# The End of a Love Affair



## Sheepshape (Oct 9, 2018)

So....I love sheep. BUT.....I have to throw in the towel.

With all the uncertainty about what will happen with farming after the infamous BREXIT.....sheep farming being top of the list for things which will become economically impossible.....I go to market with really nice ewe lambs. Last year I got £85 per animal on indifferent ewe lambs. Today offered £45.....declined and prepared to pack them all back. Some business-minded guy offers OH £50 for 20/30.....he accepted the offer. 10 come home.

At the rate things are going, the loss per animal will be over £20 each. Though I have sheep as a passion, not as an income, I cannot survive this way. Today I have conceded defeat.

My lovely ladies won't go to the tup. I'll sell off those who are 'at the end of the line' in the coming months. Some of my lovely ewe lambs (which I have never fattened for meat) may have to go down this road. I'm veggie, so don't see them as food.

My rams will have to go for meat.

About a dozen ewes/ ewe lambs I cannot bear to part with.....old friends, bottle lambs etc. I'll keep them until they are old.

I plan to turn my land over to wildlife/conservation whilst I am still able to manage it effectively. 

I will sorely miss sheep.


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## Latestarter (Oct 9, 2018)

Awwww..... So sorry Sheepshape. Such a sad ending. Hope you'll still share (some of) your time with us here. I' sure this decision hurts you to the core. I'm glad you'll be able to remain on your farm and keep a few for personal pleasure.


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## Baymule (Oct 9, 2018)

This is heart breaking news. I know how you love your sheep, at least you can keep some for pets. Is the lamb meat exported or consumed in country? Why is BREXIT making the prices fall so low?


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## frustratedearthmother (Oct 9, 2018)

So sorry...


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## Ridgetop (Oct 9, 2018)

That is so sad. Are you sure that prices won't go up again once everything has settled down?  You can also check out other markets for your lambs - how about specialty restaurants where you will feed to order? 

At least you will have some of your sheep to still look at and love.  Hopefully, things will turn around for you and the lamb market will improve.


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## promiseacres (Oct 9, 2018)




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## Hens and Roos (Oct 9, 2018)




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## Sheepshape (Oct 9, 2018)

Thank you for your kind words.



Baymule said:


> Is the lamb meat exported or consumed in country? Why is BREXIT making the prices fall so low?


 Britain exports the majority of the lamb it produces, with the biggest market by far being the EU. At present there are some 'preferential treatment' rules for anything produced in any member state, including lamb. When we are no longer part of the EU we may be preferentially penalised, and this will include our lamb.
Our welfare standards are pretty high, so our meat prices aren't the lowest. Post BREXIT when export taxes to the EU may be raised on our lamb, then our meat will become much more expensive.Cheaper meat from countries (probably with lower welfare standards)  will be sourced. Trade to the EU is being acrimoniously discussed by both the EU and Britain.....it's unlikely we'll come off favourably in these discussions.
BREXIT is likely to be disastrous for farmers. You can probably guess I voted to remain as part of the EU, always believing we are "Stronger Together'. A lot of folk who who voted for 'Out' did it on a gut response about immigration....the EU has free movement between countries. Many hundreds of thousands of folk from poorer EU countries came over to Britain.....not viewed favourably by many (though the figures actually show that they contributed to rather than drained the system). Many folk had no idea, and weren't told/didn't bother to find out just what the EU was doing for us, only what it was taking from us. Too much harping on about 'Great' Britain pre EU membership. Well, things have changed 'Great' Britain had become 'Little Britain' and isolated little places often don't do well without their 'Big Brother' (Did you see how I've managed to seamlessly inserted two TV programmes there? SORRY...I have a slightly warped sense of humour!).

I'm trying to keep my options open. I couldn't bear to part with some of my woolly pets, so, if things change, I will have a core to start with. OH doesn't even know my decision yet....but he's not the animal person. 

These are difficult times for us.


