Quick and easy cattle panel hoola-hoop house

[babsbag]

I think that the snow survey this year will be just fine, if they can even get there to do one. The spring river runoffs should be pretty amazing and I am ready for Spring.

Not every animal at an auction is a cull. There are many ranchers that sell at auction as it is a way to get rid of a large number of animals easily and at one time. You just never know what you are getting, that is the scary part. But if you have 10 acres to clean up I think I would take the chance. You could buy a Dorper ram for next year and start your own crossbred flock.

 

[Beekissed]

What adorable lambs!!! I think, if the ABs are in your heart, they are what you should raise....sometimes a certain breed of animal/livestock hits you in the heart more than in the wallet and it yields more than monetary profit when you raise them...it's a partnership of the heart and will add something of value to your life. That's the way I felt about the Katahdins and it's how I feel about the breeds of chickens I keep.

I like your new plan and it sounds like you'll be moving forward now...I wish you all success with it and will be reading here to follow your progress!

 

[Bossroo]

$200 - $160 = $40 profit ... $250 - $165 = $ 85 profit ! Easy to see the difference per lamb ? $85 x 10 lambs = $850 extra profit... Hmmm !

 

[Bruce]

I would say "Gauge the market".

• You already have customers who prefer the ABs.
• The AB x Dorpers sell for more, is there a market for as many as you would have to sell yearly?
• How much money (feed, 'medicine', etc) do you have to put into an AB to get it to market weight vs the cross?
• You mentioned the sale price for ram lambs, what about ewe lambs?

Regarding your neighbor wanting free forest clearing What is going to protect the sheep YOU buy from the coyotes (wolves though maybe there aren't any there), cougars, etc?

 

[NH homesteader]

Only part of it is financial. If you have sheep for pure monetary purposes then you'll make a different decision. I personally agree with Bee that there is more to it than that. I raise heritage birds that lay less eggs than modern birds. But I enjoy the breeds and find that they are hardier and do better with less intervention. If the AB is more enjoyable for you, I say stick with them or cross with a Dorper ram if you need more meat/faster growth. I would quit farming if I made all my decisions based on what makes the most money, because I would then be giving up most of the breeds I enjoy, and the non-financial benefits of them.

 

[Baymule]

Sounds to me that you have the best of both worlds, pure AB's and Dorper/AB cross. There are customers for both, so go for it.

 

[babsbag]

@Bruce, no wolves...Thank goodness.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Awesome replies again. Wow, you people sure know how to get my brain churning faster and faster!

I am such a newbie to all this. Remember, I grew up in Silicon Valley, surrounded by a cement jungle. This is our first venture with livestock.

To be honest with you, I know next to nothing about selling sheep. I had no clue what to do, so I placed an ad on Craigslist, and now I have so many customers calling me I am sending them to local ranchers [who are loving me even more]! I have ONLY sold AB's because that is all we had to offer. Whoops, I forgot...several of the sheep buyers also asked to buy our chicken so we sold them too.

Several of my customers mentioned they would not be interested in the Dorpers due to the fat issue. Nearly all my customers are of Fiji, Pakistani, India, etc. culture, and I believe the large majority of them are Muslims. They require the lambs be unblemished [we cannot even put ear tags on], and I think many are using the lambs for religious purposes.

I suppose I could find a AB/Dorper cross market quite fast. California has such a diversity of people and I believe this makes the lamb market super fast. I sold out as fast as I could sell once the lambs reached selling weight. My rancher friend sells 100's per year, and he assures me NOBODY in this area can have enough lambs when Ramadan ends each year [Eid al-Fitr, also known as Eid ul-Fitr or Eid]. So I suppose it is safe to say the sales market in this part of the country is quite strong.

As always, each of you have given me a lot to think about and consider. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and ideas.

 

[babsbag]

There are times that I wished I lived closer to the cities as I know that I could sell goats to your market as well. I had one person that wanted to buy one and actually butcher it here as he had no place at his residence. He was Muslim and needed it unblemished in every way, no vaccines, no nothing. I drew the line on that one as I didn't want to attract every coyote on the planet but mainly because I wasn't convinced that he was experienced enough to do it in a humane manner and I wasn't keen on having one of my animals suffer during a religious ritual where I couldn't intervene.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Babs,

Yes, I too have had many requests to butcher at our ranch and I politely, yet firmly refuse every time without fail. One, it is a tremendous liability: what if they slip and cut themselves severely? What if the animal jerks and injures them? Far too great of a risk.

Second, there are certain groups that insist that the animal's throat be slit, then allowed to walk around untouched until it bleeds out. I will not go into it anymore. Suffice to say, I simply let people know I am not licensed or qualified to butcher or have any animals butchered on our property. I also inform them it is against the law because I am not licensed or set up to proceed with such operations...

Nuff said...

Dang, whatever happened to that hoop house anyway?

Oh, there it is! But still not even one sheep has dared to venture inside...