If ya think cattle are stupid in brush

[blackpowder]

I dont care who you are that's funny right there.

[Marusko]

And yes, sheep pencil in my view, far better than cattle, and not just at high prices. All things being equal, they are close to twice as productive in my estimation. The math is pretty easy really.

twice as productive by what measure? acres to provide feed and pasture? cost of gain? man hours? vet bills? number of curse words shouted per lamb to bring it from barn to auction?

[Blaithin]

R sheep this stupid in the bush?

Yes, that's a tree branch stuck in a steers azz. Was in there a day and a half before I got him in the squeeze to remove it. He had some infection from an internal tear but is doing great now.

Really I’m surprised that doesn’t happen more often.

Neighbours lost a horse that impaled herself on a stick.

Dog impaled himself on one a few years back.

Both those were when bush lines were recently cleared.

Uncles have a story of a Great Horned Owl they couldn’t get to fly away. Turns out it had stuffed itself landing.

Had a few steers when I worked on a feedlot that fish hooked themselves on little (blunt) hooks on the wind fences. They were then tethered to the fence and only went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth....

[Sheepwheat]

twice as productive by what measure? acres to provide feed and pasture? cost of gain? man hours? vet bills? number of curse words shouted per lamb to bring it from barn to auction?

Lbs produced per animal unit.

How many lbs of calf will a cow raise by say nov.1? How many lbs of lamb will the seven ewes that eat the same amount as the cow eats, produce by nov.1?

[woodland]

Sheep are worse

Mallee you don’t have “bush” if you can see and drive through it. That’s more like a couple willows around a dry slough “here”. 😉

In the fall/winter we have to occasionally starve the stragglers outta the bush pastures if they don’t want to come. Can’t chase on a quad and foot is useless. Food is a highly motivating tool for hungry cows ............... and me. 🍀

[woodland]

R sheep this stupid in the bush?

Yes, that's a tree branch stuck in a steers azz. Was in there a day and a half before I got him in the squeeze to remove it. He had some infection from an internal tear but is doing great now.

When ya gotta scratch that itch...............

[woodland]

Ouch! Years ago, we were trucking around our bush pasture just to check things out, when we came upon a yearling heifer whose head was stuck in a V-shaped tree. She had punched down the ground around the roots and was royally stuck. We both pushed up on her head and managed to set her free. Otherwise, I'm sure she would have died there.

And speaking of stupid in the bush.....once had to have an emergency sh*t while haying. Came upon a small copse of trees which looked like good cover for doing my business. In my haste to do what I had to do, I poked my eye on a branch. Didn't know whether to sh*t or go blind.

My cousin custom pastures yearlings and always has a few dumb ones that succumb to Darwin awards. One did the exact same thing in a forked tree except on the head and neck were left after the coyotes had dinner.

Seems every year or two a critter here gets caught between the hips and ribs between two poplar trees while scratching. Luckily we have caught them after a day or two and manage to get them out.

This guy got caught in an abandoned barn on some rented pasture after some snoopy thieves left the doors wide open. Never quite recovered and could hardly walk after being in there for so long.

P.S. I just do my business in the field safely away the wasp nests, sticks, caterpillars, and whatever else is in the bush waiting for you to bend over. Odds are it’ll just be a cousin who’ll see ya if they really want to look at a full moon in broad daylight anyway. 😎

[Horse]

Lbs produced per animal unit.

How many lbs of calf will a cow raise by say nov.1? How many lbs of lamb will the seven ewes that eat the same amount as the cow eats, produce by nov.1?

Dont own any sheep but daughter does,we figure on 5 ewes = 1 cow as far as feed goes,but I know 1 person can quite handly look after 100 cows but cant see 1 person looking after 500/700 sheep then there is the foot triming sheering,worming,coyotes,cost of fencing. Seems like she runs them through the chute many times a yr.
Prices have been good lately but dead lambs dont bring much,and there realy isnt anything like a sick sheep ,ether dead or alive. She averages around 150% lambs sold. On her 100 ewes there isnt much for her labor,more a love affair than a viable business.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Neighbors have lost multiple cows who got stuck between bale stacks, found many months later. We had one get out while feeding this winter get wedged deep in a double stack, had to unstack a bunch to get her out. Have to cut a bar out of hay feeders every year to free a calf who gets wedged.

[Sheepwheat]

Dont own any sheep but daughter does,we figure on 5 ewes = 1 cow as far as feed goes,but I know 1 person can quite handly look after 100 cows but cant see 1 person looking after 500/700 sheep then there is the foot triming sheering,worming,coyotes,cost of fencing. Seems like she runs them through the chute many times a yr.
Prices have been good lately but dead lambs dont bring much,and there realy isnt anything like a sick sheep ,ether dead or alive. She averages around 150% lambs sold. On her 100 ewes there isnt much for her labor,more a love affair than a viable business.

