Sheep or Goats

[cowboy43]

I have been reading that because of the ethnicity population changing the demand for sheep and goat meat is rising. Does anyone supplement their cow herd income by raising sheep or goats, if so how many does it take to make it worthwhile. I know nothing about them , by sons are wanting to Fence off a 50 acre pasture that is solid oak and stock with meat goats,

 

[fenceman]

I have been reading that because of the ethnicity population changing the demand for sheep and goat meat is rising. Does anyone supplement their cow herd income by raising sheep or goats, if so how many does it take to make it worthwhile. I know nothing about them , by sons are wanting to Fence off a 50 acre pasture that is solid oak and stock with meat goats,

Had both forever. Sold out a couple of weeks ago. Their worth messing with I just had to many irons in the fire. Predator control is biggest issue. Don't do wool sheep in Texas. It will cost you to shear them. Meat goats or hair sheep are about the same. On grass figure 7 head for every cow it'll carry. In bushy weedy pasture you can double even triple that. If you graze behind your cows properly. You can sell your sprayer.
Another big deal can be distance a good market. The cow sale that has a occasional sheep and goat sale is a good place to get robbed. Sale at a dedicated sheep goat sale, where there's enough order buyers to get fair market.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

How much trouble did you have with worms?

 

[fenceman]

How much trouble did you have with worms?

Never tried raising worms... ;-)


Not much we drenched kinda when we thought about it. Maybe once a, year. Hair sheep are kinda like Brahman cattle, lot of parasites don't bother them much.

 

[AllForage]

I have been reading that because of the ethnicity population changing the demand for sheep and goat meat is rising. Does anyone supplement their cow herd income by raising sheep or goats, if so how many does it take to make it worthwhile. I know nothing about them , by sons are wanting to Fence off a 50 acre pasture that is solid oak and stock with meat goats,

I suspect you better have guard dogs or soon you won't have any goats left. Small ruminants can be more profitable, not now with these high cattle prices. I have zero interest catering to the groups you are talking about. They are generally cheap and not trustworthy. Sales barn prices are not that good for them with the exception of goats in certain places. They require more attention and husbandry. Meat goats are prolific and generally slower growing.

 

[Kingfisher]

Is your 50 acre goat pasture fenced?

 

[John SD]

Is your 50 acre goat pasture fenced?

.... and don't forget your fence needs to be watertight if you expect it to hold goats :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[ddd75]

i had 120 nanny goats and around 30 ewes. the goats were nothing but trouble. pulling heads out of fences everyday gets old. watching the little babies get beat by the other goats gets old. watching the goats destroy everything gets old. watching the goats die from nothing gets pretty old. mounding dead goat bodies everyday in a hole gets old.

i think it'd be better to light a fire with your money then to buy goats.

so i sold them off.. bought more sheep. had 150 ewes.. culled for everything you can think of.. never wormed one in my life.. just let them die if they couldn't handle it. had one fantastic heard. they ended up about killing my pastures off. ate all the orchard grass and clover to death. never let anything rest. the more land you give them, the more they eat. they are very fun to watch run and play, and the little ones are extremely cute. a lot of time just trying to gather them everyday so the coyotes and dogs didn't kill them.

tried to rotate behind cows but that was about impossible with all the killings. went through around a dozen guard dogs. most of them are worthless. we had 2 really good ones that the neighbors killed. bad thing about them is that they love the sheep so much they kill the babies. probably would of been better to just let the coyotes kill what they wanted vs. having the guard dogs.

fencing is expensive.. HT with cattle but sheep will walk right through it. so you need all woven wire. yes you can train them but its difficult b/c if they get scarred they'll run right through it.

as already mentioned sale barns are the hard part to find. New holland, PA .. and the sale near wooster, oh are the best up here. of course hauling is expensive so that really cuts into your profit.


probably the hardest part is actually find a breeder that actually culls for performance, parasites and mothering ability. its near impossible. everyoen worms.. everyone wants to keep "sally" even though she sucks.. etc.

and another thing thats bad is most of these people into sheep are hobby people.. so they will call and call and call and want to talk for hours.. then they want to come visit the farm.. look at them all.. think about it a couple more months.. and then if you're lucky after about 10 hours time.. you'll MAYBE (10%) get a sale of 1 - 2 sheep. and everyone wants them young..


oh yea.. also.. don't havea nyting with wiring around them... they ate all the wiring off my tractor and trailers. every bit of it.


so is it worth it? no.

this is the first year i've had them gone.. the clover and orchardgrass are coming back.. i've almost tripled my hay yields, and i'll still be able to run another 15 head of cattle minimum.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

My family raises Boers along with our Limousin cattle. We have found them to be very complimentry to our beef. We have about 50 does and usually stand 3 or so bucks at any given time. The Boers are hearty, grow really well, have good dispositions and are pretty easy to have around. Fencing is an issue, so all of the lots we have them in are lined with cattle panel (our lots are guard rail to start with as we stand close to 2 dozen bulls at anytime as well). If I can ever figure out this photo posting thing, I will put up a picture of our 5 year old buck. He is at 325 pounds now, but often hits 350 when not breeding and his shoulder is level with my hip. He is very well behaved, but as always, you can't trust him too far when does are in season.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

 

[A.J.]

That guy's a load. I'd say you get some really nice kids out of him.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Thanks AJ. We are pretty proud of him and the flock/herd we have built off of him. With the exception of 2 or 3 older does, every female we have is one of his daughters, granddaughters, etc. He is a brute that makes some killer females. They tend to have slightly wastey fronts, but any of the newer bloodlines we use fix that often. The only thing I would change about him is that we didn't raise him ourselves!

 

[A.J.]

Goats are some determined critters, and will find a way to get to something they wanna eat . This one likes to trim the trees. She was a bottle baby and thinks she's one of the dogs.

 

[A.J.]

Thanks AJ. We are pretty proud of him and the flock/herd we have built off of him. With the exception of 2 or 3 older does, every female we have is one of his daughters, granddaughters, etc. He is a brute that makes some killer females. They tend to have slightly wastey fronts, but any of the newer bloodlines we use fix that often. The only thing I would change about him is that we didn't raise him ourselves!

You should definitely be proud. That's what a meat goat should look like.

 

[chippie]

My oldest daughter raises dorpers, hawaiian whites and sometimes boer goats in the Panhandle. They usually run about 200 ewes.
It is profitable for them. Generally the ewes have twins, so they get a $500 to $600 return in 7 to 8 months (5 month gestation, wean at 3 months)
They sell at Muleshoe and Goldthwaite and also have a contract buyer who raises grass fed lamb.

 

[fenceman]

I always sold at goldthwaite. It's a good sale. Whoever sent The pm notice I received on this thread came through blank. So .now you know. Try again if u like