If you have a livestock guardian dog, or are thinking about getting one, you may know that the logistics of getting everything to work can be tricky. One issue you may come across is how to give your dogs access to different areas of your pastures without letting your livestock run loose wherever they want….
Category: Sheep
The Best Round Bale Feeder For Sheep
In a previous article we wrote about the no waste hay feeders we use with our flock. These feeders were designed to hold small amounts of hay like square bales or hay that we peeled off of round bales. But what if you have enough sheep and equipment to warrant the labor savings of feeding…
Slashing Your Feed Bill With Locally Sourced Feed
I’m sure you probably already know that feeding livestock can get expensive. This is particularly true if you are feeding high production animals that cannot perform off hay or pasture alone. A small flock of sheep eating 1-2lb/head a day of grain will burn through a 50 lb bag of feed in no time. What…
What To Look For When Selecting A Dairy Katahdin
A question we see posed fairly frequently on various forums and Facebook groups we are members of is about milking Katahdins. People often ask if they can milk Katahdins. Of course the answer is yes. However, Katahdins are meat sheep. Saying you can milk them doesn’t tell you much about how to find one suitable…
How To Use EBV’s To Improve Your Flock’s Performance
If you’ve been hanging around our website for a while or have been in the process of researching Katahdin sheep to purchase, then you’ve probably run across acronyms like NSIP, or EBV’s. NSIP stands for the National Sheep Improvement Program. EBV’s are estimated breeding values. We have alluded to them being valuable tools for selecting…
Terminal Sires Can Maximize Production and Profit
Recently our blog posts have been focused on topics surrounding adding new breeding stock to your flock. So today we thought we’d touch on the related subject of terminal sires. Terminal sires can be very useful depending on what your breeding goals are. However, they are something that a lot of people may not be…
Quarantine: An Important Protection For Your Sheep
In a previous blog post we discussed selecting breeding stock. Today we are going to discuss the next step. Quarantine. When you bring your new prize ram/ewes home, they should go straight into a quarantine pen far away from all your other animals. It doesn’t matter how healthy you think the new animals are or…
Meningeal Worm: How Deer Can Impact Your Flock
Did you know that whitetail deer can share diseases and parasites with your sheep and goats? Meningeal worm, also called brain worm and deer worm, is one of those parasites. It is not as frequently seen or spoken of as other parasite, but it can be deadly if not treated promptly and properly. Thus, it…
Enhancing Livestock Performance: The Importance of Breeding Stock Selection
If a large percentage of your flock is related to your ram, you might be at the point where you are worried about inbreeding and looking to buy a new ram. Perhaps you’re looking to buy in some new ewes to enlarge your flock. Or maybe you just feel like your sheep aren’t performing as…
Keeping Mastitis Out Of Your Flock Of Sheep
If you breed sheep for any length of time, you’re likely to run across a case of mastitis at some point. This is particularly true for dairy animals. The increased udder volume and the larger, lower placed teats that are desirable for milking make the animals more susceptible to mastitis. So today we are going…