It is no secret that we utilize every single animal we have to clear our land, fertilize, and produce delicious food in the process. Each animal is at the very least dual purpose, some tri, some quad! In order to do this, proper fencing for the homestead is paramount.
Our Icelandic Sheep rotationally graze our pastures and fertilize while producing delicious grass fed lamb and fleece. The pastured meat chickens follow the sheep, and scratch and peck through the freshly mowed grass while dropping their nitrogen rich manure. Our dairy goats clear brushy and overgrown areas to convert into milk. Then, our wonderful pigs till and turn over the soil in our woods in preparation of converting it to pasture while packing on the pounds with all of the forage the land has to offer. Before fulfilling their higher purpose of feeding us, our animals heal and reclaim our land.
With all of these animals moving around in different frequencies and areas of our property, it can be a complicated choreographed dance. Through this, we have gotten quite skilled at fencing and have accumulated many different types as we have fine tuned our processes. I have touched several times on fencing for the homestead as it pertains to our different animals specifically. But, I figured I should break it down for each animal in one comprehensive and digestible post to refer back to.
General Set Up
Understanding what we use and how we use it will probably be easier if you understand our set up. My (crudely) drawn map below shows an aerial view of our property, with different colored lines each representing a different animal’s area. PS it is soooooo much more open now, I can’t wait for a google earth update!
- Aqua X: Location of our AC electric fencers. One in the goat barn, one in the garage. Each one feeds its side of the property with power via travel lines to allow us to easily hook up our netting to
- Red: this is our “new” sheep silvopasture that we have recently reclaimed from thick overgrown woods. The entire perimeter is fenced in with permanent perimeter fence and has an electric travel line that runs along the inside.
- Blue: Goat silvopasture off of the barn. Perimeter is fenced in with a combination of a couple different types of permanent perimeter fencing. This is the first area we established when we moved here.
- Yellow: Our pigs areas (both feeders and breeders) The area off the farrowing barn has permanent perimeter with a training line of electric on the inside. Everything else is 100% electric.
Sheep
The sheep without question are the most frequently rotated animal we have. Because we want grass fed lamb, we rotate our sheep everyday to fresh ground. This way they have as much as they can eat that particular day, but don’t stay in a place long enough to over graze and stunt our pasture growth. They move around our newly created pasture (red) that we break up into paddocks with our netting, as well as the front and side lawn, logging trail, and anywhere else we can stick them. If there is a travel line to hook up to nearby and there is grass, we will put them there. Each year we are creating more pasture, which gives us more opportunity to graze. The frequency of rotating the sheep would be impossible without the use of electric netting and the tools we use.
- Permanent perimeter fence: Red Brand Sheep & Goat Woven Wire 4×4 Square 48″ high with a galvanized travel line running along the inside via T-post insulators
- Premier One Electric Netting – my life will never be the same after discovering this. This netting is essential for us for easy rotation and security of our animals
- Premier One Power Links – allow you to quickly connect two strands of netting together, gate to the netting, or netting to travel line. We have about ten of these, we use them everywhere!
- Premier One Gate – easy electrified gate that comes in different widths for either walking through, or driving a side by side. Depending on set up this can be extremely handy.
Goats
The goats are rotated less frequently than the sheep. I try to keep them as close to the barn as possible due to milking, so they spend most of the time in their blue pasture. However, there are several times in the summer when we put them to work clearing a stone wall or some brushy areas. When we move them around, they are contained by the same Premier One netting as the sheep. Their blue pasture is surrounded a hodge-podge of permanent perimeter fence. Some we bought initially and have since replaced because it was the wrong kind, some we got for cheap, some we got for free. Below are the different types we have ripped from another blog post:
- Cattle Panels:
- Feedlot panels (6′ x 16′): These are by the far the most expensive panel I have ever seen or purchased, but in the small paddock directly off the back of the stalls of the barn this stuff is what encloses it. This panel is tall enough to deter anything from jumping over (whether that be out or in) and the squares are so small the entire way up that even the smallest Nigerian Dwarf baby goat can’t squeeze through. When the kids are very young they don’t get to go out into the big pasture quite yet, so they stay in the smaller paddock with mom. This allows them to be truly contained and safe.
