Barnyard to Backyard

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A DASH OF COLOR

Weston Borcher: ‘We’re breeding for really pretty sheep. Show sheep.’ 9P >@9 D8K?<IJ Tribune Staff Writer

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eston Borcher’s sheep at the Borcher family farm northwest of Powell add color in the world of sheep that are more often than not either entirely black or entirely white. Some of Borcher’s sheep are “natural colored� — fetching combinations of black and white or gray and white. Colored sheep are very popular in the show ring, Borcher said. Their fleece fetches a good price too. White wool goes for around $1.60 per pound and natural colored for $5 per pound and up, Borcher said. “They’re kind of neat,� Borch-

er said. “Something different.� It is a peaceful scene of lambs suckling their mothers. The air is pleasant with a whiff of fresh hay and manure enhanced with gentle sunshine easing through translucent panels in the barn’s ceiling. The colored lambs are cute as wooly buttons. A white ewe seems to smile maternally over her black and white spotted baby in a stall lined with straw. The little one is only four days old. His coat is a beautiful pattern only nature has the expertise to weave. If both parents have double colored recessive genes their offspring will be natural colored, Borcher said. Borcher began his colored sheep operation in 2008. While shearing sheep in Co-

lumbus, Mont., in March 2008, he saw a natural colored sheep, Borcher said. “And I said, wow, he is fancy,� Borcher said. He got the young ram. Now two years into the unique breeding program, the results are discernible. “We’re breeding for really pretty sheep,� Borcher said, “show sheep.� Each sheep has unique coloring. They are spotted like Dalmatians, have black and white socks, wide swaths of black or white wool or multi-colored heads. Rams, ewes and lambs alike sport rich, colorful coats. There are spotted, reverse badger pattern and variegated, like a roan horse, Borcher said. Their farm runs Columbia,

hampshire and rambouillet sheep. This year, they produced 260 lambs, about 1.6 lambs per ewe. They wanted two lambs per ewe. Of the 260 lambs, 20 were colored lambs, he said. “I was very pleased,� Borcher said. Not quite as pleasing was the fact that 14 of the colored lambs were males. “But nature doesn’t always cooperate,� Borcher said. Colored females are in demand for breeding, he said. People like to show the females and use them as brood ewes, Borcher said. With two lamb seasons under his belt breeding colored sheep, Borcher said he is still in the building phase.

“I’m producing breed stock,� Borcher said. His goal is to produce around 20 colored lambs per year. His long range goals are improving the sheep’s eye appeal and breeding sheep that produce fine fiber, Borcher said. The finer the fiber (or wool), the more valuable it is, Borcher said. But Borcher said he isn’t breeding natural colored sheep for the wool. “My niche is in the show room right now,� Borcher said. In the summer, Borcher hits the show circuit. The sheep are shown and sold. He already

has sheep consigned this year, Borcher said. Borcher takes his sheep to county fairs and shows around the country for show and sale, he said. “We’ve had really good success with what we’ve shown,� Borcher said. The son of his Montana sire won reserve champion at the North American International Livestock Exposition in November 2010 in Louisville, Ky., Borcher said. All summer Borcher trots his sheep at shows, and he is proud of his stock. “They look so cool,� he said.

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