First Year with Sheep | MISTAKES 

You are living the dream, not gonna lie, I'm pretty jealous of your set up. My long term goal is to make a living with regenerative agriculture (especially sheep). Look forward to seeing you on more videos!

Thanks!

Before I had sheep and a homestead I was wished that I could find more honest stuff out there. Honesty is the best policy.

Nice! Best of luck!

Please get your pregnant Ewe's get a predelivery shot a month before they diilver for all they're protecttion

I agree, heat is stressful for sheep.

I almost lost one of my female suffix sheep after getting her shared in April here in Oregon she got pneumonia and almost died I and my sheep sleep in a barn. Pneumonia is caused by a change in the weather and it can really affect them it's been my experience

The chickens were kept off the pasture on only allowed access to their run at this time.

Well I just moved to greener (and larger pastures). So I'm good on grazing space for now. My neighbor in this video has 2 horses and 2 dairy goats and we're on the same sized lots. So he's pretty much using every square foot of grass like I was. Luckily it's not a problem at my new place.

I was in Utah when I filmed this. But I'm in NC now.

@@homesteadingwithPJ great. I'm in ne tn myself so probably similar elevations

I have wondered about a true mob grazing system. I wonder what that would be like on a small system like mine. I guess I would do it with electric fences and daily or every other day rotations. Sounds doable if I didn't have a full time job and family on top of this. Also my pasture was absolute garbage last year due to how the previous owners were using it. I think after one more year of proper management, I will have much better forage for the ewes.

Depends on location, breed, age, papers, full-blood, commercial, there's a lot to factor in. Poor quality commercial rams could be $150, whereas a good ewe with papers will be $1,000+

St. Croix are easy keepers, hardy, but gentle. Same with Katahdins. Some people really like Jacobs too.

I'm pretty much deep in a city so coyotes haven't been an issue for us. The shelter is basically just a lambing barn these days.

I bought 2 Dorpers as lambs during Covid for pets. We built a shed and mine love it and I lure them in every night with alfalfa. They get upset how when out late, but as he said they stay out in the cold, rain and snow...do not mind. They are over a year now; a fixed male and his sister female. I am also learning, they are very healthy with premium grain in the mornings. Some hay in the winter. I see foxes...we have coyotes and I am still not sure about that? Will they get "adult" sheep? These two are not for meat, they are my buddies whom I feel "I saved two lives". They are just grazers, not real exciting, not real loving...just there haha They will follow me, run up to me if they think I have food. I "try" to brush them since they shed and look pretty brushed. Haven't sheered yet, hope I don't have to because I can't find a sheerer. I do love them.

Luckily I haven't had to deal with them at all. One of the benefits of living deep in a city!

A dog. Preferably a livestock guardian breed.

22-250

I can't remember if I answered either! That probably means I didn't. I don't have a Facebook page yet, but we're on Instagram @highmountain_homestead. Glad to hear about the lambs. The first few weeks are always a little stressful.

Oh yeah, more than most sheep. But I've found that the less time I spend with them, and the less dependent they are on me, the less noise they make.

@@homesteadingwithPJ thanks!

Near Chapel Hill.

I love Chaple Hill N.C ! I lived in randleman North Carolina for years,. I did armed security in Greensboro for a long time. loved it!

Is is traditonal lawn grass? If so you may want to sow some variety of seed in there. Make sure you're getting some kind of legume or protein rich forage for them, as lawn grass won't pack much of a punch.

@@homesteadingwithPJ Thank you for your reply! It looks like your average lawn. I can tell there's a variety of grasses, but not sure what kind exactly. It could use a re-seeding, so I'm debating on whether to get pasture grass seeds or lawn seed for the time being.