Quick and easy cattle panel hoola-hoop house

[Bossroo]

By raising the hair breeds you have more flexibility as to when you have your lambs, so why not have them drop when it's warmer out? A good model to follow is to drop lambs when other ruminants in the wild are doing so...the graze is richer, so the milk is more rich for the lambs, one doesn't have to worry about cold weather being a problem, and you have to flush less when the pasture is more nutritious.

Salatin has done studies that show that calves and lambs born later in the year, in the spring months, grow quicker and make more weight gains than those born earlier in the year, so the extra months doesn't really give those early livestock births an edge at market time in the fall. There is also more profit in spring lambing as there are less losses due to the cold and wet found in earlier months.

I never have figured out why farmers want to have lambs and calves when the snow is still flying...it just doesn't make any sense in any way. It's hard on the mothers, on the babies and it's hard on the farmer and it decreases the total profit of it all, so why in the world do they do it?

The growing conditions that you describe are for parts of the country when you have rainfall in late Spring and Summer and therefore grasses to nurish livestock. However, they call California " the Golden State" because the hills and dales are a golden brown from April through Nov. for lack of rain. When the grasses go dormant and turn brown , their nutrition content drops to next to nil. Therefore, Salatin's studies, books, tours of his farm, etc. apply to his neighborhood , but DO NOT apply in the arid West. A prudent livestock owner wants to have their newborns to be born just as the rainy season starts in late Nov. or Dec. to take advantage of new and nutritous grasses that sprout with the arrival of the rains. Those lambs, calves, etc. that are born in late spring / early summer will be FAR behind their fall /early winter born ones and will have to be fed purchased hay and grain and still not catch up. A waste of time and money. Soar and others in Cal. ( arid West ) should have their ewes drop their lambs in late Nov. / early Dec. and not stress over their lambs being born in Jan. or even later. Practice good husbandry based on the environment that you live in, not on some guru's preachings.

 

[Bruce]

Can't disagree with that @Bossroo.

 

[Baymule]

It is good to read and study what others do, then do research for YOUR area and apply what works for you.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Beekissed,

Thanks for sharing!

I think you should change your screen name to "The Grim Reaper!" LOL!

Ok, just joking, but wow, I would not want to be a weak sheep in your flock unless I deeply repented of every known sin and wanted to meet Jesus face to face real soon!

I perceive you are a firm believer and member of the survival-of-the-fittest club. Nice thing about that is within a few short years you will probably have the healthiest and strongest sheep on the planet!

Well, I have good news for you. A new lamb was born here a few hours ago. His first test from heaven arrived a few minutes ago...a hail storm with 3/8" to 1/2" ice balls furiously pelted the the lamb for several minutes. I asked the poor little lamb if he was sure he still wanted to hang out with us, but he did not answer...he was shaking so violently that I think he could not speak.

I am thinking of changing the name of our ranch to "Suck it up Marine Boot Camp for Sheep!"

In all honesty, I am seriously beginning to think I may have been babying these sheep and the babying needs to stop.

So welcome to boot camp sheepies!

 

[Baymule]

Ok, maybe you should go save the lamb from being boinked to death by hail stones LOL

 

[frustratedearthmother]

GOODNESS! I haven't seen hail like that in quite a few years! So glad the little guy survived the pummeling.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Well, I am having fun with this thread and certainly learning a lot from all of you. So thank you for sharing your excellent input.

FYI's for those wondering. The lamb was wet with amniotic fluid when I did my daily morning check at 6 am. I took the pic of the lamb around 4 pm. Shortly afterward, thunder, lightening, and hail and the hail was hurting my ears so I ran inside a building. Sheep just stood there and endured it. I am hoping mama will cuddle with the new baby lamb because the lamb is shaking like crazy. And for now, NO, I will not bundle the lamb up in a blanket, take it inside, and sing lullabies to it. There must be a balance to all this...and I just hope I am not being to "hard" on the lambs. I do not want to lose one due to being too "hard." Time to toughen these little marines up for sure!

