Why Eating Meat is Bad for the Environment

I own sheep and have sold them for meat, but I am still intelligent enough to know that eating meat is bad for the environment.  I should preface this article to also note that when I talk about meat I am speaking more about meat from animals raised on a large scale and not hunted meat.  I also want to note that I am not trying to convince anyone to turn vegetarian, but rather suggest we should eat less meat to reduce the negative impact of livestock production on the environment.

Deforestation

One of the biggest concerns for the planet as a whole is deforestation.  Vast areas of rain forest in North and South America have been lost due to deforestation to make way for grazing land or to turn a forest into a hay field (or to grow other feed for livestock).  There are many negative implications when a forest is turned into a pasture or used for crops.  The loss of trees means the loss of important carbon filters as well as a loss of habitat for hundreds of animals. 

Cattle at auction

Water

Livestock animals require water.  The foods they eat (crops) require water.  The more water taken out of rivers to be used for irrigation or for livestock to drink the less there is for other needs downstream.  An average steer requires roughly the amount of water contained in 30 Olympic sized swimming pools before going for slaughter.  Water is a vital resource.  We cannot continue to divert water for livestock farming without continued negative impacts on the environment.

Waste

Of course animals have always produced waste (methane, urine, feces) but with the numbers of livestock animals being what they are today the amount of waste produced is an environmental nightmare.  We are talking about huge amounts of toxins (more than three times what humans alone produce) that go into the environment.  Some of the waste is used as fertilizer but even this is not environmentally friendly as particles do run off into the local waterways, contributing to the growth of blue-green algae in lakes, and killing coral reefs in oceans.  In the USA the methane produced by cattle is roughly 20% of all American methane emissions.

Poor Use of Resources

Overall it takes far fewer resources to grow crops for humans than to grow crops for livestock to produce "meat".  Cattle are consuming more vegetable matter than humans.  In the USA alone roughly 41 million tonnes of plant protein (including things such as corn and cereal grains) is fed to cattle, to produce an end result of 7 million tonnes of meat, according to a study from Cornell University.   This translates into the equivalent of 50 bowls of food that could have been eaten by humans to produce just one 8oz steak.  Or consider that Basically farm animals are poor at converting one food (plants) into another food (meat).  It would be less damaging to the environment (require less land) if people simply at more plant matter and less meat.

Chemicals

In order to produce all the feed for livestock the USA uses 167 million pounds of pesticides and 17 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizer.  This produces nitrogen oxide which is even worse for the planet than carbon dioxide and is a greenhouse gas, as reported by the Scientific American.

Overall Notes

• The human population is over 7.5 billion people, our numbers combined with the amount of meat we eat are very alarming.
• We are now eating more meat per person than we have in history.  In the past meat was not consumed daily and not to the portion sizes we consume now.  
• While a vegetarian diet may not be for everyone, if people could simply have smaller portions of meat (4 oz is the recommended portion size) and could adopt at least 2 meatless days per week (such as Meatless Monday and one other) then we could reduce some of the negative impacts that livestock production has on the environment. 

Further Reading : How is Eating Meat Bad for the Environment

Best Places to Sell Sheep

I have only had sheep for just over 10 years and learned a lot about buying and selling them in that time.

When we bought our first sheep we found them for sale in an advertisement in the local newspaper, and as such that was our first thought when it came to selling them.

Selling sheep via advertisements in the newspaper is not something I would recommend, and we stopped doing it after a couple of tries.  This might work in some areas, but even though the newspaper went to all rural homes in the area, it did not really pan out for us with great results, and there is always a fee involved and no sale guaranteed.

We soon found auctions for buying and selling livestock.  I am in Alberta, and there are several auctions where a person can buy or sell sheep.  The odd and unusual auctions are twice a year in my area and are closer to me than the bigger livestock action in which sheep are sold by weight.  At the odd and unusual livestock auctions all sorts of livestock are sold, everything from chickens to bison.  The animals are sold individually, by the animal itself, not by weight.  As such you never know what the prices will be like and I have (regrettably) had good, young, sheep sell for under $100.

