Your sheep questions answered. Our subscribers have asked great sheep management questions about our operation. Greg took this opportunity to answer them. Check out our books on our website: greenpasturesfarm.net/books/
I don't have sheep, or cows... but.... I do have 200 acres and it used to run some.... the more I watch your channel the more I am liking everything I am seeing... your presentation and clear enjoyment as you do what you do... hahahah... I laughed at the video where you just stomp in some crap and go "that's good crap !!" hahahahaha !! Great vids and the info is just invaluable ! Great job to you and your entire crew ! Oklahoma down here and watching the blizzard melt away finally :) Stay safe and warm you guys !!
I have 11 acres and recently bought 4 weaned 2 month old sheep. I say go for it. Just rotate them for parasites and giving the grass a rest. They don't eat that much as lambs but next year will be different and more of them.
my neighbor, a livestock scientist, talked me out of dairy goats. so here I am. learned a lot in only 24 minutes. Just gonna get two dairy ewes. my lush ground would probably support 100.
Haha, cool I got a shout out! Thanks Greg and Jan! Lol, I can confirm electro-net will not keep a ram separated from ewes! I documented mine on vids on my channel. Luckily I have gotten by with it this time around but I'd definitely not recommend it, I worked my tail off to make sure the lambs didn't freeze to death, luckily they are pretty hardy if they don't get wet. I was fortunate that they had a couple of weeks of nicer February weather before we got the subarctic system from Hades, also I was lucky that only 4 ewes got bred by accident the one night the ram was in with them! I think the term you were looking for Greg was "Jugging" for the lambing.
Most wool sheep will need hoof trimming and I have heard of more and more hair breeders that are having to trim feet as well but I believe that is purely from bad breeding. The problem is that the farmer is able to catch and trim feet to easily 😂. Ever wondered why the only cows that need trimming are dairy cows??? It's because they are always in a barn near a squeeze so Mr farmer goes, "oh I'll just give you a quick trim" and then he keeps that cow with bad feet. The beef rancher sends those cows for hamburger cause you can't catch and trim cow's feet on pasture! Sheep... unfortunately it's easy enough to catch em, and snip snip you're done. Sounds easy?? Next thing you know you have a 100 bloody sets of feet to trim every year!! If you get sheep, watch their feet, if they start getting long (like skis) trim them and give her a call tag, or at the very least, don't keep any of her progeny.
thank you thank you thank you, I'm to old for cattle by myself so I'm going to do sheep and St Croix for sure. enjoy the cattle segments but would like to see more on the sheep, thank you
Wonderfully intelligent approach to the job. I’m off to check out the St Croix. No idea whether I can get them here in the UK, but I’m up for trying. Thank you both for making these vids, so much food for thought. 👏😎👍
I like your approach. New-ish to St. Croix, always helped my dad out when he had the farm. Anyhow, I will also have lambs in May. I currently leave the Ram in with the ewes and feed hay. One water bucket to keep warm, etc. Next weekend it'll be warm again and I'll separate and start feeding a higher protein feed. I guess the point is, keep it simple. I don't want to be married to my farm and live in the barn with them (haha). Let them provide and also do a service for your farm/pasture. Always enjoy the videos.
cat wait for the "new" book! great information! i just wish i could get my brothers to watch your videos and land owners who dont want sheep or goats on their land,, because "of competion with the deer,, great video
Great information! We are ramping up hair sheep on our place as we reduce cattle numbers. We are starting small but plan to get to about 100 head over the next couple years and really appreciate what you stated about knowing where they come from and choosing from a flock in similar environment.
Wow. I really learned a lot of valuable insights listening to you two talk with each other. My wife and I have 4 very weedy agricultural acres and…at first we thought of goats, but now….(after we get it surveyed and fenced)it seems like hair sheep have so many advantages! Of course we will probably just start with two or 3 weened ram lambs and harvest for our own consumption just to see how it goes. We are going to the homesteaders of America conference in Frontroyal Virginia in October….hope to c you there🌈😃🤙
Video I’ve been waiting for! Bought the severely grown up farm next to mine. Working on my fencing now and plan to transition from cattle to hair sheep.
Make sure you get a guard dog or something to guard the flock. Sheep are just predator magnets, neighbors dogs, coyotes, foxes, Eagles, large owls, humans, etc...
Thank you for these talks. I wonder if you have anybody using chickens behind your flocks/herds. I've seen people like Joel Salvatin and Gabe Brown who use chickens for extra manure and revenue stream. Thanks again for these posts.
