Sheep 101: Things to understand before starting your flock of sheep

All the things we wish we knew about sheep before starting our 1st generation sheep farm. This is what we would equate to sheep 101 or things to know or understand before starting a flock of sheep. What if watching this video could save you headaches, losses, and the life of your sheep in your flock by simply learning from our mistakes. We share our mistakes, what we would have done differently had we known these tips prior to getting our flock of sheep started.
Please smash that like button if you enjoyed the video, comment below with questions or requests for video topics, and subscribe to help us reach the world and help others start their farm and learn from our mistakes.
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Freedom Farms
P.O Box 231
Roby, MO 65552
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Equipment used on our farm:
2017 Polaris Ranger 1000XP
2004 Chevy Silverado 3500
2002 Bobcat S250
2000 Tunitti 10 wheel V rake with kicker wheel
2000 M&W 1815 Rotary Hoe
1992 John Deere 1360 MoCo
1991 Bush Hog 2615 Batwing
1984 Allis Chalmers 8030 with Westendorf TA-46 Loader
1978 Gehl Bale 1500A Round Baler
1970's Kelly Ryan manure spreader (the politician)
Various Implements:
Bale Spikes
Subsoiler/Ripper
Bale Unroller

[@Keith.Zielinski]

I've been tempted to start a small flock. Thank you for sharing valuable information!

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Thank you for the comment and I am glad you found it useful! Our channel is based off helping others start their own farm showing how we did it and hoping they learn from our mistakes along the way.

[@530eman]

Newbie here, about to start as a total greenhorn with 5 Gotland's; 3 ewe's and 2 rams on about 1.5 acres. Your videos help a ton, thank you very much...!

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

You are very welcome and we are glad they are helping you. I don't know if you have seen in our videos where we talk about ram to ewe ratios but you only need one ram to about 20 ewes. So if you wanted to drop a ram and add a couple ewes you absolutely could. Keep us posted and can't wait to see your flock grow too!

[@jamesdack61]

save your money for 3 ewes you only need a one ram for 15 ewe

[@530eman]

@@jamesdack61appreciate the advice, probably going to Do 3 ewes and breed in the fall…

[@augustuspalmer4844]

I'm thinking of doing the same ratio but when I keep the separate from the ewes until breading season they would have a buddy and be fresh genetics am I wrong on this idea please help

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Keeping them separated is just simply a way to control when they are bred. They are herd animals and it is best to not keep them alone but they could simply have a dog or other animal to keep them company as well. If you keep more than one rams than needed to maintain a 20:1 ratio you are wasting money on feeding an animal that isn't gainfully employed, plus the cost of purchasing the animal to begin with would have been wasteful as well. We leave our rams in year round and they generally breed the entire flock in August when the days are the longest and has us lambing in late Dec early January typically

[@CapnWilly]

New to your channel and content. Really dig that opening shot. I want to have my own ranch with sheep and to keep bees. Cant wait to watch more of your stuff!

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Thank you! You want it bad it enough and work hard enough and you can absolutely achieve it. Hope you enjoy the rest of the channel too!

[@CapnWilly]

@@FreedomFarmsMo thanks! And for sure "eye on the ball" is the phrase I like. It's just a slow saving process. But gives me plenty of time to research and plan! Excited to follow your channel and watch it grow.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

@CapnWilly that is the right attitude to have! Research, research, research, and more research. 😁

[@Gibaskesemarfarm]

Newbie here, i'm starting with 10 ewes. Your video help me a lot

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Glad to hear that!

[@hulk2891]

Hi mate hope you and Family all well thanks for the catch up and info , Very informative I did wonder where and when it all started thanks for sharing stay safe and take care , Look forward to the next one

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

If you go back far enough on our channel videos you can see exactly where it all started actually. We watched it a few months ago to remind ourselves where we started and how far we have come. Thanks for watching and glad to hear it was educational. Take care Hulk!

[@throughthegrace7893]

Thank you.🙏 God bless you both.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

You're welcome, God bless you too!

[@We_are_the_light]

AMP Grazing ? Adaptive Multi Paddock Grazing . Great for the flock and amazing for your regenerative soil practice as well.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

We have been doing it for 3 years and are loving it

[@williamhall641]

Watch you on tictock. Finally made it to your KZbin. Love your farm.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Thanks BJ. Hope you guys are doing well!

[@mogamedfakier4800]

Thanks for a great informative video I'm about to start small scale sheep farming Regards from South Africa 🇿🇦

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

You're welcome and glad you found it useful! I've never been to south Africa but I have been to Liberia and lived there for about 4 months. Pretty cool reaching across the world like this!