Sheep at the Innisfail auction

What has proven to be good is selling online.  At first I used a Canadian site, kijiji.ca and had sold several sheep this way.  The main problems I encountered with kijiji was that it took ages to get a sale.  You would post the ad then it might be a week before a seller would contact you.  They often would try to talk me down in price even though I set my prices low (typically below market value as I wanted fast sales on the ram lambs as I had no where to separate them from their mothers).  Most of the buyers I found on kijiji were people looking for meat sheep.

Selling at auction means you know your sheep will be sold that day, but you do not know the price, and you have to pay commission.  Selling online means you can set your price but have no idea when your sheep will sell.

Then my daughter encouraged me to try selling the sheep via Facebook groups.  Wow, we had some bottle baby lambs one winter and within minutes of her posting them for sale on Facebook we had interested buyers.  As with selling on kijiji, buyers sometimes asked for a lower price, but not always.  I found more of the buyers on Facebook were hobby farmers, like myself, who just wanted a few sheep for pets, 4H, or lawn control.

Overall if you have some sheep to sell I would suggest listing them online first, with plans on taking them to an auction later if you are unable to sell them online and need them gone by a certain date.  I would rather sell online for a lower price than have to drive to an auction (consider your time, gas, commission, and so forth) and not know what price I might get.

Other Reading
The Innisfail Odd and Unusual Auctions

Selling Lambs via Private Sales

As there are no regular sheep auctions near me and as I only have a few lambs (so not worth it to drive to a farther place where there are regular sheep auctions) I sell my lambs privately if I can, taking them to the odd and unusual sales if I cannot.  I prefer the private sale, you get the money yourself (no worries about unknown prices and commissions) and there is less work.

I have had ads for my lambs for sale for a while now and had only a little interest.  However since yesterday I have had at least 4 people call and ask about the ram lambs for sale.  One person has already come for two, others have asked if I would hold them until this Friday, or next.  I generally do not like "holding" sheep for anyone, even if they pay in advance, it is just not worth the hassle.  So many times people insist they are coming and do not show up.

I have had people say they would send me the money in advance, but what if they do, and then something happens to the sheep I have reserved for them (a coyote, or if they suddenly cannot make it to pick the sheep up).  There are also lots of scams in which supposed buyers pay by check, then cancel the check, or make an "overpayment" and ask you to give them cash back due to their "error" then cancel the check too!

Now my rule is cash only, first come, first serve, I will not hold sheep for people, nor take advance payments.  If you want it, get here, pay for it, and take it!

Ram lamb in front, some of my older ewes behind.

Some buyers come prepared, with a couple people to help load. That is always the best, or at least people should ask if they should bring help.

I have had people call and ask if they can butcher the animals on the farm, even though my ads always say they cannot.

I have had people call and ask if they could "fit the sheep in the back of their SUV" to take it home!  When I say "NO, he has horns and will break your windows", they say "but we will tie it up!".   Of course I would not allow an animal to be transported like that.

For sure selling sheep privately, off the farm, is easier in some ways, but there are complications a person needs to be aware of when selling their own animals and not using an auction market.

Sheep out in a Summer Snow Storm

This week Alberta was hit by a freak summer snow storm. I do not recall getting snow so early before but I do have memories of late snows in May and June.

The trees still have leaves and many are bent over and some are breaking. The animals are not particularly happy about it either. The roosters are not even smart enough to go inside and are roosting on a branch with no shelter above heads. The cats are unimpressed.

The sheep are pretty well adjusted, the snow is not too much for them, they can still dig through to the grass. 

It is that time of year to sell them though. I had a buyer who was all lined up to come two weeks ago, but when he went to leave his place he noted something was wrong with his trailer, I think he said an axle was broken. He was going to fix it and come the next day. The next day he had bought the wrong axle and was going to have to try again a few days later, but after repeated trips to Canadian Tire, or wherever you buy new trailer axles, he was having no luck getting the right one and eventually said for us to go ahead and sell to somebody else.

