The most profitable way to raise sheep.... probably let someone else keep the sheep. The statement that they're born looking for a way to die about hits the nail on the head. We've had sheep on this farm for well over 100 years continously. The old man keeps at it and I wish he wouldn't....
Basically... pasture is the cheapest way to keep them... BUT... the coyote is such a problem here that it's nearly made it impractical. The stress they can put sheep under is enough that even if the don't actually kill the whole lot, the sheep still do poorly, don't graze enough, etc. So that could be the first problem you overcome if youhave coyotes... Other option is to confine them and feed them, which is not going to be cheap. Either way you need to be going after them, deworming frequently (several times per year), vaccinating, vitamin injections, etc. Coccidia is generally a problem in confinement... Then you have other chores such as shearing and hoof trimming at least once per year. If you get enough wool to cover the cost of shearing you are doing well... but there again, price is probably dependant on your local market or distance to market. Where we're at there is a limited artisnal market for wool that pays well but... is limited. Commodity price is not great here. Ranges between 30 and mabey 90 cents per pound.
As far as how many.... you could probably run 250 ewes on your 75 acres provided you make top quality feed and maintain everything for top yeilds. Buy your grain in that you need for maintenance the ewes periodically and for lamb growing/finishing as that's largely a grain diet. That's just a rough number. You could mabey run more.... or mabey a lot less if you're not getting the feed off that you need. Gestation is 5 months... and many today are going for 3 lamb crops in 2 years by inducing heats in the off season. That can either be done through controlling light or sponging... As far as I'm concerned, getting that extra lamb crop is where your profit will be... Otherwise it's just going to be a marriage that will require a lot of time and effort on your part with little return. You've got to get a lot of lambs and keep them alive.
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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