The Sheep Farming Thread

[Resolute]

Do breeds like the Texel have higher protein percentage requirements in their diet than more traditional heritage breeds? In my limited research I've heard excessive protein in the diet (e.g. straight alfalfa or clover) can be a contributing factor to pizzle rot.

[wee drop o' bush]

I'm not sure what it's called - I'll have to check my gf's notes. She took a whole class on parasites and control.

ETA - she just went down and checked. Chicory, birdsfoot trefoil, and Sericea lespedeza "reduce fecal egg counts and/or inhibit larval development." We have the sericea, which only helps with barber pole worms. Luckily they're the ones that do the most blood sucking.


Sericea lespedeza

Try Plantain as well as Chicory and Greater Lotus as well as Birdsfoot Trefoil, excellent Deep Rooted Perennials and Legumes respectively. They are awesome pasture/grazing plants.

Chicory and Plantain are power feed for both sheep and cattle. Highly palatable forage with high livestock growth rates and huge benefits to animal health. Hands down my favourite non leguminous pasture component.

And...

There is considerable data backing signifigant live weight gains in lambs grazing Greater Lotus as well as increases in colostrum production in ewes grazing it . It and Birdsfoot Trefoil are awesome legumes with moderate benefits in regard to nitrogen fixation. Always innoculate correctly for maximum benefit.

Most commercial cultivars of all four varieties should grow in your neck of the woods, WeeD.

On the semi prostrate Oats crop as a lambing "nursery" thing from the page previous, down here sheep farming is largely a less intensive and more broadacre affair so barns, etc are a fairly rare affair. An agrogononist lass from the Dept of Ag in a place called Katanning in our Great Southern had done several trials of the nursery concept around 2005-6 iirc, I got on board because it was a really good fit for a variety of Oats I was pimping at the time.

It's kinda caught on, check this out.


^That's a standing crop of oats at fence level over a paddock of 'old man saltbush', it's also an excellent example of 'no-kill/no till' oversowing/undersowing for pasture [and cropping] rotations. I passionately believe no one should be running a monoculture in a pasture situation in this day and age.

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Thanks for the info on plants TGC & RogerK, I'm going to look into the Trefoil & see what my husband thinks also. The big foraging plant for sheep here now is the Brassica rapa 'Tyfon'
It does make Texel ram lambs put on serious bone & muscle mass. It also gives them a big head, so they look impressive for the sale ring. But then the ram is bought, not fed Tyfon & it often melts.
We don't use cabbage or Tyfon as we want our rams to continue to look as healthy & thrive on their new pasture. There is also the niggling feeling we have that phytoestrogens adversely effect rams fertility.

[wee drop o' bush]

Do breeds like the Texel have higher protein percentage requirements in their diet than more traditional heritage breeds? In my limited research I've heard excessive protein in the diet (e.g. straight alfalfa or clover) can be a contributing factor to pizzle rot.

Thankfully we have not had any cases of pizzle rot
As to the higher protein requirements, not necessarily. It's only around 16% protein in the meal, which our commercial sheep get too. That's the standard rate in meal here.
The vast majority of our Texel sheep's diet is grass. the meal is a supplement.

[Tetra Grammaton Cleric]

Do breeds like the Texel have higher protein percentage requirements in their diet than more traditional heritage breeds? In my limited research I've heard excessive protein in the diet (e.g. straight alfalfa or clover) can be a contributing factor to pizzle rot.

Euugh, just the thought of pizzle rot makes me want to cross my legs and roll into the foetal position.



I don't know anything about Texels, Resolute but excessive protein issues (for example) due to grazing straight pastures of alfalfa (aka: lucerne) or clover, etc is another example of why monoculture pastures is a bad idea. A periennial grass through lucerne (for example) effectively lowers the protein levels of the sward and provides roughage in the sward itself.

Another example that comes immediately to mind is Red Gut. Red Gut is a sonofabitch way for sheep to die, it occurs where sheep have immediate unrestricted access to lush leguminous pastures that they then gorge on. Balanced pastures with a designed mix of grazing species signifigantly diminishes the chances of this happening.

Bloat in goats would be another example.

Sorry if I'm evangelizing or preaching to the choir here.

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[wee drop o' bush]

Our meal does have alfalfa in it, but only a very small amount & they only get the alfalfa enriched meal for the 8 weeks prior to the premier sale.
This sale (where the best money is made) is in the middle of August so they are getting fed this now.

[wee drop o' bush]

We are putting up a poly-tunnel for extra room at lambing time, it's also going to be used to house the pedigree lambs that are going to get extra feeding for shows.
It's nearly there, just needs guttering, electricity & plumbing installed. We are also reroofing the lambing shed.

[Tater Raider]

Sure is a pretty farm.

[wee drop o' bush]

My husband is away to the N. Ireland Rouge de L'Ouest Club main sheep sale today. He's hoping to find a new Rouge ram lamb to breed with our pedigree Rouge ewes, the commercial Rouge x Texel ewes & also this years gimmers (a gimmer is a ewe that has not yet borne a lamb, the previous years ewe lambs)
We breed a rouge ram to all our gimmers as the resulting lambs are smaller than a Texel rams & easier birthed. It's much easier on the gimmers.
I'll post a photo of any new ram he buys today.

[gustovski]

we got merino/border Lester
bout 100 on 81 acres
lots of clover and barley hear
fed we put out for them is peas
wanna get moa land coz moa land = moa tasty sheeps mmmmm roast lamb
oh and if you want protection from canine predators you should get an alpacca they deter the evil foxes

[wee drop o' bush]

Yeah people here sometimes use Alpacas to deter sheep worrying

Border Leicester sheep are a great old, hardy and prolific breed. Enjoy your lamb chops.

