Wolfemomma - Our Homestead Journey

[Mike CHS]

There is enough market out there that even those in the same market (here) help each other out and I saw the same cooperation when we lived in South Carolina. I did some searching and I couldn't find a whole lot of action as far as the 4H in your part of the country. The University of Tennessee manages the Extension Offices which in turn manages 4H here and I would guess it would be the same in Maine. If you haven't already done so, try you Extension Agent but I'm sorry to say that they aren't much help to the small holders in a lot of states. Ours here are excellent and they send people out all of the time to see what we are doing.

Based on numbers that we are seeing, the small farms are filling the niche with hair sheep that started decaying when wool sheep became less profitable.

 

[WolfeMomma]

@Mike CHS The 4H here is run by U Maine. I have emailed and left messages previously and never hear anything back. I figure I will wait till my oldest turns 8 and try again. Im not impressed with the communication abilities of the one here
For now, building a solid group of ewes is what we are after. Our current Ewes( non registered ones) are hopefully pregnant already by a non registered ram and if they have ewe lambs those babies are already spoken for. If they are rams, we will sell them if we can't sell them they can go in our freezer so no big loss there. I have been told by many that the ram is 50% of your flock, so we don't mind making an investment in a good quality one. I know they have the Big E show in MA which isn't super far from us, do they sell sheep there as well as show them? would that be a good place to look? or is that typically not done
Im hoping to get some more information about the bred Ewes we are considering this week.

 

[WolfeMomma]

Also @Mike CHS thank you for taking the time to help and answer my questions! its been a huge help!

 

[Mike CHS]

You are very welcome. We are fairly new also and had tons of help for several years before we got our first ones. It's too bad you aren't closer since we have friends who have one of the most beautiful rams I have seen. We were going to buy him but it turned out he isn't registered because the first owner never got around to it. Having a registered ram is one of those things that seems to be good for PR purposes.

The sales we have been to have all had some really good stock but also some that I wouldn't have the nerve to take to a sale that is meant to be upgrade type of stock. We go to any sale within a reasonable distance if for no other reason to network. Since that sale is in your home state you would hopefully make some good contacts that could help you get the info you are looking for. They will be able to turn you on to the U of M folks that are decent (assuming there are some). It's too bad they aren't helping you out which doesn't say much for their program assets.

We have contacts now from several states that we can contact if we are looking for something.

There is also a page on Facebook "Ram Trade or sell" that might interest you if you wanted to put a Wanted Ram post. It isn't very active but I have seen some decent rams (both registered and not) on that page.

 

[farmerjan]

The Big E is quite a show. I don't know that they have an actual sale, but that is where you will find breeders that are showing and a few questions will put you in touch with breeders that have a ram for sale, or know of one, or will have one in the future.... A good place to get some contacts and some networking. Also a chance to get a look at what is out there, what they are wanting in "show sheep" and what you are wanting for good solid sheep to produce some good breeding ewes and saleable lambs for meat. If you only meet one person, you are still ahead.

 

[WolfeMomma]

@farmerjan good point! thanks so much everyone! @Mike CHS I will go check out that page on facebook !

 

[WolfeMomma]

In other news, I have so much squash im not quite sure what to do with it. Freeze it I guess?
Our corn did ok, the early sweet corn we planted didn't turn out that well, but the True Gold corn we planted turned out great! So tasty!
Hoping to get our pellet stove taken out and a new wood stove put in so we have been looking around at those. Any brands you would recommend? The hunt for firewood begins!
Anyone have any tips in regards to a good food to make cattle gain weight? We have to butcher one of ours steers a little earlier then he should be so we would
like to make sure he has a good amount of weight on him. We gave them a bale of haylege (sp?) a couple weeks ago....OMG that hay bale weighed 1400lbs! and we don't have a tractor , so im sure you can
imagine how hard it was to move in to the pasture hahah! I think a tractor might have to be in our future.
Nothing else is going on really, the kids are getting ready to go back to school, and that will provide me with a little bit more free time.
Thinking of going back to school my self someday.
Anyhoo, untill next time

 

[Bruce]

That hay bale is a LOT of weight. The specs on my new 35 HP tractor say it could lift it, but with little to spare.

 

[Mike CHS]

That's why we buy smaller round bales that are around 800 pounds and I use a 3 point hay spear to lift them.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Corn puts weight on cattle fast. Introduce slowly though and watch stools or they’ll get diarrhea.

Edited to add: use cracked or ground corn for easier digestion and less waste