Mapleton Mynd Shropshires

07/25/2026

I’m not sure how long ago it was that a young man moved from Ohio to Wisconsin for postgraduate work. Since that time, I’ve learned that he’s a kindred spirit and he’s become a dear friend.

He’s a fellow meathead, woodworker, shearer, and a shepherd that has served many in our industry extraordinarily well. He excels at all those passions.

Now, with his wonderful partner, they’re raising a family.

Few know that he’s always had an appreciation for Shropshire sheep. The first time he bought rams from me was when he managed the Spooner dairy research flock. When Rusty Burgett and Christen Burgett took their honeymoon to Northern California, they visited Fred Groverman. That warmed my heart.

When he first purchased Polypays I was a little disappointed. As we talked about it, I understood the decision.

Now, years later, his boys are showing market lambs at county fair. Another thing that I love about Rusty is he’s not going to go out and find some high-powered market lambs for the boys. He’ll help them start a genuine 4-H project of their own. In true Rusty fashion, the neighbor boy is also going to be part of the project.

I was honored to deliver Noah and Sawyer's first four Shropshire ewes and ram to Iowa this weekend. I wish I was quick enough to catch photo of Noah hugging his new #18 ewe. Thanks Rusty.

Most probably don’t know about the Murphy's Kestrel Ridge Pellet Company flock, but I think it's great we now have another Badger grad with a traditional Shropshire Flock. ;)

07/22/2026

The ewe lamb video and EBV sheet are ready. I’m sure my marketing efforts would be more effective getting photos of each individual sheep, but hopefully a longer video of them moving about is appreciated by some.

Similar to the rams, I categorize ewe lambs into a few groups. “Keep” are those that will be bred to lamb at 12 months of age. “Keep/Sell” are lambs that I’ll retain if not sold; I plan to keep some from this 2026 Keep/Sell group. “Sell/Keep” are those that I’ll likely retain if not sold.

Retention decisions are balanced across pedigree, EBVs, and phenotypic evaluation. From a pedigree standpoint, the 19FG6421 ram didn’t have great EBVs but he was a really cool ram that’s a throwback to Groverman lines prior to the 2019 New Zealand import. 25PA4618 and 25PA7997 are the half UK rams that didn’t get a great test in the 2026 lamb crop because 6421 sneakily got to their ewes first.

From an EBV standpoint, I’ve long balanced and complimentarily bred between growth and muscle traits while moderating leanness. In recent years I’ve layered in a more discerning evaluation of number of lambs weaned, maternal weaning weight, and PFEC. We’ve made progress on those last three. That said, since the two half UK rams don’t have history in the NSIP Shropshire database and with 6421 being less than stellar in the numbers category, the EBVs are quite varied this year.

I’ll gladly keep a dozen replacements this year, but with only 38% ewe lambs born this year and the few people interested in ewes that may not be possible.

If the EBV jpg is difficult to read, here’s a Google Drive link to the Excel file:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N27bjnKUeKyXrTnTnqN4ERYmi2M_Kipo/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101597026436316585585&rtpof=true&sd=true

Of note: PFEC (f***l egg count) EBVs on the 2026 lamb crop are pedigree-based. Despite grazing all year, this year’s lamb crop isn’t showing any signs of anemia and therefore the opportunity to pull f***l samples hasn’t presented itself. We haven’t dewormed any lambs this year.

If anyone has questions on the ewe lambs, the rams in the video shared on July 20th, or general questions about the flock and EBVs, please don’t hesitate.

Reminder: I’m headed to Spencer, IA on Friday with a trailer and great opportunities to move sheep throughout the country. The vet was out Tuesday to inspect the flock. I can send him additional ear tags and addresses until mid-day Thursday in order to get health papers.

Thanks,
Cody

07/22/2026

I didn't get to the ewe lamb video today, but just took a quick unscripted video to show how the remaining lambs are raised here at Mapleton Mynd Shropshires.