This was frustrating, but understandably not his fault, unfortunately I had turned 3 other buyers down in the process, two of which I did not get their phone numbers. Thankfully I did get the e-mail of one guy and he is coming right away for a ram lamb. Well, I should say, he is waiting for the weather to improve then will be here. He has selected a nice brown Katahdin ram so we are holding that one for him, but we do have an interesting bunch of rams this year including one with four horns and a really neat looking tri-color hair sheep.

I am not happy with the weather, I am not a big fan of the cold. I have aches and pains, and it is hard to take. It is one thing to get winter weather in winter, or even in the fall, but again, this is still summer and we have 2 more weeks go to before it is fall.

I love Alberta, but sometimes I think I am crazy to live here.

What a Crazy Winter on the Farm

It has been an exhausting winter.

We had more snow fall this winter than we have had in years, it set records, and people started wondering where they were going to put all the show every time they shoveled.  Our truck was completely buried under the snow for most of the winter.

We were lucky to have such great neighbors, one was driving by taking some hay to his cattle up the road and saw us with our pathetic shovels and on his way back he cleared the drive and parking area with his tractor.   When the next massive snowfall happened, he did it again.  Another neighbor had a smaller snowplow and did our driveway a couple of different times too.  We gave them both gift certificates to go out for a good meal.

Our bird aviary under snow, partway through winter.

The snow made life pretty rotten for the sheep too.  Normally, even in the winter, they wander around most of the pasture, making trails in the snow, but this year the snow was so deep they never ventured off their one trail that went to the barn, shelter, water trough, and feeding area.

We had 18 lambs born, but 4 died, so we have 14 lambs remaining.  

I hurt my back twice, partially due to the shoveling, but also due to having to do excessive heavy lifting at "work".  I think the excessive cold weather may have also contributed to my bad back.

Right now I am rethinking breeding the sheep this fall.  Some of our ewes are getting older and we do not really have a place to keep them separated so they would not get bred if we had a ram.  As they are more like "pets" I do not have the heart to get rid of them, other than the lambs which we would sell anyhow.

Diamond and her triplets, all survived.

By some miracle the donkey is fatter than ever...

Here it is, nearly the end of April, and there is still snow on the ground in places, and lots of runoff.

So now we are all hoping for a glorious spring, we need it.

About Cruelty to Livestock

One of the biggest debates in the food industry is around the cruelty to livestock. Vegans, vegetarians, and animal rights activists, often condemn the livestock industry as being cruel. Livestock keepers, and those involved with livestock, often deny any cruelty. In a case of one extreme to the other with neither one willing to bend it is hard to see sense of it all.

I feel it would be better if the livestock industry were honest that some cruelty does exist and that there may be room for improvement. It should also be noted that a lot of the cruelty is related to keeping costs low and this is in fact being pushed by the consumer.

It should also be noted that most of the incidences of cruelty are not simply the result of a farmer wanting to cause pain and suffering simply for the sake of causing pain and suffering to the animal. While this sort of thing does occur on occasion it is rarely by the farmer, or owner, of the livestock, and is more often done by employees.

Since I keep sheep I have taken a part of an article on cruelty to livestock and reposted it here with a link to the whole article below.

 

"Sheep are one of the few livestock animals not commonly kept in a factory type setting, they usually are kept on pasture had have a fairly ideal life, although often cut short for lambs headed to slaughter.

Their lives are not without some cruelty, the worst of which is mulesing. Mulesing is common in Australia and done to Merino sheep. The lambs are hung upside down by their feet and a dinner sized chunk of their rump is cut off without painkillers or antiseptics.

Docking of a lamb's tail is not particularly cruel, in fact because of the social uses of a dog's tail, docking a dog's tail can be considered more cruel than dockinga lamb's tail with the note that docking lamb's tails is done to keep flies away from the dirty tail. Flies can cause fly strike and can kill a lamb. Mulesing is done for the same reason but takes off the rump of the lamb.

Pregnant Karakul ewes are reported to be kicked to induce abortions or early labor. Others are slaughtered right before lambing so their fetal lamb can be harvested for its pelt."

For the record I am not a vegetarian and I am not against the meat industry as a whole, but I strongly dislike some of the “factory farm” methods of keeping other livestock, such as chickens, swine, and dairy cattle.

