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| 5 strand probably not with lambs. We always added 2 or 3 strands on the bottom. Making like 8 strand fence with most below 30 inches or so. Never had an issue with the barn wire and we use to graze to putting green hieght sometimes.
They are more profitable by about 35% maybe more with current market conditions. And definitely a faster ROI with shorter gestation period.
We started with 20 St. Croix ewes and bought a few here and there but pretty much built up our own herd which is leaps and bounds faster than cattle.
You end up working them more in the pens. But build a good pen setup which can be done with wood and make a nice raised platform shoot setup so you don't have to bend over, which we never had, and your golden.
They were my dad's and he had back problems and he was tired of bending over. So he went into cattle, so he started keeping heifers back to build a herd. He said he should have built a nice barn with a/c and some sort of raised shoot working pens and he would have been cheaper than the slow return on investment of those heifers.
I prefer working sheep, especially with my hired help. Pretty rare for a sheep to actually hurt someone but have had my worker hurt by cattle and always worried about that liability.
I know nothing about non hair sheep, but have done goats. Here and for me goats are not worth it. Too wormy, don't respect a fence and will walk off from a kid after birth. Sheep are more docile, don't take near the fence, are protective mothers. To me a goat is like a deer and a sheep is more like a cow. If a deer feels threatened she will run off and leave her fawn. Well you guys know what a cow will do.
About the St. Croix they are pretty highly resistant to worms as compaired to others and which is why we kept some of that bloodline. I am on the gulf coast and it gets wet at times and that seemed to help. if your out in West Texas well that's a whole different climate.
Edited by StxPecans 11/19/2019 19:59
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Dorper Sheep vs. Katahdin Sheep
