New Stud

We had a wonderful weekend at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but managed to come home with a little something we weren't planning on.... meet Gerry! He's our unexpected, new yearling Lincoln ram. He was the Champion Lincoln Ram and the Best Fleeced Lincoln in the show. He was privately purchased from Locust Grove Farm in Delaware. We are thrilled to have him here and can't wait to see how he will do for us in the show ring and the breeding pen!

I Know It's Been Awhile...

A lot has happened since the last time I posted! I will try not to forget anything, but here goes:

        Champlain Valley Fair-
              Rambo, Glinda, and Mercedes went to this show, with Rambo winning Champion Oxford Ram in the Youth and Open Meat shows. Glinda was Champion in the Youth Show, while Mercedes was Reserve. Mercedes was the Open Meat Champion. I placed 4th in Intermediate Showmanship and 1st in Wool Lead Line.

           The Big E!-
                 Rambo and Mercedes both attended the Big E 4H show with me. Rambo was the Champion Ram and Mercedes was the Champion Ewe. I placed 2nd in my Intermediate Showmanship and 2nd in Wool Lead Line, as well. The Vermont Quiz Bowl Team, which I was a part of, came in 1st and my Intermediate Blocking and Fitting Pair came in 2nd.

            New Ewe, New Breed-
                   I recently decided to add a breed to our farm. I wanted to be able to have a foot in both worlds of sheep showing (wool and meat) but still be able to support my love of large-sized breeds, so I decided to purchase a bred Natural Colored Lincoln ewe from Wool Hollow Lincolns in Jericho, VT. She should have been due in March, but.. well, keep reading!


             Lambs!-
                    The first ewe to lamb was Hannah, the new Lincoln! She lambed on January 28th and had two white ram lambs. Not at all what I was expecting or hoping for, but I am certainly glad they are here!
                     Glinda decided not to follow her usual pattern of February 12th lambing. She lambed February 8th instead and had twin ewe lambs, which was exactly what I would hope for after several dry spells in my ewe lamb population!
                     Now we just need to wait on the rest.....


I think that covers most of what has been going on here in Orwell, VT,  but I'm sure plenty more will be happening soon enough! We are excited to be visiting the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year, though we are still undecided as to whether or not I will show. I will be making my usual trips to Northeast, The Big E Oxford Show (Perhaps the Lincoln Show, too) and Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival. I plan to show at Addison, Champlain, and the Big E as I have in past years, but I'm also considering showing at Rhinebeck. I'm open to any suggestions as to shows/ festivals I should visit or show at, so if you have any please feel free to share them with me!

 Carter, one of Hannah's lambs

Rosie and Mary Lou

Carter and Conway

Rambo at The Big E

Champion Oxford Ewe

2nd Place Showmanship at the Big E

Hannah, the Lincoln

Addison Field Days 2013

Champion Oxford Ram with Rambo! It was a great year at ACFFD. Here are the placings:

4H Show-
 3rd place AOB Yearling Ram
2nd place AOB Aged Ewe

Open Show:
  1st place Yearling Ram
Champion Oxford Ram
2nd place Aged Ewe


Unfortunately I was unable to bring more sheep this year, due to a sick lamb and a psychotic yearling ewe.

NEYSS

New ewe lamb, purchased from Misty Meadows Oxfords at the New England Sale this weekend. "Mercedes" will be a great addition to our slick shorn flock this year.

Sheep for Sale

GLINDA

Proven ewe, she is 3 years old and was purchased from Clarkshire Farms. Always twins and has no trouble lambing or raising the lambs. All shots are done and she is registered. $200

CASH 

Half Oxford Natural Colored ram lamb, born 3/2/13. Picture is a month old, so he has grown. $150

  

STALLONE

Born 2/12/13, also a very old picture. He is registered and up to date on all shots. $150

Latest Additions

Oliver , Shetland 

 Quincey, Shetland

Lucy, my new RR Oxford yearling ewe, purchased from Reisdorf Family Oxfords and sired by Apple 09-21 NNP QR

Lamb for Sale

Born 3/2/13. Half Oxford Natural Colored ram lamb. Not registered, but could be if you wanted to. Great for meat or wool and perfect as a flock sire. He is my youngest lamb and is one of the biggest I have. If interested, comment or give me a call at (802) 948-2348

Cash

Malia finally lambed! Cash, the 16 pound ram lamb, was born sometime last night. He's the last lamb of the year. His father was Corby, the Oxford ram lamb out of Glinda last year.