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## greybeard (Oct 10, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> Britain exports the majority of the lamb it produces, with the biggest market by far being the EU. At present there are some 'preferential treatment' rules for anything produced in any member state, including lamb. When we are no longer part of the EU we may be preferentially penalised, and this will include our lamb.


It's called 'favored nation' trade status here.
What you are describing is precisely why the EU was thought up by the 2 main conspirators (Frawnce and Germany)  to begin with. That squeezes out the US and soon, will squeeze the UK and of course it's commonwealth nations as well.
The thanks ya get,  for saving Europe from the Nazis and later, from the Soviets, tho I still believe the world would have been far better off to let Stalin have the whole of Germany in 1945 and as far as I'm concerned, could have had Hitler's Vichy puppet France at a discount as well.


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## Baymule (Oct 10, 2018)

When you say welfare standards, do you mean inspections on the meat? 

Here, illegal immigration is a hot topic. One side screams for open borders with unlimited immigration and instantaneous citizenship, the other side screams for much more regulated immigration and closing loopholes. I fall somewhere in the middle. We must do a better job of controlling who comes in the country, but the farmers need the workers that will take the jobs nobody else wants, sometimes under pretty hard conditions. Young people used to take the bottom jobs, many have hay hauling and produce picking stories to tell. But many of today's young people bury themselves in devices, social media and video games under the cool/warm air of a temperature controlled system. The very idea of sweat and dirt is as foreign to them as taking a beach vacation in Antarctica.


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## Sheepshape (Oct 10, 2018)

Baymule said:


> When you say welfare standards, do you mean inspections on the meat?


We have lots of regulations....maybe a few too many. Every animal should be traceable throughout their life, and we have to keep records. Sheep, cows etc. have a tag with your flock number and their individual number in the right ear and an electronic version of this tag in the left. When taken to market, the ear tag is read with a scanner. An 'Animal Movement Licence' has to be filled out for an animal which moves on and off site with a copy going to government. All of this may sound bureaucratic to those who don't have many restrictions, but random carcasses are tested at abattoirs for the presence of antibiotics, wormers etc. to ensure that the animal keeper had observed the 'withdrawal' period for any drugs used. If drugs are found in meat for human consumption, then the keeper can be banned from keeping animals. We have to keep a register for any and all drugs given to animals. These strict controls have tightened since BSE, foot-and-mouth etc.

Animal movement licences have to state when the animal last had access to food and water etc. so that animals are not kept too long on the road.

Animals have to be taken to approved premises (in practice, usually an abattoir) for slaughter.

We are part of the 'Farm Assured' scheme which involves inspection of the premises, drug records etc. and cupboards for drugs have to be locked whilst any poisons have to be stored separately in a lockable container. When the Inspector comes he/she will also want to see some of the livestock and check that they are in good condition and have no obvious diseases....and they may also want to see your dogs, cats etc

Well, the list goes on and on as to to what hoops we have to jump through, but most of the regulations do have a basis in human and animal welfare.


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## Mike CHS (Oct 10, 2018)

I really hope things turn out better for you.


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## Latestarter (Oct 10, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> Well, the list goes on and on as to to what hoops we have to jump through, but _most of the regulations do have a basis in human and animal welfare._



The problem is, the govt has gotten so regulation happy that it makes it increasingly difficult and expensive to accomplish the/any intended goals. Couple that with cameras everywhere and every living sole is a conviction waiting to happen. with today's technology, you have virtually no privacy from govt intrusion. wire taps are now a thin as a human hair and can be painted onto your wall. same with cameras and fiber optics... They can be concealed and virtually invisible... Every electronic communication device is monitored by the govt. What I'm typing right now will no doubt be in a govt database before nightfall. cell phones? Every conversation and text/picture you send is watched/seen by the govt. You can get thrown in jail for crossing the street if you aren't in a designated crosswalk, "placed there for your protection", even if there isn't a car in sight.

