Cross Breading

Lets talk sheep.

We started with a Dorset ewe and a Rambouillet Ram which made beautiful babies. Our Rambouillet ram became aggressive over time and actually killed one of our pregnant ewes. That was obviously not acceptable and we had to replace him. While searching for a new ram, we decided that wool was not desirable as we do not use it for anything. We also wanted a ram that would produce meat lambs with good temperment, good growth rates, and no wool. We landed on a katahdin ram and found one as a lamb that we were able to hand feed and raise ourselves. Our first birthing with the three dorset/rambouillet cross ewes and our katahdin ram, we had three lambs from two ewes...our youngest ewe was not ready and is now pregnant.

Time will tell how they mature. We intend to cull our lambs at 7months old which will make them ready for christmas.

Lets talk pork!

We have a plan...

In the previous post, we discussed our two breeds of pigs. The Kune grows slow but is friendly and does not root much. Yorkshires grow fast and big but are not friendly or easy to manage. After a tremendous amount of research, we found that with a few specific details, we might be able to create a hybrid that will contain the best of both animals. Now the Yorkshires produce larger piglets than the Kune. The Kune teen Gilt will most likely not work out well. To quote one old pig farmer we discussed this with, "well you'll probably kill her but they are your pigs."

Many would take that advice and stop right here. That conversation continued. We do not intend to use a gilt. We have our Kune Sow that has four litters under her belt and is very large for a Kune.

Our Yorkshire boar will be mature in three months. We will update posts throughout this process.