I'm so glad I started with sheep! I basically went straight into breeding them and even that was pretty easy (as long as you start with good stock). I'd love to try chickens, ducks, and cows some day too. We also have goats and the two we have for weed control is more than enough 😅
PJ, great video as always. On cows, most people make the mistake of jumping in because of milk and milk products. If people think they want to go that route they should first find someone selling raw milk and try making stuff.....it's a lot of work. Also milk cows are not as easy as meat breeds they are more maintenance and temperamental. I particularly find he Dexter breed or a mix have better personalities and are easier to manage. Jumping into large framed cows vs smaller framed is ALOT more work than people think. Buying a steer and a bred cow together is a great way to start. If you get to the end of raising out the steer and you don't really like the cow experience, its pretty easy to sell the cow with the calf, and if you love it your herd has started :). Even if someone wants milk I still recommend a smaller framed meat cow from the dual purpose lines. You can calf share them for .75 - 1.25 gallons a day or milk them 2x a day for 1.5-2.5 gallons, which is plenty for many families. Dual purpose meat cows are also much more efficient on feed and easier on pastures.
I absolutely love my Jacob/Scottish Black Face crosses! The meat tastes great and the wool (I like to spin and knit) makes wonderful, thick, hardwearing sweaters and hats. Shearing doesn't have to be difficult. As a 66yo female I'm unable to flip a sheep the usual way so I made a head gate. The sheep can stand comfortably and I can sit on a bucket and take my time. No stress for either of us. The Barber Pole worm is very prevalent here in south west Virginia. We've lost a number of goats to it but in 13 years of raising sheep, only one lost. I worm them once a year at shearing. However, the Finnsheep ram I bought last year has been a nightmare. The lady warned me that he wouldn't be as worm resistant as my others. She was right. A double dose of Cydectin didn't cut it. Had to go up to quadruple the dose! It was a case of "end it or mend it". I won't be breeding him to the girls. I'm just going to keep him for his lovely fleece and restrict him to mostly hay.
Yes! Thank you for sharing! This is all great specific info and I appreciate you taking the time to share with the community. We're all constantly learning.
PJ. From what I can tell you haven't raised wool sheep. So I don't know how you can make statements like hair sheep eat more brush and leaves than wool sheep. I let my wool sheep that were like maybe 5 different breeds of wool sheep into a bush/brush pasture and they ate everything within thier reach. They even bent over small trees and ate all the leaves off them. I don't know how a hair sheep or anything could have eaten anything more. The first thing is get asked when I sell my lambs from buyers is if they are hair and wool sheep. Because hair sheep are at least $0.25 to $0.50 less per pound. When I asked why he informed me that hair sheep gain less per day and can be fattier if you try and get them to a wool sheep finished weight. I think that you need to respectfully stop believing the hair sheep marketing. Like you were told dorpers were the best now you've been told that hair sheep are the best. Hair sheep need marketing. Wool sheep is what the buyers here in Canada anyways want. I don't dislike hair sheep. I just believe that your blanket statements against wool sheep aren't exactly accurate. Like possibly the statements the buyers made against hair sheep. I'm in my 2nd year of raising sheep on my 50 acres. I started with 15 ewes and am rolling into this year with 30. I start lambing in less than a month. I also work with my retired father in law who has 50 plus years of sheep experience. If you have any questions or concerns about this post you can reply back on here or send me a msg privately. I'll gladly have an honest and rational conversation with you sharing any experiences that I have. I do enjoy your channel. Have a great weekend.😂
This is interesting. Wool and hair sheep definitely each have their pros and cons. I have both and greatly prefer the hair sheep to the wool sheep. The cost of shearing alone is enough to deter me but the taste of hair sheep is absolutely superior in my opinion. I am also in canada and the vast majority of the market is definitely wool sheep but that doesn't necessarily mean wool is better. It really depends on what your goals are and in some cases, wool sheep are better than hair sheep for reaching those goals. In other cases, hair sheep are better. It really depends on what you're trying to achieve.
my experience with cows is cows are very hard. to do any work with them you need some sort of handling system. The Offspring are very slow growing it takes 18 months or more to be able to have them processed or to sell them to be processed .I could go on and on about cows but that's why I went back to sheep.
