.........the shadow of death....

[heartstrings]

Just when you think you've learned all there is to learn about sheep......

The sheep are still recovering from feeding their lambs and some are in desperate need of putting their weight back on, The situation is getting critical. Weeks ago, I planted a field of sorghum/sudangrass hybrid and waited, upon recommendation, until it was over 24" high. The reason for this tis that the stuff produces hydrogen cyanide under certain conditions and one of those is being too short. Why does everything always have to be complicated? Anyway, my wife and I have been trying since last Wednesday to get over 120 sheep to go into that field. We would lead the lead sheep in with a feed bucket, the flock would follow, then about half would balk at the gate.  My wife said she thought they were scared because the stuff was too tall so I asked some other shepherds and they confirmed. The sorghum hybrid was thick, high, and apparently "shadowy" enough that they are afraid some kind of "buggers" might be hiding in it.

But yesterday afternoon our daughter and son helped us to finally chase the whole flock in and that took about three attempts. After an hour, we turned them back out. They went in more easily this morning. Initially, the animals can only graze it for a short periods of time so that their rumens can adjust, otherwise they could bloat and die. Hopefully now, within a few days, we'll have them grazing it permanently and putting their weight back on. The stuff is lush and is now topping over 48" and growing fast.

Edited June 3, 2015 by heartstrings

[EKSmith]

Don't know much about sheep but this sounds like a lot of hard work , I grew up on a farm that was mostly agricultural we had some mules ,a few cows and horses , the mules stayed in the barn most of the time and grain fed the cows and horse's grazed in the pastor which was short most of the time ,I sure do miss those days a lot , I had goat (Fred) for awhile and had to get rid of Fred he ate down moms flowers and everything else he could find to eat ,mom said he had to go and he went, brother I hope all goes well with your sheep , praying for you.

God Bless Brother

 

[heartstrings]

Thanks!

 

[heartstrings]

This is the sorghum/sudangrass hybrid field the first time they were turned in on it. It's even taller now. We turned the 100 in yesterday evening for the third time and left them in all night. My wife will turn them out again this afternoon and let in another smaller group of 20, which were being treated for worms and coccidian, in for an hour so they can adjust as well. By Friday I hope to have both groups grazing together. I have second field of the sorghum hybrid, another of the millet and a field of Alyce Clover which should be ready in a few weeks.

https://www.facebook.com/millstonefarm85/videos/vb.582876295078508/1005637706135696/?type=2&theater

[EKSmith]

 thanks for the link I feel as I know you better as brother , I enjoyed the tour of the farm I'm not a facebook member and could only go so far but I still enjoyed it, I like Wilber looks like he'll be a great addition to the farm. I've got a mule but I have him to keep on my brothers place with his mules in the mountains I see him once or twice a year.

Brother you are greatly bless to have your farm and may the Lord continue to be bless your work each day.

God Bless My Friend

   

 

 

 

[heartstrings]

Thank you brother, I appreciate that. Glad you enjoyed the tour. Wilbur is a super friendly little guy. I was down at the back pasture petting him day before yesterday. He loves to be petted and to have his head and ears scratched. I also have a mini horse named Buddy who loves attention too. My llama, Dolly, however would rather just keep to herself and be left alone. She likes to check out all the newborn lambs, gets along well with the sheep and grazes among them in the daytime. But at night she beds down in a far corner of the field, by herself. Strange critter she is.

Edited June 5, 2015 by heartstrings

[Miss Daisy]

lol! Dolly llama! 

[heartstrings]

Yes, that was her name from the previous owner. I wanted to change it, and explained why but, nothing doing. My wife wanted to keep the name so.... Dolly it is

[heartstrings]

 About 120 ewes and lambs are chowing down on the sorghum field right now. Yesterday evening we added 18 more of the animals, which were "on the mend", to the main flock.. For a few more days we will be feeding grain and supplements to 3 ram lambs, a ewe lamb, and a ewe with newborn twins before turning them into the forage as well.  After we get those last few in and situated, my wife and I would like to take a much-needed mini-vacation.

So far this year, we have sold one orphaned bottle baby ram to a local woman, two to another lady for pets (I neutered them first), two to another farm, and two to a Muslim guy from Saudi Arabia. We have 29 more for sale but if it is anything like last year, we will have no trouble selling them all. Last year we sold all the rams we raised, bought six more from another farm at a bargain price and re-sold those at a nice profit, then had to buy 5 more from another farm to fill the last order of the year and made $328 profit on those 5.

The girl who bought the two wethers for pets sent me this photo two or three days after she bought them.

This is the sorghum/sudangrass hybrid field. Most of it is about 5' high now.

