Sustainably raising goats and/or sheep in the most SS way.

[big brown horse]

http://www.greenerpasturesfarm.com/SheepManagement.html here is some info to get us started.

How about best breeds for organic-ish farms? Anyone have any other questions?

 

[Wifezilla]

I am eying the dog kennel we inherited when the neighbor moved out and I am thinking "I bet I could raise 2 Nigerian dairy goats in there". LOL

Don't tell my husband

 

[bibliophile birds]

thanks for starting this thread BBH! it will be nice to leave all those naysayers over at BYH behind!

(oh yeah, i'm atlargeintheworld over there! bibliophile birds is my BYC name and would be my BYH name if a single moderator would respond to PMs.)

i'll restate my question from over there so everyone knows what i'm talking about!

after many years of thinking i wanted nothing to do with the family farming business, i've finally realized that it's what i love... i just needed to find my own niche, so to say. that niche is organics. i've finally convinced my family to experiment with organics and now have until spring to come up with some really great ideas.

we've always run pastured, grass-fed Longhorn beef cattle, but for this i want to diversify and do something new and interesting. i'm thinking about cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs to add to my chickens (already organic and pasture raised). i'm looking for something resilient and hardy in our Southern heat and humidity. i'm also particularly interested in heritage breeds and the ALBC endangered breeds. i would love to find breeds that are great for meat and milk, as well as have good temperaments!

so, i am just wondering if anyone has experience in this area and could suggest some breeds for me to look into. i'm doing some research, but going into this without a direction is quite difficult.

thanks ahead of time for any suggestions. oh, and we aren't a commercial farm. i'm interested in small herds for our benefit and maybe a chance to sell some excess. THANKS!

 

[justusnak]

BBH, thanks so much for posting that site. At first I thought...." ok, I will take a look" before I knew it, I had spent over an hour on that site!! I still didnt get to look at everything! I bookmarked it...for later reading.
Grass fed,exclusively is our goal. However, for now..we must hay and grain our herd...untill we can get a few, or at least one more area fenced off for rotation. We are hopeing to do this next spring.
I just admire how well thougth out and planned thier place seems to be.

 

[big brown horse]

Ahhh, this is so much better!! Welcome bibliophile birds!!!

Justusnak, I'm glad that site could be so helpful to you.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I also bookmarked the site. Hubby and I have been talking about a dairy critter. I figured we would go goats, since I have his ok. but now that he know sheep can be used for milk too, he wants milk sheep. We are going to an auction on Dec 2, and if that doesn't work out, there is an East Friesian sheep breeder near the auction grounds.

He is also reading Nourishing Traditions with me

 

[big brown horse]

That is great miss_thenorth!

bibliophile birds, I'm glad you found this thread. We sorta tuck this kind of stuff here in "everything else..."

 

[big brown horse]

I posted this "over there" but perhaps folks here would find the info useful.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/dairygoats.html

 

[big brown horse]

http://www.skylinesfarm.com/parasitecontrol.htm

 

[dragonlaurel]

That Greenerpasturesfarm.com is a great site. Thanks BBH

Bibliophile- Look up Gulf Coast Native Sheep. They were the only breed that did survive in the southeast for centuries. They are parasite tolerant and I'd love to have about a dozen of them.