Pilot and scientist becomes farmer

[sandy10m]

Just a quick update. Weaning took longer than expected, but with all the rain, the mamas had plenty of grass/weeds to eat. I did not do the initial 24 hours fast for them (I just learned that here), so that didn't help. But 1 week of no extra feed (grass/weeds only) with the lambs, and then 3 weeks of grass/weeds only without the lambs, and their udders are done. Lambs started weaning at 13 weeks. The lambs are all growing fast, but they were already munching on multiple feeds and grass/weeds with the mamas before weaning. Next phase, letting the ewe-lambs grow up a bit before first mating. And letting the mamas recover with extra oats/alfalfa. Mamas mate in Sept, lambs mate in Oct (9 months for them). I already figured out their blind dates. I should have the next wave of lambs in Feb and Mar.

 

[Baymule]

I’m glad that weaning went well for you!

 

[Baymule]

Are your ewes bred now?

 

[sandy10m]

Thanks for checking in! Yes, I had another "dating game" for the mamas beginning of Sept, and the "dating game" for the ewe lambs beginning of Oct. All 5 ewes are now pregnant. First lambs due Groundhog Day for about a week. Then second lambs due March 2 for about a week. Next time, the girls will be matched with one of two rams, depending upon who their daddy is. I will be alternating the two rams generation after generation, to avoid genetic abnormalities.

Now I am trying to sell the 4 ram lambs, either as breeders (intact) or as meat. There aren't a lot of sheep farmers around to ask. I did ask my friend who has a cattle ranch, and she gave me a recommendation. I emailed them and am waiting for a reply. I refuse to use an auction. I saw one for about 20 min and couldn't stand the cruelty and left. So if anyone has ideas on that question, I appreciate the suggestions.

 

[Baymule]

You could list them on Craigslist. Unfortunately rams are not much in demand, except for meat. A ram is half of your flock, he breeds the ewes and the resulting lambs are his, thus the saying that he is half of your flock. So you want to use the ram with the best qualities. Not all of the rams are going to be the best. I have some good ewes that produce better ewes when bred to a real good ram, but even then, I don't keep all the ewe lambs, I select the best, sell the rest. When selling directly to someone, I don't sell them just anything. If I wouldn't keep it for myself, I won't sell it as breeding stock to someone else. So where do all those just "ok but not exceptional" lambs go? I keep a few for my own or my meat customers, consumption. The rest go to auction.

There are buyers for livestock, cattle, sheep, goats and horses. Some places include pigs and poultry also. Buyers cannot go from farm to farm buying a few here and there, it would cover lots of miles, time and greater expense in fuel. An auction is an exchange agent, sellers bring livestock and exchange for money, buyers bring money and exchange for livestock. It may not be the very finest of accommodations, but it is the most efficient way of sellers and buyers meeting up to "exchange".

Are the animals scared? Yes. My sheep are scared right here at home when I have to run them through the chute, restrain them to trim feet, give shots, treat injuries and so on. They are scared when I load them in the trailer to take to the vet. An auction is a whole lot of scared animals. Running them through the ring makes them more scared. Cruelty is not allowed, is against the law. I know things can get wild with that many scared animals. The workers use plastic paddles to move the animals along, they do not hurt. The workers are trying to do their job with a lot of scared animals that each and every one is capable of hurting them. Some go to individual buyers that take them home to add to their own flocks. Some go to meat buyers and the animals may go to a feed lot to fatten up before slaughter.

Bottom line, you cannot keep them all. If you have several ewes, you can't even eat them all. Finding individual buyers can get difficult. You may have to steel yourself and take lambs to auction. If it is hard for you to watch, then don't. Drop them off, have the auction mail the check and go back home. You are raising meat animals. someone going to slaughter them, someone is going to eat them. They are your babies, you love them, when they leave your farm, it is no longer under your control. Your lambs are not anybody else's babies, to them they are livestock.

I've raised sheep for 10 years and have always sent the ones I was going to eat, to a slaughter facility. I've always said I could do it myself if I HAD to, but I didn't HAVE to and I paid for dropping them off as my babies and picking them up as meat. Just this month, I finally slaughtered 3 ram lambs myself. But I still couldn't shoot them, a neighbor came over and did that, then together we hung them off the tractor bucket, skinned, gutted and quartered the meat and packed it on ice. Then I took the next few days to process, vacuum seal and put in the freezer. I've processed deer, hogs, rabbits, chickens, quail and It's taken me 10 years to process my babies. So believe me, I'm not being harsh when I explain the auction process, I get it. I want the best for my babies too, but I am raising a meat animal for meat.

 

[Mini Horses]

Well said Bay....it's the same with my goats!

 

[SageHill]

Ditto here. The ones I sell locally are the best ones that I am not keeping. Basically, ones that I would want in my my own freezer. Why? Because I want to build up what I can sell here w/o going to auction thus saving the auction fees.
Not one of the sheep in my flock are pets. That does not mean that I don't care for them. I do. Most have a name, they come for animal crackers, I pet and scritch their neck, head, ears. When they see me the come running.
Auctions are one way to move those your are not keeping. When I take lambs / sheep to auction I either drop off the morning of or the night before. They are not there long. I wouldn't mind staying and watching, but traffic getting home is a factor esp with a trailer.
While I have enough land to be able to bury one, I don't have the equipment - no backhoe, and my ground when dry (which is most of the time) is rock hard granite (decomposed granite). I have had an oldie die. I nice ewe, great for training dogs, she gave me nice lambs. BUT -- what do you do with a dead sheep when you can not bury it? You call someone to take it away - only 1 (or maybe 2) in my county (this county is the size of Connecticut) are licensed to do that. Add in the $300 + milage cost and that's a dent. If I was smart enough at the time I could have taken her to auction and got a little $ rather than be out $$. That's the hard sad truth.
We can't keep them all - unless of course we had lots of $$$$, land, and help to feed, vet, clean, care etc. because the numbers of animals would grow.
Boils down to keep the best you can (put a number on that), sell the best local, auction the rest. Give what you have the best life you can, treat them right.
Oh and any bad players (like rams or whatever whose only goal is to mow you down) off to auction pronto.

 

[sandy10m]

Thanks so much for all the responses. Lots to think about. I also realized that I could ask the processor, since they likely have customers with sheep, and those customers might have more info.

I did get a response from the guy recommended by the cattle farmer, so I will see what he would like to do.

One other interesting tidbit. All this started because my neighbor asked me to bottle feed 2 of her lambs (boy and girl), rejected by the mama. I thought it was temporary, give them back when they were done with the bottle. When I found out it was permanent, I realized that I could not sell, give away, or eat the babies that I just raised because they thought I was their mama. Then the ram grew up (with huge horns) and decided I was a great ramming post. Boy, it was much easier to make that decision to go to the processor than I thought. Now I have 50 pounds of lamb in my freezer.

 

[Mini Horses]

Yep, their actions can make you change your thoughts. I have a bottle doeling that is pushy, assuming & entitled (she thinks!). Tonight I found myself feeling her body for size of hams and shoulders...... As in "yields" !!

 

[Baymule]

Yeah, when one is trying to kill you, it’s pretty easy to eat him.

You are receptive to all the advice, that is good. You love your sheep, but realize their role. Just because you eat a lamb, it doesn’t mean that you treat him any less than he deserved.

The 3 rams I butchered myself had a great life with a few minutes of not so good. Now they are going to feed me, 2 buyers that are splitting one, my daughter and family and I’m donating some to a lady in kidney failure.

Some more advice, read the sheep forum. You will learn a lot, ask questions if you want, we will do our best to help you learn.