The Final Four

I started with 70 lambs. A little less than half were ewe lambs. I am down to my final four. It was a good year selling ewe lambs. I had good demand. I could have sold many more than I had. I sold them earlier than previous years, too. I don't know if I kept the best ewe lambs, but I kept the ones that I wanted to add to my flock. Most of the rest of the ones I sold should be as good as the ones I kept.

Rosy:  Ms. Piggy's daughter

I figured I would keep Ms. Piggy's daughter, despite her being born with a broken leg. I put a cast on the leg and after six weeks, "Rosy" was as good as new. Ms. Piggy is 10 years old. There may not be many chances left to add her offspring to the flock. Besides being everybody's favorite, Ms. Piggy has always been one of my most productive ewes, birthing 3 to 4 lambs each year. The male that is twin to my keeper ewe lamb is also outstanding: stout, big boned, and well-muscled. I plan to use him for breeding.

The blind ewe's granddaughter

The second ewe lamb I chose was the granddaughter of the blind ewe. I had to cull the blind ewe this year due to her having an unsound udder. She was also getting more difficult to manage, as her blindness was total. She had triplets again this year. I raised 1.5 of them. The ram lamb was an exceptional specimen and it was hard letting him go. He was sold for breeding. The blind ewe has been one of my most productive ewes. She produced 23 lambs in her 8 lambings. Her daughter is 3 and has been raising good lambs, too. So, I kept her daughter from a split set of twins. The daughter is the tallest of the four ewe lambs I kept. She comes from a line of tall.

A keeper from the beginning

The other two ewe lambs I chose were split twins from yearling ewes. One of the lambs, I fell in love with as soon as it hit the ground. She had the "look." Her dam didn't disappoint me. She raised an excellent set of lambs, as good as any in the flock, despite her being a yearling. The male twin was chosen for breeding.  The final ewe lamb is the granddaughter of my longest-producing dairy ewe. Her dam also raised a good set of twins as a yearling. The lamb is about 8 percent Lacaune, 75 percent recorded. Ewes that produce good twins as yearlings usually go on to be top producers in the flock.

A little bit of dairy

The four ewe lambs have bonded. They all have good dispositions. I love how they shake their heads as they run. All four of them are pretty to look at. I'm proud of my final four.