07/20/2026

“Perfect is the enemy of good” and the Koepke-ism “plenty good” are mantras for Mapleton Mynd breeding stock sales efforts in 2026. This has been a bonkers-but-good year on many levels, leaving me with less time than I’d like to share details on our sheep and to communicate with those interested.

To start, I would like to thank Tim Eppley of Ohio for making our four-year-old proven ram the second-highest selling black faced ram in the NSIP online sale a couple weeks ago.

Thank you, also, to Bill Cagney of Michigan for his second ram purchase in a year. Bill is adding our yearling from the online sale to his commercial ram battery.

Apologies to the few that were disappointed they didn’t know those sheep were offered in that sale.

We are likely sold through yearling and mature rams, but we have plenty of ram and ewe lambs available. Should anyone be interested in lambs, this weekend’s NSIP Center of the Nation Sale in Spencer, IA offers a great opportunity to get them hauled.

Last night I sorted through the lambs. With the busy schedule I haven’t had time to film and photograph each one, much less bring the drone out to film them as I’ve done in years past. Taking video at sundown on a smokey/hazy evening is less than ideal, but it will suffice.

Ram and ewe lambs are categorized into groups to retain, sell, and harvest.

This post is specific to ram lambs. Those to be retained or are available are organized on the ram EBV list. If the EBV image shared doesn’t show clearly, the following is a Google Drive link to the Excel file: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VB26xjVIuY6HSkHRVVUReshbKOUeJeto/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101597026436316585585&rtpof=true&sd=true.

If you’re interested in ram lambs, I encourage you to look through the video and EBVs accompanying this post. If something strikes your fancy, please reach out. I can provide more information on individuals and discuss additional details.

Tomorrow I’ll post a video and EBVs of the ewe lambs available.

Also tomorrow, the vet comes to draw up health papers. He’ll inspect the lamb crop and provide digital certificates, so we have until this Thursday to coordinate health papers for additional lamb sales to be hauled this weekend.

Thanks much,
Cody

07/08/2026

Don’t forget today is sale day!

I’m still not used to the slow start and what is often (and I hope is this time) a frenzied finish. The sale starts to end at 7:00 PM Central. If you’re planning to bid, be sure you’re watching the lots fifteen minutes before the end of the sale.

Lot 601 Mapleton Mynd Shropshires 22048 Proven Stud
https://plauctions.live/auction/32546/892885?fsp=4373

Lot 602 Mapleton Mynd Shropshires 2501 Yearling Ram
https://plauctions.live/auction/32546/896503?fsp=4373

This past Sunday was shearing day. Thanks to Hayden, Jess, and Reece for the clean work and minimal effort needed on my behald!

Last night I finally paint-branded the lambs. With rain in the forecast, I took some videos this morning so people could see them before they turn into Soggy Smurfs. Within the group are sheep we’ll keep, some we’ll sell for breeding, and others that will be fed for harvest.
https://youtu.be/eTFsuVy-myk?si=NAJRcQJ57Pz-_iWh

We’ll have ewe lambs available soon, and ram lambs in about a month.

Feel free to reach out with questions.

Created with Wondershare Filmora

07/04/2026

Happy 250th, America!



Before I head off for the festivities with family in Stone Bank, I wanted to share our entries in the upcoming National Sheep Improvement Program’s Wednesday, July 8th Online Ram & Ewe Sale. The sale begins at 7am, and starts to wind down at 7pm.



Our first entry has been our lead stud ram the last four years, Mapleton Mynd 22048: https://plauctions.live/auction/32546/892885?fsp=4853.



Our second entry is the yearling with the best EBVs we grew out from last year’s lamb crop, Mapleton Mynd 2501: https://plauctions.live/auction/32546/896503?fsp=4924.



Check the entries out, and make some fireworks of your own next Wednesday.

Feel free to reach out with questions.

