Dautobi  Acres 

There’s an old saying in the cattle industry that “stockmanship trumps genetics” – meaning there is no wonder breed that will magically solve all possible production problems.

http://www.sheep101.info/  A great resource for beginners and those needing a "refresher" on shepherding. 

katahdins.org  The official Katahdin breed registry and info site. 

Katahdin site links

Guide to Raising Katahdin Hair Sheep (PDF format) - also available from www.katahdins.org

https://www.wormx.info/bmps  All the latest info on parasite control in small ruminants.

Targeted Selective Treatment (TST) -  From The American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control.  

 

  Simple and inexpensive, a good starter shed. 

Here are some general ramblings (a work in progress) about raising sheep.  20 + years of raising hair sheep on a large (300 ewes) scale and now on a retirement scale, has taught us a lot. Keep in mind that we raise hair sheep in the Northeast Texas area. If you are new to shepherding, this information is a way to save money, time, regrets and pain.  Hair sheep are easy to raise if you take care of the basics first.  Google any of the topics for more information and to get other's opinions.  

CHECKLIST OF BASIC NEEDS FOR HAIR SHEEP 

As raised in Northeast Texas

Good perimeter fencing to exclude predators such as your pet dog, your neighbor's dog(s), feral dogs, coyotes and wild hogs. Fence is typically "field wire".  A woven type wire that is graduated smaller towards the bottom.  Use electric fences for sub-dividing larger pastures that have good perimeter fencing.  Our electric fencing is step-in posts with two strands and sometimes only one. Have heard only bad things about electric netting type fence and sheep.  Remember that what you are excluding from your pastures (coyotes, dogs, wild hogs) will have a bearing on fencing - it doesn't take a 12 foot fence with razor wire on top to keep sheep in, BUT it does to keep bears and cougars out.  A good fence will protect your investment, give you peace of mind and keep your livestock guardian dogs from roaming.  

Shed or barn and shade for the Summer - can be very simple for Winter protection or very elaborate for the comfort of the shepherd. Winter shelter saves you money - it reduces feed cost, vet bills, lamb losses, spoiled mineral, feed and hay. You may want to incorporate a catch pen, creep feeders,  lambing pens and/or "sick" pens within or near your shed.  If possible, position your sheds at a location where they can be used from several paddocks.  Sheds/barns that are heated, air conditioned, lighted, etc. are great for the shepherd but not necessary for the sheep (except for extreme climates).  Depending on WHEN you plan to lamb your ewes, keep in mind what the lambs might need for shelter.

"Quarantine" pen - A great place to secure a sheep that needs to be excluded or protected from the herd. When you buy your sheep, notice if there is a "sick" pen on the farm. If not, that could mean that any sick or injured animal is left with the flock. You should keep a "closed flock" and only need to quarantine a new ram now and then. The pen can be used for a sheep limping from your first time trimming hooves, a sheep waiting for the vet, females you want to expose to a certain male, females that you don't want bred while the ram is with the flock and it can also double as a creep feeder. This pen should be close to the "unpenned" sheep. We divide ours down the center to allow a companion sheep next door. Sheep will stress out if left alone from the flock.



Pasture, but more challenging, a pasture rotation and management plan. Keep pastures in good condition and without bare soil and short grass.  Parasites thrive when livestock is forced to graze low and repeatedly.  The hot August sun in Texas is great for drying out ground and killing parasites.

  No livestock will eat everything that is growing on your pasture.  Some plants can only be eaten during certain stages of growth or they may be impossible to digest or even toxic.   Attempting to force an animal to eat by starving them of other food is ultimately more costly for the producer.  You will have stressed, skinny, parasite ridden animals that look like a nightmare post from Craigslist.  Once pasture plants are over mature (in a reproductive stage) they may contain no nutritional value. It would be similar to you eating cardboard.

  A good way to determine pasture quality is to leave hay available at all times. When your pasture is poor quality, sheep will start eating hay.  They do not prefer to eat average hay instead of good pasture.  Sheep eat a variety of grass, "weeds', shrubs, vines - including poision ivy and they will also browse on low hanging tree branches. Hair sheep eat a wider variety of plants than cattle, horses or goats. A note about trees - sheep do not normally eat the bark off of trees - you must have them penned up and bored with no grazing to make this happen.  

Water - Good clean water promotes great milk production in nursing ewes and growth in lambs.  Sheep drink much more when it is hot and dry.  Ponds are a good source of water for sheep and unlike large ruminents and horses, sheep do not ruin your pond bank.  They will not "swim" or "wade" in water, just drink and leave small hoofprints. They will trim all plant growth around the pond and keep it tidy. Use BTi ( bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) products to keep mosquito larvae from maturing in water troughs.  You can also dump and replace the water every 3rd day to prevent larvae - this option depends on how many sheep you have to water.  In ponds, the native gambusia fish (mosquito fish) controls mosquito larvae - make sure you have these or find some for your pond.  

Hay - know the protein content and save $$.  Buying cheap "cow" hay results in waste, poor nutrition which leads to lambing issues and general health issues. "Horse quality" hay is more expensive but more of it is eaten. Sheep can actually do quite well on hay that has adequate protien and not need grain.  It is nice, however, to have sheep trained to a "feed bucket". This makes it easy to move them about the farm and to pen them when needed (vet visit, ear tags, ram removal,etc.)

Vitamin/Mineral mix for sheep (no or minimal added copper). A loose mineral is better than a block.  Keep mineral feeder in dry place. Molasses and cane syrups supply iron and calcium for ewes in late gestation and early lactation as well as growing lambs. Sea kelp meal is a great supplement for sheep, mix a little with the loose mineral.  

Livestock guardian dog(s) (trained, trusted) - usually started as pups with your adult, strong personality sheep - don't leave unproven guardian dog pups with lambs !  Adult rams and goats make great puppy trainers.  Two pups can be better as they need to play and will play with each other instead of the sheep.  Also two dogs tend to be less attracted (lonely) to stray dogs.  Depending on the number of pastures you may need a dog in each pasture. Livestock guardian dog pups mature late - at least 18 months of age. Don't trust them with lambs, and when the first cold spell hits in the Fall, they get frisky and may chase sheep.  You have to train them on what is acceptable behavior.  If I had my perfect senario it would be to get two pups in the heat of summer and put them with my rams or ewes that mean business.  Pups don't play much with sheep when it is 100 degrees outside !  When your dogs start to get old (about 8) start looking for a replacement pup for them to train.  Keep your dogs with your sheep, not at your house. Don't try to raise them with the human family and them "put them with the sheep when they are big enough".  Good breeds include Great Pyrenees,  Anatolian Shepherd/Kangal, Akbash, Komondor and more.  My favorite so far has been an Anatolian-Great Pyrenees cross (F-1 hybrid).  I would love to try a Komondor, but they are difficult to locate and can be pricey compared to a grade Great Pyrenees.  Almost any puppy from a line of working dogs can become a good dog for your flock, you, the human will be the deciding factor.  You just don't stick a puppy in the pasture and walk away. 

Separate area for ram and a wether for company (or multiple rams).  Leaving a ram(s) and ram lambs that are born into your flock with your ewes results in 1) lower lamb survival rates and more rejected lambs, 2) increased stress in the flock, 3) wasted feed/hay and competition for all feed/forage, 4) decreased number of lambs born per ewe, 4) lower individual weights for almost all flock members unless a huge increase in feed is fed  5) staggered ages of lambs that can't be easily grouped for sale or slaughter. If you have a very small flock, consider leasing a ram if you can find one available.  It saves feed and space.  You could also buy a ram lamb, use him for breeding and then process him for the freezer. 

Keep in mind that wild sheep (from which all domestic sheep originated) do not flock in male/female groups.  After breeding season is over, males and females drift apart to separate areas.  Males are not around during lambing and are not present to outcompete the ewes and lambs for food. Young ram lambs leave the female herd to "hang with the guys".  Rams need to expend certain energies (head butting, posturing, pushing) that are best done with other rams (and not on the shepherd or ewes and lambs).  I think some of the issues with rams being aggressive or butting people can be prevented by letting rams be with rams. They need to do what they do - crack heads with another ram. It completes them : ) 

Supplemental feed  (no pasture, late gestation, early lactation) or anytime your pasture does not meet nutritional requirments.  A great blend is rolled/cracked oats, rolled barley and cracked corn, sometimes called COB  or  rolled oats, rolled/steamed barley and alfalfa pellets, sometimes call COA.  These are usually labled as horse feed, sometimes cow/calf feed.  Our farmer's co-op makes both and lables the ration for all livestock.  This mixture is very forgiving for the shepherd that tends to overfeed (spoil) sheep. It works great for creep feeding as it is less likely to kill your lambs by over eating.   Whole grains will store longer and have better levels of nutrients. Corn, grain sorghum (milo), oats are all good supplements for sheep. Research what is available from your local feed stores or farmer's co-ops.   Whole grains are more difficult to start lambs on, but can be mixed in as the lambs progress on cracked and rolled grains first. Alfalfa pellets are also a good high protein supplement. Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS) are a great supplement for sheep. Sheep love, love, love "sweet feed" but it is not that good for thier gut bacteria - it is best utilized by being diluted with other plain grains to decrease the amount of sugar.  

Molasses and syrup protein tubs and blocks - best utilized before your sheep get hungry - keeping them out all the time usually prevents sheep from eating too much.  Check ingrediant listing - tubs can contain various forms of protein that you may or may not want to feed to animals destined for your table. An easy way to feed extra protein with poor quality hay. You need one tub for each 10 to 12 head. Wide, shallow tubs are better than deep narrow ones, as sheep cannot reach the bottem as the feed level recedes. 

Why not sheep/goat pellets ???  These are a high protein, soy based, over processed, mystery pellet.  They typically contain the cheapest type of residual plant parts and the binder can never be used in organic production.  The high protein nature can have you over feed and kill your lambs and sheep.  The very fine ground particles filter down and block rumen efficiency. I'm sure they can't be beat for feedlot lambs headed for slaughter (if you don't care what the lambs are fed) but I would not feed them to lambs or sheep being kept long term.

The most novice mistakes,heartache, wasted money and just bad luck occur when your ewe's give birth - called lambing. As a famous title suggests - It was the best of times and it was the worst of times. I could go on and on about the do's and don't of lambing that I have learned over 20 + years. I can "lamb out" sheep like most people drive a car - without having to think about it. It is not "difficult" for the shepherd, but your ignorance can make it very difficult for the sheep !

To have the "best of times" when lambing, here are some suggestions -

1) Obtain your base flock of female lambs (that are not bred or exposed to a male). Work with these sheep to earn trust and a stress free handling plan. Pregnant sheep don't need to be squished and neither do small lambs. This flock will allow you to make more novice mistakes and not kill or injure the sheep or yourself. Make a low stress, safe, catch pen and learn to trim  hooves, de-worm, ear tag, etc. on these sheep.

2) Lamb only a small number of ewes the first time after reading through a good "beginner's guide to lambing". The book will make it seem impossible. Most likely you will walk out one morning and find two brand-new lambs nursing a very protective mom and wonder how she could have done that without you..

3) Get your lambing supplies in order well before lambing is due to begin. Lambs can arrive early.  You can keep lamb milk replacer powder in the freezer if you order it early, or have some left after lambing season. Remember that "lamb" milk replacer is more expensive than "multi-species" milk replacer for many reasons! Lambs get about 30 % fat from ewes milk. Most replacers for goats, calves,etc. have much less fat and can contain copper, which can kill lambs and sheep. Order a Pritchard Teat type nipple in case you have a bottle lamb. They screw on the tops of plastic water bottles. If you want to use (and clean) glass bottles, they fit on the small, green Perrier water bottles. Order sheep and lamb stuff here -  http://www.premier1supplies.com/

4) Decide when to have lambs - weather, work, children, vacations, predator activity, pasture conditions - just plan it so you have some extra time ! If a "learning opportunity" arises, you can take full advantage of it.

5) Don't lamb at all - sounds strange to some, but my customers actually informed me of this trend. Many people keep horses and never raise foals. Sheep can keep the pasture in control, provide compost and entertainment. If you don't plan on eating lamb or selling sheep, don't go through the hassle of lambing. 

Rejected lambs - how can I say this ? If you have a lot of them, you are doing something wrong.  Not always the ewe that is at fault.  Generally, the more stress and lack of harmony in the flock leads to rejected lambs.  Overcrowding, poor nutrition, keeping a ram in the flock during lambing, bad guardian animals, lack of shelter, lambing to young or old,  mastitis, etc.  Lambs that are raised on bottles become bonded with people and can be hard to get back into the flock.  Try to keep bottle lambs in the shed and known by the rest of the flock.  Once they are older, let them run with the flock between feedings.  They will come running to you when you appear with the milk bottle.  Unless the ewe dies during lambing, I have her feed the lamb she is rejecting.  If you are home based or can switch off with your spouse/partner you can make this happen and save money, time and have a better lamb in the end.  Pen the ewe in one small pen and the lambs in another near her. If she has multiple lambs, pen all the lambs together - DO NOT leave the lamb she likes with her !  Hold the ewe so the lamb(s) can nurse, sometimes a feed bucket in front of her face works or gently back her into the corner of the pen. I always keep feeding the ewe a little each time I let the lambs nurse her.  Usually it takes about two days for her to figure out that letting the lambs nurse means food.  Typically within a week or two, the lambs all smell the same and she cannot tell which one she wants to reject and just feeds both of them.  Just make sure that she keeps feeding both lambs if you decide to let her out with them.  Personally, in the time it takes to mix up milk replacer, get it the correct temperature, fill the bottles, wash the bottles when done, I can easily pour a little feed in a bucket, set it down in front of the ewe, open the gate to the lamb pen and allow them to run into the ewe's pen to nurse.  The ewe's milk is far superior to the milk replacer (remember you have to make sure they get colostrum anyway) and it is cheaper - why buy milk replacer when this ewe has all your need ?  I'm all for giving someone a second chance.  If she rejects her second set of lambs, she needs to be culled.  Just fatten her up and have her made into ground meat or sausage.  Actually,  you will be suprised at how much better it is than lamb. Please don't sell her to an unsupecting individual or dump her at an auction.  You are just sealing the fate of her future lambs - they will starve to death if the new shepherd doesn't notice they are rejected. The worst part is that if you kept her lambs from the previous lambing, you might want to watch them also. 



A few sheep specific tools- hoof trimmer, castrating tool (bander), a drenching syringe, ear tag installer if your using tags,  iodine cup and iodine for newborn lamb navels, maybe a lambing loop, bottle, milk replacer and nipples if you decide to bottle feed a rejected lamb. Order your lambing supplies BEFORE lambs are due !  For bottle feeding a lamb, use a Pritchard Teat  type nipple, they screw on to plastic water bottles. If you prefer glass bottles, they fit the small, green Perrier water bottles - and you will get a good grin watching them drink from it !  A good place to order lamb (and sheep stuff)  is  http://www.premier1supplies.com  

Know a local veterinarian before you  need them. Vet care is typically minimal for sheep that are well kept.  You can watch You Tube videos on de-worming, hoof trimming and lambing.  If a sheep suffers a laceration, broken leg, etc. care is similar to other mammals.  If you start with a clean flock and  keep a "closed flock" you will almost never have issues with disease.  Don't bring in other sheep/lambs from auctions or swap meets.

A plan on what to do with all the lambs and aging sheep ! 

If you don't plan on eating lamb chops, lamb sausage, lamb ham, lamb burgers, etc. you might eventually run out of room for more sheep.  Most small hobby breeders start off with way to many sheep.  8 ewes will have 16 lambs to = 24 sheep, about 16 of those female, that will have 32 lambs to equal 56 sheep in two breeding cycles. If you don't have a plan for the lambs -STOP BREEDING THE EWES UNTIL YOU DO !  This will be easy to do since your ram is in a separate pen, right ?

