Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ahead of them. But don't rule out older sheep if you're on a tight budget.
You can get started with the least outlay of capital by purchasing someone
else's culls.
Commercial shepherds often cull ewes at 7 or 8 years of age, although
their expected productive life is 10 or 12 years. And older ewes are often the
previous owner's better ewes, to have remained in the fl ock for a long time.
Their years may be numbered, but with good care, older ewes can be even
better for you than they were for their former owner because they don't
have to compete with younger ewes. By keeping the very best ewe lambs
produced by these old ladies, you'll soon have a nice young fl ock at a reason-
able price.
When trying to decide on a fair price for someone else's culls, ask
yourself:
■
Just how much more fl eece and how many lambs could this ewe be
expected to produce?
■
If she is quite old, how much additional and higher-quality feed will
she need to compensate for her poor teeth?
■
Does she have a history of twins and triplets?
Let your offer refl ect these conditions.
The opposite age extreme — baby lambs — may also provide a cheaper
route to starting out with sheep. Oftentimes, shepherds who have a bunch
of bummer lambs (orphans or rejected lambs that have to be hand raised on
a bottle) are glad to get rid of some. But before you think of traveling down
this path, you need to understand that bummers got that name for a reason:
until they are weaned, feeding them is very time consuming. But if you have
the time, it can also be very rewarding, and your hand-raised lambs will be
close pets for life, running to greet you whenever you enter the pasture or
barn. For more about feeding bummers, see chapter 10.
Teeth
Sheep have no teeth in the front of the top jaw, though they do have 12 molars
in the rear of the top jaw. They also have a hard palate, or dental pad, on top.
Their bottom teeth consist of 8 incisors in the front and 24 molars, or cheek
teeth, in the rear of the mouth. Up to a certain age, the incisors can help you
fi gure out a sheep's age.
A lamb has eight small incisor teeth until it reaches approximately
1 year of age. Each year thereafter, one pair of lamb teeth is replaced by two