06/17/2026

Have I really only posted twice in 2026? Yikes. It's hard to tell people about your sheep when you're the one not communicating. Those in the National Sheep Improvement Program have a clue into one of the distractions that’s kept me from posting on the farm page. It’s time to start sharing more from Mapleton Mynd!



On the weather front, we've had two really long dry stretches through the spring that were concerning. Since the start of June, we have made up for any rain shortage. Things are green and the lambs are growing. Overall, I'm very pleased with this year's lamb crop.



I started a new partnership with new friends five miles West that are looking for lamb for their freezer. They have a lovely new pasture setup, so the mature ewe flock moved there last week after the ewes were weaned a week prior. The shearlings that weaned lambs stayed here so they can be watched more closely and fed better to recover from lactation.



The studs have been grazing in the woods so far this year. I plan to offer proven stud 22048 and some yearlings in the July 8th NSIP online sale. Details to come.



After a second dousing of rain today, I moved the shade wagon for the lambs this evening and took a video. I figured I'd share, and plan to do so more often.

02/06/2026

Chef friends and those looking to impress someone special...we have what you need for Valentine's Day!

The American Lamb Board is running a lamb chop recipe contest. Details in the comments.

01/02/2026

The barn cats have taken the winter off, only to emerge from the barn to greet Ruth when she returns from her walks.

The moles and voles seem particularly active this winter, which was even more evident after the thaws prior to Christmas.

After what seems like a two year hiatus, the fox are back. There's plenty of rodent food out there for them.

12/22/2025

A huge thank you to Carol for stopping out to ultrasound the ewes this afternoon. Pregnancy scanning – particularly with the accuracy Carol offers - is one of the best things I can do to plan for lambing.

Knowing the number of lambs in utero helps me feed triplet-bearing mature ewes and twin-bearing ewe lambs appropriately in late gestation. Knowing mature ewes with singles also sets me up for success when I want to graft one of those triplets or twins out ewe lambs. We haven’t had a full-fledged bottle lamb here for over a decade; I’m good at slime grafting. I can also save money feeding those single-bearing mature ewes.

I’m generally pleased with the scanning rate for the 2023-born and older ewes.

Around here, ewes that lamb on their second birthday tend to have a lower lambing rate because they also lambing at 12 to 14 months of age. I usually expect better than 100%, though.

We breed replacement ewes to lamb starting on their first birthday. I hope for singles in these still-growing ewes. Historically we’ve been very nearly 100% bred, but that wasn’t the case the last two years. This year we set a record for twins AND opens in the replacement ewes. It’s likely the open ewes are bred, but not long enough to be detected by ultrasound.

Prior to breeding this year we tried a new approach to a teaser ram by utilizing a “shroud” on an intact ram. The concept is great. The ex*****on wasn’t!

On October 7th I noticed a tear in the shroud’s netting (the area that lets urine and other fluids drain through). I’m guessing the ram caught the netting on a branch up in the woods, or maybe he just bonered his way through. (Bonering-through is new a technical term in ovine production.)

Ten of the thirty-two mature ewes didn’t noticeably mark during breeding. Sure, I used too hard of a crayon with a couple bucks so maybe they did? But that tear in the shroud made me worried, and anxious for today.

Today, six ewes were scanned showing 74 days bred or longer. I’m guessing the one at 83 days bred (based on fetal size), is at least one that was definitely bred by the teaser. The other five we’ll see about at lambing time, which is supposed to start March 7th. Those five are due March 1 through the 5th based on ultrasound fetal size. The teaser we used was the cool QQ ram, Flying Mule Ferdinand. He was older, thin, and showing his age. His work as a teaser ram was supposed to be a last hurrah for him. Looks like he made sure it was an effective last hurrah.

I had a number of two-word off-color alliterative nicknames for the teaser ram shroud. I won’t share them here, but apparently I can add a third word to in the alliteration for one of the nicknames…
…PRECARIOUS pe*******on protector.

Looking forward to the expected start of lambing on March 7th, and whatever surprises the week and a half prior bring.