Photo of the Day

A few of our expectant mothers enjoying an early morning snack. Ewes marked with blue are expecting singles, green-twins and orange-triplets (or more).

Job openings at Premier

Premier has the following positions open:

New for the 2015 breeding season!

Premier’s new Deluxe Marking Harness—notice the padded white strap at the underside of the arm. Strap does not “cut into” the front legs as other nylon harnesses are prone to do.

A much better Ram Marking Harness

Why is our new Deluxe Marking Harness a world class harness?

1.	Wider (2"), soft nylon straps—distribute pressure more evenly over the ram’s body. Also easier to find and adjust the straps when they’re in deep wool.
2.	Unique padded (1/5 in. thick) white straps behind the front legs to prevent skin abrasion.
3.	Much larger snap buckles and metal loops—harness’s connection and stress points are reinforced. Even gloved hands can manipulate the large snap buckles.
4.	Crayon holder is also padded.
5.	Uses standard crayons.

When we brought the rams in from breeding last autumn—little to no wear in the brisket area and behind the front legs. Bottom line? This is the best ram marking harness we've ever used or sold. Click here for Deluxe Marking Harness instructions.

Nylon Breeding Harness

For mature rams of medium and large breeds with broad briskets. Durable nylon straps. Strong plastic snap buckles allow adjustment as needed and rapid fitting. More likely to stay on if the ram’s brisket has 3 months’ wool growth.

Marking Crayons

3 temperature ranges: Cold (25º - 65ºF), Mild (65º - 85ºF) and Hot (85º-100ºF). Mild and cold crayons wear very quickly when it's hot. Hot and mild crayons don't mark well when it's cold. We wish that one crayon would work for all conditions.... but such a crayon does not exist. And a warning—the marks from any and all breeding crayons may not be scourable.

Picking a fence and energizer combination—did I get everything right?

If picking out an energizer or roll of netting for the first time strikes you as a daunting task don't worry—it does not need to be tedious.

When visiting Premier's website—below the logo and slogan are a series of tabs, Sheep-Goats-Poultry-Horses-Garden/Wildlife-Deer-Cattle-Hogs/Pigs-Camelids. (Before we go any further, camelids is a one word way of saying llamas and alpacas.)

Tabs shown above. 

Select the relevant tab for your fencing needs—I'll select sheep. Go to the left hand column and click on Fencing.


Your fence options should now be shown. Since we're discussing netting, we'll focus on the temporary and semi-permanent options. The main differences being, how often do you intend to move the netting? Daily/weekly—choose temporary. Less often? Semi-permanent.

Fencing options for sheep (Semi-Permanent options not shown). 

From there you decide on Plus or Standard nets (post frequency), length, height, strut or string verticals and type of spike. Don't forget support posts for ends, corners and any major directional changes.

Now that you've chosen your fence, it's time to choose an energizer. Unless you already have one, in that case you're done!

Click back over to Fencing and select Energizers (DC, AC or Solar).
At the top of the results select energizer comparison chart. This will take you to a chart detailing all of Premier's energizers.

Click on the type of unit you need, AC (plug-in) or DC (battery or solar).

In the upper right corner you can again select the type of species you are fencing. Scroll right and you will find the number of nets each energizer can power. There is a range, (i.e. 2-5, 3-6) depending on energizer output in dry grass/soil conditions. If your soils are typically moist, go with the higher number and vice versa in dry conditions.

Energizer power source are the selections at the upper left. Species type is at the upper right. (Energizers can be used for multiple species.)

These options should help narrow down energizer and net choices. As always, if you have any questions give us a call at 1-800-282-6631 and we'll help you out.




Coming soon—advanced filters to help narrow down your netting and energizer selections.

Tuning the Flock…

For those interested in adding a little pizzazz to their pasture, consider bells. Their attractive tones add a sense of musicality to a pastoral scene while also having a practical use (or two).

