OT Sheep????

Hey folks,
Can someone tell me where the money is in sheep? I've always heard the two cash crop thing (wool and lambs)but have a friens with 20 or so that pretty much just cost money. Nobody wants the wool, so he has to look for and pay someone to shear them. The price they get for lambs isn't even worth the upkeep and butcher time.

Then today, there is a guy passing through with a herd of about 250 or so. Him and his 2 dogs stay with them 24/7 rain or shine. Based on the our friends, I can't see this guy making anything.And, it's pretty cold these days.

Dave

The wool is a tough sell. I only produce a half-dozen fleeces a year, and am fortunate to have a craftsperson who wants raw fleeces and is willing to pay a decent amount and shipping. For small outfits, that's about your only hope.

The only other way I know of to sell fleeces/wool in small lots is way labor intensive. You have to have them sheared whether you have a market for the wool or not, so we won't count that expense. After cleaning, skirting, washing and carding the wool to produce what's called roving, it's nearly impossible to make a buck. Again, your only hope is high quality wool in unusual natural colors and a craft market that knows what you have and wants it.

Which is probably more than you really wanted to know...

What Fawteen says - We got quite a stock of very nice wool, if you"re interested. Wife sells to craft shop, and at wool fests. Sells fleeces, roving, and spins a lot into yarns.

their other value is as lawn mowers,and weed control they work pretty good,

The money in them here is to sell them to the local Mexican population. Get to be friends with a few and you will have a steady flow of them. They are about the only market round here for sheep and goats. They also buy alot of fat hogs. They are very nice, pay cash, and will load them into the truck of a ford escort. I know one guy who has close to 100 goats, told me a few years ago he had not hauled one off the farm for several years. Sold all he could raise to the mexicans. They just come to his house, pick one out, give him cash, and he shoots it.

Dave

Here in Texas some people raise "hair sheep" which don't require shearing. I tried raising some Dorper sheep which are a hair breed but didn't like the frequent necessary required wormings to keep them alive. Old saying is "sheep are born looking for a place to die"

i raise sheep mainly for grass and weed control
we shear are own and throw the wool away nobody wants it let alone buy it
we also sell the ram kids keep all of the ewes
but yea i can say i see no money very much at all coming in

Here in Ohio we have Greek, Italian and Middle eastern populations, Lamb is their holiday food of choice. The chops sell for about $12 to $14 a pound, legs about $15 to 20 per pound. It take about 6 to 9 months to finish a lamb to 125 lbs. butchering weight feed them hay/grass and some grain. The wife has some Greek relative who taught her how to fix it. We raise a few and put a couple in our freezer, eat it about twice a week. It has a little gamey taste no worst than deer meat, best done on the grill or rotissiere.

Well, there have been certain guys on this forum that made the comment about how they use them for their private (personal) entertainment.

(quoted from post at 08:43:33 01/06/09) Well, there have been certain guys on this forum that made the comment about how they use them for their private (personal) entertainment.

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Dude.. You need a nap, BAD. You better get a grip on life before it bites you on the a$$.

No offense, just an observation and some free (unsolicited) advice.

Dave

I was reading a few weeks ago that as recently as 1980 there were over 30 wool dealers in Boston Massachusetts and now there are none at all. Also said there is only one carding mill left in operation in the US and a handful of wool buyers, mostly out of West Texas. In the 60's we raised sheep right alongside cattle in North Louisiana, the two species work well together because the parasites that affect one does not affect the other and vice versa. LSU sponsered a wool pool each spring at a couple of locations across the state and shipped the wool to San Angelo Texas or sometimes straight to the mill in North Carolina, producers were paid bid price minus some small percentage for shipping,brokering etc. There never was any real market for the slaughter lambs locally and they mostly went to Texas and Colorado feedlots. I liked the sheep and have always wanted to raise them again with my cows but I work gone a month at a time and predators would make it impossible. Some people say sheep were born looking for a place to die but Dad always said they were just little cows that had 2 babies instead of 1. The worst problem, parasites, can be largely controlled with grazing management and worming. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this but I think all Military dress uniforms used to be 100% wool and specified US wool. I know the Military was largest end user of wool behind the carpet industry at one time and may still be. I doubt if 15% of the US population has ever tasted lamb and as has been mentioned it is a mostly ethnic market now. If you had the grass and a close enough market you can run 5 ewes on the same land as 1 cow. If you average a 150% lamb crop, which is not that hard under farm flock conditons, sell the lambs as heavy feeders straight off grass so no grain feeding, maybe average $85.00 dollars per head. Thats $640.00 gross on the same land and inputs you would have raised 1 calf. Sell as Fat lambs to Mexicans and you might get alot more and cash money as well. I would save the wool up a few years until I had enough to haul to Texas.

