like a lion, on our farm, spring always comes in like lambs... Literally!

We finished lambing in early February (I know, I'm slow on the updates!) and ended with 12 purebred Lincoln lambs: 6 ewes and 6 rams. We also had 3 Lincoln/Hampshire crosses that still descendants from my very first sheep, Juliet. We have already sold many if the lambs, and a few cull ewes and are working in adding some more ewes to our flock this summer. Dad is determined to breed 15 Lincolns next year, so it looks like we will be expanding a bit. Those of you who have been following us for a while know that last year was a terrible year with regards to lambing, and thankfully this year was much more successful. I think we aired out all our bad luck (hopefully for a while!).

March ended with a storm dropping almost a foot of new snow (see photos below), but now that April is here, we are hoping spring is here for good. Dad and I trimmed some hooves last week, sheared a ewe that got missed in December, and started to clean up the barn. Spring is never a fun time on a farm with the amount of mud everywhere. I really cannot wait for it to dry out!

The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is right around the corner and in a couple weeks it will be time to start washing the lambs and ewes who are going this year. It's hard to believe it's almost that time of year.

We have also been very busy continuing to wash our winter fleeces for more blankets and yarn. We got a beautiful shipment of blankets and yarn in a couple weeks ago and I'm hoping to send more soon to keep up with the demand.

Also a shout out to those who have been following me! Thank you for your awesome support and wonderful comments and encouragement! If you are interested in subscribing, please use the box on the right hand side of the page to receive emails whenever a post is published. :)

This past weekend was the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, as I posted about last time. It is hands-down my favorite weekend of the year. We get to see what everyone else's lambs look like, get to see friends we haven't seen since last fall (or even last year at this show), and just have fun! When I started showing, the shows made me nervous, but I've learned to just relax and have fun with my sheep. 

We placed about middle of the pack, which is about where we usually are. Our yearling ewes were small this year for whatever reason, and due to our poor lambing season, our ewe lambs were born close to the show cutoff and were small as well. Our yearling ram, Ben, didn't do as well as I had hoped because he was the tallest, longest ram in the ring. But I'm still proud of him and there's always next year! Over the years I've learned that it's not about where you place (that part is totally up to the judge, and would change from one judge to another), as long as you are happy with what your sheep look like.

I had the pleasure this weekend of helping Brian Larson, the president of the National Lincoln Breeders Association, prepare his sheep and show. Over the last several years, he has been experimenting with artificial insemination (AI) in his Lincolns. Currently, the success rate for our breed (and most sheep breeds actually) is only about 30-40%, due to sheep's small and complex reproductive system. The process is actually surgical. The only breed of sheep that has successfully been doing AI is the Icelandic breed. This breed was isolated on the island of Iceland for so long that their reproductive systems have evolved differently, and therefore vaginal AI has a 60-80% success rate! Because the process in Lincolns is surgical and does not have a good success rate, it is fairly expensive and not many people have been experimenting with it yet in our breed.

The differences that Brian has seen in his AI breed are amazing! The semen he has been using has come from rams in the UK. Here in the U.S. we have a "bigger is better" mentality that definitely comes out in our animal breeding. American Lincolns are much taller and thinner throughout the shoulders; they have lost the "stockiness" of the British sheep. Also through our breeding, we have lost much of the wool's ability to create locks. This is hard to see without comparing his AI sheep to American sheep, and without an understanding of wool. The three AI sheep that he brought to the show were definitely shorter to the ground, but extremely robust throughout the shoulders. Brian shows in full fleece, meaning the yearlings have not been shorn in about a year, but due to their improved wool quality and his clean conditions, the wool is beautiful! He also said that his AI sheep have a much different temperament than American sheep; they are much more curious and laid back.... I guess similar to the Brits themselves!

While it is an expensive process, he has been seeing some great results and ended up winning Supreme Champion Ram. (For those of you non-sheep showing people, they choose a top ram and ewe from each breed, and then all the breeds together compete for "best of the best"). Hopefully in the future, I'll have the time and ability to also experiment with this, but in the meantime there's other things I need to work on breeding into my flock!

Thanks to Brian for allowing me to help show and for all the knowledge you've passed onto me over the years!

It's time again for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! It's of our family's favorite times of the year and we look forward to seeing how our lambs look compared to everyone else, and seeing friends we haven't seen since last fall (or last year's show!). Unfortunately, our sheep aren't looking as good this year as we always hope, but you never know!

If you're in the area, the show is held at the Howard County Fairgrounds, West Friendship, MD.
Entry to the fairgrounds is free and goes Saturday 9-6, Sunday 9-5.

Look for our red sign with the apples and leaves around it in the big main sheep barn next to the show ring!