# Farm Update -- Desparately need advice



## CESpeed (Jan 17, 2013)

Unfortunately I didn't get the 4 acre place I was looking at and have instead gotten a much smaller 1 1/2 acre tract.  Which means I need to readjust my plans tremendously.   I know the pigs are out, the place is too small.   When I posted my desired barn design several people mentioned that a 1/4 acre pasture rotation with 2 - 12 x 13 pens would be good for a small flock.  

Now I would have room for only one 1/4 acre pasture and maybe the two 12 x 13  pens.  Would this be big enough for 2 (maybe 3) ewes and a ram, bearing in my mind lambing.  I saw the plans in another thread with the gates and  hallways I plan to incorporate those ideas.

Now that I need to reduce I'm at a loss.  Recommendations, please.


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## BrownSheep (Jan 17, 2013)

I would suggest either renting or buying a butcher ram just for breeding season. You may have to suppliment depending on pasture quality.


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## CrazyFlocksters (Jan 17, 2013)

X2 BrownSheep. Buying a butcher ram lamb would kill two birds with one stone. But renting would be a better idea if you were planning to sell the lambs to someone that might breed them.


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## CESpeed (Jan 17, 2013)

Rather than buying a butcher ram can Texel sheep be  AI'd?  

I really need to know if I have enough space to accommodate a small flock.


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## RemudaOne (Jan 17, 2013)

How much of the 1 1/2 acres will be for pasture..... Is there a house there as well?


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## Shelly May (Jan 17, 2013)

Rule of thumb: 1500 lbs per acre, Since you are now down to 1/4 acre, you should only run 375 lbs of livestock,
So you will need to know the mature weight of the livestock you get. Hope this helps


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## goodolboy (Jan 17, 2013)

My guess is you should be able to handle 750lbs. of livestock on 3/4 acre. No matter what kind. Maybe 4 sheep, or 3 sheep and a yearly hog.


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## Bossroo (Jan 17, 2013)

"rule of thumb" may or may not apply to a given location....  the limiting factor will be location, location, location ...   type of soil, availability of irrigation water and additional pasture growing conditions due to/ lack of soil ph,  growing seasons, rainfall, snow, temperature,  sunshine, shade from trees or structures, etc. .


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Jan 17, 2013)

> "rule of thumb" may or may not apply to a given location....  the limiting factor will be location, location, location ...   type of soil, availability of irrigation water and additional pasture growing conditions due to/ lack of soil ph,  growing seasons, rainfall, snow, temperature,  sunshine, shade from trees or structures, etc. .


Yup

I don't really like the whole this much on this much land or this many pounds on this much land. So many things to consider.


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Jan 17, 2013)

Bossroo said:
			
		

> "rule of thumb" may or may not apply to a given location....  the limiting factor will be location, location, location ...   type of soil, availability of irrigation water and additional pasture growing conditions due to/ lack of soil ph,  growing seasons, rainfall, snow, temperature,  sunshine, shade from trees or structures, etc. .


*
YES. It all depends on how much of their food you want to provide. 

Obviously, if you plan on providing a lot of the food then you could have more animals.

My SO grew up on a farm with chickens hogs etc on a 1/4 piece of property, but we are dry lots out here (meaning we provide 100% of the feed).*


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## SuburbanFarmChic (Jan 17, 2013)

We essentially dry lot. We have 1/2 an acre total and run 6-12 animals. A mix of goats and sheep.  All depends on who is here and who is being lent out for weed control or as a milker.  We bring in round bales and they also get grain, waste veggies and waste hay.


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## CESpeed (Jan 17, 2013)

My goal is to make sure I'm not crowding them if they are in a 50 x 75 pasture space.  If two or three ewes and their lambs were in that space all day, would they feel crowded?  I'm considering adding a lamb run to make sure they have planty of space to exercise.  At night they'll go into a barn that has 10 x 10 pens.  

I don't want unhappy animals.


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## SheepGirl (Jan 18, 2013)

My sheep were in a dry lot for 2.5 months during the summer as they were waiting for us to put up a fence. They were under our 16x24 deck and the ram pen was 32x8 and the ewe/lamb/wether pen was 32x24. So essentially my ram had 256 sq ft of space + 128 sq ft of shelter space and then my ewes, wether, and ewe lambs had 153.6 sq ft of space each + 51.2 sq ft of shelter space each. Of course it wasn't all divided up; they all had the run of the 768 sq ft + 256 sq ft of shelter. Plus I gave them the deck stairs to hang out under.

They actually crowded themselves underneath the deck stairs most of the time, because it was so cool under there.

I don't know if they were happy or unhappy. I just know they acted the same as they did out in the field (albeit they didn't graze)...hanging out under the shelter during the heat of the day and eating at night. But you COULD tell they were always SO happy to see me with their feed! 






Here's what they looked like in their pens, from the top of my deck:





And these are the sheep pens, empty:


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## CESpeed (Jan 18, 2013)

Thank you everyone for your responses.  I appreciate the information.  I feel a lot more comfortable with my planning now. I think with 3,750 sq ft of pasture, plus 144 ft of inside space, three ewes and a ram will be very comfortable.

This will be my new barn for the sheep:

 http://barnsbarnsbarns.com/glenwood.html


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## SheepGirl (Jan 18, 2013)

Your field won't be able to feed your sheep for very long, so plan on feeding the ewes & ram hay, too 

As for your barn, it would probably be easier & cheaper to just have it one large area, rather than separate stalls. You can always build or buy panels to put up when you need them--it will be a whole lot more flexible, too.

And in response to the PM--you're welcome


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## Baymule (Jan 18, 2013)

If you have room, plant pumpkins for your sheep. They keep through the winter and the seeds act as a natural wormer. good luck with your sheepies!


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## CESpeed (Jan 19, 2013)

I am going to have a garden and I did plan on including pumpkins.  I'm happy to know the sheep will enjoy them, too.

This is an alternate barn thought:  http://www.applevalleybarns.com/hcalifornian.html  or 
http://www.barnsbarnsbarns.com/remington.html


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## SuburbanFarmChic (Jan 19, 2013)

If you have a small yard, I would recommend saving your garden space and hooking up with a farmers market. They always seem to have extra pumpkins at the end of the season and sell them cheaper than I can allot growing space for that qty.  We get them by the truckload free or cheap.


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