This first picture is Show Me 2.  She has been bred to Bellwether Horatio. She doesn't look very happy today.  I guess  the fact that she is almost ten years old (I don't know what that would be in "sheep years"), she's standing in the rain, and she is very pregnant would probably have something to do with that.   I guess I wouldn't look very happy either given the circumstance.  Show Me is our matriarch, the boss of the barn, the barn lot and the pasture, next to myself and "Mr. Farmer" as I affectionately refer to my husband, Mike.  She is first in line for everything and tells every other sheep exactly where to stand.  

After a hard beginning in this breed, when  we purchased Show Me several years ago we felt that the Lord had smiled on us.  She is the bedrock of our flock and our solid start in Barbados Blackbellies.  She will be ten years old in January 2009.  She descends from stock that was used to help ressurrect and perpetuate this breed when it was almost lost.  Her sire was a ram by the name of  Eric EDS019710P, one that Carol Elkins, owner of Critterhaven claimed was the most genetically sound ram of his time.  Her dam was Millie CRB019408 from the solid Charles Beam line.   She has contributed a great deal  to our success in Blackbellies.  She is a "Grand Old Dam" and we hope to have her many more years with her. 

We think we have some of the best ewes around.  I just love our ewes.  They all have good temperaments and good motherly instincts along with their good looks and good bloodlines.  I think they are so very important in the building of a flock.  Yes, rams influence a flock in the way that their genes are spread to all of the flock, but I believe our ewes are the ones who stabilize the flock, keeping them from being flighty and instilling in each generation the ease of everyday life on the farm.  They teach their lambs that its "no big deal" to be caught by their shepherd, and they are easy to deal with when we have to get our hands on them for hoof trimming, and they don't panic when the vet comes out for an inspection.  A good temperament is so important in an animal.  It is an inherited trait just like the color of their coat.  Granted some of their behavior is learned, but if you provide a safe environment, and practice good husbandry, your ewes will give you a good return for your efforts.  You always get out of something as much as what you are willing to put into it.  Do yourself a favor and start with good quality ewes, because they do influence your flock more than you realize.  Now, let's get acquainted with some of them, shall we?