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Post by macmex on Feb 13, 2021 9:44:43 GMT -6
I just realized we've never mentioned sheep here. Our family has been raising sheep for some years now. We started with Shetlands, moved over to Merino and Merino/Shetland crosses and then finally to hair sheep. First we got Katahdins, which are a short haired, mostly white, hardy breed. We've never had any complaints with them, and our ewes are mostly Katahdins. Some good friends who raise sheep swear by Dorpers, which are also a a hair sheep (don't produce wool). Dorpers apparently are quite calm. I'm impressed, as last year we replaced our ram with a Dorper from our friends flock. Whereas I had to be a little careful around teh Katahdin ram, the Dorper is super "chill." He's just sweet. Dorpers have black or brown heads and white bodies.
So far our experience is that both these breeds are super hardy, parasite resistant and good producers, though last year we had heavy losses due to accidents and predators.
Sheep meat is my favorite of all meats. I don't know if it's genetic, cultural or personal, but I simply adore mutton. Lamb and mutton are equally good, in my opinion. I have never "met a sheep" that wasn't delicious. I like their meat even more than goat or venison and more than beef. I estimate that our sheep attain a weight of nearly 200 lb as adults. I can butcher a sheep, goat or deer in under 6 hours, from killing to "little packages in the freezer." This is about ideal for home production, when it comes to large animals. For home meat production without much acreage I would still heavily lean toward rabbits.
Another advantage for sheep as meat animals, at least for me, is that I don't get attached to them. They're cute when they're lambs, but once they're about 8 months old, forget it. They're "sheep;" kind of obnoxious, not very intelligent, pushy and ... fast growing. Their meat is fairly marbled and dark.
Today it was 10 F when I went out to do chores. Because of the cold chores took nearly 3 hours. I sure carried a lot of frozen water buckets, replacing them with fresh, liquid water. When I finally got to the sheep, who are in the farthest pen, this is what I found.
Momma was still still cleaning them off. I should have known that there were lambs. Mando was pacing and making trips back there every time I opened the pasture gate.
This is Mando with some kids, a couple years ago.
Anyway, in spite of appearances... SPRING IS COMING!
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Sheep
Feb 13, 2021 18:02:21 GMT -6
Post by heavyhitterokra on Feb 13, 2021 18:02:21 GMT -6
Nice thread, George. I enjoyed reading that. I never knew there were breeds of sheep that did not produce wool. I wouldn't mind raising sheep if it were not for needing to shear them. We had sheep when I was a kid. Shearing and washing wool was no fun. We actually still have a working spinning wheel to this day, though since the stroke, I am no longer able to use it. The carders are really tough for me to use too. The stroke I suffered back in 1998, left my hand crippled and drawn. I used to love carding wool for the wheel. I used to enjoy spinning too, but nowadays, I find it very, very, frustrating; nearly to the point of tears.
In winter, there is no warmer attire than a stocking hat and a scarf knitted of homespun wool. I wear both daily in weather like this. (My wife used to love knitting). A thing I never had patience to try. I cherish the things she has knitted me over the years and wear them at every opportunity.
It's 7 degrees right now with a 20 mph wind howling from the Northwest. (Great homespun wool weather!) I really do miss my old, homespun, heavy, wool sweater on days like this. It was ugly, ill-fitting, and the collar never set quite right about the shoulders, but it was so, so, very warm! Woolen attire lasts for decades, but all things finally come to an end. If we were guaranteed to have actual winter the likes of this one every year, I'd invest in purchasing a homespun sweater to replace that old thing. It just felt so familiar to wear it each year, but it has been a full decade since there has been a storm like this one move through, so the sweater was not used for several years, and finally succumbed to the poor conditions of storage.
Speaking of wool, I loved that photo of George's new twin lambs. Those lamb photos and Mando made my day!
