Cross breeding sheep for meat?

[misfitmorgan]

Well that is very informative. I have this mental picture of me having fiber sheep, shearing, spinning and knitting garments. But reality is that I am busting butt to get infrastructure done and still have a long way to go. When would I have time for all that? Still dreaming....

Here we do most labor intensive stuff in the winter because it is to cold to do much outside but i imagine texas dont have that problem much. Infrastruture takes the longest after that its just maintaining.

 

[Baymule]

Here we do most labor intensive stuff in the winter because it is to cold to do much outside but i imagine texas dont have that problem much. Infrastruture takes the longest after that its just maintaining.

Yeah, no snowed in conditions here, all cozy by the fire happily knitting away, looking out at the deep snow drifts. We have a few dips in the 20's, but it quickly warms back up.

 

[NH homesteader]

I wouldn't know what to do without the season that forces me to stop moving fencing.

On the other hand... Chores take about 4x the amount of time trudging through snow.

 

[Mike CHS]

Many years ago I lived in Michigan and enjoyed all that white while hunting. We don't get much snow here in TN but we do get some dips in the teen's. We will use the down time to clean out the last of the previous owners trash dumps in a deep ravine that probably has several pickup loads of assorted trash and some things we have to wonder where they came from.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Yeah, no snowed in conditions here, all cozy by the fire happily knitting away, looking out at the deep snow drifts. We have a few dips in the 20's, but it quickly warms back up.

Not at all lol. More like mix feed, put down new flooring, paint the house(inside of course), re-arrange cabinets, remodel rooms, clean and process deer, make sure the fire stays going so we dont freeze to death and the water pipes dont freeze, go cut more fire wood, split and stack more wood, chores do in deed take 2-3 times longer because we have to pound the ice blocks out of every single water bowl or bucket, then we have to bucket water from the house to the barn for all the livestock because all of the outside water taps freeze. If im lucky i have time to start a project in winter and maybe get more work done on it the next year lol. I'm hoping to gewt two fleeces skirted, washed, and made into roving or batting this winter. I've never washed a fleece so it will be a learning experience. We also both work full time outside the farm and in winter DH works about 20hrs a week of overtime. The best best part...(sense the irony) i get off work at 4pm and home at 4:30pm if i dont have to pick up DH if i do we get home at 5pm....it gets dark at what time in the winter? lol We hate wading thru snowdrifts with 10 gallons of water each...in the dark.

 

[NH homesteader]

Sounds about right. Thanks for the reminder of what's coming! I don't work anymore though, but my husband works 12pm-12am in the winter so I'm doing most of that alone. Well with a 3 year old, which is interesting. She'll be 4 this winter, not big enough to lug water yet!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

....it gets dark at what time in the winter? lol We hate wading thru snowdrifts with 10 gallons of water each...in the dark

Can. Not. Even. Imagine!

 

[misfitmorgan]

Sounds about right. Thanks for the reminder of what's coming! I don't work anymore though, but my husband works 12pm-12am in the winter so I'm doing most of that alone. Well with a 3 year old, which is interesting. She'll be 4 this winter, not big enough to lug water yet!

Get her a sled...lol. Seriously, you should get one for yourself, saves the heck out of your back and you can haul more water at a time. DH got a me a sled for when he has to work late and i have to take all the water myself. 5 gallon buckets with lids...fill them in the house..lid on..in the sled.....pull them into the barn...open...bang out ice blocks....fill....repeat. My sled did fits 3 5gallon buckets at a time....but pull slowly lol. If you need to go down a steep hill let the sled go first Unfortunately i was in a hurry near the end of winter last year and i pulled to fast over soft snow and me sled broke I kept using it but each time to bottom broke more and more until it was no longer useable. Luckily about a week later the tap in the barn thawed out.

 

[fitzy]

I'm kinda in the same situation as the OP, but i haven't made any purchases yet....

The dorper seems like it could be a good choice for me, but looking around on craigslist all i'm finding locally is dorper crossed with a katahdin...my best guess is to try to get the size of the katahdin in the growth time of the dorper?? If not, I'm not seeing a good reason for the cross...

 

[Latestarter]

Hey @fitzy ! welcome back! Been a very, very long time! I'll be getting sheep here shortly and that's the cross I hope to be doing. I want hair sheep as I don't want to have to sheer, and I want meat sheep. I want the size and fast growth, but also I understand the flavor and texture of that cross is pretty nice. Not really sure where you're located (You might consider putting that in your profile), but I'm in NE TX and there are breeders of both within a few hours drive of me for both breeds. I expect to sell the crosses for farm use as well as for meat. I'll probably keep some ewe lambs as well to grow my flock a bit.