Our Flock Information
2017 - This year has definitely started with challenges. with the loss of Austin moving forward has been very difficult. We had discussed plans of breeding before he got to sick just putting into play alone has proven to be lots of work. Planning to keep his work moving forward is his legacy that I will carry on. This year we had 4 rams on the farm and we are working on year round lambs. Superbowl produced 9 lambs. Rufioh produced 5 lambs. Rusty produced 6 lambs. Spade Slick was traded for Gambit to bring some new blood into the flock. This year we registered the flock with the association. There are many things we are changing this year as well. Doing more to expand the breed genetics to help it grow and move further away from extinction. We have also started working with USDA to do genetic testing. The results are in and we are good now to start keeping track of our genetic testing with the lambs born
2016 has been a challenging year. Austin's health has caused major delays in management of the herd. This year we had 2 rams producing lambs for us. Rusty produced 4 lambs from 3 ewes and Rufioh produced 2 lambs this year. We lost our new ram to a snake bite so we had ewes go unbred this year. Austin has acquired more ewes and a new ram that he is excited to see the results from.
2015 was are first year having lambs with the Florida Cracker Sheep. We knew Rusty was a highly capable ram because this was not his first year breeding. He spent several months with the ewes to make sure all were breed. Tracking the gestation Rusty had the whole group covered within two weeks. 3 of the 5 ewes were first timers. Birth weights were between 5 to 8 pounds including the twins. 23 to 35 days the lambs were weighed again and they ranged from 17 to 30 pounds. That is a great weight gain for lambs that are still nursing and no visible effects of dragging down on the ewes either.
2016 has been a challenging year. Austin's health has caused major delays in management of the herd. This year we had 2 rams producing lambs for us. Rusty produced 4 lambs from 3 ewes and Rufioh produced 2 lambs this year. We lost our new ram to a snake bite so we had ewes go unbred this year. Austin has acquired more ewes and a new ram that he is excited to see the results from.
2015 was are first year having lambs with the Florida Cracker Sheep. We knew Rusty was a highly capable ram because this was not his first year breeding. He spent several months with the ewes to make sure all were breed. Tracking the gestation Rusty had the whole group covered within two weeks. 3 of the 5 ewes were first timers. Birth weights were between 5 to 8 pounds including the twins. 23 to 35 days the lambs were weighed again and they ranged from 17 to 30 pounds. That is a great weight gain for lambs that are still nursing and no visible effects of dragging down on the ewes either.
Information about the Florida Cracker Sheep
Environmental conditions, along with some human selection, has resulted in a breed that is heat tolerant, long-lived, resistant to parasites and diseases, and able to be productive on marginal forage.
Florida Cracker Sheep are considered by many to be the hardiest of the ovine species in the Deep South.
Florida Cracker Sheep are a Landrace breed, meaning that they are a native breed that has a greater diversity of appearance than standardized breeds
The following is from the Livestock Conservancy's website concerning landrace breeds:
Individual landrace breeds are unique due to founder effect, isolation, and environmental adaptation. Founder effect refers to the accidents of history that led to introduction of certain types of animals to new areas. These "founders" are the sole genetic base of descendant populations...
A combination of human and natural selection has shaped the evolution of landrace breeds. Natural selection and geographical isolation have created genetic consistency and adaptation to the local environment. Traits such as parasite and disease resistance, reproductive efficiency, and longevity have also resulted. Human selection is of somewhat less importance. In fact, human selection in one part of a landrace population may be counteracted by different human selection in another part.
Parasite resistance, good health and the best reproductive behavior have persisted. A group of Florida Cracker ewes and lambs are noticeably silent because the lambs stay so close to the ewes that no one is lost.
Lambing should be easy because these animals spent years on their own so there was no human intervention when it came to lambing so if pulling would have been required in the wild it meant the death of both lamb and ewe.
Florida Cracker Sheep are considered by many to be the hardiest of the ovine species in the Deep South.
Florida Cracker Sheep are a Landrace breed, meaning that they are a native breed that has a greater diversity of appearance than standardized breeds
The following is from the Livestock Conservancy's website concerning landrace breeds:
Individual landrace breeds are unique due to founder effect, isolation, and environmental adaptation. Founder effect refers to the accidents of history that led to introduction of certain types of animals to new areas. These "founders" are the sole genetic base of descendant populations...
A combination of human and natural selection has shaped the evolution of landrace breeds. Natural selection and geographical isolation have created genetic consistency and adaptation to the local environment. Traits such as parasite and disease resistance, reproductive efficiency, and longevity have also resulted. Human selection is of somewhat less importance. In fact, human selection in one part of a landrace population may be counteracted by different human selection in another part.
