Story by Randy Eros; Photos by Sheep Canada Magazine & James Wurz. Above: The Rambouillet ewe flock on late fall pasture.
I met James and Daniel Wurz at the sheep barn on the Albion Ridge Colony near Picture Butte, Alberta, half an hour north of Lethbridge. The sheep flock of 670 head is part of the colony’s 12,000-acre operation. Along with hay and grain the colony runs 400 sows, a beef herd and a 100 head dairy operation.
James is ‘The Sheep Boss’ and along with Daniel, a young man of 18, they do most of the work with the flock. The Colony has been running the flock since 2009. There’s lots of help available when needed, but it is clear that things are well in hand. The sheep are run on a pasture-based system, year-round.
My visit was late October, there were no sheep inside the large barn and most of the market lambs had been sold. The ewes are lambed once a year, with the flock split for two lambings. Five hundred Rambouillet ewes are lambed out starting February 1st with the remainder of the breeding flock, 170 Canadian / Dorset ewes, lambing in May and June. Last year the Rambouillet dropped an average of 1.9 lambs per ewe, the Canadian / Dorset crossbreds were slightly better at 2.
After weaning, the Rambouillet ewes are sent off to graze forestry cut-blocks near Drayton Valley in west-central Alberta. “It’s a fair drive, four hours each way.” said James, “It takes us two trips to drive the ewes up there, longer if you get stuck in the mud, like we did this year,” joked James. Catie MacLennan-Dobson of High Country Shepherds runs the flock up there from early June through to the end of August. “They come back to us, in perfect condition,” noted James. “They’re in great shape, not fat, but tough, I think it’s from jumping over all those logs.”
The Colony uses Suffolks as terminal rams on their Rambouillets and Registered Rambouillet rams to produce replacement ewes. “We are running 20 rams right now.” said James, “So 30 to 35 ewes per ram, that gives us good coverage.” The Rambouillet flock will be bred to the Rambouillet rams for the first cycle of breeding and then they will switch to Suffolk rams. The winter lambing of the Rambouillets happens in a large barn 50’ x 300’ barn. They set up 35 claiming pens and move the ewes and lambs through several step-down pens before sending them outside. The lambs will be weaned at seven weeks and stay in the barn-yard until they are market ready. The Canadian / Dorset flock is bred to Border Cheviot rams. This ewe flock lambs out on grass and will graze the adjacent pastures through the summer months.
Above: James with a group of shorn ewes.
Lambs get a selenium / vitamin E injection and have rings put on their tails in the claiming pens. CSIP tags are applied at birth and the lambs are marked as well. Singles are marked on the right side, triplets on the left side and twins on the rump. “It helps us sort out problems later, if a lamb is falling behind,” said James.
Above: Well finished market lambs.
They are using FarmWorks from the Shearwell system for data collection. They do weights at 50 days, 100 days and when the lambs go to market. “We use the data to help us pick which ewe lambs we might want to keep,” explained James. The ewe lambs will go out to pasture with the ewes once they reach 80 lb. The Canadian / Dorset ewe lambs are bred to lamb at one year of age, the Rambouillets ewe lambs are grown out and lamb at two years. “We also want to make sure they grow well on grass,” said James.
The early weaned lambs, approximately 1,000 head, are fed an 18%, farm mixed ration. The ration is fed using Advantage 3-in1 feeders. They have access to free choice minerals and hay. As the lambs grow the protein level in the ration is reduced. Feed for the ewes is a TMR made using 35-40% moisture silage bales. Last year’s bales came from a cover crop consisting of oats, peas, vetch, barley, sunflowers and Italian rye grass. The Colony uses a local nutritionist to balance their rations.
Above: A very busy pen of lambs.
Most of the 2024 market lambs were shipped directly to a buyer in Ontario with the Prairie Lamb Co-op. James was quite happy with the prices they saw through the Prairie Lamb Co-op last year. “We ended up with a net of $350 each for our 125lb lambs and $305 for the 85 lb ones.” The Colony also acts as the south collection point for the Co-op.
A few lots of the 2024 heavy lambs went to Westfine Meats in Innisfail. These were cash sales; at the time the Colony didn’t have a contract. For 2025 that’s changing. They now have a contract with Westfine Meats, so James sees the numbers reversing, with the majority of their lambs staying in the west. Many of the female lambs go for breeding. They will retain 90 to 100 head for the Colony’s flock, the rest are sold as replacements to other operations.
Above: Grass-fed lamb; a new value-added venture.
In 2023 the Colony set up Chinook Country Grass-fed. This value-added on-line store (chinookcountrygrassfed.com) provides the opportunity to market their lamb, beef, chickens, honey and baking goods to the general public. Having built their own aluminum handling and penning systems, the Colony is now starting to market these as well.
Above: Aluminum penning; a new value-added venture.
The Colony shears their own flock, custom shearing another 3,000 head at nearby colonies and other neighbours. “We shipped 6,000 lb of wool last year, at $2.00 / lb.,” said James. The wool is tested for micron count, the 2024 clip was sold across the border into the US market. They work with another local Rambouillet producer, Jeff Jacobs, to market the wool. “Last year our micron count was 21.5. If we can get that below 21 microns we’ll see a better price, we’ll look carefully at the rams for next year.”
Above: The shorn flock of Rambouillets in the 50′ x 300′ barn.
The Canadian / Dorset flock was grazing a quarter section of hay / pasture land near the barn site at the time of my visit. The Rambouilet were a few miles away at another hay field / pasture. Both of these quarter sections, like many in the region, were set up with center-pivot irrigation. The average annual rainfall in this area of south-central Alberta is only 10 inches, so the irrigation is critical.
Above: Early spring grazing under the watchful eye of one of the Colony’s five livestock guardian dogs.
The Colony is currently running five livestock guardian dogs: Great Pyrenees, Maremma and Pyrenees / Maremma cross. James and Daniel also run 10 to 15 Border Collies. “We use them ourselves, sell them as pups but also sell them as trained dogs” explained Daniel.
Above: Daniel with one of the working dogs.
I finished my visit at the Albion Ridge Colony with a drive out to look at the Rambouillet flock. A beautiful group of ewes, enjoying the fall grazing. They stay on pasture all winter, moving closer to the barns as shearing and lambing seasons approach. Daniel was an excellent guide explaining the complexities of the irrigation systems and the canals that feed them. Almost every quarter section of land we passed was set up for irrigation. A testament to the ingenuity of western farmers and ranchers.
Above: The Rambouillet flock grazing a quarter section of irrigated hayland.