WTH ever happened to common sense? What happened to personal responsibility? Or accountability? There are way too many power hungry "do gooders" that are in positions of power, "looking out for our personal welfare" FOR us!  Grrrrrrr..... rant over. sorry


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## Baymule (Oct 10, 2018)

That would never fly with me, and most likely, many others. I suppose you can't butcher your own meat because you might eat something contaminated or a myriad of other reasons why you need protection from yourself. 

Tracing an animal throughout it's lifetime has been bandied about here at various times, but the industrial producers supposedly get a pass on it. So that knocks out the small producers, totally unfair. Paid off corrupt politicians are against the small people and line their pockets from the industrial producers. I hope it never gets passed.


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## Sheepshape (Oct 11, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> WTH ever happened to common sense? What happened to personal responsibility?


 Tee Hee.....perish the thought that we should ever be considered as responsible adults who also care about our animals/environment. 


Baymule said:


> I suppose you can't butcher your own meat


 Ever wondered why I'm vegetarian? Well, the real reason is that I'm way too concerned for their souls to see them as food. I'm not in the slightest bit squeamish.....I autopsy my sheep if they die suddenly, am delighted with treating nasty wounds etc etc.  Hypocrite for keeping farm animals?  Maybe.....but their lives here are good and their treatment as kind as it can be. Work with my animals is usually pretty trouble-free as they are easy to handle.


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## Latestarter (Oct 11, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> Ever wondered why I'm vegetarian? Well, the real reason is that I'm way too concerned for their souls to see them as food.



OK... just a Q here and not trying to start a religious discussion/argument/fight... The way you worded that leads me to believe that YOU believe that living things have a soul (Plants are living things too, right?) I would expect that you consider the soul and the body two different things and that the soul resides within the body during life. Hence, I assume you also believe that it (the soul) departs the flesh upon death. That being the case, consuming the flesh after the soul departs would in no way have any detrimental effect on the soul... It's already left.


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## Baymule (Oct 11, 2018)

Plants aren't cute.


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## Ridgetop (Oct 11, 2018)

But they can be beautiful, and can nourish the soul.  Of course, some of them are also yummy like . . . .


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## Sheepshape (Oct 11, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Plants aren't cute.


Some are downright nasty!  Those insectivorous ones have  a case to answer 



Latestarter said:


> Hence, I assume you also believe that it (the soul) departs the flesh upon death


I'm not a very religious person, though I believe there is something better than man. Over here, Elderly Farmers (note the capitals)have a use of language which is rather 'different'. As well as being liberally sprinkled with every swearword known to man, any animal is referred to  as 'a life' or as 'a soul'. Therefore a herd  of 10 cattle  or flock of 10 sheep is  described as 10 lives or souls.Hence,  sheep auction..."What am I bid for these 10 souls?" I'm not sure that everybody who uses the term 'soul' believes that they have one, but the term is widely used.

Personally I tend to have the pet/owner type of relationship with most of my sheep. I know them by sight, name them, pet them and talk to them (Yes, I'm told I'm what is known as a Saddo). I could no better eat them than eat my old dog (which, of course, would be wholly acceptable in some cultures). Is it that I don't eat anything which is considered to be sentient? Well, no. Most folk don't consider fish to be sentient, but I don't eat them, either. So, I don't eat anything with a face, unless it's a sunflower. My family vary between being vegan and full-on carnivores and many races and religions are represented....thankfully we all accept each others diets, religions and ethnicities.....but catering for a number of them altogether in one place can be a nightmare.
Because of (or maybe in spite of) my lifestyle choices I have a blood pressure and cholesterol in the lowest 10% of the population. Could be genetic, but my mother and (only) sibling are on treatment for high blood pressure and on statins for high cholesterol. Maybe it's the known effect of petting animals of releasing oxytocin (the milk let-down hormone).......No, Don't ask.....I DO NOT feed them other than with a lamb bottle as needed.

So, a bit of a hypocrite? Probably. But the next time I look into those trusting eyes, I'm still going to think "No way can I let you go to market"


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## Latestarter (Oct 12, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> Maybe it's the known effect of petting animals of releasing oxytocin (the milk let-down hormone).......No, Don't ask.....I DO NOT feed them other than with a lamb bottle as needed.


