Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Wintertime Bond

Bond is just a gorgeous ram. I liked him as a lamb, and he is maturing nicely as a yearling. He threw some nice lambs this year, and we look forward to seeing what he can do with some of our top ewes. He is actually Pompey’s grandson. As I've said, it’s a line that I like.




Bond’s yearling fleece test confirmed what I thought. His average was 20.5 with a standard deviation of 3.9, which is quite amazing really. That’s even better than his father’s test at the same age! Plus, he’s a full poll!

In addition to his grandfather, I also like the bloodlines on his mother’ side. V Creek Sarah is a good looking ewe! Her five year old micron test was 23.7, 5.3, 22.5%, which is also pretty special for her age.

Bond’s conformation is excellent as is his tail! I noticed that he seemed to improve all of the ewes he was put with last fall. He also carries spots and moorit, which turned out to be a nice bonus! He’s a great ram, in my opinion. Speaking of bloodlines, Bond's father, Nightcap, is also a very nice ram. His two year old micron test was: 21.4, 5.0, 23.4. That’s absolutely remarkable for a two year old Shetland ram! I’ve seen him in person, and I’ve seen some of his lambs, and I’m just impressed!

I really wanted to use Bond on more ewes this year, but I just couldn't do it with 18 ewes and four rams. Still, I think these rams can help the breed a lot, and I need to use them as much as I can. I'm planning on using Bond this fall again, so there's always that. I'd like to pull out one or two Pompey ewe lambs and put them under Bond, but I haven't decided yet on that. A lot can happen between now and fall. I may not be able to breed this fall, who knows? We almost didn't this year. I do know that we won't be breeding as many this fall as we have in the past. It's just time to pull back a bit and enjoy what we've built.
Bond is 57.4% UK.

4 comments:

Danny Hansen said...

I like the looks of the Dillon Lines as well, I think it's something about the legs......the "thigh" seems longer, creates a more 'regal' look.

Kelly said...

I have V Creek Sarah and her 2010 fall micron results are: 20.9 AFD, 4.4 SD and 20.9 CV, pretty impressive for an older ewe.
I also have her 2010 lamb, Solace, and her micron results were nearly identical. Great line of sheep.
Nice looking boy you have there, congrats and I hope to see more of his lambs in the near future.

Michelle said...

drool......

Jen and Rich Johnson said...

Danny,

Dillon certainly has produced some really nice sheep in NA. Without him, we'd have no gulmogets!

Kelly,

Wow, Sarah's numbers are out of this world! I've never seen an adult with such a fine fleece! Hold onto that one.

Michelle,

You always say the nicest things. Much appreciated.

Rich