George and his family are cherished neighbors.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2021 21:07:58 GMT -6
This thread was sorely needed! Thank you for creating it and starting it out with such a wonderful adventure story. Momma sure knows what she's doing having given birth to babes on probably the coldest Oklahoma night so far. You're such a good steward to provide a healthy environment for them.
Dorpas are growing in popularity in Oklahoma for the reasons you describe though I have only read about them.
A desire of my heart is for baby doll sheep. While just as cute as their name suggests, they were developed to be raised on small homesteads in the United Kingdom - if I recall correctly - and were specifically bred for meat production.
I'd imagine that baby doll sheep have a lot less tweaking out of their weaknesses for which I can only imagine at this point.
You mention parasite resistance in Dorpa sheep.
Can you share some other issues inherent to their husbandry?
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Post by macmex on Feb 15, 2021 16:23:26 GMT -6
Well, Ron mentioned one issue. Most folk get wool sheep which simply MUST be sheared. Shearing sheep is hot, dirty work. That would definitely be a reason not to raise sheep. But hair sheep don't have wool. They shed every spring. That's a tremendous labor saver. We lost at least one Shetland sheep to parasites. Didn't even know he was feeling down until we found him dead. Most hair sheep have been specifically bred for parasite resistance, which is a big help.
I can't think of any other issues, other than that first time mothers seem to have an awful time, not knowing what they're doing and losing lambs. This seems true of sheep in general. Once they're past their first lambing, everything seems to go better.
Bottle feeding a lamb is exhausting work. They need a bottle every two hours for a while, which is much much more frequent than a goat kid. A couple years ago a very good friend, who is up there in years, asked me to take a bottle lamb from one of her friends, who was in her eighties Her friend had saved the lamb from dying, but simply was not physically able to deal with it. I took the lamb, more as a favor to them, and worked like crazy to raise it. I succeeded. A couple months later they contacted me to offer me another. I WAS IN DESPAIR over that, until I thought to call the Stilwell 4-H leader and ask if they could use a bottle lamb. They have a wonderful group out there, and it turns out that I could have found homes for several bottle lambs. One of the kids raised that lamb, and, I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't living a life of luxury even now.
This is a picture of that lamb, a few weeks after he'd been adopted. He's a Barbados Blackbelly, also a hair sheep. The Barbados Blackbelly breed is known for extreme parasite resistance, some intelligence and ability to handle tropical conditions.
Oh, and I forgot to mention another thing I love about sheep. They grow twice as fast as a goat. One could butcher a lamb at 4 or 5 months of age and it's as large or larger than a goat at twice that age.
One more thing: sheep sell exceedingly well. They sell well, but the closer one gets to a metropolitan area, the better they sell and for higher prices. Ethnic groups such as Arabs and Hispanics adore the meat. I have a background of exposure to the Hispanic culture and am truly invigorated and refreshed when I get to deal with this people group. I've been nearly as pleased with my encounters with Arabs and Muslims, at least the ones I've met, most of whom come out of Tulsa. Selling livestock to folk like this is a way to earn some money, but also, for me, it's an enjoyable way to meet people whom I enjoy meeting. Sheep are simply wonderful for selling. That 80 plus year old I mentioned above, has a small flock of Barbados Blackbelly sheep and makes a nice profit on lambs every year.
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Post by theozarkan on Feb 18, 2021 4:45:38 GMT -6
Sold all my sheep last fall. Forty head of katahdins. I had already sold all my lambs for the year. Normally I would let all my lambs graze all summer and then take to the auction around mid November but there was such a high demand last spring that I sold them all including several bottle babies. Then fall came around and I got a chance to unload the whole heard so I just got out of them. I haven't missed them at all this winter. Especially buying hay and lamb saver. If I never see a pritchard nipple again it will be just fine with me. lol
Next summer when I'm having to mow and bush hog I will probably miss them but not now. My thought was to just buy more weaned lambs next spring but the price has jumped so much I may not be able to afford to get back in this year. If I ever do get back in them that will be my plan. Just to buy weanlings in the spring and sell out in the fall before I have to buy any hay.
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