I am very proud of my sheep and the registry I formed because of my interest in them. I first became acquainted with Painted Desert Sheep because of their popularity as a game animal. The fancy colors and magnificent horns soon garnered these sheep their own section in the trophy record books. I am a taxidermist, and besides my own flock, the most contact I had was in mounting these sheep for my clients. I felt they needed more exposure to the general public, as sheep are popular in the alternative livestock industry. The miniature breeds and the colorful breeds are both growing in demand. I wanted more people to be interested in the Painted Desert Sheep so that their only claim to fame wouldn't just be as a wall-hanger. Thus, the Painted Desert Sheep Society was founded, and I culled my mixed flock so that only Painted Deserts remained.

It is my preference to steer away from "Barbados" blood in my flock as I am a fanatic about horns. True Barbados Sheep are naturally polled and their crosses sometimes have poor horns, or horns that grow too close or into the face.

My breeding program revolves around my old Corsican ram, Hercules. Hercules is an F1 Mouflon x Blackbelly cross. (Texas Blackbelly, which are horned, is the more correct term for the crosses with original Barbados imported to this country.) "Corsican" is the name coined by the YO Ranch for these hybrids. Hercules has Mouflon characteristics, as he has a light underbelly, tail patch, and remnants of a saddle patch. He also has a gold medal class set of horns, even with the brooming of the tips which comes with age. He has a very thick mane that starts at the withers. In the fall when the rams are in full bloom, his mane drags the ground. I call him my little buffalo.

Most of my ewes are high influence Mouflon blood. All of my ewes are many generations removed from any "true" Barbados blood. The two other rams in my breeding program, Winterhawk and Braveheart, are both young sons of Hercules. Winterhawk is out of a Texas Dall ewe that had a few fawn markings. Winterhawk had fawn markings on his neck, but they are now obscured by his mane. He has sired a wide variety of colors from the much sought after whites (Texas Dall), unusual champagnes, to fancy tri-colors. I have found that Texas Dalls help add color to your flock. Even if you get a solid white, they are no trouble to sell. Below are photos of Winterhawk and some of his offspring.

I just recently started using Braveheart. He is a tri-color out of a nicely spotted ewe. He was test bred to three ewes initially, then was put with a flock of spotted ewes. He sired 100% color.

Below is a pic of my favorite ewe, Tobiano. I use her in most of the advertising for the registry, and because of her slick summer coat, she is often mistaken for a goat. She always has beautiful spotted babies.

This is another of my favorite ewes, a Black Hawaiian. Blackie is the only solid ewe to remain in my program, as she had proven to produce color. She had Blackbelly parents. She regularly produces triplets. The photo below was taken two weeks before having another set of triplets. She is an excellent mother and I have never had to help her raise any of her lambs. I do not keep poor mothers in my flock. I have a "two times, you're out" rule about ewes that reject their lambs. No problem with Blackie.

I will ship lambs after weaning (between 8-12 weeks of age). However, due to recent changes in regulations, it is no longer allowed to ship two lambs together in one crate. Every lamb must be shipped in its own crate, and since most buyers want to buy pairs or trios, this has dramatically affected the feasibility of shipping. We ship counter-to-counter only, as this avoids the hassle of weather restrictions. We do our best to accommodate buyers. For information on Cascabel Painted Desert Sheep, contact: