Homesteaders

[Beekissed]

If you have really, really good pasture and it won't fail you in drought years, then an acre should more than support 2 sheep. Remember, though, that hair sheep are much like goats in that they also enjoy browse along with their graze, so if you have some browse available they will be as happy as bugs in a rug. If you don't you can always glean some....mine loved the corn shucks from the garden. I'd store them for winter and they would eat them like they were caviar. They also seemed to enjoy the hay that was more coarse as well and would often turn up their nose at the really good hay....and the best thing? They'd stay fat as ticks on just grass and second year hay.

They also cleaned up all my garden junk....tomato vines, squash vines, you name it, they would eat it. They are just a little different than an average wool breed sheep. They don't do well if you feed them too much grains, so it makes for some very cheap and easy to raise livestock.

 

[KlopKlop]

All this sheep talk! makes me want them baaaaaaa-d (sorry I had to make the pun )

We have a great location for sheep if we were to get them. Plenty of place to graze and browse plus enough room to bale hay for winter if we wanted to keep ewes for breeding (I think that would be the only way to make them fiscally competitive)

We currently have 3-4 acres that we rent to the neighbors that he farms. We have discussed turning that into pasture (perhaps putting it into GRP if that program is still running). If we did, how long does the pasture need to grow before it could support rotational grazing? Say we planted pasture in early spring, would it be good for light grazing later that year? would it be best to let it grow a year and just bale it once in the fall?

 

[5Sons Coop]

Window for new chicken tractor made from a microwave oven plate. Couple chicken rockers made from the scrap.

 

[Beekissed]

All this sheep talk! makes me want them baaaaaaa-d (sorry I had to make the pun )

We have a great location for sheep if we were to get them. Plenty of place to graze and browse plus enough room to bale hay for winter if we wanted to keep ewes for breeding (I think that would be the only way to make them fiscally competitive)

We currently have 3-4 acres that we rent to the neighbors that he farms. We have discussed turning that into pasture (perhaps putting it into GRP if that program is still running). If we did, how long does the pasture need to grow before it could support rotational grazing? Say we planted pasture in early spring, would it be good for light grazing later that year? would it be best to let it grow a year and just bale it once in the fall?

That would depend on many things~soil conditions, existing grass, water table, etc. I'd say, all things considered, you could graze that lightly in the fall if you were doing sheep....they don't pug the crowns like cattle do, so they leave a very light footprint on the grass. They also don't pull the grass up like a cow does, but they nibble it off evenly. What's really cool about sheep is that they will nibble along like mowers, nibbling everything but letting the undesirable bits fall out of the corners of their mouths and only consuming the best parts. This has a way of conditioning the pasture by getting it grazed evenly and the clippings returned to the soil nourish the rest of the grass.

If you did mow it, I'd mow it high after it has went to seed, just enough to cut off the seed and leave the hay on the field instead of baling it up...just ted it up a few times so that it doesn't clump and kill the grass under it. This too will return some nourishment to your grass and reseed the field even further, giving it a good start for the following year.

Then I'd keep stock off of it in the winter months.

 

[Raech]

Im wondering if the 7 acre property that Grandpa has will support everything Dand and I would like to do: 2 cows bred for beef/sale, 2 sheep bred for meat/sale, 4-5 horses and a small chicken flock. We already hay part of it then after 1 or 2 cuttings we run the current 2 horses on it, not to mention the house and machine lot sit on part of it. We use the back pasture of our neighbor's property as well for grazing because he has never owned animals or had a way to get back there. Dad is talking about putting a second house on the lower pasture after Grandpa passes away and moving my family into the big house, so there goes more grazing, and I don't want Dad to move out of his own house. Me getting sheep and chickens at the house will take alot of sweet talking to Dad, he has said no due to me not living there, Grandpa doesn't want them again and we need to build fences first for the cows we are going to get. On the upside, the fencing Dad has started putting in is great for smaller livestock as well and is 5 feet tall. Not sure if he took that into consideration when he picked it out or if he chose it to keep the coyotes out, but I am ok with it. We have to hurry and get the fencing put in for the cows because if 1 of our horses dies(she is 20+) we will lose our animal rights, so the quicker we can get the cows in the better. Grandpa's 90th birthday is April 9th, we shall see how it goes. Some cousins are throwing him a party up at their cabin, he hates parties or any gathering bigger than 2 people. He is still driving the tractor, feeding horses and running the garden. Not bad for 2 heart attacks, a pacemaker and flat lining 3 times all in the last 7 years. Gotta love that man and I admire him, no matter how frustrating he gets.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Look into miniature cattle. They require much less feed, and less space.

 

[Beekissed]

Err on the side of caution when trying to figure out stocking numbers. Once you've overstocked the land and finally figure that out, so much damage has already been done, to the pasture and also to the soils. I've heard folks say you can stock one cow per acre but it really depends on that acre and the quality of soil and pasture on it. There's no way I'd put that much stock on 7 acres and expect it to support them for three seasons out of the year...not for long, anyway. Folks will tell you that you can stock that heavy but they don't always tell you the fact that, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Stock lightly and then move upward with caution, waiting until you see if your acres can support the stock you have for a few years before adding more. You also have to figure that the offspring of this stock will also be occupying that space for a period of time each year and that has more impact as well.

It's much, much easier to add stock later than to try and correct pasture that has been overstocked....that can take years upon years.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Yes I live in an ideal grazing area and wouldn't put more then 1 cow/ 2 or even 3 acres. We actually do more like 1 cow for every 8 acres, but that is more then is necessary.

 

[Raech]

Can you keep cows by themselves? I thought they ran in pairs at minimum, the plan is to keep 2 breeding females, sell 1 calf and feed out the other for freezer; same with the sheep. It will be a slow livestock increase, can't get more horses until Sunny(20+ mare) dies AND Jake(8 gelding) gets trained per Dad's rules. The cattle are waiting on fencing, got half of the outline done last summer. Need to get the creek bottome fenced better where the neighbor dogs and people can't come in. Someone cut that fence a couple of years ago and our horses got out on the busy road infront of the house, police couldn't catch them with an oat can because they come to the bread bag instead. I remember Dad telling me about it later that night, Grandpa walked out with the bag, whistled and they both came running down the road with light flashing behind them. The sheep and chickens are waiting on my family moving out there(I can wait a long time for that). The sheep might not happen but I would really like to get 1 or 2 babydolls. Almost all of the decisions for the property will be joint decisions between my Dad and I, minus my dog breeds and their training those are my hobbies.

 

[Loc20chick]

"Bit of Heaven Homestead " it is. Started my paperwork today. Thank you.

great!!

Because I like animals that behave themselves, stay in fences and are beautiful. To me, goats have none of these traits. My sisters have had goats and they were one headache after another and I've grown used to not having that much stress in my life, so I avoid it.

I have heard that about goats,did't really get to experience it when growing up I guess because we had lots of land they my parents did rotational grazing and were allowed to tie them to a post so I guess they didn't have a chance to show their creative escape techniques. LOL!!! I would love to try and keep them for milk and meat but it's just too much work for me at the moment.I still have to work outside the home a little to maintain my licence.I have been hearing good things about sheep and thinking about it more for later years after I make the compound more conducive for them, we only have 2.07 acres and that has the house & pond so lots taken up already. If and when we end up getting some it will be two female sheeps and go from there!.