 I was NOT even going there...   Hey, I'm cool with all of that   Was just seeking clarification. A lot of folks do a lot of things that I don't understand and/or differently than me. More power to them! Whatever makes them happy and helps them go forward, I'm all for it with one caveat... It can't interfere with MY (or anyone else's) happiness and my moving forward with my life.   So I'm sorry... if murdering someone makes you happy, you'll just have to forego your happiness for everyone else's benefit.


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## High Desert Cowboy (Oct 12, 2018)

I’m sorry you have to give up sheep. Often when folks start making decisions, they rarely take into consideration how it may affect farmers and their livelihood.  I live in rural Utah and even here we’re starting to butt heads with the dang California transplants.
No offense to Californians of course.


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## Mike CHS (Oct 12, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> As well as being liberally sprinkled with every swearword known to man, any animal is referred to  as 'a life' or as 'a soul'. Therefore a herd  of 10 cattle  or flock of 10 sheep is  described as 10 lives or souls.Hence,  sheep auction..."What am I bid for these 10 souls?" I'm not sure that everybody who uses the term 'soul' believes that they have one, but the term is widely used.
> "



A bit of trivia and I'm assuming the use of the word "souls" in aviation originally came from your part of the world.  When pilots are talking to Air Traffic Control or even their company, they use the "XX (number) of souls on board" to indicate the number of people on the aircraft.


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## Baymule (Oct 13, 2018)

I like that animals are referred to as souls, even at auctions. I eat meat. If there were no financial reward for raising animals, especially heritage farm animals, then they would cease to exist. So I name and make pets of my breeders and name the ones destined for slaughter, Dinner. But I name pigs, love them, care for them and still take them to slaughter. I look at it in this way, my animals have a good life, they get to act out their behaviors and are not locked up in tiny pens. They are loved, cared for, well fed and sheltered. They just have one bad day.


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## Latestarter (Oct 13, 2018)

When it comes right down to it, every living thing has that "one bad day" to look forward to... just a matter of when it's going to arrive.


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## Sheepshape (Oct 15, 2018)

Baymule,  


Baymule said:


> I look at it in this way, my animals have a good life, they get to act out their behaviors and are not locked up in tiny pens. They are loved, cared for, well fed and sheltered. They just have one bad day.


 Good philosophy.....the right one for animal husbandry. It disgusts me when I see innocent animals being kicked, beaten, and manhandled on the basis that 'they are on their way to slaughter anyway".


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## Latestarter (Oct 15, 2018)

Right! If you're going to abuse animals, you should do it ALL the time, not just when they're on their way to the gallows... so to speak... That is just so confusing to the animals!


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## greybeard (Oct 15, 2018)

*saddo*. noun plural -dos or -does. British slang a socially inadequate or pathetic person.
*Saddo | Define Saddo at Dictionary.com*

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/saddo


Sheepshape said:


> (Yes, I'm told I'm what is known as a Saddo).


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## Latestarter (Oct 15, 2018)

Dang... completely missed that.   I don't think so and don't believe anyone else here feels that describes you @Sheepshape ... How ridiculous.


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## Sumi (Oct 15, 2018)

@Sheepshape I just found this thread and I'm so sorry to hear of your decision and the situation by you guys, forcing you to go this route.  I've read and enjoyed some of your threads and stories about your sheep and your love for them is amazing and heat warming.


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## Sheepshape (Oct 15, 2018)

Family keep asking when the tup is going in to the girls.....he's eyeing them up all the time. I currently have ewe lambs in the field who will end up in the meat market, which has never happened before. I don't feel right about this.

At the 'breeding sale' at the start of last week 10 out of the first 14 lots were not sold. One lady told me her ewe lambs would be going to slaughter the following day as she couldn't afford to let them go for half the price that they would have sold at as this time last year (and this follows a year when growing livestock has been particularly costly due to the absence of grass growth in a year where most of us so no rainfall for up to three months).

