|
south east Indiana | As I said different folks prefer different sheep and raise them differently as well. There is little uniformity in the US sheep and that leads to the market product being different as well. I have raised sheep in SD and here in IN. The grass, the weather, the market are all very different and what works well in one location may not transfer to another. Out west I had large ewes white faced and cross bred ewes bred them to Hamp rams to lamb in Jan and Feb. Lambs had feed in front of them from day 1. I weaned them early and dry lotted the lambs and sold them fat at 130 lbs in June.
Those same ewes would not do well on the grass here and would require grain. You wouldnot be able to pencil it out and make any thing with the lower market price of lamb here. The market and price of feed makes grass fed the way to go, so then you select for those genetics and breeds that do best with low inputs.
For these reasons I suggested you speak with the auction markets and lamb feeders in your area and let them tell you what they are looking for and base your choices on the local market. That way you are produceing a product that already is in demand.
After that you can narrow down breeds. The fencing is all what works for you. If electric it has to be toast their noses HOT. I want to know the sheep are going to be where I left them no matter if the fencer is working or not so I am slowly putting up woven wire. Or rather paying someone to build fence, since I have to pay someone to do it I would go for woven wire than 5 to 7 strands of electric. It is no problem getting the sheep moved with my dogs but I hate having to spend my time checking fence. The prenier netting works great since I can move it to graze unfenced areas allowing me to better utilize available grazing. | |
|
Hair Sheep vs Wool
