Wolfemomma - Our Homestead Journey

[WolfeMomma]

Oh my Goodness! Its been a while, and some crazy stuff has been going on. After much discussion, budget crunching ect, we have to decided to just stick with sheep instead of cows at this current point in our life. Our 2 Katahdin Ewes are doing amazing! We LOVE them. They have been a great addition to our farm family! We are planning on buying more ewes this spring and hopefully a high quality ram if possible. We have found 2 amazing breeders near us, that have been such a great source of knowledge!
We took a Ram Lamb to the butchers, looking forward to having some Lamb meat in the house instead of just beef lol
We have had some fencing up and downs trying to figure out which is the right way to go. If anyone has any fencing tips....please give them!
Our Buff Orpington flock is doing well, still no eggs yet though. I figure maybe November they will give us a couple. The guineas are still alive....they roost out on one of our big Maple trees at night. Hopefully they stay safe, I worry about them.
Also, thinking about adding another LSGD to our team, Crazy I know....but he will be a full brother to the amazing one we have now...we shall see if it ends up happening or not.
The Kids started school! that has been going well. New school, new town....its been an interesting year, I hope I can start meeting other farming families and making some friends with similar interests. For now, I have you all as my buddies
I have been trying to get my eldest involved in 4h. But it seems to be a dead end road. Everyone I call or email never calls back or replies. ah well , such is life. Eventually we will get it all figured out!
Stay Tuned untill next time!!!
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[WolfeMomma]

Where abouts in northern Maine are you? I spent ~10 years in the Bath/Brunswick area in VP squadrons (NAS Brunswick ME). Also retired military. Glad to have you with us! and oh yes... pics are always appreciated!

We are about 20 Minutes from Bangor .

 

[CntryBoy777]

Sure glad the sheep are working out for ya, and can understand expanding existing animals instead of diversifying. The main problem here with guineas staying out in trees here are great horned owls...they are plentiful. When I was living up there in Winter Harbor, we would go shopping in Ellsworth and Bangor.....
What kind of fencing tips are ya looking for?

 

[Baymule]

There is a very good fencing forum, lots of posts and pictures too! That would be the place to go ask questions.

 

[WolfeMomma]

I think we solved our fencing problem *fingers crossed* So far 5 rows of polyrope electric wire is keeping our ewes in. They are happy and so are we, its a win win! Put our first Ram Lamb in the freezer last week. Will be excited to have some lamb to cook with ! Our Livestock guardian puppy is doing well, lots of ongoing training, but he is so laid back and easy to work with. The sheep are not that fond of him yet, although i think after more time is spent with them they will all eventually get along.
The leaves are falling around, really makes it a lot easier to see in to the woods, it really lets me see how much clearing of brush we need to do in our little hunk of woods that we have.
Other then that, not much else is new. Same old same old
Untill next time!

 

[WolfeMomma]

Its been a while, so I figured I would update a little bit in regards to all the going ons around here!
First, the snow..I cannot believe how much snow we got, its crazy! almost my whole fence around our pasture was covered, thankfully the sheep are content to just sit in front of their barn and eat hay because the fence was pretty much useless. The snow was so deep that our LGD basically just walked over top of it .
I am 80% sure that our two Katahdin Ewes are not pregnant. I had hopes that they were, but honestly Im not surprised as they were not with the ram for as long as they probably should have been. Im a little sad about it but such is life.
They are fat, and have definitely gained weight but that i believe is from us spoiling them. They are like pets to us, and follow us around. They remind me more of goats then the sheep that I have been around in the past.
After getting our first lamb back from the butcher last fall we were quick to realize that it would not be enough meat for our family, with me my husband and 3 boys it was quickly made clear that we have to stick to beef or pork and not make lamb
our sole source of meat.
So this brings us to our next adventure! Beef cows! We bought 2 beef steers to raise. Angus crosses, one will be butchered this winter. The other next year. Hopefully this all goes well!
On a different note, We are starting seeds for veggies and fresh cut flowers. I can't wait to see how this goes and to be able to have fresh food from our garden.
Untill next time!
-WolfeMomma

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Food for thought...pun intended . If you don’t have enough room in your freezer for a whole beef, sell a half. We get paid based on weight on the hoof (all processors have scales) and then they call in the cutting order to the butcher and pay for the cuts they choose. We make a little doing this and my freezer isn’t stuck with the lid ajar.

 

[WolfeMomma]

Food for thought...pun intended . If you don’t have enough room in your freezer for a whole beef, sell a half. We get paid based on weight on the hoof (all processors have scales) and then they call in the cutting order to the butcher and pay for the cuts they choose. We make a little doing this and my freezer isn’t stuck with the lid ajar.

Very good idea! I will keep that in mind when the time comes! Thankfully we have 3 big freezers for just our meat so Im hoping that most of it will fit

 

[Wehner Homestead]

I have the biggest chest freezer you can buy, the biggest stand up freezer, and two refrigerator freezers. I usually have half a beef, a whole pig, three or four turkeys, several bags of chicken breasts or pieces, frozen veggies, and the equivalent of about 5 gallons of milk (was breast, the goat, need to stockpile again after goats kid.) I think I need another freezer....

 

[Baymule]

We bought half a beef from a friend. It was less price than buying feedlot beef from the grocery store and is a deep rich red color.... tastes delicious! We don't have the room for a cow. We raise lamb, sell most of them, keep one or two for us.

We raise feeder pigs. You get a quick return on time, money, feed, etc. We sell one, keep one.