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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: Terry Wereb <frosted-acres@sbcglobal.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] speaking of sheep/ New bunch of
  • Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 13:55:38 -0700 (PDT)

Gwenm
where in Ohio are you? do you just have one llama?

By Ohio Woolgrowers-- is that Mid States wool growers?

Getting things up and running for me is taking a lot
of effort and time, that ios for sure! I just did
some shallow cultivating at ZMoms last night,on a 4 x
4 spot, mixed in some of my rabbit litter, and planted
some peppers I got for free on a freecycle list. we
will see what will happen with the minimal ground
prep-- with the heat we have been having, I was nt
about to risk health by turning over the garden-- i
wish I could convince Mom that perhaps a real "lazy"
way of garening is what she needs to do!!!

Terry

--- Gwen Giffen <ggiffen@1st.net> wrote:

> While Navajo-Churro sheep have interested me, when
> choosing a breed I went
> with Romney and Romney crosses, for several reasons.
> Navajo-Churros are a
> little harder to come by in the eastern midwest for
> an affordable price for
> me, and transportation increases the cost. Romneys
> are adapted to a wet
> pasture, and take little hoof-trimming. They are
> supposed to be resilient to
> parasites, and I have found this to be true. I have
> a parasite problem in my
> wet pasture, with my goats particularly. I have a
> good bit of Lincoln and
> some Corriedale genetics in my sheep also, and some
> of them are naturally
> colored. The crosses seem to add hardiness to the
> sheep, and variety to
> longwool spinning fleeces. They are not extremely
> prolific - I get lambs at
> about 150 %. We've had to help with lambing with
> some of the purebreds, but
> not the crosses.
>
> There are several Yahoo groups made specifically for
> selling spinning goods.
> I posted my 12 longwool fleeces from last year on
> one - a raw fleeces
> group - and they all sold within 2 weeks. Someone
> with Blueface Leicesters
> told me not to bother with eBay; that Yahoo groups
> were easier. I set up as
> a vendor with PayPal first, but about half of my
> first customers preferred
> paying with personal checks. You just have to wait
> for the check to arrive
> before you ship the fleece. My biggest hassle was
> finding the most
> appropriate size box to ship in. When I figured this
> out, then I ordered a
> bunch for cheap from U-Line, instead of paying
> Staple's prices for them. It
> all takes a little bookkeeping, but it has worked
> out nicely.
>
> We've taken 2 sheep and a goat so far to a local
> small packer, and have been
> very happy with the inexpensive, pasture-raised
> meat. I have neighbors who
> have been asking for a lamb when we have extra. All
> in all, I've found it
> one of the more profitable endeavors on the farm to
> raise a few sheep.
>
> A word about sheep breeds - I've done some research
> on mad cow and scrapie,
> and Suffolk, while a nice carcass, is one of the
> main carrier breeds of this
> disease. I also do not care for the fleece for
> spinning. They were the most
> widely available breed, but I chose not to go with
> them for these two
> reasons. I have little knowledge of their hardiness
> or how prolific they
> are. The Lincoln adds size to the body and length to
> the wool; the
> Corriedale adds fineness and shortens the fiber
> length a little. I have yet
> to spin a Navajo-Churro fleece, but there are many
> posted to buy on the
> fiber groups, and they seem to go well and for good
> prices. As a spinner who
> loves the longwools, it makes sense to me that the
> Romney, Lincoln and
> Corriedale fleeces have no problem selling online at
> a good price either. I
> get a lot more than I would if I took the fleeces to
> the Ohio Woolgrowers.
>
> I have a female llama for a guard animal. I've had
> her for nearly 5 years,
> and have yet to have a coyote problem. I see coyotes
> in and around my
> pasture from time to time, but our rabbit population
> combined with a llama
> seems to be keeping them at bay so far. She is by
> far the easiest livestock
> element on the farm to care for, and is worth every
> penny I paid for her.
>
> Gwen
>
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