Fleeces and roving for sale

I have 2 white Bluefaced Leicester/ Shetland fleeces. Beautiful, healthy fleeces; $20 for one and $30 for the other. I also have gorgeous black roving from a natural colored ewe that would be great for spinning, whether you're a beginner or an expert. $3.50 an ounce

Stallone and Willis

Stallone and Willis, twin ram labs born 14 lbs each from Glinda and Rambo. Both are doing well and growing quickly. I had to pull Willis, the first lamb, because he had a big head...

Rambo out and about in the snow storm.

Gus staying warm in the barn.

Lambs will be coming any day now! Both of the ewes will almost definitely be having twins, and Glinda could be having triplets! 

Sold Curby...

We finally sold Curby, our Oxford ram lamb, to a man in New Hampshire. Glad to see him go to a good home, but we will miss him. At least now we have room for the lambs we will be expecting very soon, some of which are his!

Thanks to Sandy Eccard, NH,  for her purchase of Nola, our Oxford ewe lamb! We still have her twin brother Corby for sale, so let me know if you might be interested!

http://raymondhilloxfords.webs.com/ Visit us at our new website! Not all info is up, but it's coming!!

Two down!

Today my BFL/BL/Shetland ewe and my natural colored ewe lamb are sold and we are now down to 6 sheep! But we still have an Oxford ewe lamb, an Oxford ram lamb, and a natural colored ram lamb for sale, so if anyone is interested, you can comment on this, email me or call me at (802) 948-2348.

The Big E!!

           My last show of this year was down in Springfield Mass. at the Big E! I only brought down one ram and we got a Champion Oxford Ram from him and he was also one of the 4 pulled out for the Supreme Drive. Vermont was represented well from all the 4-Hers that went down this weekend. Last year we had no delegates and this year we had 8! It was a great year for showing!

Sheep for sale!!

I've got 4 seep for sale! 2 ewes and 2 rams:

Champion Natural Colored Ram at Champlain Valley Fair. $100 Registered, Rabies certificate

Oxford Ram Lamb. Registered, Rabies Certificate- $300

                                      Natural Colored ewe lamb. Rabies certificate, Registered- $100

                                      2 Year old white ewe, possibly bred. Has lambed. Rabies. $100

ACFFD

Another busy week at Addison County Field Days! This year I brought 3 of my Oxfords to show there. and here are some of the show results:

4H Show-
-6th place showmanship (out of 14)
AOB MEAT
-Second place Jr. Ram lamb, and Reserve Champion
-Second place Aged Ewe
-Third Place Jr. Ewe lamb
-Second place Daughter/ Dam
-Second place Flock

Open Show-
OXFORDS
-Second place Jr. Ram Lamb, Reserve Champion
- Third place Aged Ewe
-Third Place Jr. Ewe Lamb
-Second Place Daughter/ Dam

Rambo, My Reserve Champion Ram

New pics

Slowing down...

Things are slowing down for spring right now: all ewes have lambed, sheep have been shorn, tails docked. We had a grand total of 6 lambs: 4 rams and 2 ewes. We were hoping for some more ewes, but we're happy with what we've got. So what's next? Weaning and then eventually the shows. After that almost all of the lambs will be sold, but I am planning on keeping Nola, my Oxford ewe lamb, and Tuck, my natural colored ram lamb. We will be hoping to sell 2 of our yearling ewes and I will be buying an Oxford ram.
    On the down side Liam has an infection in his tail... It never does really end.