Belle and Liam

Breeding season is beginning a little early this year.  Belle, one of last year's market lambs, has been moved into the back paddock with Liam.  This is an experiment, of sorts, to see what kind of lambs we get from crossing a meat breed ewe with one of our Border Leicester rams.  We are curious to see how fast it grows, its rate of gain, and if it reaches show weight by the time the Buckwheat Festival rolls around next year.

We usually don't begin this early because we like to lamb in the warmer early spring weather and after the pasture grass begins to grow.  The rest of the ewes will be brought in early to mid-November.  For now, Liam gets the early nod.  He is equipped with a marking harness, so we will be able to calculate the approximate birth date.  Already we're curious... what will the lambs look like... what will their wool be like... dozens of questions floating through our minds.  We'll see what answers very, early spring brings!