Edited June 8, 2015 by heartstrings

[EKSmith]

  brother why all the different types of grass ,I noticed this on the lay out of the farm is there a reason for this , brother I know nothing about sheep 

God bless

[heartstrings]

The more I learn about sheep, the more I'm discovering how little I really know.   I guess I'm trying to determine what they thrive on best while trying crops other farms have used. This past winter I planted oats, wheat, rye grass, turnips, and Austrian Winter Peas. They loved the wheat, oats and ryegrass, but weren't wild about the turnips and didn't care for the winter peas at all. They nipped at the turnips and finally ate some of the peas but left too much of it untouched. But then I had planted the peas mixed with the wheat and they ate the wheat down to the ground while passing over the more nutritious peas. I don't yet understand this because other farms have used the peas and the sheep ate them just fine. Last year, I also found out they don't care for crimson clover and will pass right over it as well to eat Bahia grass even though the nutrition/protein content of the clover is considerably higher too.

With the summer crop, I have found that they love the pearl millet but it doesn't grow nearly as fast as the sorghum which is proving to produce much more "biomass" per acre on our property. When we began to acclimate them to the sorghum, the stuff was a little over 2' high. But they were evidently afraid to enter the field. They seemed perfectly content to munch the millet down to the roots. One week later, we finally got the whole herd in there and by then the sorghum was already topping 4 to 5'. Now they are eating it like crazy but the way they do it is to walk the perimeter and eat their way in from the outside. We are guessing that they are afraid some kind of predators could be hiding in the center of the "forest" of sorghum. The sorghum is in fact risky because it produces hydrogen cyanide under certain conditions. If there is a rain followed by a drought, the plants produce the toxin and could kill the sheep. So we will be watching for that. The millet does not produce the toxin but again doesn't produce as much food as quickly as the sorghum is doing.

We will have to wait and see how the Barbados like the Alyce Clover when it is ready to graze. I planted this particular summer variety because it is what a successful local farm feeds his Katahdin sheep. I would also like to find some things to plant which could provide a transition between the summer and winter seasons. We had to feed over $1500 worth of hay and oats this past year and it would be nice to be able to reduce that expense which will be considerably higher this year because of the increase in flock size.. By providing good grazing with a lot of biomass per acre, we might be able to pull it off; not to mention save a lot of the labor of filling troughs and pitching hay for over 100 sheep every day. 

Edited June 11, 2015 by heartstrings

[EKSmith]

The more I learn about sheep, the more I'm discovering how little I really know.   I guess I'm trying to determine what they thrive on best while trying crops other farms have used. This past winter I planted oats, wheat, rye grass, turnips, and Austrian Winter Peas. They loved the wheat, oats and ryegrass, but weren't wild about the turnips and didn't care for the winter peas at all. They nipped at the turnips and finally ate some of the peas but left too much of it untouched. But then I had planted the peas mixed with the wheat and they ate the wheat down to the ground while passing over the more nutritious peas. I don't yet understand this because other farms have used the peas and the sheep ate them just fine. Last year, I also found out they don't care for crimson clover and will pass right over it as well to eat Bahia grass even though the nutrition/protein content of the clover is considerably higher too.

With the summer crop, I have found that they love the pearl millet but it doesn't grow nearly as fast as the sorghum which is proving to produce much more "biomass" per acre on our property. When we began to acclimate them to the sorghum, the stuff was a little over 2' high. But they were evidently afraid to enter the field. They seemed perfectly content to munch the millet down to the roots. One week later, we finally got the whole herd in there and by then the sorghum was already topping 4 to 5'. Now they are eating it like crazy but the way they do it is to walk the perimeter and eat their way in from the outside. We are guessing that they are afraid some kind of predators could be hiding in the center of the "forest" of sorghum. The sorghum is in fact risky because it produces hydrogen cyanide under certain conditions. If there is a rain followed by a drought, the plants produce the toxin and could kill the sheep. So we will be watching for that. The millet does not produce the toxin but again doesn't produce as much food as quickly as the sorghum is doing.

We will have to wait and see how the Barbados like the Alyce Clover when it is ready to graze. I planted this particular summer variety because it is what a successful local farm feeds his Katahdin sheep. I would also like to find some things to plant which could provide a transition between the summer and winter seasons. We had to feed over $1500 worth of hay and oats this past year and it would be nice to be able to reduce that expense which will be considerably higher this year because of the increase in flock size.. By providing good grazing with a lot of biomass per acre, we might be able to pull it off; not to mention save a lot of the labor of filling troughs and pitching hay for over 100 sheep every day. 

thanks for the info brother, got a better understanding now , I'll be praying that Lord bless your labor in finding the right feed and multiply it ten fold.

God bless brother

[heartstrings]

Thank You Bro. Smith

[Ronda]

I grew up on a farm.  We didn't have sheep, but we had horses and cows.  Animals and farming is hard work, but I miss those days! We grew most of our own food and it wasn't laden with pesticides and all the other things in our grocery stores now days.  Later on in life (living in a small town) I had a nice back lot and had a garden for many years, but no farm animals (just cats, lol). I canned every year and that saved a lot of money a well it just plain tasted better knowing I worked hard to keep the garden weeded and groundhogs out! Now I have MS and can't grow a garden, but I sure remember those years with fondness. Hope your sheep farm goes well and God Bless!

 

[heartstrings]

Hi Ronda, sorry for your MS. I hope God blesses you too. Thank you.