No money in sheep. Too much work, lambs die continuously. Coyotes eat at least half. Thru the chute 26 times a year. Breeding at 6 months, lambing at a year. Buy a ewe get 1.6 lambs that are worth more than her purchase price by fall. At the risk of sounding like hobby farmer, stick to the tried and true, big ag, commodity driven sectors. Don’t do sheep, they suck, and we have to import 60% of our lamb to meet our domestic demand. Just awful.

100 ewes x 1.5= 150 lambs x $240= $36 000

16 cows x 1 = 16 x $ 2250= $36 000

$2250 calves are typical by late fall, right? Right now lambs are closer to 300 than 200. And those are measly live weight prices. Sell them in a box for 400 and work the numbers.

As I said, I strongly discourage people to raise sheep. Wink.

[Horse]

No money in sheep. Too much work, lambs die continuously. Coyotes eat at least half. Thru the chute 26 times a year. Breeding at 6 months, lambing at a year. Buy a ewe get 1.6 lambs that are worth more than her purchase price by fall. At the risk of sounding like hobby farmer, stick to the tried and true, big ag, commodity driven sectors. Don’t do sheep, they suck, and we have to import 60% of our lamb to meet our domestic demand. Just awful.

100 ewes x 1.5= 150 lambs x $240= $36 000

16 cows x 1 = 16 x $ 2250= $36 000

$2250 calves are typical by late fall, right? Right now lambs are closer to 300 than 200. And those are measly live weight prices. Sell them in a box for 400 and work the numbers.

As I said, I strongly discourage people to raise sheep. Wink.

I didnt mean to hit a nerve just putting out our experence,or daughters example, if you are happy what more could anyone ask.

[foragefarmer]

"How dare you" Horse. Ouch!

[GDR]

Both Horse and Sheepwheat are right. No question sheep are miles better than cows economically no matter how you look at it, but they take a lot of work. Part of the issue compared to cows is most sheep owners don't have the proper facilities they need to make the work easier. Properly set up the comparable number of ewes vs cows the same number of farmers could manage but like most jobs a second set of hands makes life easier. The sheep operation will have double the gross and even higher net income.

Have see many beef farmers try to raise sheep and almost always ends in disaster. Dairy guys seem to do real well. I think that shows the difference, the commitment, intensity of work and feeding needs of sheep more align with dairy.

[Sheepwheat]

I didnt mean to hit a nerve just putting out our experence,or daughters example, if you are happy what more could anyone ask.

Ha. You didn’t hit a nerve in the least. Sorry my response made it seem like it. The problem with text, vs. speech comes through I guess? Maybe you haven’t seen hobby’s posts when ppl ask him about organic? I always found them amusing. I was trying to be the same.

Of course everyone’s farm is different. My point is, there are a lot of misconceptions about sheep out there. Most are either untrue, or can easily be rectified. And one of the biggest misconceptions is they don’t make money. I actually encourage ppl to look harder at sheep, because they make a lot of sense in a lot of ways IMO.

Again, I am not at all upset. No worries!

[Sheepwheat]

Both Horse and Sheepwheat are right. No question sheep are miles better than cows economically no matter how you look at it, but they take a lot of work. Part of the issue compared to cows is most sheep owners don't have the proper facilities they need to make the work easier. Properly set up the comparable number of ewes vs cows the same number of farmers could manage but like most jobs a second set of hands makes life easier. The sheep operation will have double the gross and even higher net income.

Have see many beef farmers try to raise sheep and almost always ends in disaster. Dairy guys seem to do real well. I think that shows the difference, the commitment, intensity of work and feeding needs of sheep more align with dairy.

Bang on GDR. The amount of labour you have, is directly related to management style, facilities, dedication, how much you like them as an animal, etc. I don’t find them work at all, but then I just like them as an animal. Having fun is not work to me. I also have no clue what I would do without life outside to get me out of bed each day? Ppl in other lands would think 1000 ewes is a tiny venture. Let’s have that many just as a side venture.

Most ppl with sheep are hobbyists. The average flock size is like 30. Unfeasible numbers and for fun, so the average sheep farm doesn’t get very serious about cost saving measures and streamlining the work load. Most lamb in corrals or barns, vs. out on grass, etc. I think the ways of raising sheep are much more numerous than the number of ways to run a cow calf operation. Some guys in Ontario build half million dollar barns and their sheep never see the light of day. High cost, HIGH labour. But their land is too expensive to run sheep out there.

Curious GDR about the cattle guys who ran sheep with bad results? What do you think was mostly their hang up?