[@BillyraycyrusIII]

Good stuff.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Glad you found it useful

[@colbyjones9217]

Great info. Really like informational videos on the sheep really helps us beginners out.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

That is what we are here for. This channel is dedicated to documenting the start and growth of our farm. We started from scratch and have shown everything we have done including mistakes in order to help others to avoid those mistakes. If you are new please consider subscribing and also check out previous videos. We show how we setup our rotational grazing program, installing the fence, installing waterlines, building our livestock barn, building our shop, and everything in between. Thanks for watching and if you have any other questions let us know.

[@colbyjones9217]

@@FreedomFarmsMo my wife and I have been watching for over a year prolly 2 now. We really like the content.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Oh wow! Well thank you for tagging along for our journey! Comment more often on things you would like to see as well and they very well may end up as videos. Thanks again for watching!

[@chesterraybon3442]

That was cool. I knew most of it from watching but did pick up on a few things. Glad things are working out for y'all. Take care and God Bless.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Well look at that, folks are learning things from our videos and retaining the information 😁 pretty cool to see that we are informative and that you still learned something on a video that was mostly known already too. Thanks for the comment and of course for watching! God bless you all too

[@insearchofsimple]

Hi! I've watched a few of your videos and I'm enjoying the information. We started with 50 sheep (mostly pregnant) in November and I was looking for some more information on grazing. We don't have the fencing. Right now we're doing it 'shepherd' style... but you gotta do what you gotta do. 😎 I'm really interested to know how you manage your sheep. Do you have a handling system of some sort or do you tackle them? 😜We are working on redesigning our barn for better management because my husband says 'I am not in charge. They are' 😬

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Thank you for watching our videos and I am glad that you are enjoying the information that we are sharing. First and foremost I would set up permanent paddocks for the size that you intend to grow your flock to. For instance all of our paddocks are approximately 5 acres as we intend to grow to 350 head. Secondly I would try to have around 14 paddocks to rotate them through. I know and understand that this will be very expensive as my wife and I put up 22,000 ft of fence for our sheep in early 2020. We also put in water lines to have water access for every paddock as well. If you search through our channel everything I mentioned above is actually in a video or two such as installing the water lines, running all the fencing, and our rotational grazing plan that we started with. As far as handling them currently we kind of manhandle them to an extent as we still have a few buildings that we would like to build before we invest money into a shoot system. The biggest reason for us is we are going to make our shoot system permanent and outside between the barns and just move the head shoot out there when we're going to work them and bring it back inside when we're done. However in a pinch we do have an old setup on our channel showing how we made a working shoot out of woven wire fence for about $300. Currently we just use the pens that we have set up in the barn. If you go back to the beginning of our channel you will see how much our farm has changed and just for short years. If you have any more questions leave a comment we will answer it and again thank you for watching and following our journey.

[@suewaart7575]

Very interesting.Great information.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Thank you, glad you liked it!

[@jakecormier1966]

How many times do you do you warm your sheep?

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

We don't anymore. Rotational grazing has changed our operation dramatically.

[@LanternOfLiberty]

Texas County! Just bought land there for a homestead.❤

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

That's pretty cool, we love it here. It is peaceful, good people, and lots of Freedom to enjoy!

[@LanternOfLiberty]

@@FreedomFarmsMo Yeah, there's a Homestead channel that has its base in Texas County and through the channel owner we got a tip of a good land sale. 20 acres raw land, with a spring-fed Creek, for 70k. That would have been minimum five times as expensive here in California and we can build the house so cheaply without skimping on quality.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Just don't bring California with ya here or it will be the same way as the place you left😁

[@LanternOfLiberty]

@@FreedomFarmsMo No worries. We are paleo-conservative, Christian gun-toting Americans. That probably means that the mainstream media would call us right-wing extremist terrorists, or something like that. 😁 We're already in contact with the local MAG, run by the guy who has the Prepared Homestead channel. That's all we found out about the great piece of land in the first place.

[@kimgreuel7659]

Helpful! Thank you!

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Glad you found it helpful. Check out the other videos our channel has to offer to help others with sheep.

[@GeorgeYuan-hd7er]

⁠what kind of sleep you’ buy .where’s I buy

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

We have katahdins. You would need to find a farm near you that has the breed you are looking for and contact them. We have rams and ram lambs for sale but we keep all the females to grow our flock

[@brianfletcher4201]

It would save you a lot of money on worming if you just used sulphur blocks year round. Will take care of worms and sheep ticks.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

We haven't dewormed in 3 years, so it definitely wouldn't save me any money to put sulfur blocks out. It would cost me money.

