Katahdin hair sheep wrapped up the third grazing loop and have begun the fourth pass of pastures here at the homestead.

The sheep quickly ate through the pastures in the yurt field. There is a sheep we call lonestar which refused to stay in the paddocks in this area. We were forced to keep the sheep moving a bit more quickly than we wanted to keep lonestar happy and stop her from teaching all the other sheep how to push under the fencing.

We sold off a pair of ram lambs as breeding stock which will help to reduce the pressure on the pastures now that the regrowth is starting to slow down. Last year we kept too many sheep on pasture late in the season and had to take the sheep to a neighbor's pasture to let ours rest for a couple weeks.

After 39 days the sheep returned to where they started to begin the 4th pass grazing the pastures for the season, once again in a heavily wooded paddock. I continued to break the tops of the sapling trees to offer more food for the sheep while the grass in the understory gets more established.

Now the sheep are working thier way through some of the best pasture on the homestead and will be heading up to the higher ground in a day or two.

#permaculture #permies #grownostr #homesteading #sovereignfood #selfsovereignty #sheep #hairsheep #rotationalgrazing #regenag #regenerativeagriculture #silvopasture

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Is your net energized?

Yes, we use a speed rite 2000 Energizer with a 12v battery. Some of the fences are old and not conducting very well now though. Sometimes the fence is grounding out on plants but mostly it hits hard enough to keep the sheep respecting it. The one sheep has learned that if it moves quickly it can get in and out without getting too bothered by the shock. We will be culling her in a week or so, otherwise she will teach all the other sheep to disrespect the fence too.

My lawnmower broke so I'm using my sheep instead!

The drive belt on my lawnmower broke and it's pain in the ass to replace. The grass at the yurt needed a mow so I took advantage of the time between guests and unleashed the sheep on it while I set up the next paddock in the upper pasture. A free meal for the sheep and a passive mow on the grass.

#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #meshtadel #selfsovereignty #sovereignfood #sheep #hairsheep #lawnmower #rotationalgrazing #regenag #regenerativeagriculture

nostr:nevent1qqsqyauh3yxhpzltzl7wv3fzrtmuvx6gqrselesnq8mnmj6c9f73l5qpz9mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejj7q3qf5pre6wl6ad87vr4hr5wppqq30sh58m4p33mthnjreh03qadcajsxpqqqqqqzs8zjtt

It's weigh-in time for the lambs

We are doing a check up on the sheep every couple weeks this year and a weigh-in for the lambs once a month. The flock as a whole are looking very healthy with only a couple needing a dose of wormer. The largest lamb is 86lbs and the average weight is 67lbs. The lambs are averaging about 10lbs larger this year than the same time in the previous season! We have also had zero losses this season so the more frequent check-ups seem to be paying off. I wonder if we will end up growing more pounds of lamb per acre this year even though we have fewer lambs total?

#permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #meshtadel #selfsovereignty #sheep #lamb #rotationalgrazing #hairsheep #katahdin #regenag #regenerativeagriculture

nostr:nevent1qqsqyauh3yxhpzltzl7wv3fzrtmuvx6gqrselesnq8mnmj6c9f73l5qpz9mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejj7q3qf5pre6wl6ad87vr4hr5wppqq30sh58m4p33mthnjreh03qadcajsxpqqqqqqzs8zjtt

Sooks amazing.

Looks amazing too