Sheep Operation

Our Sheep Operation

Prepared for the November 1999 SCKA fall tour
Updated in July 2002.

We have had sheep since the spring of 1994 when I bought two pregnant four year-old Katahdin ewes from a local producer (now out of business). They were originally from Heifer Project International in Arkansas. One was killed in an accident after producing only one female offspring. Except for the ram, all the sheep you will see (about 90) when you visit in early November are descended from that four year old ewe (now deceased) and that one ewe lamb.

My main interests in sheep were for extra income, the parasite control benefits of multi-species grazing, weed control, and for eating. I thought and read about them for a year before I got any. I subscribed to Sheep! magazine, read The Sheep Book by Ron Parker, Raising Sheep The Modern Way by Paula Simmons, Sheep Raiser's Manual by William Kruesi, and assorted materials from LSU. While interesting, these materials proved to be practically useless. Virtually nothing I have ever read or been told about sheep has been factual in the context of my experience on my farm. I shall explain this comment after the following paragraph.

The people who sold me the two ewes were meticulous record keepers. They also had a health, nutrition, and management program that was strictly "by the book." They regularly dewormed, trimmed hooves, and gave an assortment of injections. They fed grain and hay on a daily basis. Since these procedures are preached in the various books, I thought I should do the same (except for the grain/hay part).

After a few months of this, I realized that I was working for the sheep instead of the sheep working for me. I stopped "cold turkey" and have done nothing since then except to buy unrelated rams, band males at birth, and load wethers in the trailer and haul to the local food processing center (most of them charge $15.00 to slaughter and dress, plus 35 cents per pound of carcass weight to cut, wrap, and freeze).

Except for the purchased ram, none of the sheep you will see have ever:

Received any assistance with breeding, birthing, nursing, or weaning
Been treated for internal or external parasites
Been given an injection or inoculation of any kind
Had their navel cords trimmed or dipped
Had their hooves trimmed seen a foot bath or a feed bag

It is also not true (at least so far) that "dogs and coyotes will put you out of business," or that "sheep are an animal looking for a place to die." However, I have observed that my vet's "four S rule" is absolutely correct. It is: Sick Sheep Seldom Survive (So don't waste your money.)

I do have some lamb losses at birth/first week, but only about one adult sheep per year mysteriously "keels over dead." I don't spend any money trying to figure out why they died. Although my daughter always wants to bottle feed a weak lamb -- in my opinion it is not a worthwhile endeavor in terms of either time or money.

Sometimes I have ewes that get a little thin -- sometimes I have sheep with feces that are not nice firm pellets -- and sometimes I have a sheep that limps for a week or maybe two (you may see all three cases when you visit?). These symptoms might be cause for alarm in a more conscientious shepherd, but I ignore them; and believe it or not, the symptoms always go away with no labor and no expense. I figure that all a sheep has to do for me is graze, grow, and raise babies; and that my only duty to them is to provide the best grazing I can within economic reason. If the sheep experience some inconvenience along the way I figure it's just a normal part of life.

I think my greatest failing as a shepherd is falling behind in my maintenance of ewe production records. This is primarily due to the fact that it is virtually impossible to read the ear tag of a protective and perhaps skittish ewe who lambs on pasture. The preprinted Allflex sheep and goat tags (which I started with) are absolutely impossible to read! Also in January and February of 1999 when many of my lambs were born I had ankle problems that prevented me from catching and tagging any lambs. This lack of production data concerns me. I keep rigorous data on my beef cattle and any cow who does not calve between March 1 and April 30 of every year goes to live with another family. I'm not quite sure what to do next with my sheep records. I will do something though because the idea of having a poor producing ewe concerns me greatly.

If profitable markets can be found and/or developed (and I hope this will be the major focus of the Southcentral Katahdin Hair Sheep Association), I expect to slowly expand my flock until the live weight of the sheep equals the live weight of the cow herd. I've never seen this concept suggested in print, but it would seem logical as far as maximizing the internal parasite control benefits from multi-species grazing.

Miscellaneous

Beauregard Parish (and the rest of west central Louisiana) was a major wool sheep producing region in the 1920's - 1940's. Some families had 3,000 to 10,000+ head on open range. This was before coyotes moved in and when dog poisoning was an everyday affair and fences were not. Also in those days there was a type of grass that grew in clumps and produced grazing throughout the winter. It is now extinct because of our area's pronounced proclivity for woods arson.

In 1939 the local price for wool hit $2.00 per pound as the world's militaries were stock piling in anticipation of World War II. Although I'm sure the per sheep wool clip was small -- try to imagine wool from 10,000 sheep at $2.00 a pound in 1939 dollars. Some of these families are still wealthy today even though they haven't owned a sheep in 50 years.

Frank Boggs, Jr. October, 1999

NOTE: Since the above was written we have:

1. Treated the flock for internal parasites in late summer (and twice some years for the lambs)
2. Trimmed a few hooves
3. Had the flock increase to 300+ head
4. Enrolled in the voluntary scrapie program starting May 16, 2002
5. Started (and quit) using Dorper rams
6. Experimented with (and quit) grain feeding weaned lambs
7. Increased our prices
8. Experienced "scald" foot problems with the weaned lambs due to prolonged wet weather
9. Given up hope of maintaining individual ewe production records.

Updated July 2002.