My Sheep Journal~ I'm a grandma! Black Betty had twins!!!

[Beekissed]

Aggie, I really need to get them off this grass in the winter and give it a rest. Especially after this year.....I really overgrazed here, with the drought and all. I plan to reseed some more drought tolerant varieties and need to keep the sheep from damaging any new growth until it gets established.

I like to place them in the winter pen for this reason and for keeping all the trampled mud in one place, as well as the manure.

The pen they will be in has great drainage, as it is on a mild slope...but it does still tend to get a little mushier than I would like right outside the shelter of the lean-to. This soil of mine is so very fine textured and has little clay to bind it....it just turns into a silty mush with the least amount of moisture.

I'm planning on extending their shelter with the use of hooped cattle panels and tarping to eliminate this problem. I'm thinking that providing more area of shelter will fix this problem.

I'll take pics of it when I'm done with the whole project and see what you all think. You won't be impressed with the beauty of the place but please try to focus on the utilitarian side of it.....

It might help if I explain that I rent this place and I'm trying to make a minimal mark on the place in regards to permanent structures. I don't want to spend much here and the existing buildings are ancient and leaning like drunken sailors....I really can't hurt the looks of the place but I need to conserve space and keep down costs.

Nearly everything I've used thus far has been recycled materials and seconds lumber. It ain't pretty but it blends well with the existing structures and it gets the job done.

Goodhors, thanks for the info on the bark. I have a mat of sorts in front of the coop door that has worked wonders for that area. It is a woven sheet of stainless steel~like a mesh~ that was scrounged from somewhere....it has been a lifesaver!

I can get more of these if necessary....they are heavy but they do not deteriorate and the grass grows up in between the holes.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I do something similar to what you're planning on doing. I make a sacrifice lot for them with temporary fencing. Luckily it has pretty good cover (bermuda grass) so the majority of the area doesn't get too muddy. I do tend to get a little mud right in front of their shelter and near the gate. There really isn't much I can do about it. I re-bed their shelter as needed, and I move their outside hay feeder around so it doesn't cumulate in one area, and I also move the water trough around.

Mud isn't a huge issue unless they can't get away from it. If you make sure their feeding and bedding areas are dry, they should be ok. If they have to stand in mud to eat, that's when they start to have issues.


And nobody worries about how pretty a place is! Well, nobody that's raising animals for production, at least.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Oh, and if you want to seed somethign I'd do it as soon as possible!! It's getting late for most things now. Of course, it hasn't helped that we've been short on rain.

I'm planning on seeding some wheat in part of the pasture this weekend. It should grow fast enough to get at least 1 grazing this fall/winter, and it'll come up quick next March when the other grasses are still dormant.

 

[goodhors]

Those metal mats sound like a good deal for making "a bottom" to the mud! Bark on top, cleaned off regular, should keep the sheeps drier, healthier and clean. Just having a firm bottom, makes it so MUCH easier to clean up. And if you choose later to move, the mats can come right up to go with you. Around here, metal anything is pretty expensive, so it would not be something I considered. Of course bend down any sharp edges, so they stick down into the dirt.

This is a very interesting concept, you will have to tell us how it works out!! Much more stable under busy little hooves than the geotextile fabric with bedding above, easier to clean the bedding away.

I have found the multiple prong metal forks work well in fiber bedding to fork it up from the pile. I got 10tine forks, since the old 6tine fork just let the wood fiber fall between. The 10tine is also great for straw bedding over rubber mats. Handles the load well. The plastic sawdust forks just can't do straw bedding or break up my pile of fiber bedding to load the wheelbarrow. They are good for just picking poops out of the fiber, getting wet spots on the mats in the stalls. The right tool for every job!

Here is a picture of one like I have:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/lawn-g...ranch-10-tine-manure-and-bedding-fork-4413085

I got my metal 10tine forks at the horse auction barn, when they sell the halters and ropes. Lots cheaper than from the store. I also use them for wood mulching my shrubs and plants.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't know what these mesh panels were for but a friend has some that I can have if I wish. They are heavy but I've had one in front of my coop door for 3 years now and it is wonderful.

Yeah, I'm going to seed some winter wheat and orchard grass on the garden plots and winter pen this evening and will over seed some Kentucky bluegrass and white clover seed next week on the rest of the lawn. Supposed to be the most drought resistant and hardy for regrowth varieties.

 

[abooth]

Um... I haven't been back because I thought there was no more sheep journal. Boy am I excited to hear you are keeping your sheep!!! I love mine too and they are just non producing pets that I will never make money off of. Though I'd like to get one lamb from my ewe each year to sell to offset some of the hay costs.

 

[Beekissed]

Abooth, I really started this journal so we could have one place to look for sheep info, links and such. Us sheeple are in such a minority on this board that it benefits us all to be able to learn from each other.

I couldn't bear to close it out and not add to it, even if I never had sheep again. I just love learning about the different breeds and how folks care for them. I'd love to have a sheep breeds info sticky on the top of our section, along with deworming methods, feed info, etc.

I have learned so much already from you, Aggie and the others!

Black Betty is still preggers~I can't wait to see what her first lamb looks like! We have been getting plenty of rain but not enough, I think, to help my fall grasses. I will be getting hay this next week and will be starting to feed hay, set up the winter pen and get my feeding stations all figured out.

Can't wait!!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Will be finishing the sheep winter pen this week and have had a blessing in regards to feed.

Hay has been scarce around here due to the severe drought and many farmers didn't get a second cut, not to mention the first cut was burnt brown by the time it was harvested. All the hay I had called about was gone...snatched up by cattle farmers.

The people I had dealt with last year was supposed to reserve some of their second cut, but they didn't get one.

I was starting to feel a little desparate. Then a fellow from church who caretakes a farm offered to give me about 30 bales of last years second cut!

That is all the hay I will need as I also have about 25 bales of first cut, roughage type hay for spring feeding~my sheep really seem to need the stemmier, less nutritious hay in the spring to balance their rumen. I placed this in the back of the barn and will put the good winter feed hay out front.

I also kept all my sweet corn on the stalk and stored the stalks for winter fodder...the sheep love this. I grew pumpkins for winter feed also and will store apples for the sheep for later on as well.

I plan to place the apples here and there in the hay bales so they can "forage" them as they come to them. Same with the corn stalks. The pumpkins will be frozen, then thawed, as this seems to convert the starch to sugar and makes it a better treat for the girls.

Black Betty is still holding onto that lamb and shows no signs of being close. She has now found a friend to replace Ugly Betty....she has been letting a little RIR pullet ride around on her back!!! I will get a pic when next I see them...its a hoot!

I'll also take a pic of the winter pen temporary shelter I rigged....don't laugh when you see it, nor pity me my poverty.

 

[FarmerDenise]

WE have got to get a pic of the hen riding on Black Betty!!!

I hope I can SO to let me keep our sweet corn stalks for our goats. I used to glean all the dried sweet corn for the chickens and give the stalks to the neighbor for his goats.

Sorry to be talking about goats, but that's what I have.
I love reading about the sheeples. Every time I see some for sale, I want to run out and get them

 

[Beekissed]

Denise, I think you would love them! I don't know how it happened or when, but these sheep have stolen my heart....especially Black Betty. She has such a noble head and clear eye and she is so very gentle and wise.

I never knew I would feel this way about them. Funny how life turns out!

I will try to snap a pic of the two but it only seems to happen at times when I do not have a camera handy....isn't that the way it goes? I awakened the Bat the other morning and had her look out the window so I could get a witness!

She was just as tickled as I was!