Beekissed

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Noticed the perimeter of the meadow this evening...while I wasn't looking, these two ewes have been systematically denuding the briers, honeysuckle and other nuisance vines of all their leaves and tips. If they can make that big of an impact in no longer than they've been here, imagine how much brush they can clear when fenced into it with temporary electric paddocks!

Imagine how much that will happen when there are more sheep's mouths here to do that work! Love these hair sheep!!!

Could be why they are looking so very sleek when I have very little graze here...here's a great article telling the nutritive value of what they prefer to browse....

https://www.wormx.info/browseplants

Using a mixed sward of grasses and legumes or legume (high protein) swards; using forage plants containing condensed tannins; and/or allowing access to browse plants can help in control of GI parasites in grazing goats and sheep. Additional benefits can include improved protein availability (and probably minerals) for support of the immune system and improved nutrient-use efficiency (especially protein) in livestock.
 

Baymule

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I have no honeysuckle. They ate it. When we clear out briars, they come back up, but the sheep strip the leaves off and will chew off the vines. Over time, the briars finally die out. They will eat blackberry leaves too, plus a variety of plants.
 

Mike CHS

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I had one section of about 2 acres that had briers so thick that I had to cut it three times the first time just to get it down to a foot high or so. I cut it low just before I let sheep on the patch and they are gone now three years later.
 

Beekissed

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Mom HATES Autumn Olive...but long about right now I wish we were infested with it. I love how they smell, the sheep love how they taste and did you catch the crude protein levels of that stuff???

The honeysuckle on our porch and on my garden gates has been trimmed as high as Shine can get on her hind legs....they all look like they've been given a bowl cut. :D What's good about that is that next year those vines will be all the more healthy for having been browsed this season....hopefully by next spring I'll have those sheep into paddock rotations that prevent them from overbrowsing those vines and then, when the vines get too wild again, I'll let them into that area for a good trimming.

My neighbor has a very large field next to us and I just found out this evening that he has to pay a goodly sum each year to have someone brush hog it for him.....hmmmmm......I'm thinking I'm going to offer to mow it for him for free. :cool: With QUIET mowers....
 

Beekissed

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Added two ewe lambs to the flock yesterday and am VERY pleased at how they look and I can see great potential there. They were also a decent price. They were sourced from an excellent farm and breeder....I was most impressed by everything I saw except the docking of their tails. Not all sheep were docked, so I'm thinking they had docked this ram's lambs as a way of spotting them easily and making them more marketable to an area that keep mostly woolly breeds.

Will get pics soon and post them here. I'm impressed with their calm nature, their incredibly nice build from top to bottom....but their bleats are flat, nasally and seriously not melodious. :D =D
 

Beekissed

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I've been to many sheep farms in the past and again this year and every single one of them are never prepared to show their lambs for sale, don't have them separated out where one can view them properly, no way of loading them into a trailer or truck except by dragging them out there and shoving them in. Two places I visited had plenty of time and warning I was coming but their flocks were still out in the fields....WAY out in the fields. From bad farms to the best of farms, not a single one has a good system for selling or sorting their sheep!


You'd think that would be a priority if you are attempting to profit from lamb sales, wouldn't you? I have the unique opportunity this next season to be building a sheep barn and pens....not exactly a barn, per se, but a pole shed type structure. It's nice to be able to design it instead of having to use existing structures or try to revamp an existing system that limits changes.

Been watching some of Temple Grandin's ideas and setups in NZ and Australia and have an idea of how I can create a calm and orderly sorting, holding and loading setup that should work, especially for smaller flocks like mine. Buying sheep should be a good experience where you can put your hands on the animals, see them from all sides, see their sire and dam, and load them without undue stress on the animal or the people involved.

Furthermore, the flock should be accustomed to moving through these pens at other times, with good things happening at the end of the journey, so they know what to expect, are easily led into the pens and through the chutes and gates, so that when a stranger shows up and makes them nervous, they are in a place that makes them feel safe already.

Anyone have any particularly good ideas that work well at your place and with your sheep when it comes to sorting pens, loading chutes, etc?
 

Baymule

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We recently bought our equipment and what a difference it has made. We are loading up 6 lambs to take for processing next week and will put up a cow panel loading chute. So far our loading has been temporarily set up, It has allowed me to see what works and what doesn’t. At least we have a series of lots for sorting the Sheep and separating the lambs.
 

Beekissed

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We recently bought our equipment and what a difference it has made. We are loading up 6 lambs to take for processing next week and will put up a cow panel loading chute. So far our loading has been temporarily set up, It has allowed me to see what works and what doesn’t. At least we have a series of lots for sorting the Sheep and separating the lambs.

Bay, this current temp setup I have has also let me see it's severe limitations when it comes to ease in handling or sorting sheep. I need a system of gates, chutes and pens to move them easily around in a semi-circle on the perimeter, with a pen in the middle to shunt the lambs or chosen sheep into, while the others continue through the chute to another pen that can release them to pasture once again.

Got a few pics of the new sheep today, but mostly of their butts...not really my intention but every time I approached the group, they turned away and just kept on eating. If I tried to get a side view or front view, they'd just casually turn away and move on....so lots of pics of butts. Sorry! :D =D

It does give an idea of the size of these ewe lambs~both 7 mo. old~in relation to my older sheep.

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I really like these sheep's calm demeanor, stocky build and confident manner. And I really like their chunky, chubby butts!

..
 

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