Selling sheep off your farm sounds great but it can have drawbacks.  You may or may not enjoy having total strangers walk around your place at a time that is convenient for them.  Running ads or a website is another farm task to keep up with. Dumping your lambs at a livestock auction is less humane than processing them and putting them in your freezer. 

While people often speak poorly of puppy mills, no one ever considers a farm a "lamb mill".  Selling lambs to just anyone, regardless of the prospects for a good life or humane slaughter, is the same as a puppy mill. Some people have no business owning a puppy or a lamb. If you are lucky enough to own a small plot of land be aware of the power you have to produce God's creatures.

Sheep can live 25 years but are productive for about 12 years (safely).   As your ewes age, you will need to let them live out thier lives on your farm or humanely as possible process or euthanize them.  If you sell old ewes as breeding stock, they will most likely be bred until they die during lambing, by an uncaring or unknowing person.

Don't buy sheep and/or lambs from an livestock auction unless you know and can contact the seller. If a sheep were to be sold due to disease, age, recent medications or other issues you would need to know this.  Animals can be dropped off at an auction days before the date of sale and be exposed to other animals, as well as other animals manure, mucus, blood, semen, etc.  Pens at auctions are only cleaned periodically (if ever), so buyer beware.   The same is true for buying any meat or milk animal at an auction.  Most drugs administered to livestock have withdrawel times prior to butchering the animal or milking it.  A few drugs have a lifetime withdrawel - meaning that once they are given to an animal it can never again be considered safe for consumption or milking.  Just ask a vet for a list or search the internet for an idea of these types of medications.   The reason for this warning ?  When producers have a sick animal and can get it back on its feet using a super drug,  once it is up and looking "normal", off to the auction it goes - as you wouldn't want to sell it to a neighbor or friend.  When animals are taken to the auction for sale, no one unloading  is asking if they were recently medicated or ill.  In my opinion, you are taking a huge risk and thinking you are getting a great deal.....and you can't even get in touch with the person that dropped them off in the first place, what kind of a system is that ?  You are better off using Craigslist !  At least you get to speak with who appears to be the owner, see the conditions in which they live AND you have more than a few seconds to consider buying them. 

Parasite management

Many producers use the term parasite resistant and parasite tolerant.  Sheep tend to be more tolerant than goats, especially when grazing vs browsing. 

If you believe sheep can be raised using the same pastures for years without de-worming, you will be in for an education.  The problem with the "all natural" or no de-worming is as follows -  a person buys sheep believing that they evolved with parasites and have the ability to fight them off.  If said sheep were in their natural habit, this might work well.  Unfortunately for the sheep, you keep them penned in a pasture vs letting them roam over hundreds or thousands of acres - this is how they evolved !  As your stocking rate increases, so does the number of parasites dropped on the pastures.  The sheep never leave the area as they would in the wild.  Wild sheep may never revist and graze the same area for at least a year - do you plan on letting your pasture rest for a year or more ??? 

 The chart below shows the temperature range where parasites on pasture can survive.

No breed of sheep is immune to the effects of internal parasites such as the barber pole worm, liver flukes and lung worms. Some breeds and individuals seem to do better than others, but sooner or later, unchecked (non-managed) parasite levels will catch up with your flock. Poorly managed (overstocked, overgrazed) pastures are the biggest culpret.  Prevention is key, but once diagnosed, take steps to reduce the spread of parasites. 

Lambs are much easier to kill with unchecked parasite growth.  Blood sucking intestinal worms can destroy the ability of the instestine to properly absorb food. Even if you eventually de-worm, the scaring left behind by the mouth of the worms, will not allow the lamb to thrive. Liver flukes can destroy a large portion of the liver and lung worms cause permanent damage.