This is valuable information, thank you for sharing! I'm rethinking cows now. We're getting sheep again soon! (just recently sent our last ones to the processor)
I like your videos and agree with most of what you say. I do disagree that wool sheep taste greasy. I raise wool sheep and I’ve had grocery store lamb and mine are significantly better. I wonder if it’s feed and management that really makes the difference rather than the wool or lack thereof for the flavour. Two other points just to clarify for those looking into sheep: heritage (or those raised to do so) wool sheep are just as good as hair sheep and goats when it comes to eating weeds and shrubs and whatnot. Bagged feed can be necessary if you’re raising a breed of sheep that are prone to gestating multiple lambs. They need the condensed nutrients to prevent pregnancy toxemia (basically the lambs take up too much room for the sheep to take in enough hay to keep them and herself alive.) Keep up the great content! Sheep are the best ❤️
I don't think wool sheep taste greasy, but many other people do. For example, my parents won't eat sheep from a store, but they will eat my hair sheep. But I'm with you! I like all lamb!
another fun one. its enjoyable to see your journey along the way with references to past videos. wisdom is knowledge with a few bumps on the noggin. we started with pygmy goats and i agree with every sentiment that they are a pain in the butt. however the only animal that posed a real physical threat to me was our monster katahdin ram named gilbert. made great babies but ended up dinner. i think you've found your market and what works best out where you are now. keep up the good work!
Yeah, you know the dangers of an intact ram. Sounds like you made a good choice. I once had a ram that was so aggressive that we would butt the ewes aggressively until they were on their backs. It was so sad to see. He died of pneumonia or possibly worms the next spring. So that problem was sort of solved...
I had lamb neck in Australia when I was there recently. It was really good. Do you get any of the neck when you process your sheep or was I just eating part of a very large Aussie sheep?
I'm so glad I started with sheep! I basically went straight into breeding them and even that was pretty easy (as long as you start with good stock). I'd love to try chickens, ducks, and cows some day too. We also have goats and the two we have for weed control is more than enough 😅
PJ, great video as always. On cows, most people make the mistake of jumping in because of milk and milk products. If people think they want to go that route they should first find someone selling raw milk and try making stuff.....it's a lot of work. Also milk cows are not as easy as meat breeds they are more maintenance and temperamental. I particularly find he Dexter breed or a mix have better personalities and are easier to manage. Jumping into large framed cows vs smaller framed is ALOT more work than people think. Buying a steer and a bred cow together is a great way to start. If you get to the end of raising out the steer and you don't really like the cow experience, its pretty easy to sell the cow with the calf, and if you love it your herd has started :). Even if someone wants milk I still recommend a smaller framed meat cow from the dual purpose lines. You can calf share them for .75 - 1.25 gallons a day or milk them 2x a day for 1.5-2.5 gallons, which is plenty for many families. Dual purpose meat cows are also much more efficient on feed and easier on pastures.
I've heard great things about the Dexter cows. So many people talk about them being a good fit for homesteaders.
I absolutely love my Jacob/Scottish Black Face crosses! The meat tastes great and the wool (I like to spin and knit) makes wonderful, thick, hardwearing sweaters and hats. Shearing doesn't have to be difficult. As a 66yo female I'm unable to flip a sheep the usual way so I made a head gate. The sheep can stand comfortably and I can sit on a bucket and take my time. No stress for either of us. The Barber Pole worm is very prevalent here in south west Virginia. We've lost a number of goats to it but in 13 years of raising sheep, only one lost. I worm them once a year at shearing. However, the Finnsheep ram I bought last year has been a nightmare. The lady warned me that he wouldn't be as worm resistant as my others. She was right. A double dose of Cydectin didn't cut it. Had to go up to quadruple the dose! It was a case of "end it or mend it". I won't be breeding him to the girls. I'm just going to keep him for his lovely fleece and restrict him to mostly hay.
Yes! Thank you for sharing! This is all great specific info and I appreciate you taking the time to share with the community. We're all constantly learning.
