The Farmer Answers - Part Four

Today's Lesson: Worming a Sheep

Sheep have to be wormed several times a year. I use a "worming gun" which has a metal tip on it. The worming liquid called Ivermectin is in the container which is on my back. I dial up the dosage depending on the weight of the animal and the gun automatically doses the liquid into the sheep's mouth when I squeeze the trigger. This is a similar treatment to when you treat your pets for worms. In the summer if sheep are not treated frequently, the worms can easily overwhelm them and they will die.


From Kristin: It was really busy here Wednesday. A dozen lambs born were born (lamb count now 114) and we had a friend's birthday party.

Not a lot of time to answer questions - sorry. Hopefully The Farmer will be able to answer some more tomorrow night. We've got a lot of stuff going on besides farming Thursday. Yikes!!!!

Here are two new twin lambs born Wednesday morning:


I love this photo of this little white lamb suckling its black mama.

The Farmer Answers - Part Four

Question: Is having a donkey watch over the flock better than a llama? I noticed only recently that you have a llama too but am wondering about the benefits of a donkey...
Another Similar Question: Why not two llamas or two donkeys? How come you have one of each? Different skill sets?
The Farmer Says: Often our flock of sheep is broken up into two or three grazing flocks. We try to have one guard animal with each flock. Both the llama and the donkey are somewhat effective in predator control although they are not fool-proof. We are looking into getting a guard dog possibly.
We don’t know too much about llamas or donkeys – we’re learning. What we have been told is if you have two llamas, they will be ineffective as guard animals because they are more interested in each other. Llamas are extremely social animals. As for the donkey, we don’t know if having two would be helpful or a hindrance. We’re happy with just one.

Question: What happens to the fleeces or lambskins from the butchered lambs? Does Adams dispose of them or do you get a share if they're sold? What happens to the carcasses and organs and other byproducts of lamb processing?
The Farmer Says: I’m not sure. I will have to ask Adams what they do with the lambskins and the other by-products. We get the hearts, kidneys and livers back and sell them. I know that if we wanted them back, we could get the sheepskins but would have to pay extra to salt them. We would then have to ship the salted skins to a tannery. Once again, it is a matter of economics and money. We have had sheepskins processed in the past for our own use but it is very costly. With cheap New Zealand imports, it would be hard to compete. Only so much money to be tied up……

Thank you all for your interest in our sheep farm and your fabulous questions!