Hinckley, Minnesota
www.tamaracksheep.com/
Tamaracksheep@hotmail.com
Janet McNally has been raising sheep for 30 years with the past 16 years dedicated to developing a pasture based sheep production system. The Tamarack flock is lambed on pasture and marketed off of forages. She has genetically bred a highly prolific sheep called the Tamarack Prolific with 20 years of objective performance records. The average loin eye is 4.4 square inches, roughly double the size of an average loin eye in the U.S.
The 100% grass-fed lamb is drug-free — no hormones, no antibiotics whatsoever, no grain — just grass pastures in the summer, brassicas in the fall and high value hay in the winter. A specially blended mineral and vitamin mix is also offered to help ensure that the lamb’s nutritional needs are being met.
The Tamarack Prolific Sheep was created by Janet McNally in 1987 to fulfill the need for a well-muscled, easy-care sheep that would thrive and be profitable in the farm flock pasture environment of the Midwestern and Eastern U.S. The Tamarack Prolific began with the introduction of the Booroola B gene for prolificacy into the polled Dorset. The resulting cross was then back crossed for many generations to polled Dorset and Ile de France rams to improve milk, growth, number of lambs weaned, and carcass quality.
Selection using estimated breeding values (EBV’s) further improved maternal weaning weight (milk), weaning weight, post weaning weight, loin eye muscle depth, and numbers of lambs born and numbers of lambs weaned.