A better lambing season

As many of you know, our lambing season had a horrible start: 3 stillbirths (one was partially eaten by neighbor dogs) and one dead 2 day old lamb. It took its toll and left us pretty depressed. Luckily, the Navajo-Churro sheep had a much better show. Darth Sheep gave birth to twins on March 15th. That gave us a male and female lamb for eating and for raising/selling, the other NJ gave two male lambs a few days later. Of course with our lambing luck the second NJ refused to accept one of her lambs and by the time we realized this he was pretty cold and not doing too well. Though it was a long night for every one the abandoned lamb survived and is now living in the house and answers to the name of "Derp", an indication of his humorously low IQ. Really, he is that dumb. With the help of some children (and adults who fall for his cuteness) Derp has now outgrown all the other lambs due to his nearly constant supply of milk.

So in all we have three male lambs to eat (meat babies according to Rosie) and one female who we are undecided about, we may keep her or sell her or eat her.

So while our sheep population is growing we are looking to reduce our goat population. Our goat count stands at 2 adult females and 2 young wethers (castrated males). We will be eating the two males and probably selling one of the females leaving us with one goat for cheese and the occasional meat baby.

Our chicken flock is about to undergo a reduction (tonight) as we are ready to cull out some of the hens who are not laying enough and who do not have the traits we are looking for. More specifically we are going to be culling the remaining Polish, Buttercups, and perhaps a few others. This Friday for workshop dinner we will have smoked whiskey glazed chicken on the menu. We feed our farm hands well.

One of the lessons we have learned the last few years has been how to achieve a better balance of livestock on the homestead. We need fewer fowl but more milk producers, fewer goats but more sheep. Trying to achieve a better balance will allow us to not only have happier animals but to have fewer animals producing more food for our family. Also having a better balance of animals leads to less impact on our native flora, leading to healthier plants and better soil. Some of the worst soil you will ever see is in areas where too many animals have been packed into too small a space (ever drive by a feed lot?) As strange as it sounds more animals does not mean more food and a better life. If we where in the business of selling livestock perhaps we would be more willing to pack more fauna on our property, but as our goal is to be as self sustaining as we can there is simply no need to keep a large population of any one animal. For our readers who are looking to start their own homestead or just want to add a few chickens to their yard for eggs, our suggestion for you would be; Start Small. 3 chickens is a good number to start with, no reason to buy 25 chicks your first time out. One pigmy goat can produce an impressive amount of milk if treated right, no need to bring home the whole herd. Animals are a great addition to the urban homestead just make sure your not turning your back yard into a feedlot, you and your animals will be happier for it.