PJ. From what I can tell you haven't raised wool sheep. So I don't know how you can make statements like hair sheep eat more brush and leaves than wool sheep. I let my wool sheep that were like maybe 5 different breeds of wool sheep into a bush/brush pasture and they ate everything within thier reach. They even bent over small trees and ate all the leaves off them. I don't know how a hair sheep or anything could have eaten anything more. The first thing is get asked when I sell my lambs from buyers is if they are hair and wool sheep. Because hair sheep are at least $0.25 to $0.50 less per pound. When I asked why he informed me that hair sheep gain less per day and can be fattier if you try and get them to a wool sheep finished weight. I think that you need to respectfully stop believing the hair sheep marketing. Like you were told dorpers were the best now you've been told that hair sheep are the best. Hair sheep need marketing. Wool sheep is what the buyers here in Canada anyways want. I don't dislike hair sheep. I just believe that your blanket statements against wool sheep aren't exactly accurate. Like possibly the statements the buyers made against hair sheep. I'm in my 2nd year of raising sheep on my 50 acres. I started with 15 ewes and am rolling into this year with 30. I start lambing in less than a month. I also work with my retired father in law who has 50 plus years of sheep experience. If you have any questions or concerns about this post you can reply back on here or send me a msg privately. I'll gladly have an honest and rational conversation with you sharing any experiences that I have. I do enjoy your channel. Have a great weekend.😂
This is interesting. Wool and hair sheep definitely each have their pros and cons. I have both and greatly prefer the hair sheep to the wool sheep. The cost of shearing alone is enough to deter me but the taste of hair sheep is absolutely superior in my opinion. I am also in canada and the vast majority of the market is definitely wool sheep but that doesn't necessarily mean wool is better. It really depends on what your goals are and in some cases, wool sheep are better than hair sheep for reaching those goals. In other cases, hair sheep are better. It really depends on what you're trying to achieve.
I only want to do rabbits, chicken, and sheep. Thanks for the info and opinions :)
I've done all three of those. All very rewarding animals to raise.
PJ. I always enjoy your videos.🤙
Thanks!
my experience with cows is cows are very hard. to do any work with them you need some sort of handling system. The Offspring are very slow growing it takes 18 months or more to be able to have them processed or to sell them to be processed .I could go on and on about cows but that's why I went back to sheep.
This is valuable information, thank you for sharing! I'm rethinking cows now. We're getting sheep again soon! (just recently sent our last ones to the processor)
Great video
I like your videos and agree with most of what you say. I do disagree that wool sheep taste greasy. I raise wool sheep and I’ve had grocery store lamb and mine are significantly better. I wonder if it’s feed and management that really makes the difference rather than the wool or lack thereof for the flavour.
Two other points just to clarify for those looking into sheep: heritage (or those raised to do so) wool sheep are just as good as hair sheep and goats when it comes to eating weeds and shrubs and whatnot.
Bagged feed can be necessary if you’re raising a breed of sheep that are prone to gestating multiple lambs. They need the condensed nutrients to prevent pregnancy toxemia (basically the lambs take up too much room for the sheep to take in enough hay to keep them and herself alive.)
Keep up the great content! Sheep are the best ❤️
I don't think wool sheep taste greasy, but many other people do. For example, my parents won't eat sheep from a store, but they will eat my hair sheep.
But I'm with you! I like all lamb!
Thank you for all of the great videos! These convinced my wife to allow me to get a few sheep on our property!
Nice! Sheep are such fun animals!
another fun one. its enjoyable to see your journey along the way with references to past videos. wisdom is knowledge with a few bumps on the noggin.
we started with pygmy goats and i agree with every sentiment that they are a pain in the butt. however the only animal that posed a real physical threat to me was our monster katahdin ram named gilbert. made great babies but ended up dinner.
i think you've found your market and what works best out where you are now. keep up the good work!
Yeah, you know the dangers of an intact ram. Sounds like you made a good choice. I once had a ram that was so aggressive that we would butt the ewes aggressively until they were on their backs. It was so sad to see.
He died of pneumonia or possibly worms the next spring. So that problem was sort of solved...
Just discovered your channel. Good stuff. If I may ask, where in NC did you move to? I'm in the Charlotte area. Good channel.
Thanks! Sorry it took a while to get back to you. I'm near Chapel Hill.
Great video and very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, PJ! Very helpful video and I enjoy and appreciate your perspective!
I had lamb neck in Australia when I was there recently. It was really good. Do you get any of the neck when you process your sheep or was I just eating part of a very large Aussie sheep?
I get neck bones, which make for excellent stocks and broths.
I’ve heard you should put chickens on the pasture after your sheep to eat the parasites out of the poop.
For sure! It helps. But you have to have a dense chicken population to be thorough enough to make a difference. But yes, you are absolutely correct!
Hey I’m in NC as well, Asheville area. Are you in the mountains or foothills?
I see pine trees on his property so I'm assuming he is out east. I'm in the Charlotte area
Near Chapel Hill. Asheville and the area around it is beautiful!
no sir, everyone I know eats pork and beef, I know no one in this country that eats lamb