The choice of a ram will impact a flock, good or ill, for years to come.  We were fortunate to find exceptional genetics from quality-conscious breeders - we have also been fortunate that The Boys are living up to their pedigrees. Each ram at HolliBerri has been chosen to produce the great meat-and-fleece qualities which we so prize in our lambs.                                                    We are proud to announce the following rare genetics in the HolliBerri Ram Pen:                             Hoss (1 of 1)                                    These great herdsires guarantee us many years of outcrossing for both our flock                          and the flocks of other Icelandic shepherds.             Having said all that, let me introduce you to:

Ilex         LF111R       4/2/2005

White horned twin Sire:  Visir* (AI) Dam:  Lydia (LF15N) - Moli/Solee* grandaughter                   Finull great-grandaughter

Sixteen months

Eleven months

Day after first shearing 2006

One and a half years old

Two years old

Last day with horns -  two and a half years old

Three years old, and 198 pounds

One of a handful of Visirsons in the U.S., this gorgeous ram is The Prince of the farm, and he knows it!  This is not your mama's ram - this guy has some ATTITUDE, although he has mellowed considerably since maturing.  He has heavy, closely curled horns, a thick, crimpy fleece, the awesome Visir muscling, and the long Solee back.   He is hands down the best ram we have, with Southram written all over him.  He is truly something special.   All of Ilex's lambs have been exceptional, both in conformation and width of horn (go figure).   Ilex's son out of Kalmia joined his father in the ram pen in 2006 - he was by far the best of the yearling sires, which shows that Ilex passes on his tremendous muscling.  After butchering last year, there was a 1-pound per leg difference between Ilex's lambs and lambs from our other herdsires.   No wonder this boy will have a "forever" home with us!!! Update:  Of 2007, Ilex's horns grew so thick that they were squeezing his eyes, so we had to remove 2/3 of them.  We now see why many rams don't make it past two or three years old, as maintaining them in good health may become difficult.  We believe that Ilex is an outstanding animal and worth whatever trouble he puts us to, but we ARE going to do some line-breeding with Tiger and his sisters this year, just in case we end up needing a replacement for our Biker Boy. Ilex will be bred to Caraway, MardiGras, Claudia, Nikko, Sycamore, Blizzard, Sugarmaple, Juniper, Catalpa and Tigerlily for 2009 lambs.                                                                                                                                                                                                            Still looks tough, doesn't he?

Contents

Hoss

Birthday

Two months

Five months