United Suffolk Sheep Association

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February/March 2004

It’s the first of February, we have been lambing heavy for the past two weeks, and my old brain has about as much knowledge as a drunken sailor.  If this isn’t bad enough, I look like one;  I haven’t shaved in a week, and I can’t remember the last time I had my hair cut.  I just read an article in our local paper that sleep was very essential for creativity;  it goes on to say that sleeping brains continue working on problems that baffle us during the day, and the right answers may come after eight hours of sleep.  I’m sure whoever came up with this study was brilliant and it probably is a pure fact, but you can be sure that they have never lambed out a large flock of ewes.  Eight hours of sleep in a night is a joke at this stressful time.  As incoherent as I may be at this time, few mistakes are made.  My lifetime of lambing ewes seems to make everything almost automatic, sort of like cruise control in a car. 

            At this time in my life, I still do a lot of the things that my father did.  I can still hear him say, “if the water pails freeze in a lambing barn, it’s too cold for newborn lambs.”  We clean the barn when the first lamb comes, and we spread straw sometimes two times a day just to make things bright and clean.  The joy of watching baby lambs play in the straw is a reward in itself.  Leaving bales for them to play on is also an entertaining part of the lambing process.  My father seldom ever changed his overalls; he wanted them to smell like the sheep.  He used to tell me that the ewes didn’t know whether he was a man or a sheep because of the smell of blood and slime on him.  This is a fact when helping lambs to nurse for the first time; many times I find ewes licking on my pants as well as the lambs.  The only trouble with this procedure was my mother always used to complain about the smelly, stiff clothes that would almost stand up by themselves; my wife complains about this today. 

            One of the things I do differently today, especially at night, is to carry a bottle of warm milk, almost hot, to the barn.  If lambs are a little weak or clumsy, an ounce of milk can really fire them up.  The steam just rolls off of them, and I can feel them shake and quiver as they get stronger.  This is always a special feeling for an old shepherd.  We are having many triplets this year; each ewe is always bagged heavy, and I will milk her out in my empty bottle and give each lamb four ounces of her milk.  This is a very quick way of doing things.  The lambs are always great in the morning, and it’s seldom that they are not nursing by themselves.  We keep the old outstanding ewes around as long as possible.  At times it takes longer for these ewes to get in full milk production and to get over the stress of lambing.  I never take the lambs from these ewes; instead I’ll nurse them on a bottle with a little milk for maybe a week.  Lambs, like kids, need their mother.  Lamb bars and cold milk give me the chills.  My family kids me about helping lambs with a little milk, but you can be sure it’s of great importance to the lambs.  I remember an old Shrop ewe that had two fifteen-pound lambs and got mastitis after four days.  I immediately started bottle-feeding the lambs but never took them from the ewe.  Even after the ewe got better, I continued to bottle-feed them for four weeks just because it was a fun project.  When one of these lambs grew up to be Champion Shropshire Ram at Louisville, I reminded my sons that my little project paid off. 

            Another important thing is grafting triplet lambs onto ewes that have singles; this is pretty easy with a large flock as there are always ewes lambing.  We take the triplet lamb, soak it with the ewe’s fluid, then tie its feet so it can’t get up.  When the ewe’s lamb gets up, untie the triplet, and the ewe never knows the difference.  Like my father, I want the ewes in great condition.  It’s far better to have ewes be fat than be on the thin side.  Hopefully they can get exercise each day.  We chase ewes that haven’t lambed out of the barn while we put silage and shelled corn in the mangers.  Our lambing barn is 125 feet long and 50 feet wide.  Those ewes never stop walking until we open the doors to let them back in.  Last, but not least, get rid of trouble-making ewes as quickly as possible.  Never cull your ewe flock in the fall.  Ewes are now selling for 55 to 57 cents per pound; now is the time to sell them.  You can be sure it’s a lot easier at this time when the trouble she has caused is fresh in your mind. 

            Every weekend, my son George brings his kids over to cut tails, tag, and vaccinate for over-eating as well as a booster of Bose.  The kids always try to fill a 10-quart pail full of the tails and are disappointed if, at the end, the tails don’t fill the pail. 

