Although our
family has been involved in commercial and registered sheep production for three
generations the club lamb phase didn't start until 1991 with the purchase of Lew
Cox keeper ewe lambs and the flock of George Scott.
Lew's flock consisted of mainly Crazy
Horse genetics through Fred Knop. Lew owned many great rams but the most notable
was Alpha the twin brother to Fred's Omega ram. Omega needs no
introduction to the club lamb world. Also of note was White Horse who was
later sold to the Roy Family. Much of Roy's success can be traced to this
great ram. Lew also had earlier breeding that included two Meat Man sons (Marx
45 son) they paved the way for a great foundation. We purchased all of Lew's
keeper ewe lambs in 1991 when he sold out. They included nine Alpha daughters.
That same year we purchased the
entire George Scott family flock. These ewes had been very successful for many
years at all levels of competition including a class winner at Houston. These
ewes were predominately hamp. They were extremely hard muscled, long hind
saddled, stylish, meaty productive ewes. The genetics were provided by
Barry Ward and Sonny Haas. Very little was ever known about their real genetics
but their production in our flock was tremendous.
From 1992 to 2006, I have
concentrated on developing the maternal side of the equation. I have
worked to make them very consistent genotypically and phenotypically. To
that end I have selected rams from Mel Marx's three main stud ram
producing ewes. (Marx 0064, Marx 0065, and Marx 57, a daughter of Marx
0065) Over the past several years, I have used 3 sons of Marx 64- Marx
70 and Marx 71 (triplet brothers) and Marx 115. I have used a son of
Marx 57-Marx 316. (He is a maternal brother to the Marx 06 ram used so
successfully by Fred Knop.)
I have been reluctant to try an outcross
hamp on my highly linebred Marx based Suffolk ewe flock due to the "hide
and hock" problems so prevalent in the hamp blood lines today. However,
the hamps bring so many good things to the table and the judges today
seem to require a "hamp look" to win the big shows.
Therefore, in the fall of 2005, I used the 1st
hamp ram. He was a Cash grandson out of a Marx 60 daughter from Al
Kjeldgaard in Nebraska. He produced a very consistent outstanding set of
lambs. His untimely death prevented his use in 2006.
In 2006, I purchased 3 new hamp rams - Whiteaker
610 (we call "Ultra Sound") (Ultra x Ultra daughter), Miller BK 113
(Miller 0-938 x Masterpiece daughter) and Gearhart 205 (a double bred
Miller ram). I was very excited about the quality and consistency of the
2007 lamb crop.
I purchased 3 new rams for the fall of 2007. One was
purchased from Dave Whiteaker. We call him "Ultra Complete." He is an
Ultra son out of a Leverage daughter. His name says it all. He combines
the tremendous loin, hip and hip-loin junction of the Ultra line and the
massive rack shape of the Leverage line of hamp, while still maintaining
a jack front. The second ram purchased is Miller 330. We call him "Joe
Bob." He was purchased at Sedalia from Jim Miller Hampshires and was
class winner of the yearling crossbreds. The Miller family used him last
year as a lamb and sired a great set of lambs for them. He is co-owned
with the Joe Barker Family. The third ram was also purchased at Sedalia
from Hindman. He is a March son of Stetson out of a Shaggy daughter. His
ear tag #747 is appropriate. His wedge shape, hard-sleak-tubular design
is exciting. He will be exposed to my replacement ewe lambs this fall. I
have bred 20 ewes AI'd to Caesar, Marx 70, and Mayer Red Tag 99 for
January lambs.
Stop in and see for yourself. We are trying hard to
produce a "hamp-looking" sheep without loosing the structural soundness,
thin hide, hard muscle and maternal ability of the Marx Suffolk base. |
