We are sheep owners again! This is our little flock of dorper x damara's.
With our livestock holdings now including both sheep and chooks, I think we're now officially smallholders! Although the sheep aren't actually grazing on our property yet... while we get our fences sorted, or friend and neighbour Barb, our is kindly babysitting them in her paddock.
This is the mob of sheep we choose our six from, on a farm near Chiltern, not far from us. I love all the pretty colours!
Both dorper's and damara's are breeds of African fat-tailed sheep that shed their wool - so no need for shearing or crutching. Quite different from the merino's that we had on the farm out west. Apparently they are very hardy sheep, a little like goats, and are excellent breeders and mothers.
This is Jeffery, our dorper ram. (No we didn't name him!)
And Rogan and Josh, the 1 year old wethers (boy sheep minus their testicles). Yes, they destined for our dinner table later in the year. Since we choose to eat meat, I'd rather know that the animals my meat comes from have had a good life. I'm all for knowing the story of where my food comes from - from paddock to plate!
The other three smaller sheep (hanging out at the back of the group in the first photo) are young recently weaned ewes that we will use for breeding when they're older. Hopefully in the coming years we can produce our own on-going source of meat.
Plus these sheep will reduce the amount of time and fuel that we need to spend on mowing the grass on our 5 acre block. Sustainability in action!
No comments:
Post a Comment