- Feedlot hog panels (50″ x 16′): These are cheap at a local TSC in comparison to the aforementioned Fort Knox grade panels. These are used in approximately half of our big pasture and make setting up fencing really easy and are much more aesthetically pleasing than spooled fencing. They also have small enough squares on the bottom half of the panel to keep babies from slipping through.
- Woven wire: Used in approximately half of my large pasture for the goats. It can be a little bit of a pain to get set up because you have to do a lot of pulling and stapling to prevent a saggy fence, but it does hold up very well to rubbing and is cheaper than panels if you’re fencing a large area. My recommendation is to get the tallest one you can to deter jumping, and with the smallest squares. We use Red Brand 48″H 4″ x 4″ square. If you end up getting goats with horns, if they can stick their head through they will get stuck and can strangle themselves. Small squares keep this from happening and help prevent baby goats from being able to slip through.
Pigs
I talk a lot about using our pigs to clear our land and how big of a difference they have made in turning overgrown woods into pasture. This year we opened up a new wooded pasture for our breeding stock yellow pasture that’s on “top” of the map. This is a virgin area of woods that we fenced in with our three strand polywire set up. The girls have been digging, rooting, and turning over the soil for us and come fall after they’ve been moved back to the farrowing area, we will come in and drop trees, rake, and seed or bale graze this winter. The yellow pasture that’s on the “bottom” of the map is also fenced in with our three strand polywire set up. This is a heavily wooded area that we rotate our feeder pigs through. Just like with the goats, we use a combination of different types of fencing for the pigs depending on where they are physically, as well as their stage in life.
- Farrowing area: off the back of the farrowing house we utilize 34″ x 16′ long hog panels to fence in their farrowing pasture. We have a single line of polywire that runs along the inside for training purposes.
- Premier One Hog Netting– we utilize this netting for training piglets on electric fence
- Three strand polywire set up – once the pigs are sufficiently trained, they will be contained with this set up from thereon out.
Meat Chickens
The meat chickens are kind of the unsung heroes in terms of the power they posses to transform your land. After seeing with our own eyes the incredible difference their manure makes in pasture grass growth, we have become obsessed with utilizing them as much as possible. Thanks to our mobile chicken coop, we are able to easily move them wherever we feel the pasture needs a little something extra in terms of fertilizer. They scratch and peck around, nibble on greens, pack on the pounds, and drop their gold-like manure onto our soil. Like anything else it’s about finding a balance. The frequency with which we rotate varies greatly depending on their size, and the condition of the paddock they’re on. You want them to be on a particular piece of land long enough to make a positive impact but not a moment longer. They leave the land richer than they found it. Just like any other frequently rotated animal, we would be lost without the use of our electric netting:
- Premier One Electric Netting – keeps the birds in, the predators out, and makes moving a breeze
- Premier One Electric Gate – essential for easy entry and access, bringing in water, feed, etc. Ours is wide enough to drive our side by side through
- Premier One Power Links – like I said before, we use these constantly!
We have learned a lot over the past four years here and have fine tuned and improved our methods as we have become more established. I like to think of myself as a bit of a fencing connoisseur, and it is one of my favorite things to do. It didn’t always use to be so easy moving this many animals though! Through the use of quality fencing for the homestead, we have a good system in place and strong fencing to keep our animals contained and safe, while improving the quality of our land in the process.
Happy Fencing,
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This morning started pretty much like any other morning, but turns out forecast called for an assisted lambing. I woke up, grabbed my milk bucket, and headed down to the barn to milk Ruby. It was a bit chilly, right around freezing, but was a sunny and clear morning. After milking, I opened up the gate from the paddock behind the barn (that I have been shutting the mamas and their babies in at night) to their larger pasture. As each one was running by me, I gave them a good once over like I always do when I saw it. Stimpla’s water on the verge of breaking. It was too late to grab her to reel her back in, so instead, I lured the rest of herd (minus Reykja and her lambs who were with Stimpla) back into the paddock and locked the gate.
Now if you don’t follow me on Instagram and are a little unfamiliar with the personalities and relationship I have with Reykja and Stimpla, let me quickly recap. When we brought them home earlier this winter, they were a bit on the wild side. Stomping, heat tossing, untouchable. Reyjka was clearly tamer than Stimpla, and it was easier to win over her affections in the coming months. Stimpla, was and still is, much harder to win over. At this point, I still cannot walk right up to her and freely pet or scratch her like I can Reyjka. I always have an eye on her, and the slightest bit of skin on wool is a win. This was a real concern of mine when it came time for her to lamb. What if she required an assisted lambing and I couldn’t catch her? What if she ran away from me, or turned on me?
Fast forward back this morning at 6:45 am, and Stimpla is running around with her water hanging out her backside, following Reykja, who is chasing after her twin lambs. She desperately needed to settle, and find a place to bed down. But, she wasn’t ready and any physical pressure I put on her trying to get closer stressed her more.
So, I let nature take its course and I hung wayyyyyy back. Like, binoculars back. After about an hour, Reykja and her lambs finally decided it was time to settle down. Then, Stimpla finally bedded down up on a knoll next to a fallen down pine. Her water still hadn’t broken at this point, and she was getting restless. For about the next hour, I watched her get up and down, scratching at the dirt no less than fifty times. About every ten minutes or so when her back was turned to me, I would take a few leaps closer to her and sit. I needed to get closer to see what was going on and how she was progressing, but I was afraid if I just freely walked up to her she would spook and bolt.
Finally, her water broke and the pushing began. She was straining silently, and it was tough to watch. Up and down, repositioning. Each time those hooves and nose she worked so hard to get out would get sucked back in. After watching this for I don’t even know how long, I realized she wasn’t going to pass this lamb on her own. She just couldn’t get the head past the bridge of the nose. I then spent what felt like eternity contemplating what to do? I was so afraid she would run if I tried to assist and I’d never catch her. But she wasn’t doing this on her own, and letting her exhaust herself with no lambs passing wasn’t an option. I kept running all of the worst case scenarios through my mind, putting off the inevitable. It was now or never, and I mentally was preparing myself to pull (if I could) a dead lamb. So, I intervened and hoped for the best.
I managed to capture the entire assisted lambing on video which can be seen below. It took a few attempts on my part to intervene, but thankfully she didn’t completely run away. By the third try, I think she finally had reached the point where she was exhausted, and realized I was there to help her.
After pulling the first ram lamb, she quickly passed a ewe lamb on her own while I was getting my kit. In the end, I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. I truly believe this will establish a level of trust with her. I hope you enjoy, and I will say this is one of my prouder homesteading moments, and I am starting to rack up little collection of them 
Happy Lambing,
This year as we head into our third kidding season, we are also anxiously awaiting our first lambing with our Icelandic ewes. With the addition of these expectant mothers (and their babies) it has come time to knock out a new project: building a lambing jug!
Lambing jugs are simply small enclosures for the ewe to lamb in, and spend the next few days to have a safe space to bond with their babies. This will allow mom and babies to still be seen by and interact with the rest of the herd, but be physically separated. These jugs can certainly be used for kidding, and I was planning on putting one up for our does. But, with the addition of Reykja and Stimpla it went to the top of the to do list.
Building a lambing jug doesn’t have to be a monumental undertaking. You want simple! They typically are intended to be portable and temporary, allowing for easy set up and tear down. They can be put up anywhere, whether it be in the pasture or the barn. It’s 100% dependent on your set up. For ours, I am utilizing the third stall (5′ x 4′) of our mini barn and essentially creating a run off of it. This will give them the use of the stall, and I can shut them in at night for safety. But, they will also have access to under the overhang to stretch their legs, get fresh air, and socialize. Not only will this serve as our kidding and lambing jug, but it will be where we can separate baby goats at night for morning milking.
