First Valais Blacknose (F-1)

Ewe Lambs Born

At Swayze Inn Farm in 2019

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   (Photo Credit- Rachel May)

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Those following the progress of raising Valais Blacknose Sheep in the U.S. should be pleased to hear that 

twin F-1 Valais Blacknose ewe lambs were born at Swayze Inn Farm on Tuesday, May 7.  The lambs have been named “Gemma” and “Gretchen”.  Delivery of the lambs occurred unassisted and their Dam (Molly) has proven to be an excellent mother.  The lambs are growing quickly.

 

F-1 Valais’ lambs are only the second tier of our getting to the point of having “pureblood” Valais lambs.  The F-1 ewe lambs, when old enough, will be artificially inseminated with pure Valais Blacknose ram semen (non-related ram) to produce F-2 ewe lambs.  When old enough, the F-2 ewes will be artificially inseminated with pure Valais Blacknose ram semen (non-related ram) to produce F-3 ewe lambs.  Finally, the F-3 ewe lambs, when old enough, will be artificially inseminated with pure Valais Blacknose ram semen (non-related ram) and the resulting F-4 ewe lambs will be able to be registered as “pure” Valais Blacknose ewes with The Valais Blacknose Sheep Association of North America.

 

Of course, it’s going to be a few years before any F-4 ewe lambs are born on our farm.  If all goes well…they will arrive in 2022; however, if we have a year when only “ram” lambs are born, we’ll be set back for another year.  This fall, we’ll be artificially inseminating 8 (foundation) Scottish Blackface ewes to produce F-1 lambs in 2020; and Gemma and Gretchen will be artificially inseminated to produce F-2 lambs in 2020.  We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that both Gemma and Gretchen produce “ewe” lambs!

 

Please check back with Swayze Inn Farm’s website to further updates on our progress with the Valais Blacknose sheep breed.