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Sheep?

A

Angus Cattle Shower

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CANADA!!!
I've been looking for something to keep me busy over the winter and I thought I would get some sheep and see if I can make a little money, however, i don't know anything about sheep. Can anyone share some wisdom?
 
Angus Cattle Shower said:
I've been looking for something to keep me busy over the winter and I thought I would get some sheep and see if I can make a little money, however, i don't know anything about sheep. Can anyone share some wisdom?
Click to expand...

Maybe go research sheep production - that would keep you busy over the winter :roll: :wink: :lol:
 
Grassfarmer said:
Angus Cattle Shower said:
I've been looking for something to keep me busy over the winter and I thought I would get some sheep and see if I can make a little money, however, i don't know anything about sheep. Can anyone share some wisdom?
Click to expand...

Maybe go research sheep production - that would keep you busy over the winter :roll: :wink: :lol:
Click to expand...

He asks this as winter is about over. :lol: :lol:
 
Angus Cattle Shower said:
I've been looking for something to keep me busy over the winter and I thought I would get some sheep and see if I can make a little money, however, i don't know anything about sheep. Can anyone share some wisdom?
Click to expand...

Make :???: :???: money, or did you mean spend a little money.
 
Be prepared to invest in a good predator contol dog Maremma, Kengal, or Akbash from working parents and get it bonded to the sheep as a pup immediately after weaning. 6 weeks locked in a small pen with 3 or 4 ewe lambs. Touch it once a day when you feed it. Don,t make a pet of it. Have this done before you buy a flock, unless the flock comes with a good dog or two.

Have a really good herding dog (Border Collie).

Invest in really good page wire fencing if you value your neighbors, some might say if you value your neighbors you won't get sheep, I guess it depends on your neighbors.

Buy a breed of sheep that flock naturally Targhee, Columbia, Ramboulett, and that come from a herd that range lambs. Make dam sure they have been on a good parasite control program and that they are free of keds.

If you are going to do it, start with a minimum of 50 ewes preferably 100.

Invest a good handling facility unless you are a good sheep wrestler. :wink:
 
how about goats instead :wink: sorry but the only thing i know about sheep is that i don't want them. but, to be fair, there is maybe more money to be made there, than in the cattle business. :?
 
Joking aside sheep are an excellent animal that can be very profitable. My Dad used to say they were the only inherently profitable farm animal and under the right conditions I'd tend to agree. Unfortunately conditions on the prairies work against the sheep #1 you have winter with extended snow cover most places which mitigates the biggest advantage of sheep - that they are able to graze every day of the year. #2 You have predators and #3 Canadians don't generally eat sheep.
New Zealand and Scotland, particularly the south where I grew up, are some of the best sheep production areas in the world because they don't have the above problems.
That said I'm sure there are possibilities for sheep in Canada as there is rising demand for sheep meat in the urban immigrant communities of Toronto etc. I can see it being profitable on a small scale direct marketing business but the industry would have to grow hugely before there is even the most basic infrastructure in place. I used to sell sheep at an auction where there were 12-15,000 head a week sold and there were several other auctions within half an hour of that one!
 
Dad got some cull ewes from his Uncles Range sheep operation 60 years ago. That little flock has grown into our farm flock. They compliant to cows that stay home off the mountain in the summer, as they graze a lot of sage and forbs the cows don't hit. I lamb after calving and cut the jugs up in the barn with board panels and it easier lambing after undressing the ewes. We got a Akbash/Paranesse (sp) guard dog, we use border collies, but can move ewes with a bucket of oats or cake.
I have B stock in MSL co-op, another range operator that in MSL co-op buys m lambs to fill his semis when he comes off the mountain.
They made me money and my kid's college money, well they put me thru college.
We use the alley way to the branding chute to sort and work lambs, a few panels and a roll of net wire and a few steel posts and you can make a temporary w2ork corral.
 
Sometimes thinking outside of the box isn't real popular down at the coffee shop, but every good idea started out by departing from what evryone else percieved to be normal.

If you are currently rotational or mob grazing, adding sheep or goats to the rotation could reduce if not eliminate parasites in both herds as they are dead end hosts for each other.

Marketing your kids or lambs to coincide with Jewish and Muslim holidays can provide additional income streams during the year.

Hair sheep would eliminate the need for shearing. Look into Kaitydin or St. Croix breeds.

Ewes can pay forthemselves the first year, if not actually show a profit. Compare that to a cow!!!! And at 7 ewes to the animal unit and twice a year lambing a profit can be shown in short order.

Let us know what you come up with!!!!!

bart.

<><
 
We have a blue heeler, and I'm pretty sure that we won't be getting another dog just for a dozen sheep. The pen is going to be right in front of the house, and with our dog, well, you don't need to worry about any predators coming in the yard, or even vehicles, for that matter.

Jingo, I just quit my in town job to help out on the farm more, which is what brought up the idea of the sheep. If I can make money while I'm learning, and do something that i enjoy doing and plan on doing it for a really long time, then that seems like a good idea to me.

And thanks for the help thus far.

Is there anything they can't eat?

I heard from somewhere you need to feed them at the same time everyday, does it have to be the same time, or can you leave a bale in a feeder for a few days at a time?
 
only animal born with a will to die. They are not for the inexperienced.

If they are sneezing that morning they will be dead that night.
 

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