Construct Your Fencing
These jugs can truly be made out of anything! Use whatever scrap fencing you may have around – it doesn’t need to cost anything to construct. I have random pieces of woven wire netting, cattle panels, etc, leftover from other fencing projects I keep on hand for these exact circumstances. One thing to keep in mind is the size of the babies you will be containing. Larger goats/sheep for instance are just born bigger, and won’t slip through larger holes in fencing as easily. Smaller goats however, such as Nigerian Dwarfs can be teeny tiny when born, so the smallest square possible is extremely important so they can’t slip out. Because we have a range in sizes from Nigerian Dwarf, to Nubian, to Icelandic, I based my fencing off of the smallest animal and used fencing with 2″ x 2″ squares.
Just like for the fencing, use whatever you can for a gate! That is of course if you need one. Because ours will double as a place to separate kids at night, I want there to be access to the jug from the outside as well as inside the barn. We have a random stock pile of panels that I pulled from. I affixed it to the corner beam with carabiner clips to secure it as well as be the “open side” and the other side fastened to a T post with loose zip ties to create a hinge. Low tech, easy peezy.
What's In the Jug
Inside the “jug” you just need to provide the basic necessities. A barn camera for stalking (oh that’s just me? :D) food, water, and if needed, warmth. We have a hay feeder built into the wall of the third stall where we provide free choice hay, and a bucket of water high enough that it’s out of reach of kids/lambs. They don’t need it! Those first few days they are particularly bumbly and fumbly, and accidental drowning is a real possibility. So, play it safe and keep it high enough it’s out of their reach. Fresh water is essential however for mom, and hydration is so important in milk production.
More water = more milk = happy and healthy babies.
Depending on the climate you live in and the conditions, supplemental heat may be necessary. Especially during those first few days, babies need calories and should not be wasting them shivering to keep warm! Due to the constant fear of the danger of heat lamps, last year we made the switch to Premier 1 Prima Heat Lamps due to their safety features for all of our needs.
We are anxiously awaiting for kidding season to start as well as experiencing our first lambing this year. With this lambing jug set up, we will be able to give moms and their babies the best start possible to bond in a safe and undisturbed place, while allowing us to monitor their health and progress as well. Wishing everyone a healthy and successful lambing/kidding season!
**Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. I only link to products I have used, abused, and believe in. While I do not make commissions on these, they do allow my partners to track business I have generated for them. I wholeheartedly appreciate you using my affiliate links for any of the products I recommend you may purchase! It keeps the educational and informative content coming.
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If you follow me on Instagram then you already know that about a month ago we brought home Reykja and Stimpla, a couple of bred Icelandic sheep with leader genetics. If you don’t follow me on Instagram, big news! We brought home a couple of bred Icelandic sheep! Last spring we welcomed home Bonnie and Clyde, some bottle baby Katahdin lambs. We raised them all year on our new pasture where they fed the soil, improved our grass, and then ultimately fulfilled their greater purpose of feeding our bodies.
All in all, it was a great experience and I am so glad we went that route to get our feet wet raising sheep, rather than jumping into breeding stock. My opinion has not changed at all on the Katahdin breed, and I still maintain they are a fantastic option for people looking to raise sheep as a source of meat. What has changed however, is my view and interest in the world of wool and fiber. This past year I learned how to tan hides, and it became a bit of a passion hobby of mine. I also started knitting, and spinning on my antique spinning wheel. I know not only see sheep as a source of sustainable meat for us, but also as a source of fiber and hides. If I’m going to raise breeding stock, I wanted an animal that could serve a purpose in addition to producing lambs. Katahdin ewes have no wool to shear for felting or spinning, and while I certainly tanned the lambs hides, they pale in comparison to a woolier breed such as Icelandic sheep.
Enter the Icelandics...
Everyone knows what Icelandic Sheep are. While they may not know them by name per se, they are an unmistakable breed that anyone would be like “oh yes, those sheep“. Their wild and majestic nature gives an air of mystery, reminiscent of a time long since passed as if they’ve been plucked from the Viking age and plunged into the 21st century. They appear untouched by time, and unaltered by man.