            Enough of my rambling about lambing; I’m sure you all have your own way of doing it.  It goes without saying I have probably been tough on the big sheep this past year, which in a way, I regret.  When one makes a living from the land and the livestock, views are much different than a lot of you good breeders doing it for a hobby, having fun, and sharing the great bonding experience with your family.  For those of you who read my articles, I’m sure you realize we are going back to the middle of the road with our Suffolk sheep.  In short, we feel that this will be the trend in the sheep business as it was in the cattle business.  With that being said, I’ll always love the majestic beauty of the big sheep; what other animals can match the pure style, grace, and wonderful look that these sheep have?  There is not another breed of sheep or species of livestock that is more friendly or docile than the big Suffolk sheep.  For those of you breeding them, then more power to you.  While on the subject of power, I’m very curious just how big they’ll be in another ten years;  I hope I’ll be around to see it.

            While on the subject of offending people, I have a feeling I’ve upset many of you folks who are judging the market lambs shows today.  My remark about having a packer judge our lamb show created a big controversy, to say nothing of my remark about some of these old packers spitting tobacco juice on you young fellows’ white basketball shoes.  The point I was trying to get across is many of these lambs need for more finish.  There should be no need to put them in a feedlot for 30 days after the show.  Hopefully I’ll never hear the term “hard as a rock” in the future.  I’m afraid that these lambs will taste  as hard as they feel. 

            I was able to attend the annual meeting at Louisville and came away very impressed.  I feel we have a very enthusiastic board led by Bob Wagner as our president.  I met Bob for the first time:  here is a man that can talk and relate to everyone, a man you would love to have as your friend or neighbor.  We honored past president David Bogue and John Eagle as men of vision, courage, and conviction;  I think that we’ll feel the same way about Bob Wagner.  On the subject of John Eagle, my grandson Jeff and I were a little disappointed.  We felt John would have some humorous words of wisdom for all of us, maybe next time.  Last, but not least, to be honored was Andy Asberry for his long years of service and for being an all around good moral human being.

            Voted to our board was Donna Mays, long time Suffolk breeder.  I’m always amazed at Donna:  here is a woman that never gets old and always looks good.  I’ve been told that she can outwork most men.  Perhaps the most important member was Willard McLaughlin, a market lamb breeder who also breeds “middle of the road” sheep.  The number one priority of the Suffolk Association must be to get the market lamb people back to registering their sheep; hopefully Willard can do this.  Jeff Sandage, top Suffolk breeder is going to handle our money, and, by the size of him, this should be no problem.  Bill MacCauley was voted vice president.  Bill is not only a top breeder, but he has done many things for the junior breeders.  I feel that he has a wonderful mother that knows just about everything.  There’ll be no mistakes made in this family.  Last, but not least, Jim Heggemeier has spent his life breeding Suffolk sheep.  When the history of the Suffolk breed is written, the names of Jim’s father, Bill Heggemeier, Larry Mead, and of course Jim will go down as people who perhaps did more to promote Suffolk sheep than anyone.

We are always talking about improving and making more money from our Suffolk News.  The board must appoint Steve George for this job.  He knows every breeder in America, and there are few flocks that don’t have George Brothers pedigrees. He is well-liked and can probably get any breeder to put an ad in our outstanding magazine.  The one person I probably should have started with is our wonderful secretary Annette Benson.  The most important person for any livestock registry is the secretary.  Mrs. Benson is a true caring lady who cares about all of us and loves Suffolk sheep. 

            In closing, I heard a couple of fellows talking about competition.  After hearing them talk, I told them that the two most competitive things in America were market lamb breeders and our great churches of steel and brick with parking lots bigger than most sheep pastures.  The gimmicks to sell lambs are outstanding; what some breeders don’t realize is that some lambs might bring more at the livestock yards.  Lambs are now bringing $1.26 per pound.  Talk about big and easy money.  What other species of livestock can return this profit?  I have visited quite a few different big churches in my city of Kalamazoo with several members of my family.  They are things of pure beauty with three to eight piece bands and two or three polished singers.  These great churches move the congregation with upbeat music and have a hundred programs to bring people in, make people happy, and keep people coming back with a special, spiritual feeling.  These churches have people meet you in the parking lot to welcome you as you drive in, offer coffee and donuts, and even have Super Bowl parties on their giant screens.  These churches are doing their utmost to bring people in and keep them there.  Let’s hope that the market lamb people can keep their kids in the sheep business in the same way as they get older.