Christine… you just like the sheep because you have the most involved kit and record binder for thrm!! But seriously thank you so very much for all of your videos!! Not only do you teach me what I need prepared before I get the animals but also you raise the bar for who I want to purchase animals from💚 All your videos have helped me get started and really get real with myself about scale and what I want🙏🏽
Christine takes amazing care of her flock, and has the record sheets to prove it! 🤩 Thank you for your kind words, Sarah! Our team works hard to create free resources for small-scale farmers, and it's encouraging to see our projects helping real folks like you! Best of luck with your operation! 👏
Could you please use a zoom lens on your next stream (especially if it is a coverage of animals) in case you want to get a closer shot of things like a live birth? Thanks a million! 😁
Thanks for the great suggestion! We're constantly looking for ways to improve our virtual on-pasture experiences. A zoom lens would be a great addition!
Love the video (and several others on the channel), I learned a lot about this kind of lifestyle and how to raise livestock like this. Super personal question for Christine, which I'm sure won't get answered, but I was curious how she got those scars on her chin.
I live in Benton and I would love to come help you out. I are starting the process of raising chickens for meat and egg laying and rabbits. I love the farm life.
Thanks for your support! If you're interested in living and learning at Heifer USA, check out our Residential Volunteer Program: www.heifer.org/usa/residential-farmer-training.html
Thanks for the video. Am watching from Nigeria. My sheep just gave birth to two lambs prematurely. Sadly, non survive. Do you know what could have caused it. Please share your experience. Thanks
Three days ago we had tornado winds with a huge storm. A ewe gave birth before the sun came up, cleaned it off but did not nurse. We are lambing on pasture, like you guys. Mom had abandoned lamb and was a maiden lamb herself, just 12 months old herself. Do I cull her or give her one more chance this next breeding in October? Will these bad mothering instincts effect the ewe lamb? Should we sell her?
At Heifer Ranch, we typically only keep ewes with high mothering scores, since we're able to easily replace culled ewes each year. If you're able to easily replace this maiden ewe in the next breeding season, it may be wise to cull her. Of course, it all depends on the size of your flock and your management style.
You guys always put out great content, thank you. I've always wondered - do your sheep sleep in the field or they are gathered into a pen or some kinda housing? Do you think sheep can be kept this way in the tropics? What do you think may need to be changed or done differently in the tropics?
Our sheep live on pasture 24/7, meaning they almost never require a shelter. (Once every few years, a severe winter storm will require us to temporarily house our herd in an empty chicken schooner.) Raising sheep on pasture works well in moderate climates, especially for hair sheep breeds. In hot weather, make sure your animals have consistent access to shade and water.
Thanks for the question! We don't band tails during field processing, because our hair sheep breeds don't require tail docking. We raise Katahdin and Dorper sheep, and haven't had issues with undocked tails so far.
Thanks Christine, quick question though: what happens if you don’t catch the lamb and the mother having birth and how do you for sure know which lamb is the ewes child?
Our sheep are bred naturally in the fall, and many of our ewes (mama sheep) have twins and triplets. This year, we even had our first set of quadruplets! If you'd like to learn more about our sheep breeding and lambing process, subscribe to our channel, because we've got a very exciting video coming soon... 👀
So when you have a bottle baby lamb and you are selling it to a nearby farmer do you reach out to all of the Farmers on your list at the same time do you send out an email with an image of the lamb and what it looks like any information about the lamb why it became a bottle baby how much you want for it what is that process exactly like? Sorry you live streamed this in March but I just now found your Channel. And I am finding it extremely educational and while I do not have a farm I am trying to write a book and any and all information is awesome to gain. Also do you ever have to intervene when a ewe is lambing and if so how do you know when to intervene?
So glad to hear you enjoy the content and find it helpful! Whom we reach out to regarding bottle baby availability is just dependent on the local context at any given time including present relationship status, urgency, and availability.
Hello, How many acres is your pasture for 120 sheeps that you have ..................... or how many acres of pastures one need for 200 breeding ewes? Please reply.
Do you know why multiple lambs work so well but cows having twins don't work out as well? That was my first sheep birth. Have assisted many calvings and even horses, hogs and birds. The miracle of life.
😢I am very happy to have watched, this video my love for lamps have increased, I have small numbers of lamps, but with what I gained from you people, I am going into lamps farming deeply, thanks for the encouragement ( From Northern Nigeria)
@@HeiferUSA how many acres is your farm? I recently purchased a 15 acres farm and I am trying to figure out how many animals I can hold. I know I can also have extra hay to handle more but I do not know the numbers.
yeah that's lambing in field but honestly, more if you have the climate should be lambing in field. It's better for breeding.Too much of sheep stock need so much human interaction it's unhealthy.
I was curious about the same thing. We are due to have our first set of lambs in a couple weeks so I would love to have the pdfs to start off on the right foot with our record keeping. Thank you so much for this video!
