Understanding How the Heat Beats Your Sheep

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Have you felt pretty beat up by the heat when you work outside for long hours in the summertime? Well, let me tell you that the summer heat does not only affect us, but also our flock. Imagine that you are training for a marathon at 100 degrees Fahrenheit with a quilted puffer jacket on. That is exactly how our animals feel when experiencing heat stress conditions. Heat stress is defined as when the ambient temperature and relative humidity increase to a point where it affects the animal’s capacity to dissipate their internal heat to the exterior, causing an increase…

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Preparing for the Storm

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As many are aware, and many experienced, extreme weather devastated the southeast region last fall. These storms caused significant loss of life and billions of dollars in damages. As we reflect on these losses and look ahead to future extreme weather events, we need to consider the resiliency of our operations. Some questions that I have pondered over the last few months include; how reliant is a flock on outside resources? How adapted are livestock to their environment? If you were shut off from the world for a week, would you and your flock survive? What about for two weeks?…

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Management Intensive Grazing

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I realized the benefits of grazing early on in my livestock career. Most everybody that I knew had animals on grass; it was the confinement operations that seemed so farfetched to me. It wasn’t until I heard someone talking about a form of rotational grazing called “Management Intensive Grazing” or “MIG” that I started to think about grazing in a whole new way. Instead of just turning animals into a pasture and letting them eat all that was there, even though most of the time that wasn’t much, you would just give the animals a small portion of the pasture…

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Considerations for Winter Feeding Hay and Water

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We all know that we need to calculate how much hay to put out for our sheep to make sure that they have adequate nutrition over the winter. But, remember that sheep like to do things at the same time, so make sure you put out hay in a manner that allows everyone to eat at the same time. Our flock of 160 ewes requires two 4x5 round bales of hay per day to meet their nutritional needs, We put out eight bales at a time though, and only feed every four days. This way everyone has access to feed…

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Farm Emergency Planning

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A farm emergency can take many forms.  It could be a barn fire on a large dairy farm, or it can be something less extreme such as a simple power outage.  Emergencies aren’t foreseen and no two are exactly alike.  No matter what size farm you have, it is important for you to develop a plan on how you, and your facility, would respond to potential disasters. Developing an emergency management plan will require careful thought but doesn’t have to be overly complicated.  I equate them to Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plans (HACCP) that are utilized by our food…

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The “Ram”bunctious Ram: A Discussion on Ram Behaviors

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As sheep producers, we all need two important things to get lambs on the ground: ewes and at least one ram, depending on the size of the ewe flock. The purchase of a quality ram can be quite an investment. Understanding proper management and handling of your ram is vital to keeping the producer and everyone on the farm safe, while ensuring the health and longevity of the ram. Here are some points to think about in your operation: Proper handling and raising of rams/ram lambs impacts ram aggression. Rams have a natural level of aggression which increases as they…

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Producer Profiles: Lambing Flow in Different Operations

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As producers we organize our barns for lambing according to what works best in our own situation. Here, three producers, from Iowa, Kentucky and Maine, share how they manage their sheep during lambing, with a focus on barn lambing. Producers were asked to describe how their lambing barn is organized and how they manage the flow of ewes and lambs. They also describe the barn's physical structure, lambing and mixing areas, jugs, feeding, recordkeeping and any special considerations, like the use of barn cameras, creep feeding, etc.  John Bare, DVM, Thistlegrove Farm Location: central Iowa Approximate number of ewes/acreage: 70…

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Ruminations on Lambing Season

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Lambing season encompasses the last few weeks of gestation through lambing and early lactation. There are a lot of preventable problems that can arise during this season and derail the health and productivity of your ewes and lamb crop. Below is a compilation of management tips to help keep your pregnant ewes healthy, get your lambs off to a good start and decrease the stress and workload for tired shepherds. These tips are compiled from EAPK blogs and newsletters published during 2021-2023. Preparation for lambing Nutrition and exercise Make sure that you are providing adequate nutrition and exercise for your…

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Recipes for Keeping Trough Water Running in Winter

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Previously published for The Daily Record through OSU Extension Wayne County I've gotten the question a few times – 'How can I prevent water troughs from freezing without electricity?' Well, what a very good question indeed. First, let's talk a little bit of chemistry. Adding salt to water when you're boiling noodles increases the boiling point of the water, meaning the water is hotter than 212 degrees. This is the same concept with salt water and freezing point; salt water will freeze at a lower temperature than 32 degrees. Soda bottle and salt or burying the trough are a couple…

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Small Farm Ram Management Options

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Breeding season is here and if you want to add lambs to your flock next year you are going to need a ram. Timing your lambing to suit your schedule requires you to keep a ram separate until you're ready to introduce him to your ewes. Keep in mind, rams of different ages have different feed requirements for maintenance and must be housed with companions as they too, need a 'flock' to keep stress low and maintain a calm disposition. Keeping rams and ewes separate requires maintaining two different groups most of the year. A little creativity may be necessary…

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