2016 Livestock Conservancy Conservation Priority List

Good news for poultry breeds!  I love my rare chickens and am thrilled to be helping preserve these breeds for the future (Australorp, Chantecler, Delaware, Dominique, Favorelle).


Delaware, Australorp, Dominique, Ameraucana Hens

Delaware, Australorp, Dominique, Ameraucana Hens

Dominique Hen in Wildflowers

Dominique Hen in Wildflowers

Australorp Hen Meets Salmon Favorelle Chick 4 Weeks Old

Australorp Hen Meets Salmon Favorelle Chick 4 Weeks Old

Pittsboro, NC  [May 4, 2016] – Today, The Livestock Conservancy is releasing its 2016 Conservation Priority List, and is excited to report that overall trends in North America are improving for endangered livestock and poultry breeds. 25 breeds have improved in status, 12 have declined, and 3 have been added to the list. 2 breeds of chickens, Orpingtons and Wyandottes, now have secure populations and are no longer at risk of extinction.

The majority of changes this year have occurred in the poultry categories, because The Livestock Conservancy recently completed an extensive nationwide poultry census, which polled thousands of poultry keepers to determine the population status of more than 90 poultry breeds. It revealed that more than 25% of poultry breeds’ populations grew in the past ten years.

“Even with the progress we have made in some breeds, many others still have a long way to go” said Dr. Alison Martin, the Conservancy’s executive director. According to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, at least 17% of breeds worldwide are at risk of extinction.¹ In North America, the percentage of endangered breeds is much higher than average due to highly specialized agriculture, in which production is dominated by just a few breeds.

“The Livestock Conservancy’s priority list serves as the guide for our conservation efforts and shows us which breeds need the most help,” said Martin. “Some breeds like Choctaw hogs, Crèvecoeur chickens, and Caspian horses are actually much more rare than endangered wildlife species that most people are familiar with.” The Conservancy currently lists 51 breeds as Critically Endangered, meaning that they could easily become extinct without careful monitoring and breeding strategies in place. An additional 113 breeds are in less critical categories, but are still in need of conservation.
Source: https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/conservation-priority-list

What to do with all that yarn and cold kids?

Source: Goats born in Cumberland this week rock wool sweaters

My kids were always dressed in diapers with the crotch cut out to fit over their heads as they made nice disposable sweaters!  Back then I hadn’t taught myself to knit and didn’t have fencing to separate does and bucks so that I could plan births for more reasonable weather months!

Little Guy (aka LG) in Diaper ( Jan. 2000)

Little Guy (aka LG) in Diaper ( Jan. 2000)

 

For fun videos from Sunflower Farm check out their YouTube of kids in pajamas:

and quad kids with what looks like an Australorp hen:

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Romney Ewe Gives Birth to Sextuplets

County Tyrone sheep at Shannon farm gives birth to rare sextuplet lambs

  • 1 April 2016  [Not an April’s Fool joke!]

Romney lambs

The daughter is as cute (maybe more) than the lambs!  Rare case of sextuplets born to a Romney ewe in Ireland.

Sheep and goats typically have 2 udders although they may have more.  More than 2 are considered a fault in pure breeds, particularly dairy breeds.  Defies logic as cows have 4 (more is possible but a fault and are removed! if the cows are to be used for dairying) and only give birth to one or two calves at most while it is not rare for a sheep to have triplets.   It is not rare for a few sheep breeds such as Finns to have quads but sextuplets are rare in any sheep breed.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-35941274

Update on the Geep – Sheep Goat Hybrid Born March 2014

The return of the geep: two years on

By Amy McShane on 29 January 2016
The geep is now two years old.
Born to a Cheviot ewe in March 2014, see below for original story.

‘It’s been almost two years on from the birth of the sheep-goat hybrid.

‘ A farm in Kildare is home to the geep, who was born in March 2014. Owner of the farm Paddy Murphy said at the time that “it had all the hallmarks of a goat. He looks like a goat trapped in a lamb’s body.””

Source: https://www.farmersjournal.ie/the-return-of-the-geep-two-years-on-199305

Geep: Rare ‘goat-sheep’ born on Irish farm (4 April 2014)

The ewe and her geep
The lamb-kid looks quite different from the adult!
Farmer Paddy Murphy and his unnamed 'geep'
‘ The sheep farmer, who also owns Murphy’s pub in Ballymore Eustace, County Kildare, spoke to the journal in a interview headlined: Ewe gotta be kidding.

“I’ve never seem anything like him before,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal, adding that his family had been involved in sheep farming for “generations”.

‘Unbelievable’

Mr Murphy confirmed that the geep appeared to be healthy and “thriving” and was able to run faster than other lambs that were born around the same time.

“He’s unbelievable,” he said. “He’s so fast you’d have to get him into the pen to catch him. There’s no chance you would catch him otherwise.” ‘

Source:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26870598