Cruelty can be reduced and one way of reducing it is to spread awareness to the consumer so they demand better treatment of farm animals and become more knowledgeable about where the meat they buy comes from.

To read the full article click here.

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Please use the comments area to share your opinions on cruelty in the livestock industry and how we can improve things.

Angora Goats and Cashmere Goats

Angora Goats do not produce Angora wool, the super fluffy Angora rabbits do that, but Angora goats do produce a fiber, which is known as Mohair.  Angora goats are a specific breed of goat.  At one time they were pretty much only white in color, but in recent years people have begun breeding them in different colors.

The Angora goat originated in Turkey and as focus was mostly on the fiber production they are not a particularly hardy or prolific breed of goat, often having only one or two kids, and tending to be prone to parasites.

Angora Goat - photo from wikimedia

The fleece of an Angora goat grows fast, about one inch (2.5cm) per month and is sheared twice a year.  It is often used for blankets and sweaters.  Wethers (castrated male goats) tend to be the best producers of Mohair.

Cashmere Goats are more of a type of goat that produce hairs which are soft and often removed by brushing as they will eventually shed out.  The fiber itself is then called Cashmere.  There are over 60 breeds of goat which product Cashmere, including the Myotonic goats (fainting goats). 

The younger goats tend to produce the better Cashmere, which is often used to make scarfs, baby blankets, and so forth.


"" High Quality Cashmere & Pashmina Apparel at Fabulous Prices. Free S&H for orders above $100.""

About Goats

Goats are a bit more tricky to keep than sheep (that is one of the reasons we do not keep them) they tend to climb fences, or sneak under fences.  Goats are browsers and will nibble trees, shrubs, and flowers.

Goats are sexually mature around 5 months of age but it is best not to breed them until they are at least 8 months of age.  Gestation for a goat is 5 months.

Death of Favorite Sheep, Sadly Missed

Everyday thousands of sheep are slaughtered, destined for the meal table, or to become pet food. Nobody notices their lives. These sheep are born specifically to be killed. A few lucky ones will be used for breeding but they too are usually killed, shipped to slaughter later in life, very few sheep get to live their natural lifespan. Favorite sheep was a beloved pet, but her life was somewhat complicated by a problem, as such when she died, it was also premature, but at least it was not at a horrific slaughter house.

You may have read aboutFavorite sheep before. 

When we moved to the farm in 2005 we needed some sheep to keep the pasture grass down. It was May and the grass was already knee high. We decided to purchase four ewe lambs. We picked out the four we wanted from a larger flock of about 20. The seller delivered them to us (with two llamas) later that day. We agreed we would not name the sheep.

Fate had other plans; the lamb my daughter had picked out, became very friendly, she had a unique brown spot on her back which was why my daughter had chosen her from the flock. She was a Suffolk Dorset cross (as were all the lambs we bought that day), and because of her friendly nature she became my daughter's favorite sheep and was soon referred to as “Favorite”, which soon became her name; Favorite Sheep. The other lambs got names too, Diamond, Speckle, and Teardrop, all names relating to their appearance.

Favorite Sheep at a year old, before her stroke

Favorite sheep had a pretty good life, grazing on 10 acres, she had lambs. But one summer, she had a stroke. I had noticed one of her ears was floppy, and something was not quite right. I later realized she had suffered a stroke, her tongue hung out and she got a fat cheek as she would have problems eating and her food would build up inside her cheek. When sleeping she would have great globs fall out of her mouth. She had a constant smell bad; a result of food in her cheek and drooling.

That year we did not think she was pregnant, but she surprised us with lambs, lucky lambs in fact. It was January (in Canada) she had given birth and wandered off. My daughter and I happened to be going out to take pictures of other lambs and found them, still wet, one still in the sack, with temperatures below freezing they would have died if not for the timing. We realized it was Favorite sheep who had given birth, she had blood on her rump, but was not producing milk, so we had to bottle feed the lambs. We did put Favorite and her lambs in a stall together for bonding, and she did look after them as a mother, with the exception of being able to feed them. When we let them outside she kept them close to her.  We kept one of these lucky lambs, and named her Blackie.