[@carolynjo8609]

Very good info. Question, with so much grain and supplements needed. How is the ROI? Meat animals.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Thank you! What I will say is every operation is quite different, especially when it comes to cost. We have two videos on our channel that explain our costs and let's you see more into the business side of things. One video is called "the cost of confinement for sheep" and the other is "the cost of pasturing sheep" Those will both give you a breakdown of cost for everything for each situation. Hope you find that helpful and if you have any questions don't be afraid to leave them in the comments!

[@larry6978]

Am Larry from Trinidad 🇹🇹 really love rearing sheep I have 8 at the moment, 4 females 4 males

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Awesome! That's a great start. We started with 3 ewes (females) almost 5 years ago and now have just shy of 200

[@Becauseimme]

Travis you look like KRS-One.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

I've never heard of him but just looked him up. I'm ok with that😁

[@TheNativeTwo]

I have American black belly sheep. So hardy. Don’t need to be concerned about worms or selenium. They’re fantastic.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Every breed of sheep requires selenium as mentioned in the video. Parasites also can be a problem for any breed if left on pastures with parasites present. I would definitely monitor them

[@TheNativeTwo]

@@FreedomFarmsMo I have been and it’s not a problem with this breed. My goats have parasite problems. I have heard kiko breed goats also dont have parasite problems, but i have nigerian dwarfs.

[@breezyridgeranch]

What does lamb/sheep taste like? I've never had any but a friend says it is not great. We're thinking about raising a few but just curious about how they eat.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Honestly it will completely depend on who's cooking it. If you are making gyros and season the meat and slow cook it it will be amazing. Personally I'm no cook. However my wife and niece are amazing cooks. I will say that in my opinion the meat is a greasier meet almost like water fowl. Our family is honestly more inclined to eat deer and beef though so I may be a bit biased with my opinions too.

[@jimmy_c_images8374]

If you need to rotate pastures every 5 days due to parasites, how do you control the parasites in the barn when you only clean it out every two weeks? I apologize if you have answered this on another video. Just found your channel and I am really enjoying it. I grew up on a farm but never dealt with sheep so I find this very interesting. Keep up the good work and congrats on starting a farm and trying to balance work, family and the farm.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Parasites are not a problem inside the barn for a few reasons. Parasites generally live on pasture because they need moisture. Also they live on the blades of grass approximately 4 in above the soil were they are typically ingested by their host or in this case our sheep. The barn does not provide the parasites the moisture that they need to survive since the bedding is mostly dry as you have seen on other videos, therefore making it to where it is unlikely for them to survive. Also since there is no vegetation that grows in the barn all of their feed is given to them in the hay feeders or entrops which again is not a place that parasites can get to since it is too far above ground level. On the pastor I cannot control where the sheep eat because they're going to eat off the ground and are inevitably going to ingest some parasites. The larvae that are in the sheep's manure will hatch around 6 days after excretion. That is why we move them every 5 days on pasture. I am glad that you are enjoying the channel and hope you stick around and even get a chance to go back and watch previous videos. As always if you have questions put them in the comments we will answer them again thanks for watching and good question!

[@jimmy_c_images8374]

Thanks for the response. That makes sense and is very helpful.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

You're welcome, that is what this channel is for is to show others how to start their own farm. My wife and I started ours 4 years ago with 10 acres. Now we have 77 acres and custom hay on 30 more acres that we don't own.

[@jimmy_c_images8374]

@@FreedomFarmsMo Great job building from scratch. I watched several and going back to when you first built the new barn. My nephew trains MP's at Ft. Leonardwood and my farm is in So. Illinois so a connection is there. Keep up the great work and good luck, not an easy project to start a farm but very rewarding!

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

No it isn't an easy project at all. However when I retire from the army in 4 years I would like it to be fully functional so I can work our farm and not for someone else. The hard work will payoff. We are actually from Southern Illinois originally. I grew up in Greenville

[@brewsterly2927]

One thing re electric fence, if you go big mains, 8-10,000 volts it burns grass off and stops every thing... if done properly.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

I'm sure it would, we were concerned about lambs that are new born and not knowing what they were doing and getting killed by too much voltage. I'm sure like you said if done right it may work well though.