The Icelandics truly are an “unimproved” breed. While many modern domesticated sheep breeds have been selectively bred and altered specifically for production of wool or meat by people, Icelandics remain largely unaltered. Sure, they evolved some like any species, but as a whole the sheep that remain today are the same ones that kept the Vikings fed and clothed a thousand years ago. While some breeds may be kept and prized for their wool, meat, or milk, Icelandics are a true tri-purpose breed and excel at producing all three.
They are notorious for being tougher than nails, and the ability to withstand the harshest winters. Not only do they do this with minimal shelter needed, but due to their larger rumens they have a more efficient digestive system. I once read that in the harshest of winters in isolation a single sheep could survive for six months on the equivalent of two square bales of hay. This same efficient digestive system that allows them to survive the harshest conditions, also allows lambs to thrive on summer and fall pastures, reaching market weight for butchering in as little as 5-6 months.
As mothers, they tend to lamb easily on their own, and have a strong maternal instinct where they can easily rear triplets without the need for human intervention. Given the fact that we keep pig and goat breeding stock that require a little more fuss, this was a key factor in my decision to go with this breed.
Seasonal Plans
So, we got these sheep…what is our plan now? Like so many things on a homestead, sheep are seasonally driven:
SPRING
In April of this year they are both due to lamb. This will be Reykja’s second lambing, and Stimpla’s first. Between the two we can anticipate anywhere from 3-5 lambs. Twins and triplets are common in seasoned mothers, while singles or smaller twins are typically seen in first timers. We want to retain three lambs to raise for our consumption, and any surplus will be sold when weaned.
Spring also brings shearing. Unlike other domesticated breeds that are dependent upon people for shearing, Icelandic sheep have a natural break in the growth of their wool. If left to their own devises they will actually shed their winter coat. This is however a valuable resource that people recognize would be wasted, so shearing them during this natural break in the spring is common practice. Spring fleece is typically the less desirable (as opposed to fall) because it tends to be dirtier and more matted. This is of course very dependent on their living conditions and care. Regardless, I have many felting projects in mind I plan to utilize Reykja and Stimpla’s fleece for.
SUMMER
Summer is all about growing fat lambs. They will be given the best start possible being raised by their mothers and naturally weaned. They will be rotationally grazed around our property throughout the whole summer. While improving our soil and pasture grass quality, they will also munch down and clear some of the lesser quality scrub brush. Maintenance primarily consists of moving fence, filling water buckets, and just enjoying the pastoral scenery they create.
FALL
Fall is where the harder work comes in. Once the growth of pasture grass starts to decline with cooler temperatures, the time will come to harvest the lambs to fill the freezers. This is something that like before, we will do at home and their hides will be brain tanned by me to create throws, rugs, etc.
Reykja and Stimpla will also need to be sheared again in preparation for winter, where their wool will be used for felting projects or sent off to a mill to be cleaned, carded, and either turn into roving for my own spinning, or commercially spun.
WINTER
In early winter after the lamb’s meat and ewe’s fleece’s have been harvested, we start preparing for the process to start all over again. Icelandics are seasonal breeders, and April-May seems like it will be ideal time for us for lambing. With a five month gestation, that means we will want to put a ram (whether he be rented or our own) in with the ewes by November at the earliest.
Then, like with the other livestock we keep, winter is the time to focus on our expectant mothers and making sure we are doing everything we can to ensure as healthy of a pregnancy and delivery as possible.
The Meat
While the hides to tan and fleece for felting and yarn are the sprinkles and cherry on top of the sundae, for us the priority is meat. Keeping our own breeding stock for lambs, much like farrowing our own pigs gives us a sustainable source of meat to replenish our freezers year after year.
Icelandic lamb is renowned for its tender, fine grained, mild flavored meat. While they visually may look inferior in stature compared to a larger Suffolk and Dorper, their compact bodies should not be discounted. They may appear smaller, but they produce a premium quality and meaty carcass. Yes, you may have to raise more lambs to get a larger harvest, but they also require less acreage and less time to grow as opposed to cattle. Depending on pasture quality and how many bone in/boneless cuts you get, a single lamb can produce 30-40 pounds of premium meat to put in the freezer in a matter of a few months.