Ahh !waiting for the new book there is the anticipation ,the smell of a new book and what beats all of that Jan is ...you have no prep work to do other than feeding and watching the author for signs of distress. 😀😃😄😁😆😅😂🤣😉🙂😇😊
We have crossed Tennessee Meat goat and fainters with Nubia/Boer/Spanish does and we just pretty much eliminated worm trouble in my daughter's goats,but I love our sheep(Katahdin) so far. I bought some off a farm near Lexington Mo a few years ago which all died. Bought some from a known good breeder near Brunswick who doesn't worm and his BIL is my friend. They have been awesome and stay fat
Thanks for the wisdom Greg. Couple of questions if you have time. It sounds like you sell your lambs in August. At what weight? And in Texas the highest and most consistent market time is the first of January. Would you ever recommend keeping the lambs until then (8 months old) if you had plenty of grass?
I had 30 ewes and one ran Katadin and I had ewes drop lambs in January and they did well but I live in Ky and I had 5 acres divided in 8 plots and rotated every 5 days
anyone in South Louisiana following these folks? also, I can't believe the St. Croix sheep is from the island of St.Croix! My dad worked down there when I was young so I went to high school on st. Croix. Lots of goats, don't remember sheep.
I was thinking about the rams' tenacity to bust through and electric fence and swim around the fence when the ewes are in heat. It made me realize all the more how stupid it is for teenagers to be dating. The farmer picks the best he can out of the rams and ewes from his knowledge and wisdom. How much more does it make sense for parents to pick spouses for their children? Would make things much easier on the children; you can still give them veto power; and you can keep the ram in the mobile pen so to speak; as it is written "Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right."
Thanks for the Q&A. I am curious about about what you do for ewes that have triplets- Do you pull one of the lambs and try to put it on another ewe or let the ewe raise the triplets? I have had ewes that raised triplets and even quads successfully and others that have not. Just curious of what you do. Thanks
Thank you so much for doing the videos very educational my question is from the time Atlanta's born what is their age when you take them to the market also what is the weight of them when you take them to the market thank you so much August 3rd 2023
We are interested in sheep if we can ever get the realtor to answer our property questions so we can make an informed offer. It seems agents are making enough money here so they don't work to sell. We have talked to people who have bought property without asking the right questions and now regret it.
We have friends that raise pigs and chickens, we help support their farm family by buying from them. They are good at it and we like supporting small family farms.
Job well done. Thank you very much. Look forward to more of these. 2 questions. 1st about my Ram. This is all on 30A. Could I run that ram several paddocks behind the ewes through out the rotation, or do you think he would still create problems that way. In these hills of north Missouri we couldnt do the cart trick. 2nd, when do you guy sell your lambs an also how may one be able to buy some of them?? Thank you again.
The ram being rotated behind the ewes will get back with the ewes and you will be lambing when you don't want lambs! Sold out of breeding stock for this year, check with us in January 2022.
The protein tubs I've seen are actually filled with a solid block of material, usually made of molasses and other ingredients, and designed to be used as a lick. Something like this: www.peaveymart.com/AGRI-BLOK-20-RANGE-SHEEP-MOLASSES-PROTEIN-SUPPLEMENT-BLOCK-50-kg-P2621.aspx
Hi greg, how do i choose when buying sheep and rams, what should i look for, i remembered you said for cattle big gut and short legs, good video by the way
That’s a great question! We have 4 agricultural zoned acres in constant wet windward Hawaii. Great question. Divided between getting just some weened ram lambs to grow out or an actual starting flock…of course we don’t have enough land to really separate them..ram lambs should be alot cheaper if you have never done this.
I was just wondering how you would do your reels for your starter fencing? The fence with 2 or 3 wires on it to train your sheep, does it have all wires on one reel or 3 reels each with one wire?
So I'm curious, I want a Khatadin/st croix but the closest ones are like 1000 miles away for purebreds. Do you think it's worth it to spend money on purebred stock if they might die I. The first generation to attain parasite resilience?
I live in Canada where it's very hard to find st croix sheep would you recommend Katahdin sheep or Katahdin crossed with Barbados black-belly or Wiltshire Horn or a mix of all three?
I would highly recommend the Katahdin. That is what I raise and they have been a wonderful addition to our homestead. I have lots of videos on my channel about my sheep. Although ... I do not have the space to manage my sheep like Greg does.
I'm researching now in order to build a successful program in Texas in the near future. I'd really like to know why the Dorper didn't work out for you. Could you elaborate more about how you eliminated the different breeds you tried?
The breeds that could not survive without being wormed died. We have never wormed an animal. The ones that could not handle this management are no longer with us.