Longtime Premier consultant Gordon uses bells with his own flock of Ile de France ewes and lambs. On using bells, if the ewes are in his thick timber pasture, he can go to the front of the pasture, sit and listen for a minute. The bell tones will tell him exactly where his flock is located in the timber paddock.  

An added benefit is the angst it causes in coyotes. "Anything (that maintenance free) to disrupt or make a predator nervous is worth doing,"
-Gordon. 

Pete Arambel, co-owner of The Shepherd Magazine runs a flock of 6,000 head in Wyoming. He too uses bells—about 1 per every 25 ewes.

Perks?

• When grazing forested areas—it's easier to find sheep with bells than binoculars. 
• The guardian dogs become accustomed to normal bell tones, but when a different sound is heard (such as a ewe being bothered by a predator) the dogs charge forth to investigate. 

Premier's 3 bell options. Ram, steel and brass. 

Per Pete—bells go on ewes in the Spring after shearing. Ewes new to bells dance around a little bit but eventually become accustomed to the bells.

How tight should the bell's collar be? You should be able to slide your hand under the collar. Too loose and the collar may come off.

A final benefit—your family and friends will think they look cool on the sheep (at least that's what Gordon says). 

Ewes rejecting lambs?

Ewe placed in an orphan head gate. Ewes that reject their lambs may be placed in the head gate to re-bond them with their lambs. Can also be used to graft lambs onto ewes. 

It's not uncommon to have a ewe reject her lambs. There are a variety or reasons that this may happen.

• First time mothers may be afraid of what just came out of them. 
• If group penned close together, some ewes become nervous. This is an opportune time for granny ewes to come and steal lambs. 
• Sometimes a ewe having multiples will lose track of the first lamb (while focusing on birthing the second or third, etc). She then cleans off the later born lamb(s) meanwhile the 1st has wandered off. 
• Sharp teeth. This causes discomfort to the ewe during feeding so they prevent the lamb from feeding in order to avoid the pain. This is fixed with a quick pass with a tooth file. Check the lambs teeth before doing so to ensure this is the cause of the neglect. 

For most cases (other than sharp teeth), rejection can be remedied by placing the ewe in an orphan head gate. 

Lamb with sharp teeth. Filing the teeth prevent the lamb from damaging the dam's udder. 

Introducing PRS-I and PRS-B energizers

This Spring Premier added several new units to its PRS Energizer line-up. These units offer some of the same features of the original PRS line-up but with added enhancements.

Details…

• Output 0.5 or 0.25 joule. 
• Same UV treated, high-impact plastic outer case but the energizer inside varies in joules of output and energy use/hr.
• Include a backup battery charger.
• Have an easy-access on/off button.
• On/off button shows up very well at night (flashes green or red depending on battery charge level).
• Have an overcharge regulator to protect the battery.
• Can be placed on the ground or on the top of steel T posts.
• Include wires and clips to connect to the fence and the ground rod. 
• Larger batteries (in amp-hr) than competing units of similar output.

PRS-I vs PRS-B?

A “PRS-B” (for “Basic“) unit removes a steady 50 milliamperes per hour from the battery—which in turn must be recharged by the solar panel.

“PRS-I” units (for “Intelligent”) are able to reduce their energy demand when the fence’s voltage is high—due to few weeds touching the fence. 

This occurs in fall and winter for most fences and occurs all year for some horse, cattle and deer fences.

So an “I” unit’s battery is more likely to remain charged through the low sunlight days of autumn and winter.

0.25 vs 0.5 Joule?

0.25 joules will work for a roll of sheep netting or a strand of “weed-free” rope. It’s also enough for most cattle and horse temporary fences. Will work with a roll of PoultryNet or VersaNet but grass must be mowed or sprayed as needed to maintain adequate voltage. 

For multiple rolls of net we advise 0.5 joule units or larger.

Below is a video of setting up a new PRS for in-field use. If you have any questions give us a call at 1-800-282-6631 or visit our website at www.premier1supplies.com.