Parasite resistance, good health and the best reproductive behavior have persisted. A group of Florida Cracker ewes and lambs are noticeably silent because the lambs stay so close to the ewes that no one is lost.
Lambing should be easy because these animals spent years on their own so there was no human intervention when it came to lambing so if pulling would have been required in the wild it meant the death of both lamb and ewe.
History of the Florida Cracker Sheep
The descendants of the Florida Cracker Sheep were brought to Florida when the Spanish founded St. Augustine in September 1565 by Fernando Menendez de Aviles. They were probably Churro – the common sheep of Spain at that time. The contract with Phillip the Second, King of Spain called for 200 cows, 200 horses, 200 pigs and 400 sheep. In 1586 when Sir Frances Drake drove the remaining settlers from St. Augustine they did not take the livestock with them.
So these animals had to adapt to Florida's harsh conditions the heat, humidity, hurricanes, wildfires and tropical storms. The sheep also had to survive the many Florida predators, such alligators, bobcats, feral pigs, panthers and black buzzards. Their descendants became our famous “Cracker” livestock.
The almost feral animals roamed woods and scrub for 450 years until Florida ended the open range at the end of WWII. And during this time period once a year cowhunters on horseback would go and gather the Florida Cracker sheep for shearing and ram lamb harvesting. There were attempts to introduce various breeds of “improved” sheep to the herds of Florida Cracker sheep. The farmers wanted to add size for larger meat production, but there is only a hint of the Tunis sheep left showing in the face and reddish color of some of the Florida Cracker sheep. Mother Nature is a merciless selector. The Florida Crackers was considered a crossbreed which developed through natural selection, under Florida conditions, over a 300 year period.
So as settlers came into Florida in the late 1800's many of them gathered up some of these almost feral sheep and kept them as there own livestock.
Around 1870 the Wilson Family established a ranch north of Okeechobee near Yeehaw Junction and on that ranch they had a herd of Florida Cracker Sheep. Once a year the Wilsons would pull the herd in from the field and shear, band ram lambs that would be harvested next year for meat, harvest the wethers, cull and ewes needing it and release them back into the field until the next year. In 2007 when some unforeseen events happened this herd was almost lost completely to the slaughter house. But Mortimer Wilson contacted a few members of the Florida Cracker Sheep Association that he knew appreciated the breed to save the 249 ewes and 20 rams from the slaughter house.
In the early 1900's the Florida Cracker Sheep come very close to being completely extinct because many families in Florida that had the sheep for wool production purposes so when the prices in the wool market dropped drastically the majority of the families got rid of their sheep. Also at the same time there was a huge loss of sheep due to parasites.
The University of Florida established a flock of Florida Cracker Sheep. In 1968 Anthony Frances Jilek used Florida Crackers referred to as Florida Natives as one of his 2 breeds in his graduate study titled "Experimental Evidence of resistance to Haemonchus Contortus Infection in Sheep" otherwise commonly known as barber pole worms. The University gave the Blackwater River Reserve area several Florida Cracker because the Reserve was doing an experiment on what would be more cost effective to keep areas mowed, sheep or equipment. The sheep were found to be more economical but soon funding decreased for the reserve and they had to sell the sheep. The flock spent 3 years on the Reserve. So many of these sheep came from the Cook family from Polk County. The Cook family are the ones who introduced Tunis into the breed.
The Aldridge family had Florida Crackers for many generations. Then the family sold the flock and the new owners are trying to build the numbers up in this line because they almost became extinct.
In 1981 Hedy Havel started her herd of Florida Crackers. She got her foundation animals from University of Florida. Hedy worked closely with Jim Wing. They actually swap rams between each other.
Jim Wing's line was bought up by Gulf Coast breeders.
In 1981 Penn Y Caereu started with Florida Cracker Sheep. Leida Jones has a closed herd and she has mostly University of Florida line but she was among the Association members that helped save the flock at the Wilson farm. Many small farms have gotten there start with lambs they have purchased from Leida including us.
The Partin family had a large flock but were plagued with coyotes and lost a large portion of the flock. They decided to breed a larger breed of sheep to stop the losses around 2009 but unfortunately the breed they picked lowered the parasite resistance and losses still occurred. The Suffolk influence is still very predominant seen in this flock.
The Kearns family is in Volusia county and they had developed their line. Racheal Jackson is the latest person connected to this line. Racheal Jackson does work with the Barberville Pioneer Settlement. There is about 10 sheep left of this line. The person who had gotten them from Rachael Jackson kept them for a few years until the flock came under attack from coyotes. They lost one third of the flock. These people came to us to help protect the rest of this line so it wont go extinct. We gladly helped.
