Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Mike CHS]

Thanks Fred. Once we get everything done there will be shade from trees in all the pastures but the way we plan to rotate for now we need multiple shelters in every paddock and the cattle panel shelters are pretty cheap. They can handle the heat but I prefer to spend a little bit and not have them need to go through any heat stress. We have several lambs that have a heavier Dorper coat that we are going to cull just for that reason.

Most of our sheep keep moving to find shade but the shelters draw them in when the sun is at the hottest. I was worrying about the black lambs trying to get some relief but they find shade wherever it is available but Maisy seems to have adopted them and shares the smaller shelter. I thought for awhile I was going to have to separate them since the older ewes were ganging up on the black lambs. I still give them(the spotted ewe and her lambs) some feed in the afternoon and the others haven't quite figured out why the spotted ewe and her lambs get food and I drive the rest off. The spotted ewe isn't really a flock sheep and has a tendency to go off by herself more than our others. I feed Maisy at the same time I feed the lambs and she keeps the others away. I do let her be protective of her food. She doesn't bite but she does let them know they aren't free to eat hers.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Something that can give temporary shade is a tarp on some poles. I have used PVC as posts and use a metal auto clamp thru a collar snap, then clip the tarp to them thru the eyelets. Ya do have to take it down for extreme weather, but it is shade otherwise. Plus, it is easily moved leaving the posts and rigging in another area....so the grass will continue to grow.

 

[Baymule]

I agree with Fred. Your place always looks so nice. Hoop shelters are an awesome invention, I love cow panels! Do you like your Delaware chickens? I ordered 50 straight run Delawares last spring and lucky me wound up with ELEVEN pullets. I found them to be the meanest darn chicks I ever had. They lay fair. Not great, just fair. I am not impressed. The hens are aggressive foragers, so I can say something good about them. But I still don't like them.

 

[Mike CHS]

I agree with Fred. Your place always looks so nice. Hoop shelters are an awesome invention, I love cow panels! Do you like your Delaware chickens? I ordered 50 straight run Delawares last spring and lucky me wound up with ELEVEN pullets. I found them to be the meanest darn chicks I ever had. They lay fair. Not great, just fair. I am not impressed. The hens are aggressive foragers, so I can say something good about them. But I still don't like them.

I don't think we will get more of them. They are more independent than all of the others which might be a good trait but we prefer more hands on.

 

[Baymule]

This is the first bunch of hens that I can't call back to the coop. I have to go close them up after dark. PITA

 

[Mike CHS]

Now that we have handled sheep long enough to know what we do and don't like about our setup. We are adding a partition fence inside the biggest paddock to use as a catch/holding pen and setting up the chutes and tilt table to sort sheep in the next few weeks. We added a gate in both the boys pen and one to the main pen. The chute will be on the outer fence at the left gate. Where I'm standing to take the picture will be an ally that will be used the full length of the main paddocks and allow access from either direction.

We put together another cattle panel shelter this morning with shade cloth right in front of one we did the other day. They used the one that was already there last night but I want more room so they aren't crowded to the point where a lamb could get trampled. They can get out either end of through the openings in the middle.

Since putting them in this paddock they have used the covered area at the rear of our shop to bed downbut that is going to become lambing pens this fall so they got evicted.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Sounds like a plan! You did good waiting 'til you knew what works best for you and then implementing it!

 

[Southern by choice]

I agree with Fred. Your place always looks so nice. Hoop shelters are an awesome invention, I love cow panels! Do you like your Delaware chickens? I ordered 50 straight run Delawares last spring and lucky me wound up with ELEVEN pullets. I found them to be the meanest darn chicks I ever had. They lay fair. Not great, just fair. I am not impressed. The hens are aggressive foragers, so I can say something good about them. But I still don't like them.

It really depends on the stock they are coming from.
We bred them. Ours were smart, independent, friendly- no problems no fuss no muss. Great layers, heavy birds.
THEN I brought in some hatching eggs from a respectable breeder for genetic diversity. I was suppose to give one of my breeding roos to them for diversity in their flock.
The breeding roo I was to send off accidentally got slaughtered.
I was pretty excited.
Then they hatched.
Worst birds ever! Nothing like my stock. NOTHING!
They were stupid, unfriendly, skitty, did not integrate well with the other birds. They laid ok but not like mine.
I really think it has to do with the fact they were so inbred.
Mine were not.
I love Delawares. Some of the best moms and best birds we had.
A shame yours were less then great birds.

Oh. never order straight run.

 

[Baymule]

I think I'll still take a pass on more Delawares. And I learned my lesson on straight run orders. Never again!

 

[Mike CHS]

I know I'm inviting comments about how you shouldn't treat a ram like a pet but I'll post the picture anyway. We are treating Ringo exactly like we saw that he was treated at his first home. He doesn't get a lot of attention but he likes his routine where he gets his scratches when I go out to let him out into the electric netting and fresh grass. Getting human attention is secondary when he is in with the girls but when he isn't he likes the attention.