Posted: 6/21/2016 9:07:27 PM EDT
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Picked up 6 ewes and 2 rams today. After a 4 hour road trip in insane SC heat (thanks SC for no reciprocity) we got home, opened the trailer and they came out like nothing ever happened.
Dorper/ Khatadhin mix. I'm familiar with Dorpers. Good meat sheep. The ewes lambed in March and had twins and triplets - with no human intervention required. A good sign. 
Good meat Easy lambing Heavy carcass I think we are going to eat well soon! |
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I'll be dammed! Thanks!
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So I know very little about raising animals for meat....when do you slaughter them? Is it when they reach a certain age or weight? And will you kill and process them yourself? I just kind of realized that I've never had mutton (lamb, but I have to imagine they taste kind of different)..... so I need to get on that.
Also.... awesome! |
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So I know very little about raising animals for meat....when do you slaughter them? Is it when they reach a certain age or weight? And will you kill and process them yourself? I just kind of realized that I've never had mutton (lamb, but I have to imagine they taste kind of different)..... so I need to get on that. Also.... awesome! I had the previous 2 sheep killed and processed at a USDA certified processor. I've killed and butchered sheep before and if I didn't sell any of the meat, I'd kill and butcher these myself too. I generally raise them about 8 months...with these, they should hit 100 lbs at that age. Lamb is much softer than mutton and technically, at 8 months old, these will still be lamb-ish. Thanks! |
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So are these one of the "hair" breeds that don't need shaving? If so I am in. Yup, they are hair sheep. Mostly Dorper |
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We raise cattle and sheep. We have had as many as 300 on the farm at one time.
We are phasing out of the sheep business. I travel too much for work now. IM me if I can help you in any way. We also have guardian dogs. They are a must. We had regular and heavy losses until we Got our dogs. Also, I recommend a good elctric charger. Put a wire at the top and bottom of your perimeter fencing. Get a few sections of the portable electric net fencing. Use them to divide areas of your pastures and rotation ally graze. Find a seed mix that does well in your area and spread in areas after you pulse graze them. If you don't manage your grazing sheep will ruin your land. |
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We raise cattle and sheep. We have had as many as 300 on the farm at one time. We are phasing out of the sheep business. I travel too much for work now. IM me if I can help you in any way. We also have guardian dogs. They are a must. We had regular and heavy losses until we Got our dogs. Also, I recommend a good elctric charger. Put a wire at the top and bottom of your perimeter fencing. Get a few sections of the portable electric net fencing. Use them to divide areas of your pastures and rotation ally graze. Find a seed mix that does well in your area and spread in areas after you pulse graze them. If you don't manage your grazing sheep will ruin your land. I have different neighbors with large scale sheep (wool), goats (meat), and cattle. What I have seen in my area is that Sheep are a big food source for lions and you will lose a bunch. And yes they have dogs. Goats are a pain in the ass come round up and shipping and tear up the land. Cattle are labor intensive and bears are a problem. I was thinking Hair sheep on small scale for meat and maybe dairy are you saying they are escape artists like goats? |
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We raise cattle and sheep. We have had as many as 300 on the farm at one time. We are phasing out of the sheep business. I travel too much for work now. IM me if I can help you in any way. We also have guardian dogs. They are a must. We had regular and heavy losses until we Got our dogs. Also, I recommend a good elctric charger. Put a wire at the top and bottom of your perimeter fencing. Get a few sections of the portable electric net fencing. Use them to divide areas of your pastures and rotation ally graze. Find a seed mix that does well in your area and spread in areas after you pulse graze them. If you don't manage your grazing sheep will ruin your land. Thanks StockDog! Got the electric going. A nice kencove 6 joule. We really don't have many predators here. Had 2 foxes a year ago, but took care of that. I don't know if we'll go big enough to warrant keeping a LGD - if we ever move to a larger place and keep more, I'd get one. We had a choice between 2 bred dexter cows and the 6 sheep. Realistically, I can feed the sheep and they are very low maintenance. The cows on the other hand...even dexters, would require more work and feed. Got the rotation set up. I'm thinking of crimson clover and barley...both seem to grow really well here, but I'll consult the local extension before buying the seed. |
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I have different neighbors with large scale sheep (wool), goats (meat), and cattle. What I have seen in my area is that Sheep are a big food source for lions and you will lose a bunch. And yes they have dogs. Goats are a pain in the ass come round up and shipping and tear up the land. Cattle are labor intensive and bears are a problem. I was thinking Hair sheep on small scale for meat and maybe dairy are you saying they are escape artists like goats? Our neighbour in S. Africa had quite a heard of Dorpers and never lost a single one, until a pair of leopard moved into the area. Lost a couple every week, then lost his dogs, then we started losing calves. My uncle finally put an end to their terror campaign with the R1...was a hell of a shit storm about that. I can see lion being a problem with sheep - they are not the smartest creatures out there...we are fortunate in that the largest predator in our are, are bobcats - and I've only seen 2 of them here, ever. Should only be a problem with lambs, I think. So far, sheep have been the easiest animals to keep on this property. You really could do worse than hair sheep. Just a heads up...Dorpers were bred to survive in dry areas - with very little food (scrub) or water. They should do well in NM. Cattle is a lot of work if you have to rotate them. We had about 6000 acres of bush and just let them run...only time we had to work with them was vaccinations and dipping. Goats are assholes. I'll never keep goats again. |