Lambing Seson

Lambing season is officially over for 2015.  We began the first week of February and ended mid March.  With the small flock we like to go start to finish in 20 days. Not the case. We had two ewes that due to summer injuries we introduced to the ram late and then one ewe just lambed extra late for us.

This year we dealt with several new issues. the most stressful was a full blown prolapse. The young lady had to have a prolapse retainer and harness. This lasted several weeks.  She appeared to be ready to lamb for some time with a very swollen utter, but she took her time. Luckily, my wife was around to remove the harness when she went into labor. They say a ewe can lamb around the retainer but the preference is to remove it.

It was also the year for an abundance of rams. The final count was 21 rams to 5 ewes. One previous year we had mostly ewes and a few rams. It averages out in the end to about a 50/50 mix but this year was not average.

Feeding Hay

It is hay feeding time.  I have been supplementing with some hay but am now to the point where their primary diet is hay.  Sheep still have access to one pasture, but most everything is grazed pretty low.

My philosophy is simple when it comes to hay.  Feed to meet their protein needs. Feed mainly hay until the last month of gestation.

There is a great web site to assist with this. It is the Montana University Sheep Ration Program. http://www.msusheepration.montana.edu/   You will need to develop an account so you can login.  So far no one has contacted me or tried to sell me anything. the site provides information on the nutritional needs of sheep and a program to mix and match different feeds to meet those needs.  I keep it simple and feed good hay and meet the protein needs.

I estimate protein in the hay based on other Internet resource and the information the farmer gives me about the grass species, stage when it was cut, and the cutting itself.  You can test for these things and that would be better but I have not gone that route.

So here are some basic protein needs from the web site.  Everything listed is for a 132 pound Ewe in various stages.

• Maintenance,  Crude Protein needs,   0.23 pounds per day
• Mid Gestation, Crude Protein needs,   0.27 pounds per day
• Twin Lambs Late Gestation,  Crude Protein needs, 0.45 pounds per day
• Early Lactation Twin Lambs,  Crude Protein needs,  0.89 pounds per day  
• Late Lactation Twin Lambs,  Crude Protein needs, 0.72 pounds per day

Some simple math: if hay is 14% crude protein and we are in mid gestation, 0.27 divided by .14= 1.9 pounds of hay. The rest can be lower grade hay or old grass still in the pasture. Late gestation with the same hay would require 3.2 pounds of hay per day per animal.  Keep in mind waste so I add 10% extra or so.  If all you have is lower grade hay, then a combination of hay and protein supplement may be needed.

As I move towards the last month of gestation and the  first weeks of lactation, I start feeding my better quality hay and then alfalfa during lactation.

Another practice I have started is bale grazing on pasture. From the past, I have a large pile of waste hay around my feeder. This will require labor at some point to gather up and use on the garden or distribute on the pasture.  By bale grazing, I take the needed amount for a days ration and toss it out on the pasture in a small area.  This area is moved around to avoid manure and waste hay build up in one spot. It distributes the waste and fertilizes the pastures for you.

Sheep munching on bales in the pasture above.
 

 

Remnants of a bale to the left.  This organic matter will be a nice addition to the pasture.

To the right is an area with no bale use at this time.

2014 Breeding Season

Our new ram did us well with some prime examples of Katahdin rams and ewe lambs.  The kids showed several at the Midwest Preview Show in Sedalia and the 4H show at the Callaway Youth Expo.

In all, we had 30 lambs from 15 ewes.  One set of triplets and a single averaged us out to two per.

This young gent on the right has many of the traits we look for in a decent ram.  Good confirmation, growth and muscling are evident. Now that the fairs are done for us, he is available for sale.

We also have several nice ewes to choose from. Ewe lambs will be ready to introduce to the ram in late fall or spring.  We do not intend to keep any back ourselves since we have grown to a size that fits our pasture.  We even have a few older ewes to sell in order to reduce some grazing pressure.

More rams and ewes are available that are not pictured.  Give us a shout and come and see the stock.

Rotational Grazing

Rotational grazing has been an intention from the start but seems slow coming. Secure boundary fences are needed first. Almost there. I have been using temporary fence. Polytwine can be easily put up and taken down but it is time consuming. This has been good as I learn the lay of the land and how best to arrange padocks. I think a plan is forming, and I am ready for some permanent fences to section the fields. These will be high tensil wire anchored to a single permanet wood post on each end with plastic/fiberglass line posts. One of these posts was planted in mid November. It has not been extremely wet here so perhaps an error to start, but I wanted to get one in the ground. First 20 inches of digging, no problem. Next 16 inches, like chiseling through rock. A very slow process, but being one to finish what I start, I persevered to a three foot depth. Post in ground, not wide enough at the bottom of the hole. Post would not go in all the way. had to pull it out and do a little bit of carving out the sides.