Latestarter, I am thought of in the area as being  soft on animals....and this is usually considered a weakness. Well, that's as may be. They are entitled to their opinion, but it hasn't changed the way I operate one bit. 

So the leaves fall, the season changes......


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## Baymule (Oct 15, 2018)

It doesn't make sense to be mean to animals, slaughter or not. I can't be that person. If that is being soft on animals, count me in. But my sister says I am cruel because I slaughter the animals I raise and refuses to eat at my house. She sure will eat industrial meat from animals that never had as good of a life as mine have. Go figure.


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## greybeard (Oct 15, 2018)

"Industrial meat"....
Is that the newest new age buzz word to replace "corporate farming'?


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## Baymule (Oct 15, 2018)

Nope, that is what I call it. I don't give a crap about buzz words or animal activists or other wacko idiots. America does a good job of feeding millions with low priced meat. It is an industry and it produces industrial meat. Something has to be sacrificed to mass produce millions of tons of meat and it is the animals natural behaviors. I'm not calling it wrong, it has to be, in order to feed millions of people. I like knowing that my lambs graze grass and run and play. I like knowing that my pork comes from hogs that root in the dirt, eat garden trimmings, I spray them several times a day with water when it is hot and they enjoy their lives. I like knowing that my chickens usually free range, eat insects, grass and whatever they find. They get to scratch in the dirt, take dirt baths and be chickens. I buy tender rib eye steaks from the grocery store produced by the meat industry because I don't have room to raise a steer. 

My point was that my sister criticizes me because I raise those cute little animals and slaughter them. She will eat mass produced industrial meat, I guess those animals are faceless? and not cute?


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## Sumi (Oct 16, 2018)

Baymule said:


> My point was that my sister criticizes me because I raise those cute little animals and slaughter them. She will eat mass produced industrial meat, I guess those animals are faceless? and not cute?


A friend of mine saw how factory farmed animals and poultry were kept and treated. She is now a vegan. I saw how factory farmed chickens were raised. I did not knowingly eat chicken meat for nearly 11 years. (I say knowingly, as I got caught out once or twice with processed products that had chicken meat as filler) Baymule, you and @Sheepshape are doing great. As are many other members here, who have compassion for their animals and take good care of them regardless of whether they eat them or not.


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## greybeard (Oct 16, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Nope, that is what I call it. I don't give a crap about buzz words or animal activists or other wacko idiots. America does a good job of feeding millions with low priced meat. It is an industry and it produces industrial meat. Something has to be sacrificed to mass produce millions of tons of meat and it is the animals natural behaviors. I'm not calling it wrong, it has to be, in order to feed millions of people. I like knowing that my lambs graze grass and run and play. I like knowing that my pork comes from hogs that root in the dirt, eat garden trimmings, I spray them several times a day with water when it is hot and they enjoy their lives. I like knowing that my chickens usually free range, eat insects, grass and whatever they find. They get to scratch in the dirt, take dirt baths and be chickens. I buy tender rib eye steaks from the grocery store produced by the meat industry because I don't have room to raise a steer.
> 
> My point was that my sister criticizes me because I raise those cute little animals and slaughter them. She will eat mass produced industrial meat, I guess those animals are faceless? and not cute?


You can call it anything you wish, as long as you realize and acknowledge that the vast majority of the beef and lamb  sold thru grocery stores and restaurants in this country are raised on small farms like yours and mine, as well as larger family owned ranches. (I did not include poultry and swine as I am not familiar with how they are raised, tho I do know my cousin raises hundreds of head of hogs in Calif free range and sends them thru a salebarn for a further destination for finishing and slaughter) Those lambs (and calves just like mine) run and play, roll in the dirt, sit under the shade trees just like yours do. Those "tender ribeye steaks" you buy at the grocery store, and the steaks you eat at the local eatery, as well as most of the burgers we all eat could very well have come from my place, Farmerjan's place, The Wehner Homestead, Donna Raybon's place, any of the farms and ranches over at Cattle Today or anyone else that has ever raised a calf or lamb and took it to the local salebarn.

