Marketing Finnsheep for Ponker Farm was difficult at first but has become easier over the years. First, finding breeding quality lambs that have a suitable relationship to our flock (or line) is difficult. Finding additions to our flock that produce desirable and sound lambs is necessary. Second, the superior and delicate flavor of Finnsheep lamb was historically unknown in this area. It took effort to improve demand.
Our goal is to produce roughly 30% breeding quality stock in any given year. For a lamb to qualify as breeding stock it must meet our strict guidelines of wool quality, temperament, conformation (including well-formed, hard hooves), hardiness, and acceptable coefficient of inbreeding (COI) calculated out 10 generations. The breeding ewes and rams are all Codon 171 mapped. While the QR and RR designation can be desirable it is important to remember that a superior QQ animal can provide very good genes.
In the research of our own flock's genetics, we've found several ancestors that regularly appear in every pedigree. The goal we're working toward is to keep the COI of our lambs in the acceptable range with ≤5% being optimal and ≤10% being acceptable. Several of our breeding ewes carry much higher COI's so breeding them to an acceptable ram is necessary. While we'd like to find a completely unrelated line of Finns, we're also cognizant of the importance in overall breed health by keeping lines separate so the gene pool isn't completely diluted. It is a difficult balancing act. Having better analytical tools available on the Finnsheep Breeders Association website would be extremely helpful in this endeavor not just for Ponker Farm but for all breeders. This would help breeders find other breeders with complimentary stock.
It's taken us several years to develop a market for Finnsheep meat. We sell in bulk to a local sheep and goat buyer that transports the animals to large cities with demand that outpaces supply. We get a good market price for these lambs. On the local front, we sell 'on the hoof' via a small locker for individual sales. Every year, we have more local requests for our freezer lamb.
A very small percentage of our lamb crop is sold for non-breeding fiber pets. In a future blog post, we'll cover how we evaluate our potential buyers.
At Ponker Farm we believe that being an ethical breeder by treating people that adopt our beloved lambs as partners is the best practice. We don't believe in the 'buyer beware' mentality. That mentality allows breeders to sell any animal to anyone and claim anything leaving the buyer without recourse. It leaves me wondering why. Encouraging people to invest in Finnsheep should be the goal. And to that end, breeders should be offering great lambs that they stand behind. There certainly needs to be breeder accountability if we're going to be good stewards of the breed.
It is our remit as a Finnsheep breeder to ensure we vet our potential buyers and enter into a fair two way agreement. We want our lambs to have the best home possible. This is one reason we'd like to see a 'pet' designation added to registrations of animals sold only for fiber or companions. Sometimes these lambs have great wool and temperaments so they are a good fit for that purpose but as breeding stock that are lacking. Adding a 'pet' designation keeps these animals from inadvertently ending up in the breeding pool.
My rambling has come to a close.