Ewephoric! Horned Dorsets and Sheep Related
Merchandise ~ Read about us!
July 2009~ Sir Bud son and Ewephoric ewes
|
Gregg & Marlene Bell began Ewephoric! in 1985, but they have owned sheep since 1965. Starting out with Suffolks, then branching out into other meat breeds, the duo settled upon Polled Dorset sheep in 1988. The Dorset breed is unlike many others with their out-of-season lambing and terrific dispositions. Ewephoric! Polled Dorsets produced some of the finest Dorset Sheep in the country. They traveled extensively showing their show flocks in the early to late 1990’s. Selling on a national level began in 1995. |
The Ewephoric Polled Dorset flock produced many breed champions in addition to National Champions through shows and sales across the country.
In 2003, the flock began its metamorphous from the Polled Dorset to the Dorset Horn. They feel that the Horned Dorset retains much of its traditional breed characteristics today, while the Polled Dorset has migrated away from the original traits, which drew Gregg & Marlene to them in the beginning.
Ewephoric! Horned Dorsets run approximately 50 head of breeding females. The flock has in its stud battery some very noteworthy National Champion stud rams. In 2005, the Bells purchased “Invincible” the National Sale Champion out of the Ohio Sale. He came from the mid-Atlantic coast. In 2007, they ventured out of their comfort zone and decided to infuse their original ewe base with some strong outcross lines from the west coast. “Champ”, a Forster ram was leased privately in 2007 and his son, “Sir Bud” was purchased outright from the farm upon ending the lease. In that same year, “Sir Bud” was named Junior Champion Ram at the prestigious North American International Livestock Expo in Louisville, KY. “Sir Bud” sired the Res. National Champion Ram for Ewephoric! from his first offering through a sale in 2009. He and his sons are still working prominently in the flock.
Why purchase from Ewephoric! Horned Dorsets? In case you are asking yourself this, we will give you our philosophy about sheep sales. First, we do not believe in offering to the public any individual that we could not use ourselves in our own flock. That being the case, we are very fussy about our sale sheep. We want your experience working with us to be a positive one. If we take good care of you, there is a very good chance you will return for more breeding stock in the future or perhaps you will tell a friend about us. Most of our business comes from repeat sales, so we have nothing to gain by misrepresenting our sheep. You will never be offered inferior or left-over sheep. EWEPHORIC! HAS AN EXCELLENT REPUTATION IN THE INDUSTRY.
Do we guarantee our sheep? YES! All of our sheep carry a complete guarantee. We guarantee each sheep to be a breeder. Rams must be sound and fertile just like the females. In the case of infertility we will exchange or refund depending upon the situation. Stud rams are much harder to exchange, but in case we do not have something available at that time, arrangements can be made for a “pick” from another upcoming lamb crop. We understand things happen and are very easy to work with. Ewephoric! Horned Dorsets will be what their registration paperwork says they are. We do not believe in falsifying papers for any reason. Ewephoric! Horned Dorsets have lots of “R” in their line. We use only “RR” stud rams. (This is the symbol for the Scrapie double resistance gene.)
Each lamb will hold their lambs’ teeth for a minimum of 12 months. Usually it will be more like 13-15 months in many cases. Is there ever a situation where one of our Horned Dorsets will not hold their lambs’ teeth 12 months? Unfortunately, there are rare circumstances where we have had a few polled ram lambs break their teeth early; not because of over aging, but because of stress factors. Sheep that are traveled, shown or stressed in a different environment may drop their lambs’ teeth early. This statement does not just cover us; it is a situation that can happen to any breeder’s sheep.If teeth issues take place with one of your purchases from us or another breeder, please give them the benefit of the doubt before thinking the worst about the breeder. We have yet to have this happen with one of our Horned Dorsets, but stresses may have a reaction on your new purchase. Your Horned Dorset from Ewephoric! will be guaranteed healthy and ready for you to take to your ranch whether or not you buy privately or through a sale.
SHEEP GIFTS ~ In addition to the Horned Dorsets, Marlene designs many unusual sheep related gift items. In late 2009/2010 Ewephoric! will again offer a full color catalog of their gift line. Most all of the products featured will be original artistic designs by Marlene. New t-shirts and sweatshirts along with other merchandise can be found throughout the catalog. When the booklet becomes available, we will have a separate link on the Web site so that you may order a free copy.
Ewephoric! Studio works opened in 2009 and original oil paintings and drawings will occasionally be featured on the Web site for sale to the public. Marlene is also an accomplished author and her first book, “Among the Sheep” is now available for purchase. She is working on a new novel, so watch for more details about her literary works in the future.
Email us at: ewephoric@bak.rr.com
Questions? Telephone order? (800)742-5510 |
Marlene and a pair of 2008 fall lambs |
Other Ewephoric Web sites for Merchandise and Information:
www.stores.ebay.com/ewephoricdesigns
www.cafepress.com/ewephoric
ewephoric.etsy.com
http://twitter.com/ewephoric
|
