The sheep have moved on to a new pasture after 9 days on the last one. Each pasture should take about 15 days to graze but the we tend to move the sheep a little more quickly on the first pass of the season to be sure they don't over graze. This paddock I made extra large instead of the normal size. That way I can leave them in the same place longer instead of moving them every day or two. I'm thinking they will be in this paddock for 5-7 days. We like to keep the sheep moving to break the parasite cycle and to more evenly distribute the fertility and impact of the flock on the pastures, so 7 days is as long as we want to keep them in the same place. 4 days is what we've found to be ideal for us.
Moving the sheep a longer distance with new born lambs is challenging. Often the lambs don't follow along, get lost, or the ewes want to stay put with their lambs. I end up getting most of the flock to go along but always have to round up the stragglers, often having to carry lambs. All the lambs have been healthy and we're a little over halfway done. Lots of rams this season so there will be lots of meat for sale. We will start taking deposits on lamb mid July.
#permies #permaculture #homesteading #meshtadel #lamb #sheep #rotationalgrazing #circulareconony
quotingNew born Katahdin lambs!
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Spring is in full swing at the homestead. First lambs born yesterday one day after putting the sheep back on pasture again. The rest of the ewes should be having their lambs over the next week or so. Fun to wake up and go check for new lambs first thing in the morning every day until they are all born.
The katahdin hair sheep have officially started their grazing season. The first grazing loop is usually pretty fast because the grass is still growing in but typically the sheep will graze all the pastures in 30-45 days. We move paddocks every 2-4 days to help break the parasite cycles, and distribute the impact of the sheep more evenly. The sheep can usually keep grazing until November.
#permies #permaculture #homesteading #meshtadel #rotationalgrazing #sheep #lamb #silvopasture #regenerativeagriculture