Panda off to Canada...

Jammers is a beautiful Natural-Colored Merino ewe...  she won numerous awards for us in 2009 including Champion Natural Colored Fine Wool Ewe, Reserve Champion Natural Colored Ewe, and she had the Champion Natural Colored fleece at the Michigan State Fair.  In the fall of 2009, she was bred to an exceptional black Merino ram and we had high hopes for what she would produce at lambing time.

It was a cold night in March of 2010 and we watched as Jammers went into labor...  After she pushed out her water bag, we saw two white feet appear followed by a pink nose.  Wayne and I were a little bit dissapointed when we didn't see the black lamb we had expected.  We had done everything possible to ensure color!  More than anything else we were hoping for a healthy lamb, but color would have been really nice.

Our momentary dissapointment immediately turned to amazement as we watched the rest of the lamb emerge from the birth canal...

Here was a lamb we could never have imagined...  He had amazing color, beautiful conformation, and personality to boot.

 

Jammers was an excellent mother and Panda (named for his Panda-like facial markings) quickly grew into an exceptional ram.

Wayne took the young ram to the 2010 Michigan Fiber Fest and he was right at home with all of the attention.

 

 

Panda earned the title of Champion Fine Wool Ram at the 2010 Michigan Fiber Fest and gained many fans during that weekend in August.  One of those fans happened to pass word on to a friend in Canada who was looking for a fine wool ram to cross on his flock.

Bill Stearman of Willow Garden Shetlands in Consecon, Ontario has been working on a breeding project creating Shetland/Cormo crosses and was looking for another ram to further "fine up" the fleeces of the resulting crosses.  Bill thought that Panda might just be the ram he was looking for.

After months of communication, a veterinarian visit, USDA paperwork, green tattoo ink, and a few phone calls, everything was in place for Panda to cross the border into Canada...

Bill drove to our farm yesterday and finally got to meet his new ram in person...  After months of communication I am pretty sure that he not only purchased a new ram, but has a few more people to count as friends - he is a very nice guy.

Ugly Dog's Farm Pandamonium left for Canada this morning...

We wish Bill and Panda all of the best...  We are very happy that Panda has found such a great home, although I must admit that the pasture seemed more than a little empty this afternoon as I fed the boys.  I have a feeling that Panda is one of those special animals that will always have a special place in our hearts.

This past fall, we bred Panda to Annie - another one of those special animals.  I wouldn't expect her to throw the color we had with Panda... but anything she does have will carry the recessive black color gene from him.

Time will tell what gift Panda has left here at Ugly Dog's Farm...
Annie could lamb at any time - tomorrow will be 147 days since they were put together.