[@brewsterly2927]

@@FreedomFarmsMo Good point, we also considered that and used hinge joint stock mesh on a piece of land we call the kidding/lambing paddock, then when we think they are old enough to learn (4 weeks) we open up a lane where there is a solid fence with slightly offset electric. After a couple of weeks with that access they are pretty much trained, after that one or two may go through our 4 and 5 strand internals when first let out, but usually only once or twice as that voltage finishes off the lesson :)

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Sounds like a solid plan!

[@TheNativeTwo]

@@FreedomFarmsMo8-10k volts wont hurt the lambs, but you need to have a backstop behind it. If they get shocked, they run forward unless there is a physical barrier. They can get stuck in the fence.

[@lulleylivestock]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Is it possible to zero graze sheep like they do goats?

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

You're welcome and glad you find it useful! Feeding any rumen grass clippings is dangerous. Unlike hay, grass clippings have not been dried and cured to make it safe feed. Grass clippings can mold and even start the fermentation process in less than a day. Can it be done? Maybe if you were super cautious and didn't have any leftovers each day that would have a chance to mold.

[@lulleylivestock]

So they need pasture. How about 100% hay no pasture, in shed only. Like Sandi Brock type setup. I do not have pasture. @@FreedomFarmsMo

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

@goincountry they can live in confinement and be fed hay with a grain mix supplement provided daily. We have a video on here called the cost of confinement for sheep and it will help answer alot of those questions as well. It's a common practice to raise sheep in confinement and does work well.

[@curtcarlson83]

I use valbazen the vet told me to give them a stronger dose then the bottle recommends

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

That is always an option, honestly though since we have transitioned to rotational grazing we don't have to deworm at all now. Food for thought.

[@intothenight9256]

Im interested in starting a small flock of 10-15 Katahdin Sheep for self sustenance eating organic meat we farm/raise. What is the temperament of KATAHDIN RAMS? Do they get really aggressive as some other breeds?

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

We have had very little issues with their temperament. However keep in mind these are animals, you should never turn your back on them no matter how docile you believe them to be.

[@mariescott8957]

What are you using for probiotics in your feed

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Message me on our farm page and I will send you the full breakdown. Unfortunately KZbin will not allow photos in comments. Link is below facebook.com/WegrowmorethantheAmericanSpirit/

[@coziii.1829]

I just started but I do Greg Judy style No barns no hay Just all pastureland and wind breaks and trees

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

That is a way, but it isn't the most effective way for us. He does have lots of good information though

[@waynesworld2014]

I’m in tunas Missouri is there anyway I could come to your farm to talk and spend time.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

That is not far from us at all. We do farm tours, reach out to us on our Facebook page. You can find it by searching Freedom Farms Roby Missouri

[@waynesworld2014]

@@FreedomFarmsMo I sure will

[@nicodeath3353]

Please look at noise on camera when movie around. Please.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

We have fixed this in newer videos with a new camera and new microphone. Sorry about that. We didn't have the money to invest in a camera and microphone at that time.

[@DaddyForeverYess]

#Roger

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

😂

[@joyceclark7403]

How many sheep can one shepherd flock by himself?

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

That is a difficult question to answer, it depends on several things. How much time do you have available in a day, how effective is your working equipment, how effective is your rotational grazing setup, the list goes on. My wife and I both work full time jobs, either one of us could handle our flock of nearly 200 on their own between time off in the evenings and weekends. We plan to grow to 350 and then we will see about maybe going to 500. Either way you should always start small, buy 10 ewes and grow from there. Your knowledge will grow with your flock and minimize your losses.

[@donovanmedieval]

Are bottle babies the result of ewes dying in childbirth? Have you had stillborn lambs? Have you had a stillborn lamb born to a ewe that survives the same day that a ewe dies giving birth to a live lamb? If so, have you tried putting the skin of dead lamb on the live lamb in order to get the live ewe think it is hers? Have you had a ram bottle baby? If you did, would he grow up to be less aggressive toward the family?

