I've been re-reading my Pasture Profits book again (on forage-based livestock systems), and giving some thought to the problems of raising sheep in the southeast. In the past, I've thought of it as a heat tolerance problem related to the ability of the animal itself to survive in heat and humidity. I've focused on my sheep's natural ability to resist worms, thrifty feed use, and kept up with mineral requirements to try to ensure optimum health during this time. It works well, but I still hit a real hard wall with regard to growth at this time.
Now I'm considering this as a feed management issue. If we lived in an area where we had harsh winters and snow cover, we'd have to ensure that food was available and accessible. There's no snow cover, but the hot sun means the sheep can only eat at certain times of day, or in the shade, where the forage is soon stripped.
If I had zillions of dollars, and we actually owned this place, I'd rework all my summer pasture over to heat-tolerant forage and ensure very dense ground cover, particularly near shade and water. But, that's not possible. So I've come up with a plan that will include concentrated feed for the lambs through the summer, as if they were being dry lotted, plus access to good but not superior hay in a shady area (the concentrated feed will provide energy). I estimate that I'll only be feeding a few wether lambs, some bred ewes for fall lambs, and my replacement ewe lambs, over the summer, so this will not be a big hardship. It will pay off in heavier and healthier lambs I hope, and a good pregnancy for my ewes that will be bred over the summer.
I'm very thankful that we have the paddock space to do this!
I will continue as we've done, with the open ewe flock, just rotating them over pasture until the big dry spell. I hope we'll have some hay stocked up for that - I'm planning to purchase some rounds now while the prices have dropped - they are a quarter what they were going for just a couple months ago!
The ducks, our Rouen flock, are doing great with access to their little swimming pool. They are about twelve weeks old now and swimming like, uh, ducks. The kid's job is to feed them twice a day, and change the water every time it gets ooky, which is a few times a day now. I love my ducks! They are keeping bugs low in the yard and garden now - last year I had tons of slugs - this year, not a one! Go little ducks, go!
Now I'm considering this as a feed management issue. If we lived in an area where we had harsh winters and snow cover, we'd have to ensure that food was available and accessible. There's no snow cover, but the hot sun means the sheep can only eat at certain times of day, or in the shade, where the forage is soon stripped.
If I had zillions of dollars, and we actually owned this place, I'd rework all my summer pasture over to heat-tolerant forage and ensure very dense ground cover, particularly near shade and water. But, that's not possible. So I've come up with a plan that will include concentrated feed for the lambs through the summer, as if they were being dry lotted, plus access to good but not superior hay in a shady area (the concentrated feed will provide energy). I estimate that I'll only be feeding a few wether lambs, some bred ewes for fall lambs, and my replacement ewe lambs, over the summer, so this will not be a big hardship. It will pay off in heavier and healthier lambs I hope, and a good pregnancy for my ewes that will be bred over the summer.
I'm very thankful that we have the paddock space to do this!
I will continue as we've done, with the open ewe flock, just rotating them over pasture until the big dry spell. I hope we'll have some hay stocked up for that - I'm planning to purchase some rounds now while the prices have dropped - they are a quarter what they were going for just a couple months ago!
The ducks, our Rouen flock, are doing great with access to their little swimming pool. They are about twelve weeks old now and swimming like, uh, ducks. The kid's job is to feed them twice a day, and change the water every time it gets ooky, which is a few times a day now. I love my ducks! They are keeping bugs low in the yard and garden now - last year I had tons of slugs - this year, not a one! Go little ducks, go!
2 comments:
That's an interesting plan Becca. I don't have the capacity to separate groups out for special feeding (well, I do somewhat, but the paddocks are too small so I essentially would be dry lotting). What I plan to do is just keep a nice round bale out for everyone, in the shade where they should be more willing to eat on it during the hot part of the day, and see if that helps with lamb growth and ewe condition.
I had thought about breeding for some fall lambs, but with grain prices what they are decided I didn't want to feed pregnant ewes during the worst part of the summer. I may rethink that next year, but I really need to work out an cost-effective alternative in periods of low rainfall.
With grain prices I've decided, heck, there's no GOOD time to have pregnant ewes! And apparently my best market for lambs is in the fall here - there's a big livestock show and sale in Danville in April.
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