Farming, Saturday, August 13,1983
CochranviUe’s Menhennetts big on Shropshire sheep
BY LAURA ENGLAND
COCHRANVILLE - About five
miles deep in the backroad farm
country of Cochranville, near the
Octoraro Creek, lies the 96-acre
Menhennett Farm. Obscured by
an overgrown hedgerow, one
cannot see the farm from the road,
and if not paying close attention,
can easily miss the farm entrance
bordered by trees and brush.
Once past the hedgerow, one
sees the two aluminum-sided, open
front barns and the acres of
pasture land. At first glance, it
appears a typical farm and it
may very well be but what sets
this Shropshire sheep farm apart
from others is the presicion, ex
perience and know-how of its
owners, Annette and Warn
Menhennett.
Owners of the 150-head sheep
operation, the Menhennetts began
their fanning venture in 1965 when
they purchased the land. Three
years later, they bought their first
flock of sheep and were on then
way to a profitable and
pleasurable farm business.
Currently raising 80 brood ewes,
six rams, and approximately 60
sheep from this year’s lamb crop,
Annette Menhennett finds her
hands full in running the day-to
day operation. Husband Warn is a
chemical engineer who helps out
when he can and especially during
the lambing season.
“Warn tries to plan his two-week
vacation around lambing time,”
Mrs. Menhennett says. “That’s
when we are ready busy.”
Lambing season is about five
months away, explains Mrs.
Menhennett, but breeding season
Record-keeping is an important part of the Menhennett’s
Shropshire operation. Annette Menhennett keeps three types
of records - a card system for breeding, a barn sheet for
eartag identification and weight gains, and a permanent flock
book for pedigrees.
Soon after giving birth, the ewe and her lamb are moved to
a room called the jail. The jail is a series of 4 x 4 movable
pens, each with an overhead heat lamp to add warmth and
help dry the newborn lamb.
preparations are underway now.
The rams were shorn, wormed and
their hooves trimmed at the
beginning of the month to help rid
of stressful situations. Added
stress can cause a lower breeding
potential, and because one ram is
responsible for breeding 25-30
ewes, top performance is critical,
Mrs. Menhennett says.
“The ewe flock is in long fleece
now,” she explains. “We don’t
shear them in the spring like most
people.”
Instead, the Menhennetts have
been experimenting with alter
native shearing practices. One
method they tried, based on a
Scottish experiment, was to shear
the ewes after breeding and before
lambing. Through this, the fetuses
were found to grow more and were
stronger, more viable at birth.
Also, the ewes were cleaner,
having less wool, and didn’t take
up as much room. They were more
conscientous of their lambs, too,
Mrs. Menhennett says.
But this method didn’t work out
for the Menhennetts. A 10-11,
percent increase in the number of
resorbed fetuses caused them to
try another method,
The method currently used is
shearing the ewes before breeding
which has lead to a better lambing
percentage and fewer birth
problems. Through the shearing,
the ewes are stimulated and have
multiple ovulations which result in
the higher lambing percentage,
Mrs. Menhennett adds.
“It’s important to get multiple
births," she says. “It’s a challenge
to improve genetically a purebred
line of sheep.”
Following the shearing
ewes rat on
during the day and put into pens at night,
pasture areas.
preparations, a teaser ram is
placed in the ewe herd, and
hushing—feeding more grain is
started. This gets the ewes into a
gaining procedure which can have
a positive affect on multiple
ovulation and twinning, Mrs.
Menhennettsays.
At the beginning of September,
the flock will be divided into three
groups, and a ram, equipped with a
sire-sign harness, will be placed in
the herd. The harness,' Mrs.
Menbennett explains, aids in
identifying which ewes have been
bred
Once the ewes are bred, it's
waiting time until the lambing
begins in late-January and early
February. During this time, the
ewes are watched closely with the
help of a monitor placed in the
house.
“We try to assist in all the bir
ths," Mrs. Menhennett says, “and
sometimes we’re up 24 hours a
day.”
that problem, however, is
resolved by Mrs. Menhennett and
her husband taking turns with the
monitoring process.
Shortly after birth, the ewe and
her lamb are placed in a 4 by 4 pen
called the jail. With an overhead
heatlamp to add warmth, the lamb
is dried and fed colostrum from its
mother.
The birthing process begins yet
another of the Menhennetts
operation procedures, record
keeping. Three systems are used
and kept up-to-date. A card
system records the breeding and
lambing dates and any information
associated with the actual lambing
process, such as birthing problems
and the vitality of the lamb.
A barn sheet is used to record
eartag numbers and weight gains.
Weights are checked every 30, 60
and 90 days. A permanent flock
book rounds out the record-keeping
system by listing pedigrees and
other family traits.
Besides toe usual daily chores,
Mrs. Menhennett takes the time to
show her Shropshires at area fairs
and has done quite well. Last year,
the Menhennetts owned the
champion ewe and the champion
ram at the Pa. Farm Show.
Although she shows, Mrs.
Menhennett says she believes
sheep shows have done more
damage than good to toe sheep
industry.
“The criteria in placing toe
blues, reds and etc.," she says,
“are economically unimportant.”
“You can’t determine rate of gain,
and no emphasis is placed on
twinning and multiple births. ”
She cites other characteristics,
such as udder evaluation, fleece
quality and the scrotol cir
cumference of the ram, as other
nnett irm in v ;hranvlife, are
Currently, the ewes are rotated
Jg. -pi ;e into large sacks, about 10
feet long, which are then sent to brockers and other wool
processors.
program, were recently shorn for the breeding season.
Besides shearing, the rams are wormed and the hooves
trimmed to help avoid added stress which could harm their
breeding potential.
areas which receive no con
sideration in open show judging.
But despite these problems
found in judging contests, the
Menhennetts carry a strong
breeding program at home, having
mostly performance registered
(superior weight gains), purebred
Shropshire sheep.
Although she is sold on raising
her sheep, Mrs. Menhennett notes
that veterinary care has been a
problem with what she considers
“a lack of adequate veterinary
'assistance.”
Through her position as
president of the Pa. Md.
pastured
on three
Shropshire Association and
through work with the Pa. Sheep
and Wool Growers Association and
Pa. Suffolk and Southdown
breeders, she is trying to get im
proved veterinary services.
“Sheep are considered a minor
species in this country,’’ she says,
“and this adds to the problems of
adequate veterinary care.”
This is just one of the areas
where Mrs;. Menhennett sees a
need for improvement in the sheep
industry, and through her ex
perience and knowledge of sheep
breeding she hopes to make some
positive changes and adjustments.