Just like with any animal we raise, I have no doubt we will learn, evolve, and change our methods. As our needs as well as the animals’ change, we evolve and adapt. Regardless of how we change or grow, I have no doubt we made the right decision in choosing to raise Icelandic sheep.
One of the biggest and most long term projects we took on when buying this old house was clearing our land. Back in its hay day, our property was beautiful pasture lined with stone walls. Now, it’s thick overgrown woods, and a tangle of small trees and growth are choking out the beautiful and beneficial sugar maples and oaks.
We came into buying this property knowing that we would have several years of long hard work turning these thick woods into pasture space. But, I think we underestimated how truly difficult it would be. It’s not as simple as cutting own trees, and skidding logs. HA! If only…
We have boulders the size of Texas to contend with, meaning the tractor can’t ever just drive from point A to point B as the crow flies. We are constantly driving around these things, stopping to reset the log we are skidding because it got hung up on a rock. Not to mention the enormous amount of junk and glass we have stumbled across. This is a 220 year old farm after all… you get the picture.
Now you may be thinking well can’t you just dig the rocks out? Unless you’re familiar with the New England landscape, you simply cannot fathom what we are dealing with. I know I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. The glaciers came through dropping ledge and boulders like a bad habit, and what you are seeing above ground is only about 10% of its size. Unless you have a large excavator to dig all of them out they won’t budge. And if you did that, there may not be any dirt left there are so big and plentiful. But, you would still have to cut the trees down and moved out of the way to get an excavator in in the first place. Which brings you back to square one.
"Before" Photos from the road and along the driveway before we started actively clearing
While we have used our pigs to help clear their silvopasture very successfully, we did not use the pigs to prepare the sheep pasture. This has nothing to do with their efficiency at the job, but the fact that it was on the opposite side of our property that we already had their fencing established. We also knew this ~1.5 acre pasture was going to be a constant construction zone as we wanted to get it done quickly for our katahdin sheep, and we didn’t want to have to worry about moving animals around or fencing getting in the way.
The Clearing Process
The process that we followed was pretty systematic. We would essentially work in sections starting at the natural opening to the pasture from the mini barn and work our way towards the stone wall by the road in swaths.
First, we would cut down saplings and add to a brush pile, then cut down all of the trees we weren’t going to keep in the silvopasture. They would be topped, with the small limbs/branches added to the brush pile to be burned, then the log skidded out and lifted onto our log pile to split for firewood. We would then cut the stumps down as close to the ground as possible so that we could drive over them and push through working our way down the pasture repeating the process.
As far as the stumps go, because this pasture will never be able to be hayed or tilled due to its rocky landscape, for now we are leaving them. We cut them down as low as possible, and over the coming decades they will rot and decompose. It in no way is affecting the animals ability to graze, so it’s one of those things that we decided it wasn’t worth the work and cost to rent a stump grinder. Not to say we won’t do it in the future, but for now we are leaving them!
"After" Photos from the road and along the driveway after we cleared 90%. We will have some trees to drop next winter we didn't get to in time.
Prepping Cleared Land for Seeding
So, you have all the trees and saplings cut down that you want removed and the stumps have been cut down as low as possible (or removed)… Now what?
Time to prep that ground to seed! I would love to say it’s as simple at this point as just walking around and throwing down seed. But, alas there are several decades worth of leaf litter, millions of sticks, and of course alllllll the garbage that has been dumped here over the years. This all has to be removed to expose the dirt below to seed. It’s at this point where a landscape rake proves its worth and makes short work of the job.
Connected to our three point hitch, the landscape rake was used to remove everything covering the soil. Nick would drive around dragging the leaf litter, sticks, etc into piles, then scoop it up with the bucket and dump it elsewhere. I worked the ground, following behind him picking up anything that was left behind by the rake, or anything that it exposed when dragging the ground (read whiskey bottles)
Once the entire pasture was raked, it again was used to help grade some low areas where water would pool. Once all of this was done, it was time to seed!
