World's Largest Sheep

World's Largest Sheep AG WORLD Ag World 15-5-20 Dr. Joe Schallberger, of Boring, Ore., was recently certified by the Guinness Book of Records as owning the world's biggest sheep - a Suffolk ram that tips the scales at 545 lbs. The sheep, named Stratford, stands 43 in. high at the shoulder. He weighed 19 lbs. when born on Oct. 14, 1988. His 90-day weight was 178 lbs. compared to a 90 to 95 lb. average weight for other lambs at that age. "He just kept eating and getting bigger and bigger," says Schallberger, a veterinarian who, along with his veterinarian wife Sue, raises registered Suffolks and sells them across the U.S. and Canada. 'We didn't feed him anything special to get to that size. He just seemed to have the genes that convert feed into weight easily. He's not fat. The difference is his body capacity. People who see him are amazed at his tremendous frame. If he didn't have that, he couldn't carry that kind of weight. Other than grass and alfalfa Stratford got only 2 lbs. of Land 0' Lakes sheep feed a day during the growth phase. He could easily weigh 600 lbs. if we fed him more. Stratford was the champion senior ram at the 1990 Oregon State Fair and was the third place yearling ram at the 1990 National Show last fall. Ever since he was officially weighed in March he has been on pasture yet he weighs just as much or more than he did at the weigh-in." Stratford's father was a ram that Schallberger says might be the most popular Suffolk in the U.S., George Bros. He's sired several champions and some very big sheep. "Stratford's mother is our best milking ewe and was a contributing factor in getting him to such a -high 90-day weight," notes Schallberger, who's using Stratford for breeding. "I like to trot him out when people visit the farm. He sells a lot of sheep." For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dr. Joe Schallberger, Whispering Hills Farms, 19905 S.E. KaDe Court, Boring, Ore. 97009 (ph 503 658-2037).

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