Over the next couple of years we had make sure Favorite sheep had enough to eat especially in the winter, and had to watch her carefully at lambing. 

Most “farmers” would have culled (slaughtered) her long ago, but our sheep are more pets than livestock. Although she was a burden in some ways her sweet friendly personality was also treasured. As much as she was not the brightest sheep in the barn she still seemed to be the leader.

She had two more years of having lambs, twins each time, each time having one lamb with a spot on its back.

Favorite sheep with her 2011 lambs (after her stroke).

Last Sunday I went out to feed dandelions to the sheep, they grow tall next to the house where the sheep cannot get them. I noticed Favorite sheep was missing. This is not unusual sometimes she is off by herself sleeping. But upon walking around the pasture I knew something was wrong, and I would probably find a body. There were piles of wool strewn across the pasture, often a sign that predators have been dragging a body. Sure enough I found her partially eaten remains.

I am guessing that she died rather than been killed, a predator would have been more likely to kill a smaller lamb, but of course I have no way of knowing.

Her this year lambs (born in March) are old enough to be without her but it was sad, I saw them standing in one of the piles of her wool calling for her.

I write this to share her memory. Many sheep go through life with one destiny, to be slaughtered for lamb meat. Favorite was lucky to be female, and lucky to have ended up on a hobby farm of soft - hearted fools, who could not slaughter their own animals. She may not have known it, but she was loved.

Blackie

You may remember Blackie sheep, she was one of the twins born a few winters ago and left to freeze to death when her mom wanded off.  She, and her sister, had to be bottle fed.  We sold the sister and kept Blackie.

Blackie sheep is due to have her lambs in about three weeks time and is getting bigger every day.  She sure has calmed down.  It use to be when I would go outside she was always running to see me, baaing loudly, even after she was more than a  year old.  I guess she is all grown up now, but she is still friendly and likes to have her head scratched.  She sure is not black any more though, all that wool has faded.  Only her face and legs remain as black as when she was a little lamb.

Look how big her tummy is.  That is her mother standing in behind her. 

It looks like a mild spring, well hopefully at least, the winter has been very mild and lacking of snow.  If you remember last winter we had snow up to their tummies.  Poor ewes had to struggle through the paths just to get anywhere. 

So that is pretty much it for now, just waiting for a few more days until the lambs start arriving, then I will have lots of pictures to share of all the wee ones. 

Lambing Time Almost Here

Today is February 15, 2012, in a little over 2 weeks our ewes are due to have their lambs.  This year we wanted to make sure the lambs were not born in January so we got a ram a little later than we had in the past, putting him with the ewes on October 4.  In previous years lambing in the middle of winter was hard work combined with the extra feed needed and risk to lambs being born in the cold.  Ironically this winter has been the mildest ever, we hardly have any snow, and temperatures have been pretty good for central Alberta!

With the sun shining and the girls all having big tummies I thought it would be a good day to take some pictures, so that is exactly what we did.  Actually my goal was to get a picture of the ram trying to charge me, he has been the first ram we have had that even tries this.  He only does it if I am not looking but on this day he didn't seem interested.  Normally I have to be very aware of where he is and if I feel he is planning a sneak attack, and turn, he pretends he was not up to anything at all.  Quite funny really, also he is small so not really a danger.

Anyhow for a while I had been worried that the ewes were not getting big, if you recall the first year we had sheep the ram we bought was infertile - I don't want to go through that again!  But in the last couple of weeks the ewes started getting bigger and there udders were showing.

Most of the ewes are getting udders, a few are bigger than others.  Diamond sheep is the largest, she usually has triplets, only once did she have twins.  Blackie, and Girlie are pretty big too.  In this picture you can see Diamonds rear end, and her swollen tummy.  You may also note how there is no snow, last year at this time it was up to above there stomachs, I had to shovel paths for them in some areas;  this year, next to nothing.

We only have 9 ewes, that seems like a more manageable number for our small hobby farm (we are not big time sheep breeders).  It is hard to get sheep to pose for their picture, but I think my husband did a good job getting some of them looking in the right direction for this shot. 

