SageHill Ranch Journal

[SageHill]

So - they sold right before Orthodox Easter - could that be a reason for the great. $ ?
I know you said to aim for holidays, and I missed a bunch but was lucky to hit a few days before orthodox Easter. Still learning - oh and it was Cinco de Mayo too. So ???

 

[farmerjan]

I am sure the timing of the sale with a holiday didn't hurt. But if they were in good shape and it was apparent they were in good flesh, it helps to sell them too.

 

[Ridgetop]

A lot of the sheep I see at the sales are kind of thin and raunchy looking. Your good prices are not only because of hitting the sale in time for holidays, but because your sheep are in good condition and fleshed out. That is one reason I don't wean before taking lambs to auction - taking a milk fed lamb just off mama means a rounded out plump looking carcass. Weaning causes a loss of weight (stress and lack of mama's milk) before the youngster can make it back up on feed.

 

[SageHill]

A lot of the sheep I see at the sales are kind of thin and raunchy looking.

As we were getting ready to leave after dropping them off a trailer full of mostly sheep and some goats started to unload. They all looked terrible. I mean really bad. Made me feel good about the few I'd dropped off. Like patting myself on the back that I must be doing something right. I'm definitely still a newb at this end of the sheep thing, just seeing that was good. One of these days I'd like go up and watch the auction.
I can definitely see that taking them off the ewes and up to auction will get the best return. The only way holding on to them that would gain would be to a private sale because they taste so good. Even then I'm not sure it would be worth any increase in $. Time, cost, effort and risk probably wouldn't be worth it. I'd have to have a different set up.

 

[Ridgetop]

I used to raise wethers to 5 months old and 100 lbs. on alfalfa with a small amount of barleycorn. I sold them to a neighbor for $200 and delivered them to the butcher for the customer. The neighbor raved about the flavor and tenderness. One year the customer complained that the price was too high. I calculated how much it cost me to raise a wether to 100 lbs. It cost more than $230! I gave the customer the rundown on the cost of alfalfa and barleycorn. He withdrew his complaint, but DH and I decided that we would just sell our ram lambs at 2 months old at the auction for $120-140, and if we raised another wether we would eat it ourselves. No cost of barleycorn, no docking or wethering rams either. All they get is CDT and their scrapie tag. No fuss, no muss, no complaints! LOL

 

[Baymule]

I’ve been down that road too. Trying to deal with people just isn’t worth the trouble. Load ‘em up and go to auction. Easy, no stupid people.

 

[SageHill]

Catching up since I've not kept up - some of this may be a repeat from various other threads on BYH.
Last week (5/13) Obi and Ree had a rattle snake encounter. I didn't see the nasty viper ever - and I'm very careful to always look. The dogs have been taught "follow" so I can lead the way and they don't charge around willy nilly. Obviously this did not work. I was going to put sheep away for the night, thought I'd be nice and take Obi, Zo and Ree (Ree was the extra). They walked with me to the path and then followed as asked down the corral-side path. Made it into the barn, heard a yipe - Ree and Zo were with me, no Obi. Called and called and went to see him walking around the corner to the barn. Not normal - he's much quicker than that. Checked him over and found nothing. Finished up feeding and locking the sheep up and went back to the house, all three dogs at my side.
Got in and Obi wasn't hanging with the pack - again not normal. Went and checked on him and his muzzle was swollen - like a bug bite swollen. Made him lay on the bed and put a damp paper towel and ice on his muzzle, send DH out to get benedryl. I kept checking the paper towel - and occasionally found a tiny drop of blood. UH OH - that's not good. DH gets back and I'm saying we need to get to the animal ER. Then as we're getting ready to leave Ree hops up on the bed - another swollen muzzle! OMG. We took them both in. A quick blood smear indicated that Obi had definitely been bitten. The red blood cells look like an asterisk rather than the smooth round cells one thinks of. We decided to leave him there so they could start antivenin treatment. They checked Ree over and could not find a bite mark, so we took her home to watch and see. A sleepless night of course.
Obi needed one vial of antivenin -- it is not weight based like most meds -- and did not react adversely to it. He was fine and ready to go home in the morning. Ree's muzzle was still swollen, perhaps a little better, but I was worried. We took her back when we picked up Obi and had them run the same blood smear they did with Obi and hers came back good.
In talking with the ER vet and with my vet who called to see how they were doing, the red blood cells that got the spikes would return to normal on their own, the application of the paper towel and ice was the right thing to do.
Because the swelling is not histamine based benedryl would not help the swelling. I didn't use the benedryl before we went to the ER vet because I wanted their systems "clean" of anything that could interfere with what needed to be done.
Neither dog had the grotesque swelling like you see pictures of online. Both ER vets believe it was a baby rattlesnake based on the bite marks they found on Obi below his nostril - small punctures and very close together. They think Obi was bitten first - got the full dose (baby rattlers have a smaller amount of venom than the bigger snakes and do not "portion it out" -- it is not stronger than the bigger snakes). They think that Ree was bitten second and got little or no venom.
Still can't figure out when Ree was bitten. OH WELL.

A couple days later I looked into Ree's mouth - not something I could have done when it was swollen - perhaps I found the scene of that crime.... two red spots. How the heck?!?!! Spots are now long gone.
Close call, all is well, thank God.

Started trimming hooves -- Oh my aching hands. Got done with the ram and decided I need better shears. I either have no hand power or need better shears. Since I picked these up at TSC I'm guessing quality could be better so I ordered some nice ones from Premier and decided as soon as they are all done I'm sending them back to be sharpened so they will be ready for the next go. I may send the shears from TSC as well.
The small arena was looking pretty sad after all the rain and wash through it. Still workable but just nothing special. I decided to resurface it. I've been thinking about that for awhile and finally bit the bullet. Used the tractor with the box blade and the hooks. OH MY - the first few times over it things looked absolutely terrible. REALLY BAD. Figured I couldn't make it worse! The more I went over it, it started to look better. Finally used the drag harrow with the UTV to finish up and I ended up with great looking soft ground! SCORE. I started doing the big arena Thursday and finished up yesterday. Where the heck did all those rocks come from?!! That was a hand pick toss into the garden cart and then fill in the erosion ruts on the ranch road to that arena. That arena is nice now too. All ready for the summer - with the softer ground the ground should stay cool longer in the mornings.
Tightened up the shade cloth over the corral - how the heck did the turn buckles loosen up??? I did have some supervision........

OHHH and let the ram be with the ladies - started yesterday.

 

[Baymule]

Close call with Obi and Ree! I’m so glad they are ok. Because you know your dogs and you pay attention, you noticed right away something’s not right. Good call to go to animal ER.

Trimming hooves is hard work. Good on you!

 

[SageHill]

Close call with Obi and Ree! I’m so glad they are ok. Because you know your dogs and you pay attention, you noticed right away something’s not right. Good call to go to animal ER.

Trimming hooves is hard work. Good on you!

Got a few more to go! New hoof shears and a hoof knife are on the way. Hopefully get here on Friday.

 

[Ridgetop]

A couple days later I looked into Ree's mouth - not something I could have done when it was swollen - perhaps I found the scene of that crime.... two red spots.

Looks like the snake got her in the lip as she bit at it. So glad they are alright. Poor babies.