We have a strict culling policy, which allows us only to keep the best ewes. We look for mothers who can lamb unassisted on pasture and claim and take care of lambs on their own. During lambing starting in mid-April, we check on the flock twice a day, and do ear tags, first shots, dock tails and castrate at about 12 hours old. This system is dependent on good mothers who won't leave their lambs. Our flock routinely gets grain prior to and during lambing. Sometimes we flush with grain before breeding, but otherwise these sheep do not get grain nor do they have access to a building. The ewes shown below are good representatives of our flock. See the fleece pages for more information on these ewes' fleeces.

This ewe is Dotcom. She had a single as a yearling, and twins as a two-year old. Her mother is Polly and her father is Caspian. She is an excellent mother. (Date of birth: 4/18/00)
This is Snowflake, daugther of Caspian and a black ewe. She singled as a yearling and had twin ewe lambs as a two-year old. Snowflake has wonderful wool and a very calm temperament.(Date of birth: 5/5/01)
This is Laura, daughter of Abigail and Caspian. She had a single white ram lamb as a yearling. Her wool is dark and crimpy. (Date of birth: 4/22/02)
Violet is a daughter of Caspian and Cinders. She unsuccessfully lambed as a yearling. All of our ewe lambs are exposed to rams in the fall; while most do get bred as yearlings, they don't always lamb successfully on their own. Unless there is a significant problem, I don't cull yearlings for poor lambing performance. Violet had a single lamb early, in the cold, and the lamb did not survive. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does in 2004. (Date of birth: 4/13/02)
Jasmine was the largest lamb ever born on our place. She was born a single to an older ewe. Didn't have the scale out, but I should have weighed her! She had a single ram lamb as a yearling. (Date of birth: 5/1/02)
In the foreground is a ewe lamb named 'Bianca.' This was Molly's fair lamb in 2003, and she received a first blue in her class. Bianca was a single lamb born to a yearling ewe and is a daughter of Barry and granddaughter of Caspian and Polly. Bianca is 3 1/2 months old in this picture, on pasture. We use electrified netting to divide the pasture into separate paddocks (in the background). (Date of birth: 4/18/03)