New to sheep/goats - a strange request

[farmerjan]

Saw your post after I hit post on mine. Why not a "chicken tractor" to move around and raise some of your own meat birds for the freezer... big garden, get ahead of the food curve with things put by for the next year... chickens fertilize the ground and such... like I said, it wouldn't take much to plant back into grass if you leave.

 

[Baymule]

And you could share some vegetables and a few meat chickens with the landlord….

 

[SageHill]

Yeah... I think you're right. I guess since it's been raining here in CA and the grass is green, that's helping?

Most probably is. Though not everything out there may be palatable for the sheep. I started keeping track of things as I graze mine (I use my dogs to move the sheep as well as be the "fence" a very different herding style).
See Sheep On The Wild Graze for plant info with (of course) pics:

Sheep on the Wild Graze

Well, now sure if that's a good title for this thread or not. I graze my sheep old style - moving them down roads with a dog who then becomes a living fence for the area to graze. Sheep choose to eat plants at certain times in the lifecycle of the plant - I've learned that just recently in my...

www.backyardherds.com

 

[LearningSheep]

We are very, VERY new to sheep, as we don't have any yet but are learning/researching. However, I wanted to comment on your statement about being pragmatic about how your meat animals are raised. Our family has been raising cattle for generations (and before anyone at me - my father-in-law is doing it enough, we are looking at sheep for diversification after the past couple of years) and have had the mantra that our cows "live their best lives" on our ranch. This would be true for any other animal - food sourced or not. I want to commend you on this outlook - and so many others I have seen on this site. It amazes me how many people just don't care about their animal SIMPLY because they are considered "food".

 

[Baymule]

We are very, VERY new to sheep, as we don't have any yet but are learning/researching. However, I wanted to comment on your statement about being pragmatic about how your meat animals are raised. Our family has been raising cattle for generations (and before anyone at me - my father-in-law is doing it enough, we are looking at sheep for diversification after the past couple of years) and have had the mantra that our cows "live their best lives" on our ranch. This would be true for any other animal - food sourced or not. I want to commend you on this outlook - and so many others I have seen on this site. It amazes me how many people just don't care about their animal SIMPLY because they are considered "food".

You nailed it. My sheep are pets, spoiled, brats. At the same time they are for meat. And they are for sale. They get the best care I can give them, but they give me so much more. And don’t even get me started on my Anatolian LGDs.

Please start a thread telling us about yourself and your farm. Or did you already and I missed it? Or if you did and I commented on it and forgot…..

I checked and this is your first post. Go to the newcomer forum and introduce yourself!

 

[ConcernedSheep]

Saw your post after I hit post on mine. Why not a "chicken tractor" to move around and raise some of your own meat birds for the freezer... big garden, get ahead of the food curve with things put by for the next year... chickens fertilize the ground and such... like I said, it wouldn't take much to plant back into grass if you leave.

Ohh now we're talking! (I'm a bird lady, heh). Plus I feel like chickens would be easier to rehome if we ever had to move back to the city... This is a capital idea...

We are very, VERY new to sheep, as we don't have any yet but are learning/researching. However, I wanted to comment on your statement about being pragmatic about how your meat animals are raised. Our family has been raising cattle for generations (and before anyone at me - my father-in-law is doing it enough, we are looking at sheep for diversification after the past couple of years) and have had the mantra that our cows "live their best lives" on our ranch. This would be true for any other animal - food sourced or not. I want to commend you on this outlook - and so many others I have seen on this site. It amazes me how many people just don't care about their animal SIMPLY because they are considered "food".

100%, it's all about respect! Hunting, fishing, or farming. We are what we eat. Glad to have found a kindred spirit

 

[ConcernedSheep]

UPDATE for everyone who has been helping with this: the landlord says the herd can be removed sometime in the next week. I have mixed feelings about it, as I said before, because I know they're not going to be cared for any better wherever he's taking them. And, of course, we will miss them. I've grown quite attached particularly to the goats. She asked if we would be open to keeping just a few of them here, and I said we would love to keep them here if he would only care properly for them. I may counter offer that we keep only the goats, with the stipulation that we get a vet to check the lame one, and they get transitioned to pelleted/formulated food. No more bread.

Thoughts on that offer? Would it be better to just have him take them all away? The whole thing makes me really sad. They don't seem the type to hold us liable if anything happens to them, if anything they seem to want to work with us. But I'm not sure what to do now...

 

[Baymule]

I vote for taking all of them away. The owner is ignorant, VERY ignorant. You can’t open the top of his head and pour new brains, and compassion in a black hole. You’ll be right back where you started and it will be even more frustrating the second time around.

YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID.

 

[SageHill]

To take them all away. The owner is not going to change overnight if at all. Add in with fewer animals there he will probably show up less often. You can make all sorts of offers but it won’t change the fact that the owner is either ignorant, stupid, or doesn’t or can’t care for the animals properly.
If you want goats then maybe it’s time to start checking some out and buy a few.

 

[farmerjan]

Agree, need to not have anything to do with the animal"s owners... that sadly means you have to turn away from your feelings on it and get away from this situation...