Here is another picture, this time you can see Diamond sheep facing amost head on, with Mrs Brown Katahdin to the left and the ram to the right (our right, not Diamond's). 

Aggie the donkey is in behind.

Goats that Fall Down

When I attend the odd and unusual livestock auctions everyone always looks forward to the fainting goats.  These small goats are super cute and when scared their legs freeze up and they often fall right over, they lay there fully away but immobile for about 5-15 seconds, until their muscles relax, then they jump up and carry on. 

The condition these goats have is myotonia congentia and as a result they are often called Myotonic goats, fainting goats, or wooden leg goats.  The gene responsible for this condition is recessive, but has been found in other animals, including humans and cats.

I found the above video on YouTube, it is not my Goat, his name is Gonzo.

In the goats one sudden scare causes their muscles to freeze up, they lose balance and fall to their side.  The younger goats are more prone to falling, as the older ones soon learn to brace themselves.  Although once used as meat goats these animals have since become popular as novelty pets.

Myotonic goats  tend to be docile as a result of their condition and have a poor time climbing fences - which is something many other goats are noted for doing, as such they can be good pets for people who are new to the world of keeping goats.  The biggest concern is that they are very vulnerable to predators, such as coyotes or dogs.  It is not necessarily true that predators will be confused when the goat falls over, it might just be thrilled at the chance for an easier kill.

If you are looking for a cute, novelty, goat breed, then Myotonic goats may be just what you are looking for.  I have seen prices at the Innisfail Auction Market, Alberta, for Myotonic goats being anywhere from $30 to over $100.

Snowy Morning and Bad Llama

A couple of days ago we woke up to snow, the first so far.  Normally, here in Alberta, we would have had more by now, but the fall has been wonderful.  Even the bit that we did get was not enough to shovel. 

The animals can still get grass but in the fall there is very little nutrition in the grass so we feed hay, just once a day for now, they will get fed twice a day later when we really start getting snow, and winter sets in. 

Naughty llama

We do have proper feeders near the barn for feeding hay, but have 2 bales near the house which we are feeding now.  One of the round bales was just a bit too close to the fence and Crystal decided to help herself.  As a result she has bent the fence.  I nailed a board across the top, but she leaned on it so bad it broke off.  Eventually the bale will be out of reach, but it's funny because even when there is plenty in the pasture she insists on eating from the bale.  I think it is because she has it all to herself that way. 

I always try to throw out several piles of hay because the animals tend to move around from pile to pile and push others away, by having extra piles it means everyone gets something to eat.

Patsy and Girlie having breakfast

As we only have 10 acres we do not grow our own hay, rather we buy it and have it delivered.  We do not even have a tractor to move bales around, so must feed by hand.  Certainly small square bales are easier to feed, but they cost more money, and are getting harder to find.  As such we buy the large round bales and have them delivered. 
We put tarps over the bales to protect them, sun can take away nutrition from hay, and if water gets into the bales they will rot!

When we buy the hay it is always hardest to know how much to buy.  In the past we have not bought enough and had to get some in the spring.  This was often because it kept snowing, and snowing, and snowing, so we kept feeding, and feeding, and feeding.  Hopefully this spring we will not have to worry about that and I will not need any more hay.

Always a Daughter, Also a Friend

People seem to think that livestock animals are without feelings to one and other.  By observing my own flock I clearly see this is untrue, not only do farm animals often form friendships with their own kind, they do tend to remember their offspring.  This contradicts what people are sometimes told, as I was often told as a child that farm animals do not remember their offspring after it is weaned, and particularly after they give birth the following year.

I do notice that even years later the sheep that were related tend to hang around each other more than with their non-relatives.  Mother's and daughters seem more close than sibling pairs. 

Dark Brown Barbado is a sheep we bought at auction, one we have had for a few years.  Early in 2009 she had twin lambs, Girlie being one of them.  Girlie is part wool sheep, she gets a woolly coat that sheds erratically and looks funny unless cut off. 

