Several years ago, I wrote a blog post about the challenges small farming operations face. I wrote about how the lack of equipment, proper infrastructure, and funds are not sustainable and require much more muscle to get chores done. Since writing that post, we have added a hay elevator and a small tractor to our farm. These two pieces of equipment have saved us hours of work and will allow us to continue farming as we get older. Though these have improved our ability to do the work required to keep sheep, it has not solved some of the challenges we now face keeping a small flock of Gotland sheep.W
The Challenges of Keeping a Small Flock
One would think that having more sheep may cause more problems and challenges than tending a small flock, but I am not sure that is true. We generally keep about 15 sheep year round. In the summer months, after lambs are born, our numbers may go to 30 sheep, but I always try to head into winter with 15-18 sheep. This past winter our flock consisted of 3 intact rams, three ewe lambs, 8 breeding ewes, and one llama.
Maintaining a flock of this size has been a challenge in several ways:
- Genetic Diversity: Maintaining genetic diversity so that you can meet your customer’s needs as well as your own becomes challenging when you have so few sheep. We try to maintain two to three different rams on our farm so that we can offer starter flocks to our customers.
- Replacement Ewes: Each year, I like to retain enough ewe lambs to account for one fourth of my total breeding ewe flock. So if I breed 8 ewes, I like to retain at least 2 ewe lambs as replacements. These replacement ewes will live on our farm for a full year and a half before entering into our breeding line up. On years when you only have one or two ewe lambs, it can be very challenging to retain the proper amount of ewe lambs.
- Losses: When you have a small flock size, you feel your losses much more than if you had more sheep as they represent a larger percentage of your overall numbers than if you had a larger flock.
- Selective Breeding: We have been breeding Gotland sheep for the past 5 years. We strive to obtain Swedish Gotland breed qualities. When keeping a small number of sheep, it can be challenging to selectively breed for specific traits as you simply lack the numbers of sheep to do so.
- Obtaining Funding: I have applied for multiple grants through the years that were “intended for small farms”. These grants would have allowed me to make much needed improvements to our infrastructure. I have yet to be awarded one of these grants. They always go to the larger farms who are “making a greater impact.” The income generated by a small farm presents a challenge when large expenditures are looming.
Moving Forward
So you see, basically, I need more sheep, right? That seems to be the answer to all of these challenges to owning a small flock. This summer, we plan to build a small barn behind the 150 year old dairy barn on our property. Though the grant I applied for to help fund this addition did not come through for us as it went to a much larger farm, we are going to step out in faith and build it anyway. This will allow us to keep more breeding ewes (i.e. more sheep), through the winter so we can begin to increase our flock size, maintain the genetic diversity that we want, and have more lambs to meet our needs and our customer needs. We are so excited about this addition to our farm!!!
I would love to hear how some of you manage your small flocks and hear the challenges that those of you with larger flocks face.
Photo Credits to Anna Estelle Photography. Anna “loves to share her passion for capturing the magical, gritty, important moments of life with others .”
Stephanie
Very interesting post that I can definitely relate too. Will write a full response.
Kim Goodling
Stephanie-Yes! Yes! It is actually amazing how similar our farms are. I know that this is an issue for you as well.
Docey Lewis
I’m sure you have considered a Kickstarter campaign. Helping your sheep farm scale up would be a pleasure to many armchair shepherds and fiber lovers.
Judith Falk
Really good post. I have a small flock of Dorpers, with six bred ewes this year, one ram, and one wether for company for the ram. Except…One of the bred ewes got her head stuck in the fence, and in the time it took us to get there, she had broken her neck. So we lost 15% of our breeding stock, plus her lambs. Our ram is closely related to two of the ewes, so his usefulness to us is limited. Two of the ewes are older, and one will definitely not be bred this year. We just finished lambing, so the ewe lambs born this year will not be viable breeding stock until fall of 2020. Of our six lambs, two are ewes…so we are essentially on track to have the same number of breeding ewes in 2020, losing a full year of production/flock growth. Sigh. But, on the other hand, we have a much better set-up for the sheep this year with water on site at the barn, newly cleared and expanded pastures, better infrastructure and handling capabilities including a more mature Border Collie who knows her job…Progress, in fits and starts.
Kim Goodling
It seems that you can totally relate to our situation. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Dalyn
I diversify and market. I keep small because it’s not more than a love and hobby. I don’t have to make a living, only have the animals support themselves. I sell lambs, goat kids, eggs, fleece, and soap.
I’d like to have a few classes here as well but life is so full…
I mainly sell to a pet/ fleece market. My dairy goats have been with me for 15 years and make up the majority of income. They support the horse hobby as well as themselves. The sheep now support themselves- which to me just means the cost of their winter hay and shearing.
I’m blessed to have good pasture spring through falll.
Mostly I do this for love of the lifestyle. It’s healthy to have this sanctuary of peace and natural food for my family and friends to come to. We all pay for our lifestyle in some way. We don’t have fancy cars or home, vacations or a boat or anything like that. We have a small ranch that we love foul of creatures that are family.
Kim Goodling
Yes!yes! This is such a sweet reminder of the blessings that come with farming, regardless of the size.
Dalyn
Isn’t that so true Kim? 🙂
thecrazysheeplady
I LOVE working with the big flock at Final Frontier Farm and would love to run a bigger breeding program myself, but even with a good working system, I think I missed my window due to age/physical issues. Enjoy!
Kim Goodling
How fortunate to be able to work with a larger sheep farm! That would be just awesome! Yes, yes, I feel age creeping up on me, thus the need to try to add proper systems infrastructure to our farm so we can continue to do this longer.