Regarding timing of births and all that. Booroo, you nailed it on the head. From Oct. - May [with normal rainfall] we have enough free growing forage to feed 100+ sheep. With proper management [thinning out the forest, wise planting, etc.] we may even be able to feed 200 sheep during the spring surge of growth. So the best time for us to have lambs is during the rainy season. Now that we are experimenting with perennial pastures, some of these numbers will change, but the best time for us is Nov.-April. I do not time any of the births here. Our goal is to achieve twins and/or triplets every 7-8 months, and I must confess, monetary benefits are one of the prime motivational factors. My original purpose of purchasing sheep was to mow our fields and learn more about creating a self sustaining farm. Now, after experiencing the costs of fencing, gates, labor, feed, hay, medicines, tractor repair, etc. I see each lamb not just as a lawn mower or a nice meal, but as a $100 or $200 dollar bill to pay our livestock bills. We need to recoup our costs. We also need to begin to make some profit otherwise the IRS will not look at this as a legit business, but, rather, as an expensive hobby. And boy do I have many questions about tax angles...but I will save that for another thread.

Last, as mentioned before, I really do believe there is a balance in all this sheep care. Last summer, during a heat wave, a ewe gave birth to twins. When I found the twins, each was unable to stand, terribly dehydrated, and near death. It was over 105f. I quickly picked up both twins, ran them to a cool room, squirted water down their throats, and ran to TS for vitamin paste. I kept both twins in the cooler room for hours, until they could get up and walk on their own. I then returned them to their mama, watching carefully for the next several days. I am thoroughly convinced both lambs would have perished within minutes if we did not take swift action in this specific situation.

 

[Latestarter]

IMHO there is a fine line between "survival of the fittest" and unnatural climatic conditions leading to imminent death... You don't need to molly coddle the sheep, they've been doing this routine for thousands of years with little need for our assistance. However, that being said, there are substantially more lambs lost with the "all natural" method, and many of those lost lambs would have been quite marketable. When lambing occurs on a 105 degree day and maybe mom was stressed and worn out/dehydrated from birthing, I think most would say it's kinda OK for you, the shepherd, to step in and assist the lambs and keep them alive. I see this as even more acceptable when those lambs are being raised not to propagate and continue the species but as a meal for someone's table. When not breeding to "better the species" but to feed a hungry mouth.

Predation is natural as well, but that doesn't stop us from building fences to keep predators at bay. SOTF logic says no fence, and only the quickest to get to their feet and learn to run will survive, but do we really want to support the coyotes? You can provide them a basic shelter from the elements and if they feel the need to use it they will. It doesn't need to be a taj mahal... So maybe you no longer need to or should go "save" every lamb born, but for those few that actually NEED saving, I'd say do so. if only to aid and support the health of your wallet.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Ok, maybe you should go save the lamb from being boinked to death by hail stones LOL

GOODNESS! I haven't seen hail like that in quite a few years! So glad the little guy survived the pummeling.

I think this is a good test...

Remember, the last few weeks have been a quite the test for all livestock in this area...

I am posting pics of a cement boat I would walk on and fish from during my youth. This week we saw the largest recorded waves ever
in this area and it broke the boat apart. Next pic, my neighbor's alfalfa field, under 3 feet of water this morning. Nest, Dry Creek, which is normally dry or 4-6ft wide, is flowing like an angry monstor at over 100 ft. width in many areas this evening. Last week it crested over its banks. Last, our nice cozy and warm three walled shelter. As of tonight, I am shutting it down. No more mambie pambie's here!

We are raising Marine soldier quality sheep now...Hookah!

 

[babsbag]

I have NEVER seen hail like that in CA. OMG those are huge. Those are the kind that damage cars. We didn't get any storms at all today in my area and I am ok with that.

I did find some bees, but not until the Almond bloom is done. It is the same person I got mine from last year. I haven't 100% committed to him yet unless you think that I should. What say you?