Now I have a post hole digger for the Ford 8N. Under such conditions it tends to stop drilling at about 18 inches. With no downward hydraulic pressure, it just spins. Being I was only doing one post, the shovel was more expedient than attaching the auger to the tractor. I did second guess this decision after I hit hard clay but I also second guessed the entire decision to dig the hold in the first place. Then I wondered why I am even raising sheep. Post in the ground and satisfaction of a job done and all is good. Sheep still have a home.

So the plan is to place fencing on all the white lines. Between the woods and the pasture, that fence is up. This will privde four padocks from 1 - 2.5 acres in size. The larger ones may still be subdivided by some temporary fence. All depends on the productivity of the field and duration of the grazing period. Hopefully, no more than five days per confined area.

The next challenge, besides putting up all the fence, getting water to all of these padocks.

In case you are wondering about the map, go to http://mylandplan.org/. This is a great tool for mapping your property.

Shiitake Experience

Two winters ago I tried my frist shiitake mushroom logs.  A friend had some left over spawn and loaned me the inoculator tool he had.  I cut down a few pole sized trees.  These were trees that were not of great quality and competing with more desirable ones. Their removal gave me both shiitake logs and more growing space for the desirable trees.  I used mainly shingle oak.

This tree rarely makes a nice log, good acorns, but I have more per acre than needed for good growing condidtions.  The logs were inoculated in February, went through a summer and should have fruited the following spring.  They did not.  But the winter prior, I inocualted another set of logs 

Then this fall, I was excitted to see mushrooms on my first set of logs. Picked two one gallon icecream pales full.


The picture is suposed to be portrait so lie on your side as you look at it. Something about this program will not allow me to import it the way it is suposed to be. Tried several times. Shiitakes on the grill with some balsamic vinegarette is prety fine. Cook them to a desired tenderness with the stems removed. My wife is not a mushroom fan and out of three kids, I have one daughter that now devoures them.

If you are interested in producing mushrooms, check out the Forest and Woodland Association of Missouri. A workshop is planned for March 1, 2014 in central Mo. Go to http://www.forestandwoodland.org/ for details.

Fall Seeding?

This past August, I tried my hand at a fall seeding of turnips. I am a minimal equipment person with time being more minimal. I broadcasted about 5 pounds of turnip seed to an acre. Also applied about 100 pounds of dap fertilizer. The field was overgrazed fescue. My hope was to get some turnips for fall grazing since the fescue had been heavly abused this summer. This was done during a week when much rain was forcasted. The rain was minimal as well. I did get some germination of the turnips but the only large plants are in areas where I previously burned some brush so no grass was present.

The fescue has responded a little with some cooler weather and some added rain. The turnips however, not much to brag about there.

In previous years, I tried a fall broadcast of winter wheat. Again into some abused overgrazed fescue. This was then harrowed in. Once again the fall rains illuded me and the germination was minimal. So what next. Stop abusing the fescue would be the best option. Rotational grazing is planned but slow to put in place. Cereal rye maybe. Folks say it established easy and puts on good growth. Frost seeding of lespedeza would be nice but the price tag the past few years has been crazy. A frost seeding of alfalfa is an option but I would need to better manage my sheep to avoid bloat. Would also like to have a seed drill and get away from broadcasting. That may solve some issues but the cost rules it out at this time.

I will provide additional updates as the month progresses. Always an optimist when seed is in the ground.

Introducing the Ram





Welcome to the honeymoon shack. 

   On September 8, 2013 we sorted out the lambs and introduced the ram to the adult ewes. We purchased a new ram from Fahrmeyer Farms. We also retained a ram from our breeding program and introduced him to one unrelated ewe. The Fahrmeyer ram was put in with 15 quality ewes.

The web link below is a useful tool for calulating the potential lambing date based on the date exposed. http://animalrangeextension.montana.edu/articles/sheep/Flock%20Handbook/Gestation.htm February 1 is the earliest due date we would anticipate based on 147 day gestation. The soonest lambing date we have typically seen is February 5 with this introduction date.