170 and Counting!

Lambing barn is filled with AI days 3 and 4!

Winter has finally arrived and lambing began two weeks ago with back to back AI days!  We are off to a great start with 170 babies and counting on the ground!  Warmer fall temperatures provided us time to reset the lambing room with duraplate walls and fresh paint for lambing pens.

We AI bred 500 mature ewes over the course of five AI days / 1 Flush day and exposed 150 ewe lambs this year. We are expecting around 700 overall lambs. We look forward to seeing everyone as they come through the barn this winter and spring! 

 Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas and successful lambing season!

There IS a method to our MADNESS!

Someone asked a couple of weeks ago.."Why all the ink on the sheep?"   I chuckled as I realized they thought we'd gone mad with the paint branding.  But really, there IS a method to our Madness.  

Notice the white Premise ID tag AND the white ID tag...can you tell when she was born?

Depending on the time of year, we have various amounts of ID on the ewes.   They always have 2 ear tags.  One being the farm Premise ID tag, the other being a color coded generic tag.  The Premise ID tag always gets placed in the left ear (ewes) in numerical order of birth.  Ex: 6107 (6=2016, 107= the 107th lamb born that year).  Once keeper ewe lambs have been selected, the ewes will receive a second ear tag (why 2?  Ever lose an earring ladies?!)  Nothing is more frustrating than having one of your best ewes with no ID...  The second ear tag carries the same 6107 number and will be a specific color to match their sire family. Ex: Red tags denotes that they are sired by A-Copy or a son of A-Copy. If you were to flip the ear tag you would see that we write their sire and dam info inside.   But we don't stop there...

Summer and fall bring breeding season.  We generally offer 5 AI days and 1 Flush day here at the farm.    During cidr time, we paint brand the ewe's number on her side as seen above.  This mostly serves as a purpose of us being able to better see the ewe's number from a distance.  When we have large groups in the pastures with teaser rams, we can more easily spot the ewes number that is repeating and needs to be bred again.  

Rhett is one of three border collies we use on the farm.

Finally, each ewe will be paint branded with a 1-2-3-4 or 5 on top of her shoulders.  This correlates to the day in which she is scheduled to our AI breeding program.  We typically run around 900 ewes through our AI program each year (500 being our own ewes).  It is no minor undertaking to manage these large breeding groups. This helps us quickly sort off groups into one of 5 sorting pens.  

This may seem like overkill if you are running smaller numbers of ewes.  However, we think we've developed a system that works for the Poe Farm.  No doubt we will continue to tweak our system as we continue to grow.  But for now, we'll stayed inked!

New Hoop Construction Complete!

This past December brought a small F1 tornado through our place and on to the Greenwood area.  Stanley and I were out lambing ewes when we heard the back hoop building coming apart at the seams...literally.  Naturally, we stand there and watch/take pictures rather than head for the basement like smarter folks might do.  (we did later head that way when the neighbors' TV dish flew past us...).  The destroyed hoop housed some equipment and our next round of pregnant ewes.   We were very lucky that none of the ewes were hurt.  The tractors suffered some damage and the hoop was a complete loss having ripped off the cover and collapsed the ribs and wooden walls. 

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Fact:  Hoop buildings are comprised of a billion ....yes BILLON.....D rings and seatbelt strappings.  I predict we will continue to find the "shrapnel" around in the oddest places for years to come!

We waited till the weather cleared this spring to erect 2 new hoops. (our old hoop was 150 feet and we decided to go with 2- 100 foot buildings)  They are mostly complete with the construction of the end walls, electrical and plumbing to come this fall.  Dan Perkins from Kentucky did an awesome job and has installed all of our current hoops. 

All in all, we were very lucky to have only lost one building and some tractor repairs.  Midwest winters continue to amaze this southerner....in my 4 years in Indiana, no two winters have been even remotely alike.  I certainly prefer cold and snowy to hot an windy!

A Family Farm Since 1945!

What started as Stan Poe Sr. 4-H project in 1945 is now a thriving family farm.  Stan Poe Sr. started with 2 Hampshire ewes and 1 ram.  Now with over 500 ewes, we specialize in being the most progressive in the industry from raising lambs to innovative repro technologies.

Stan Poe Sr. and brother Kenny, showing their 4-H lamb.

Stan Poe Sr. and brother Kenny, showing their 4-H lamb.

Stan Poe Sr. and wife Carol

Stan Poe Sr. and wife Carol

Stanley Poe II returned to the farm after graduating from the University of Kentucky with a degree Animal Science in 1988.  Along with sheep production, Stanley farms corn, soybeans, and hay.  Stanleys wife Jenna, works for Five-Star Technology Solutions as a Director of Innovative Learning.  
Stanley and Jenna Poe

Stanley and Jenna Poe

After graduating from Texas A&M, Kalen Poe, returned to the family operation in 2014. Kalen is the youngest of the four Poe brothers.  Kalens wife, Chelsea works for Farm Bureau as the Membership Sales and Marketing Coordinator.  
Kalen and Chelsea Poe

Kalen and Chelsea Poe

 

 

 

Stanley Poe II | 317-439-8395 | poehamps@yahoo.com          Kalen Poe | 940-600-3252 | kpoe00@gmail.com
2213 West State Rd 144 | Franklin, IN 46131

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