Wool sales has been a global market for a while you have to put it in bales and take it to the wool warehouse waiting for it to be graded and auctioned. Poor quality wool is many times not worth what it cost to transport it and other costs. You have to sign up for wool incentive programs and every perk you can to get anything out of it today. Wool from here is sold through the Roswell NM auction and slaughter lambs and ewes sold through the San Angelo TX auction. Only a fraction of those left raising them now compared to years ago.
Roswell Wool Warehouse

Are you in Roswell? I grew up 6 miles east of there (East Grand Plains) and was back for the first time in six years for family Christmas last month. Been to the wool warehouse many times with loads of wool.
BTW, co-owner Mike Corn is my cousin.

Money in sheep.... lol!

Well, mabey. IF you've got probably 600 plus of them, sync them to get 3 lamb crops in 2 years, get close to 300% lamb crop on every turn... and control the lambs until you sell them to the consumer, you might have a shot.
Basically you need something else to defray the costs of the equipment you need to keep it going.
Confinement feeding is about the only practical way to do it here, and whether you do that or intensively graze them the wooly bastards are always looking for a new way to die.

They're not a money maker in most places... that's why nobody has them anymore.

Rod

I keep 5 ewes and a ram on 3 acres of grass pasture. Most years I average 8 to 10 lambs. Until very recently, lamb mortality wasn't an issue. I have two new ewes and a new ram this year so hopefully it won't be a problem any more.

I take all my lambs to the slaughter house, have them custom cut, vacuum packed and frozen and deliver them to my customers. I've been getting $4.50 a pound hanging weight (delivered weight works out to about half that). That'll probably go up this year.

The long and the short of it is, the ones I sell pay all the bills for hay, feed, shearing, vet supplies, etc. and I put one in my own freezer for free.

As it happens, I don't have a line into the ethnic market, but I do have long-time customers that take a lamb every year. I had some pretty upset customers this year as due to a variety of issues I only had two lambs available for sale.

(quoted from post at 14:41:05 01/06/09) the wooly bastards are always looking for a new way to die.
Rod

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That kills me............ Our friends have had the worst luck with these things. Last year, two lambs drowned in a 2 gal water bucket. 3 sheep got ahold of a bag of feed and ate themselves to death, and two died having babies. They didn't even want sheep, but bought these two stupid a$$ Border Collies that chase rocks, rain drops, and their shadows and bought the sheep to keep them busy. Before anyone jumps in to defend Border Collies, they're great dogs. You just haven't seen these two. Other dogs don't even want anything to do with them.

The guy with the big flock close to town is spending the night there again tonight, think I'll stop and see him tomorrow. I could watch the dogs for hours.

No sheep in my future, I was just curious.


Dave

(quoted from post at 05:50:40 01/06/09)
Here in Texas some people raise "hair sheep" which don't require shearing. I tried raising some Dorper sheep which are a hair breed but didn't like the frequent necessary required wormings to keep them alive. Old saying is "sheep are born looking for a place to die"

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Maybe your talking about Katahdins? A few folks around here have them. I think if I get something that's what it's going to be. From what I hear they're very low key, low maintenance animals.

K

kopeck,
No I was referring to Dorpers as hair sheep. You are correct as some people in Texas raise Katahdins and also Barbados. If I remember correctly there are 16 breeds of hair sheep.

Fawteen -- Sounds like a workable retirement business -- what breed are you raising and what are your average carcass weights?. Do you have dog or coyote trouble where your at? Are your regular customers lamb eaters from way back or are some of them looking for a lower fat red meat. I like it from growing up eating it and also I have worked in several countries where lamb or mutton was common, I think I got my Wife to try it exactly once in over 30 years of husbandible servitude.