There is no one thing you can do - a lot of different strategies are employed at the same time to reduce the need for chemical de-worming. When chemical de-worming is needed, products such as Ivomec Sheep Drench, Valbazen or Cydectin are used. However, they are becoming less effective as parasites adapt.

 Relatively new to the U.S. is BioWorma®: Natural biological control that captures and consumes infective worm larvae (including chemical resistant/anthelmintic multi-resistant larvae) within the manure of grazing animals. Duddingtonia flagrans is the active ingrediant. More info at https://www.bioworma.com/

Success has been demonstrated with copper oxide wire particles.  Copper oxide is not as readily absorbed as copper sulfate, so it is less likely to reach toxic levels in the liver.

Diatomaceous Earth

 There is some speculation that DE may inhibit the development of worm larvae (on pasture). If this is true, DE could help to reduce the level of pasture contamination, which in turn, could reduce the number of animals that require treatment with a chemical dewormer. 

 1) Choose a breed promoted as tolerant and then monitor individuals. Learn how to do a FAMACHA test - the lower eyelid is pulled down to view color. A bright red color of the eyelid indicates either that the animal has few or no worms, or that the sheep or goat has the capacity to tolerate its worms. An almost white eyelid colour is the warning sign of very severe anaemia, as the worms present in the stomach are in such numbers that they are draining the animal of its blood. If left untreated, such an animal will soon die.

2) Plan on pasture rotation and management.  Don't let sheep graze low or on "dirt" pastures. Hay or mow/shred pastures off short periodically and expose to the heat of the summer sun.  Graze pastures when they are at least 6 inches. The larvae of parasites have a cyst stage that can survive months on pasture just waiting for the right time to hatch.

3) Have a "dry lot".  Pen sheep  and feed them hay until parasites are gone.  Parasites that are in the intestines of your sheep have a finite life cycle. If your sheep cannot pickup more eggs and larvae from pasture, parasites will die off.  However, when you place your flock back on previously used pasture, the cycle starts over.

4) Take fecal samples to your vet.  Find out what is prevalent and come up with a plan. This is easy if you start with a small flock. With a large flock, take samples from the sheep with the poorest body condition. 

5) Select replacement rams/ram lambs from individuals with high resistance. A genetic test is in the works for parasite resistance.

6) Keep your sheep healthy and not stressed. 

7) Ewes are most likely to need de-worming about 30 days after lambing. Hormones change for lactation and parasites are triggered to come out of gut hibernation. Do a FAMACHA check on her to see how she is tolerating the parasites and lactation.  Wet, warm weather (Spring) increases parasites and hot weather (August) kills parasites by drying them out. Cold, wet weather sends them into hibernation.  Lambs do not have as much resistance to parasite loads as mature sheep.

8) Supplements - Always provide a good, loose (bagged) sheep mineral.  And research why many shepherds  use  D.E.,  sea kelp, pro-biotics and apple cider vinegar. 

9) Junk food - Develop a program to keep your sheep on a natural diet for ruminants.  Avoid relying on processed "pelleted" feed, protien blocks, sugar-based syrups, etc.   Good, quality hay and alfalfa pellets and/or almost any WHOLE grains work well if you don't have good pasture.

If you don't know much about sheep or other livestock, ask for a certificate of verterinary inspection.  This protects both the buyer and seller.  I have folks that call asking for help with a sick or problem sheep.  I ask them to call the place they bought the lamb as the seller would know the history, pedigree, vaccination schedule, etc.   Unfortunately most of these calls are from folks that buy an animal at a auction or swap meet.  They wanted a "bargain" and they got a sick or injured or parasite infested animal that they took home and (maybe) put with thier existing stock.  They seem suprised that a ram that "rams" you, a barren ewe, a bottle lamb with parrot mouth, a ewe with mastitis, an old show lamb with CL  or a sheep-killing donkey would be re-sold to an unsuspecting buyer.  

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Resources

Premier Sheep Supplies

Sheep101.info

Stockman Grass Farmer

Sydell Sheep Equipment

Acres USA

Katahdin Hair Sheep International