n8ivetxn
Ridin' The Range
I know this is an old post, but think it's very relevant and I'm glad to see people's responses.
I'm new to sheep, but not livestock. I just bought a small flock of the polled Barbados Blackbelly sheep. One of the major selling points for me is their tolerance of internal parasites and resistance to hoof rot. They may have a load, but it doesn't affect them as bad it would other breeds.
I recently sold my small herd of miniature Hereford cattle. I had one heifer that didn't look good, no matter what I did....she was about to go somewhere else. I won't breed that kind of problem. Instead, I sold the whole herd and bought the sheep. The cows were an experiment in sustainable agriculture. It failed. I tried intensive rotations, but I just didn't have enough pasture to make it work. So I'll try the same thing with the BBB and see if they are truly sustainable.
However, the BBB are also a conservation effort at this point in time. So, instead of raising them primarily to eat, I will be trying to market them as starter flocks, to help increase numbers and if they don't sell as breeding stock then maybe they go to market.
I believe in doing everything I can to raise natural animals. I will rotate pastures aggressively to help the grass and break parasite cycles. I will only treat individual animals, when it is proven they need it. If I have to keep retreating them, they will not be bred, but culled. I'm very interested in using natural ways to reduce worm loads to a more manageable number, but more importantly - prevent heavy worm loads in the first place....
So, the answer to your questions - yes, there are breeders who make conscientious choices in raising healthy, natural livestock. I too hate over-medicating and big pharma....
Good question and good discussions!
I'm new to sheep, but not livestock. I just bought a small flock of the polled Barbados Blackbelly sheep. One of the major selling points for me is their tolerance of internal parasites and resistance to hoof rot. They may have a load, but it doesn't affect them as bad it would other breeds.
I recently sold my small herd of miniature Hereford cattle. I had one heifer that didn't look good, no matter what I did....she was about to go somewhere else. I won't breed that kind of problem. Instead, I sold the whole herd and bought the sheep. The cows were an experiment in sustainable agriculture. It failed. I tried intensive rotations, but I just didn't have enough pasture to make it work. So I'll try the same thing with the BBB and see if they are truly sustainable.
However, the BBB are also a conservation effort at this point in time. So, instead of raising them primarily to eat, I will be trying to market them as starter flocks, to help increase numbers and if they don't sell as breeding stock then maybe they go to market.
I believe in doing everything I can to raise natural animals. I will rotate pastures aggressively to help the grass and break parasite cycles. I will only treat individual animals, when it is proven they need it. If I have to keep retreating them, they will not be bred, but culled. I'm very interested in using natural ways to reduce worm loads to a more manageable number, but more importantly - prevent heavy worm loads in the first place....
So, the answer to your questions - yes, there are breeders who make conscientious choices in raising healthy, natural livestock. I too hate over-medicating and big pharma....
Good question and good discussions!