But if it makes you feel better and all warm and comfy inside, go ahead and call them "industrial meats".
It's not like there is a cow factory somewhere stamping out animals with some robotic machine..............and we wonder why young people and city people have no idea how and where their food supply comes from....we have met the enemy and it is us...we ourselves are perpetuating the myths and mysteries.


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## The Old Ram-Australia (Oct 16, 2018)

G'day SS,unfortunately it is a fact that the agri sector is a long way down the "food-chain" when it comes to govt policy unless of course you farm in some of the EU countries (like France).

The way I see it the only hope for British farming in the future is the "banning' of meat products from outside of England (including Aus/NZ),something I don't think will happen because like in Aus, govts don't see any "votes" in country people because govts only think in numbers and in the country the numbers are just not there.

In our situation we have embarked on a path of lower COP after almost 18 years of breeding and selection with British Suffolk's we have sold almost all the flock(just a few lambs to go ,when it rains) and have moved to Hair breeds with the intention of a new composite based on all available breeds in Aus. Down the track someone is going to benifiet from our work on the developing the new strain as I am now 76 and I think it will take about 5 years to be able to see a clear path ahead,but the alternative does not bear thinking about,"the rest of my days in a nursing home"...T.O.R.


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## Baymule (Oct 16, 2018)

@greybeard I am not knocking industrial meat, I know it comes from small producers who take their calves to market. But they don’t go straight to slaughter, they go through the feedlots to be fed out and finished. The feedlots are where industry comes in and small producers stop. Not arguing, it is what it is.


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## greybeard (Oct 16, 2018)

Baymule said:


> But they don’t go straight to slaughter, they go through the feedlots to be fed out and finished.


A great # of them spend less than 1 day at the feedlot, and wouldn't spend that one if it weren't for increased costs to separate them at the salebarns and make separate loads to processors and feedlots.  Feedlots don't spend the time, feed, pen room,  or $$ trying to finish all the older animals that are going straight to the burger grinder anyway. 


Oh I very much understand what you mean, and I do admit, it just sounds SOOO good when someone makes the distinction between raised and butchered on the farm for own use and raised on the farm and finished somewhere else for everyone else's use. 


It's been done this same way since even before the end of the cattle drives, (over a century) but now, in today's PC world, suddenly, instead of just 'meat,  it's "industrial" or "corporate"  meat.

go figure.


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## Baymule (Oct 16, 2018)

Feedlot or home raised, America does a darn good job of feeding her population, plus exports. Since we are able to raise our own meat, that's what we do, plus we have a few customers for what we produce.


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## Baymule (Oct 16, 2018)

The Old Ram-Australia said:


> In our situation we have embarked on a path of lower COP after almost 18 years of breeding and selection with British Suffolk's we have sold almost all the flock(just a few lambs to go ,when it rains) and have moved to Hair breeds with the intention of a new composite based on all available breeds in Aus. Down the track someone is going to benifiet from our work on the developing the new strain as I am now 76 and I think it will take about 5 years to be able to see a clear path ahead,but the alternative does not bear thinking about,"the rest of my days in a nursing home"...T.O.R.


 
I pray that you never spend your days in a nursing home. I have instructed my kids, if I get in such shape that I cannot care for myself, to take me on a family camping trip-in bear country. Pitch my tent away from the main camp, rub me down with bacon and don't come looking for me when I wander off. LOL LOL LOL

What breeds are you using to make your new composite breed? Is anyone else working along similar lines so that you can swap breeding stock?


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## The Old Ram-Australia (Oct 16, 2018)

G'day BM,we are acquiring all the breeds we can ,so far we have male/female line all un-related of W H Dorper,B H Dorper,Wiltipolls. We have a male line of Australian Whites and Van Rooys. We will acquire (when it rains) a female line of Van Rooys and we are also going to invest in a male/female line of Persians (the speckled var not the B H type).When the opportunity comes up I also want some more Wiltipoll ewes .From this base we should be able to breed (over time) an animal totally suited to "our environment"....T.O.R.