Laying Down your Seed
Choosing a quality seed is just as important as prepping the land properly. Yes it’s expensive, and it is a little painful to fork over the money for. BUT, if you prep your land properly and sow your pasture seed at the appropriate time (spring and fall here when its rainy and warm) it is a one time purchase. Cheaping out on the seed will lead to poor germination rates and growth, and then to subsequent plantings, costing more money and frustration. Quality seed will give you the best pasture growth possible, so why not just do it right the first time?
As mentioned above, late spring and fall are prime grass growing conditions here. This is when the soil is warmed up, the temperatures are warm to encourage germination and growth, and its naturally rainy to keep the seed moist. We have no way of watering this pasture (does anyone really?!) so we have to do it at a time when Mother Nature can provide the needed moisture for us. The sheep pasture mix we used from Natures Seed gave the lb/ace for seeding new pasture, so all I had to do was dial that into my hand held seed spreader. From there it was just a matter of walking up and down in rows, trying to make sure I hit everything and didn’t miss any spots.
True to my luck, about a week after seeding we got a very cold spell which certainly delayed germination and growth. But, the temps warmed back up and everything quickly bounced back and began to take off making up for lost time. We also happened to have an extremely rainy spring/early summer, and while everyone was cursing the weather, I was over here doing my happy dance over the wonderful grass growing conditions!
Despite the initial cold spell we had this spring right after seeding I am thrilled with how well our pasture grew. Just a little over two months after seeding the pasture grass was long thick and strong enough to be grazed by our sheep and goats.
While we didn’t get the entire pasture done in time for spring seeding, we got abut 90% of what we planned on accomplishing this year. This winter when the ground is frozen we will drop the remaining trees we didn’t get to, so that next spring we can rake and seed just like we did this year.
I still catch myself standing in the kitchen or the driveway just staring at our new pasture. Seeing the fog roll in from the wetlands over the gorgeous green healthy pasture is something I have been dreaming about since we bought this place. It almost feels surreal to me that it actually happened, it felt like such a far off in the distant future dream.
Only a year ago it was dense woods and you couldn’t see beyond the wall of trees that came right up to the driveway. It’s hard work, and it’s going to continue to be hard as this is what we have to do with all of our 10.5 acres here. But, we are making huge progress in a short amount of time thanks to our drive and determination to make this place surrounded by lush green pastures once again!
I can’t help but get a good chuckle whenever I talk to someone new and the topic of my small farm happens to come up. Immediately people go right to “oh so you have like chickens or something”? Then my response is “yeahhhhhh chickens for meat, and turkeys, and pigs, and dairy goats. We don’t buy meat.” This is usually the point that their eyes start to bug out when they realize I am more hardcore than their image of a chicken coop with half a dozen laying hens. Now I can officially add sheep to the list of my menagerie, because we welcomed our first lambs to the homestead!
If you pay close attention to my instagram account, you might be like wow wait, I thought she was doing this next year? Spring of 2020? You are correct, that was the plan! But, things don’t always go as planned around here. We have been actively clearing about a 1.5 acre section of woods to convert into silvopasture. The plan was to have it all ready to seed by the time the weather was warm enough this spring, and then let it grow and get established before putting sheep on it the following spring. Well, things are going according to plan, and we have been so focused on clearing and getting things prepped that I don’t think we thought ahead to how we would maintain the pasture grasses this year!
Once the newly seeded pasture grasses take hold and really establish a strong root system (~8 weeks with good weather) in order to encourage vigor and strong growth you want to cut it or graze it properly. Given our extremely rough and rocky New England landscape there is no way of mowing and bagging it at all. So, this would leave me with the only option of weed eating it, and then going back and raking up all the cut grass to prevent it from mulching and killing the growing grass underneath it. Weed eating and racking an acre and a half every week on top of everything else going on around here? NO THANK YOU!