Florida Cracker sheep move from Study to Critical on The Livestock Conservatory List in 2013. Florida Cracker sheep descend from imports by the Spanish, were range managed until well into the 20th century, and are exquisitely adapted to their region. Although for many years Florida Cracker sheep were clustered with Gulf Coast Native sheep, a recent genetic study (Kijas et al., 2012. PLoS ONE 7:e41508) indicated that the two breeds are as distantly related to each other as to the Spanish breeds from which they descend.
So these animals had to adapt to Florida's harsh conditions the heat, humidity, hurricanes, wildfires and tropical storms. The sheep also had to survive the many Florida predators, such alligators, bobcats, feral pigs, panthers and black buzzards. Their descendants became our famous “Cracker” livestock.
The almost feral animals roamed woods and scrub for 450 years until Florida ended the open range at the end of WWII. And during this time period once a year cowhunters on horseback would go and gather the Florida Cracker sheep for shearing and ram lamb harvesting. There were attempts to introduce various breeds of “improved” sheep to the herds of Florida Cracker sheep. The farmers wanted to add size for larger meat production, but there is only a hint of the Tunis sheep left showing in the face and reddish color of some of the Florida Cracker sheep. Mother Nature is a merciless selector. The Florida Crackers was considered a crossbreed which developed through natural selection, under Florida conditions, over a 300 year period.
So as settlers came into Florida in the late 1800's many of them gathered up some of these almost feral sheep and kept them as there own livestock.
Around 1870 the Wilson Family established a ranch north of Okeechobee near Yeehaw Junction and on that ranch they had a herd of Florida Cracker Sheep. Once a year the Wilsons would pull the herd in from the field and shear, band ram lambs that would be harvested next year for meat, harvest the wethers, cull and ewes needing it and release them back into the field until the next year. In 2007 when some unforeseen events happened this herd was almost lost completely to the slaughter house. But Mortimer Wilson contacted a few members of the Florida Cracker Sheep Association that he knew appreciated the breed to save the 249 ewes and 20 rams from the slaughter house.
In the early 1900's the Florida Cracker Sheep come very close to being completely extinct because many families in Florida that had the sheep for wool production purposes so when the prices in the wool market dropped drastically the majority of the families got rid of their sheep. Also at the same time there was a huge loss of sheep due to parasites.
The University of Florida established a flock of Florida Cracker Sheep. In 1968 Anthony Frances Jilek used Florida Crackers referred to as Florida Natives as one of his 2 breeds in his graduate study titled "Experimental Evidence of resistance to Haemonchus Contortus Infection in Sheep" otherwise commonly known as barber pole worms. The University gave the Blackwater River Reserve area several Florida Cracker because the Reserve was doing an experiment on what would be more cost effective to keep areas mowed, sheep or equipment. The sheep were found to be more economical but soon funding decreased for the reserve and they had to sell the sheep. The flock spent 3 years on the Reserve. So many of these sheep came from the Cook family from Polk County. The Cook family are the ones who introduced Tunis into the breed.
The Aldridge family had Florida Crackers for many generations. Then the family sold the flock and the new owners are trying to build the numbers up in this line because they almost became extinct.
In 1981 Hedy Havel started her herd of Florida Crackers. She got her foundation animals from University of Florida. Hedy worked closely with Jim Wing. They actually swap rams between each other.
Jim Wing's line was bought up by Gulf Coast breeders.
In 1981 Penn Y Caereu started with Florida Cracker Sheep. Leida Jones has a closed herd and she has mostly University of Florida line but she was among the Association members that helped save the flock at the Wilson farm. Many small farms have gotten there start with lambs they have purchased from Leida including us.
The Partin family had a large flock but were plagued with coyotes and lost a large portion of the flock. They decided to breed a larger breed of sheep to stop the losses around 2009 but unfortunately the breed they picked lowered the parasite resistance and losses still occurred. The Suffolk influence is still very predominant seen in this flock.
The Kearns family is in Volusia county and they had developed their line. Racheal Jackson is the latest person connected to this line. Racheal Jackson does work with the Barberville Pioneer Settlement. There is about 10 sheep left of this line. The person who had gotten them from Rachael Jackson kept them for a few years until the flock came under attack from coyotes. They lost one third of the flock. These people came to us to help protect the rest of this line so it wont go extinct. We gladly helped.
Florida Cracker sheep move from Study to Critical on The Livestock Conservatory List in 2013. Florida Cracker sheep descend from imports by the Spanish, were range managed until well into the 20th century, and are exquisitely adapted to their region. Although for many years Florida Cracker sheep were clustered with Gulf Coast Native sheep, a recent genetic study (Kijas et al., 2012. PLoS ONE 7:e41508) indicated that the two breeds are as distantly related to each other as to the Spanish breeds from which they descend.
All information has been provided by several sources to include Florida Cracker Sheep Association, Florida Cracker Sheep Breeders referred to, American Livestock Conservatory