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## Baymule (Oct 16, 2018)

And that is how a new breed is formed. I think you are on the right track, you should be able to breed a sheep that is hardy and can thrive in your environment.


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## MiniSilkys (Oct 16, 2018)

Baymule said:


> I pray that you never spend your days in a nursing home. I have instructed my kids, if I get in such shape that I cannot care for myself, to take me on a family camping trip-in bear country. Pitch my tent away from the main camp, rub me down with bacon and don't come looking for me when I wander off. LOL LOL LOL
> 
> What breeds are you using to make your new composite breed? Is anyone else working along similar lines so that you can swap breeding stock?


  Nursing home are terrible. Most of them anyway. If they don't abuse the elderly, they keep them doped up.


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## Sheepshape (Oct 17, 2018)

A Nursing Home?.......never  No, No, NO. 

Good Luck TOR with the new breed.


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## frustratedearthmother (Oct 17, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> A Nursing Home?.......never  No, No, NO.


I concur!


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## greybeard (Oct 17, 2018)

Baymule said:


> And that is how a new breed is formed. I think you are on the right track, you should be able to breed a sheep that is hardy and can thrive in your environment.


It's how a composite or hybrid breed is created anyway. 
Completely 'new' breeds are a little more complicated and out of necessity, will take place (as TOR stated) 'over time' or quite a few generations.


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## Sheepshape (Oct 22, 2018)

Seems I WILL have some lambs.......Ewes moved from one field to another and two wouldn't leave. Dexter, my ram, was next door and clearly, he held charms that the new field did not (He has grown a 'bib', is smelling STRONG, and has a mean    chat -up line, low grumbling, pawing 'til he's worn out the grass, and licking. After much persuasion, one of the girls joins her chums. The other comes a few yards, stops, and goes back to Dexter......repeat, repeat, repeat. Instead of leaving her alone, I open the gate. For the next day, they are constant companions. Then ewe starts to call to her chums. So....do I let her join her chums? Well, no, I let some of her chums join her.

So....weak of will, by default, I will have some lambs.


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## Latestarter (Oct 23, 2018)




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## Baymule (Oct 24, 2018)

You will get your lamb fix after all.


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## Sheepshape (Oct 24, 2018)

Baymule said:


> You will get your lamb fix after all.


 Lambing.....tiring, worrying, sleep-depriving, cold, mucky, happy/sad, heart-wrenching........yet somehow addictive. What was I thinking?


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## Baymule (Oct 25, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> Lambing.....tiring, worrying, sleep-depriving, cold, mucky, happy/sad, heart-wrenching........yet somehow addictive. What was I thinking?


You were thinking how much you love your lifestyle and  all the above is part of what you love.


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## Sheepshape (Oct 25, 2018)

Baymule....you nailed it


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## Wehner Homestead (Oct 26, 2018)

I can’t imagine not calving and kidding. Lambing is part of who you are!!


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## Sheepshape (Oct 26, 2018)

Wehner Homestead said:


> Lambing is part of who you are!!


Too right, Wehner. A combination of my girls' behaviour and the merest sprinkling of words from you guys and I was persuaded.

I can see that I may be regretting this in, oh, about 5 months time  If so, I'll blame it on the girls!


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## Sheepshape (Nov 2, 2018)

Well, tupping is truly underway. Our own tup is in with about 20 old girls, neighbour's loaned tup has the remainder.....well, had the remainder. Yesterday morning I awoke-opended the curtains and found neighbour's prize winner in the garden. He was duly returned, and then re-appeared with another less-desirable tup friend. So.....my 45 or so girls have 3 tups with them right now. We're planning to round them up again this afternoon and return them once more. In the meantime they are  providing us with a bit of genetic mixture....the girls seem to prefer the prize winner, and he is clearly a ladies' man.

So, it looks like there will be lambs next year.....I'll just have to work out their EDDs now.


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