The other option was to rotate my herd of dairy goats around the new pasture. But, this would mean I would have to move them out every morning after milking and put them back in the barn at night. My mornings are already rushed trying to get everything done before work, I can’t possibly add moving my goats to that list. Plus, goats are browsers not grazers, so they wouldn’t do the best job of mowing down the pasture grass like sheep would.
Enter the Sheep
After assessing the situation and knowing it wasn’t feasible or desirable to be weed eating and raking our new pasture all summer and fall, we decided that we were going to bite the bullet and get the sheep this year. Because they truly are the best option for our terrain.
Luckily for me, one of my customers for my “real job” happens to raise Katahdin sheep. He breeds for the sole purpose of selling the lambs for the Easter market, but I figured he would be a good first call to make anyway. Double my luck, it turns out that not only did they breed late and miss the Easter market completely, but he had an incredibly fertile year and almost every ewe threw triplets for him. With triplets being hard for a single ewe to nurse, they have been pulling the third baby and bottle feeding. He is overrun with lambs that he doesn’t have a direct market to sell into, and more bottle babies than him and his wife are able to handle on top of everything else. So, I took two off of his hands for him!
Being that we are getting the lambs so young, they will need more care and attention than if they were weaned. I will be giving them multiple bottles a day to supplement as they transition to hay. I certainly have plenty on my plate as it is, but the way I see it is I would rather dote on and care for lambs now, if that saves me an entire summer and fall of weed eating and raking pasture. I am already going down to the barn a lot anyway due to it being kidding season, so what’s one more chore?
Right about the time that they are big enough to be raised outside of the temporary area we have for them in the goat pasture, our lawn should be tall and thick enough that it needs a good mowing. Until the pasture grass is established and ready for them to start grazing, we will rotate them around our yard with our polywire netting as our lawn mowers, and supplement with some hay if need be.
Why Katahdins?
Just like when you raise any animal you have to decide on a breed! Different breeds have different benefits, so why out of all of the different breeds of sheep did we settle on Katahdins?
- They are a hair breed: Katahdins are a hair breed of sheep which means they do not produce the thick layer of wool that requires shearing. Although this first round of lambs wouldn’t get old enough to require shearing if they did produce wool, we are planning on having our own ewes for breeding stock. I have absolutely zero interest in shearing for wool, so a hair breed is ideal for us!
- They are hardy: Despite not having a thick wool coat, they do develop a thicker hair coat in the winter and shed it in the summer. They are incredibly hardy and easy keepers during our cold winters, and are able to withstand temperatures of hot summers.
- Their meat flavor is mild: If you haven’t gathered this by now, Katahdins are raised for their meat. Compared to other breeds of sheep they are renowned for their mild tasting meat (as opposed to being a tad gamey)
- Ideal for pasture models and naturally more parasite resistant: Sheep are an ideal animal for pasture as they graze the grass like clockwork 2-3″ high. Meaning, they will not chew it down so low that it kills the grass (this is assuming you use a proper grazing model). They chew it down just low enough to encourage regrowth while fertilizing the soil with their manure. Rotational grazing of sheep is one of the best things you can do to organically manage pastures. Katahdins are also much more resistant to internal and external parasites than wool breeds.
- Easy lambing and good mothers: Having breeding stock for our sheep that is pretty self sufficient is an absolute must for us. Between Big Marie and the goats that require a bit more help and post birthing care, I really didn’t want to add another animal to my list that requires so much assistance. Katahdins are renowned for their easy lambing with high birth weights even in the middle of a freezing winter, as well as being amazing mothers. While I will certainly keep an eye on our mothers when they are close to lambing, this characteristic is very desirable as it allows me to be more hands off. I have enough mamas I need to help!
- Docile and mellow temperament: While everything I have heard and read says that sheep are much more mellow and relaxed than the crazy goats I am used to, Katahdins came highly recommended to me as being particularly docile and mellow. People I have spoken to rave about how they are just an all around joy and are extremely easy keepers. This was a no brainer!
I am very excited to be entering the world of sheep. I can’t wait to see what they do to improve our new pasture and soil, as well as just watch them graze from my kitchen window and patio! And of course, the delicious grass fed lamb that is in our future as well!