Sheep!! (and not much else)

We are making a couple additions to our 'livestock population' here! We have done a lot of talking about how our agricultural pursuits went last year, and have decided that instead of focusing on raising beef, we want to raise lamb. We have found that our land is much more conducive to raising lamb than beef, lamb is easier to slaughter and butcher, and we love the meat! Last year we encountered endless trouble with our three lambs that we bought in the spring, and slaughtered in the fall: they got parasites twice, the fencing was incredibly difficult to move, making it difficult to rotate our sheep often enough, and they kept getting out of their paddock. It created quite a headache all summer long! And you might ask, "Why on earth would you want to do this again?"

Well, believe it or not, there is a way to do sheep that cuts down on the headache part. We learned two important things about sheep last summer: 1) They are the most parasite-prone ruminant (along with goats), and 2) They need smart fencing, but rarely challenge the fence if they have enough to eat.

There is a two-fold solution to the problem with the parasites: 1) Intensive Rotational Grazing, and 2) Selecting parasite-resistant breeds. Intensive Rotational Grazing is practiced by most farmers who raise grass-fed meat. The paddocks are made just the right size so that the sheep have only enough grass to last 1-3 days. Then they are rotated to the next paddock, and so on. There are many benefits to grazing like this (including the improvement of pasture), but it especially helps with parasite control. The sheep have only a day or so on the grass, so the parasites never have time to grow-- they have already gone through their life cycle and died before the sheep ever are grazed on that paddock again. We did 'rotational grazing' with our sheep, but sometimes did not even rotate every week. The other aspect is 'parasite-resistant' breeds. And, yes, they do exist. We have done a lot of reading and talking with farmers, and it seems the widely acclaimed breed of meat sheep is Katahdin. They are very low-maintenance, and some are so hardy that they never have to be dewormed in their lifetime.

We had trouble with the fencing (and rotating frequently) because we used this movable mesh electrical fencing that essential has to be disassembled every time it is moved. This makes moving the sheep difficult because the sheep get loose every time you move the fence!! :-O

So, what's the plan for these new sheep, and the coming grazing season? We are purchasing two bred Katahdin ewes from an excellent farm we found in Woodstock, Vermont. They have been bred for parasite resistance. Sheep tend to have 2-3 lambs each pregnancy, so instead of grazing 3 sheep (like last year), we will have our two ewes, plus the four lambs (6 sheep) grazing, and then... my sister and her husband are also buying a bred ewe from the same farm, so we will probably have a total of 9 sheep on our pastures this summer (and each summer after). Fencing this many sheep will be easier than the 3 sheep, actually, because we will not need the movable fencing! We can construct larger paddocks of several-strand (not mesh) electrical wire to rotate them through. We are probably picking up our sheep on Monday or Tuesday of this coming week-- hopefully this new project will be a success!

This sheep, named "BH7012" is one we are definitely purchasing (this is only her registered 'name', we will call her something more appropriate) :o)

This is "BH7012" as a lamb.

These next two sheep are definite 'possibilities'-- we will choose one or the other. This one is "BH7015"

"WSK4033"

My sister's ewe, "BH7011"