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

We have had bottle babies and they are the result of multiple situations. Could be a mom died during birth, could be mom has mastitis and can't feed her lambs, could be mom just simply isn't producing milk to feed her lambs, could be the mom and ewe never bond, could be a ewe with no mothering instincts, or could be someone simply wants a bottle.baby and takes the lamb before it gets a chance to eat from mom right after birth....lots of reasons could yield bottle lambs. The process you are mentioning is called grafting when you essentially get another ewe to adopt a lamb that isnt hers. Have we done it? No. Can it be done? Absolutely. We have bought bottle lambs from others when we were growing our flock. We have had ewe lambs and ram lambs as bottle babies. Bottle lambs are far more likey to be very docile and easy going with people. However hormones in rams and ewes can still overcome those instincts in these animals and cause them to harm you. Livestock are not pets and should not be treated as such, that is always a risk as they are animals. Honestly our rams that breed our flock are changed out yearly as we keep all ewe lambs to grow our flock. Of the over 35 breeding age rams we have used only 2 were ever aggressive with people but they learned really quick that is not acceptable when our livestock herding dog moved them for us using some force. However we still sent them down the road at the end of the season to be butchered as we didn't want to send known aggressive rams to another farm.

[@paulmitchell5349]

Rat problems ?

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Nope, we combat that with 2 barn cats. As you see the hay is piled up in our barn pretty well year round. The grain is only in there while lambs are in there but the grain bin outside the barn is there and typically has grain in it year round as well. Since we have dogs that are out and about we didn't want to use any rat poison either. So barn cats were our choice to combat mice problems and have been doing very well.

[@Nightowl5454]

Really have to do extensive research on every aspect of you're doing and make sure you filter out the misinformation otherwise you're going to end up making MANY mistakes that can be very EXPENSIVE.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

That's what the video is about😂

[@Nightowl5454]

@@FreedomFarmsMo yes, I'm just trying to reinforce it because so many simply jump both feet into farming/ranching with inadequate knowledge and end up losing a lot of money and their dreams.

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

That is very true

[@dungeonmaster6292]

Why are these sheep in a barn?

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

Because it was wintertime, meaning we were feeding hay. Making hay removes nutrients from the soil, feeding in a barn allows us to recoup those nutrients by collecting the manure, bedding, and wasted hay to spread on the hayfield thus removing the need for fertilizer on our hayfield. Secondly lambing in a barn compared to outside in winter elements drastically reduces the fatality rate in lambs.

[@dungeonmaster6292]

@@FreedomFarmsMo sounds like a nightmare

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

It's simple, easily manageable, and cost effective. If you think that is a nightmare, farming probably isn't for you.

[@dungeonmaster6292]

@@FreedomFarmsMo you're a debt donkey and you are working for your animals. They should be working for you. Do you have a bed in that barn as well?

[@orlandochauke1578]

Im very disappointed at you that you fail to answer as simple question as to how many sheep one can have per hector. Are you really a farmer? I dont buy your excuse that it depends on where one lives...grass is grass. We are not talking about desert areas here where you can hardly find grass, we're talking about average areas. It should be very easy for you to answer that question. Im quitting watching your videos.😢

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

You're telling me that the rich fertile ground in southern Illinois won't produce more tonage of grasses per acre than the rocky soils of south Central Missouri? Grasses are the same wherever they are grown but the rate at which they grow and the tonnage they yield will vary greatly from one soil to another. You are foolish to believe otherwise

[@orlandochauke1578]

@@FreedomFarmsMo i think you're the one who is fool here because despite your claim of years in farming, you still cant tell how many sheep one hector can hold. You should have based your calculation on a full grass-covered land regardless of where it is found. This is ABC calculations, you cant tell me you can't do that...

[@FreedomFarmsMo]

@orlandochauke1578 it's not that simple. Again soils will dictate how much tonage you are growing and that will tell you what you can support.

[@TheNativeTwo]

@@orlandochauke1578hahaha you know nothing of farming. At my farm in California I can stock 5 times more per acre than an equivalent farm in Montana. My relatives in Idaho only get half as much barley per acre as we get here. Grass isn’t grass. There are hundreds of varieties of grass that grow in different climates and have different rates of growth and different seasons of growth and different nutrition. Soil also affects growth rate and nutrition, as well as rainfall and sunlight. And at the end of the day it is the total nutrition that matters. This is not a simple calculation but should be one you can do for your local area and for your pasture, but we will always push the numbers up and then back off when we realize it is too many. That’s just how it ends up working out. He has 14 paddocks of 5 acres each. That’s 70 acres. 350 head of sheep. 5 sheep per acre is his stocking rate. I have 10 sheep per acre, and supplement feed twice a year. Hoping to reduce it to once a year with irrigation. All depends on climate.

[@philpark8059]

You need to know the Au lbs per acre in your area, your local ag extension should be able to give you an rough idea of how many pounds of animal you can raise per acre per day. And give you an idea of the difference in my area I can raise 1cow and 1calf per acre but in Wyoming it’s 1 cow to 5 acres. I hope this helps you find out the information you need