[Resolute]

From what I understand, alpaca actually need protection from predators. Llamas are good guard animals, though.

Also, for some reason, donkeys just seem to hate anything canine. They'll chase it down, bite it, and stomp it to death.

Anyone heard anything different?

[wee drop o' bush]

Is it because Llamas are bigger than Alpacas? I am not overly familiar with either breeds tbh.
Edit: my neighbour has a gorgeous donkey yearling called 'Bert', I'll ask what he is like with their dogs.

[Resolute]

From what I understand, alpacas are more like sheep in terms of their herd instincts. Llamas actively alert to threats and will charge and attack them. Most alpaca breeders I know in this area have a couple llamas with each herd for protection.

[Tater Raider]

So a llama, couple of alpacas, and then a buncha sheep is the recommendation?

[wee drop o' bush]

Sounds good to me Taters. I passed by a field of dairy goats on the way home today. They were lovely, some were white and the others were that lovely coffee & cream striped colouring you get with them. I thought of you

I posted last Friday that my husband had went to buy a new Rouge ram lamb. Unfortunately anything he saw was more than he wanted to pay so he didn't buy anything there.
He has decided to use a ram lamb of our own that we were going to sell.
His mum was badly bothered with mastitis so could no longer suckle her lambs, he was her last & I bottle reared him.
She was our best Rouge ewe so its good to preserve the bloodline. Hopefully he'll breed good ewe lambs to replace his mum, then we'll need a different ram if we can get one.

[wee drop o' bush]

The new sheep shed is finally finished


I still have to bed it completely with straw...that's my job for tomorrow.

The ram lambs are comfortable in it.


It's plumbed & has 2 automatic water bowls at each end.
All in all I'm very pleased with it.

[Tater Raider]

Very nice!

[gustovski]

. They'll chase it down, bite it, and stomp it to death.

thats what an alpacca does to a canine but they spit too!
dog fox (what we have here and they are evil and cruel killers so they get a .22 to the head) coyote dingo wolf

[Ye Olde Spook]

I would rather have a flock guardian dog any day of the week over an alpaca or llama. My anatolian at 165 pounds don't take kindly to strangers you know. Deters the curious for sure. And another vote for Katahdins. Running 25 to 50 on my hobby farm depending on breeding and sales. Dog and people food on the hoof! They have done well on subzero days and in blizzards as long as they have shelter. As for how much do they eat? How much rain do you plan on getting on your pastures? What is the pasture makeup? Grassy mix or alfalfa or ??? I am currrnetly buying supplemental hay at $4.00 a small bale. This year the midwest pastures are a little dry and hay prices will be up this fall, so plan ahead. I will supplement with grain (as usual) this winter.

Best,

Ye Olde Spook

[wee drop o' bush]

Hi Spook, another sheep farmer huh?


Though I wouldn't call 50 sheep a hobby, don't sell your farm short.

Where I'm based we get too much rain to be honest & sunshine and it's warmth can be on short supply.

[wee drop o' bush]

The next breeding season started again this morning. Several weeks ago our ewes were put onto poor grazing after weaning to dry up their milk production & make them loose excess fat.

This morning we moved the ewes to better quality grass to increase their plane of nutrition in readiness for conception once the rams are put amongst them. We have also put two teaser rams out with these ewes today.
Basically teaser rams are vasectomised rams whose job is to get the ewes reproductive cycle kick started again.
The smell of the teaser rams make the ewes horny. The rams mate with them but can't impregnate the ewes.
These rams are then taken away from the ewes & the breeding rams are introduced. A mating frenzy ensues and hopefully all the ewes will get pregnant.
But I'll discuss this in more detail when the breeding rams are introduced in September.

Also our main chance to make good money from our pedigree Texel lambs occurs this Monday & Tuesday at the annual Texel Club Show & Sale.
This is where a flocks reputation can be won or lost so the nerves are kicking in about the 4 rams we are taking. They are being housed in the poly-tunnel to ensure they stay as clean as possible & so we can keep them in show condition.
(looking as best as they can)
They are going to have their legs & head washed with coconut oil
shampoo to keep them nice & white. Also a tan coloured dip is sponged onto their fleece to make their white legs & head stand out.
These are the 4 boys we are taking.




We got a good livestock photographer to take the photos.

[RogerK]

If we are able to pick up more land, then I would like to get some sheep. Leaning towards Finnsheep. Have a couple of reputable breeders (with different bloodlines) fairly close (the furthest is 3 hours away).

I googled Finnsheep there and like what I see, I've noticed the commercially successful Finnsheep x Texel cross.
I hope you're successful in getting more land so you can get some Finnsheep, please post any developments with that here


Edit: they look like hardy ewes.

I like the multiple birth 2 sets of lambs per year, along with being a primitve breed. I am hoping to buy some more land directly behind our house. Our neighbor has 97 acres, and does nothing on it. Hopefully we can talk him our of 5-7 acres in a couple years.....

[wee drop o' bush]

That would be a wise purchase

Our sheep going to the show & sale tomorrow are inside now out of the rain. They're ready to go, we just need to keep them clean. Which is not easy with sheep.

[gustovski]

That would be a wise purchase

Our sheep going to the show & sale tomorrow are inside now out of the rain. They're ready to go, we just need to keep them clean. Which is not easy with sheep.

this sounds cruel but if you don't feed them between cleaning the and showing they will stay cleaner