When the lambs were young I had told my daughter she could pick one to keep.  Her most favorite lambs happened to be rams, so she had to make another choice, and selected Dark Brown Barbado's lamb which she since named Girlie.  To make Girlie friendlier my daughter took her into a stall and gave her lambs starter pellet treats from her hand every day.   It was not long before Girlie learned to go to my daughter for regular treats. 

Girlie has had 2 sets of lambs herself, and has always remained friends with her mother.  This fall I took the picture of the two ewes standing in the pasture and thought they were posed quite nice, so wanted to share the photo here.

Girlie is in the back, with her mom, Dark Brown Barbado in the front. They are both starting to get their warmer winter coats.

Using Llamas as Guard Animals for Sheep or Goats

Not long ago a Llama could command thousands of dollars at a sale in North America, now a knowledgeable buyer can pick one up for under $10. I have even seen people pay to have them taken away.

What was once suppose to be a bottomless market hit bottom, and today, although a few people do still raise them for fiber, one of the main uses of Llamas is to guard other livestock, such as sheep and goats.

Tips on getting a Llama to guard your livestock.

• Get one that is friendly, and ideally halter trained.
• Get only one – that way it will stay with your livestock, if you get more than one they form their own herd and do their own thing.
• An intact male Llama can be mean to your other animals, a gelded male, or female will be much better.
• Buy a Llama with a low quality fleece, that way you do not have to worry about shearing it.
• Buy a Llama that has been raised with sheep or goats.

You can tell she is not letting anything near this Jabob lamb.

How do Llamas Protect Sheep and Goats?

Being tall makes it easy for a Llama to see a predator approaching. They tend to be slightly more observant than sheep. When alerted to something new, or out of they usual, a curious Llama will typically approach the intruder. In the case of a coyote, who is not use to being approached in this way, they will usually turn and leave, a fox (more interested in your chickens than your sheep) might be equally confused. A single feral dog might turn and leave at this “threatening” move by your guard animal, who may simply only be curious.

By being observant, bold, and curious, the Llama, often scares away the intruder. If the predator does get close the Llama may try to spit at it (they have foul smelling spit, more likely to deter a human than an hungry predator), or kick.

This year I witnessed a coyote in the neighbors pasture.  The sheep were grazing in tall grass and did not see it, but the Llama did, she started walking towards it, simply looking curious and not aggressive.  The coyote fled.  Coyotes are not use to animals walking towards them, it found this intimidating and decided there was easier food elsewhere.  I am aware that our llama would have been no match against a hungry pack of coyotes. 

All in all Llamas are a fair, to good, defense against the occasional predator, however if you want tougher protection you might also want to add a donkey to your herd.

Llama versus Guard Dog?

I have not used a guard dog, and only have one llama, and one donkey for our small flock of sheep.  A dog requires dog food, and as such are much more expensive to feed than my llama.  As well any dog that is guarding sheep must be properly vaccinated, and protected againsts diseases.  Another fact worth remembering is that llamas do not like dogs - if you introduce a guard dog, or pet dog, your llama might hurt it, so keep introductions slow, and safe!

Only certain breeds of dog work well for guarding sheep, some (such as the Border Collie) will chase the sheep too much.  Some people find that by keeping dogs coyotes are more likely to come around, either attracted by a female in heat, or because they see the dog as an intruder in their area.

The Grass is as High as a Sheeps Eye

The first seven months of 2011 have been nothing if not wet, and cold. Winter was long, snowy, and colder than typical. Anyone who thought spring would make up for it was wrong, anyone who thought summer would make up for a terrible winter and spring, was also wrong.

Winter was cold and wet, spring was cold, wet and windy, and summer continued the trend. The gloomy cloudy days made everyone miserable, the wind tore most of the sheet metal off my shed and the rain made everything soggy. Weeds were pretty happy, and the pasture did look greener than every.

Two years ago there was a drought in the area. Pigeon Lake, nearby, was way down from its usual, and even 2010 did not bring it up to where it should be.

We sold a few sheep in 2010 due to the drought, pasture was very poor that year, and rather than go through the same worries again it was just easier to sell a few sheep. In the spring of 2011 we sold Baby Katahdin, the ram, and all the lambs, so we were left with 8 ewes, Aggie the donkey, and Crystal, the llama. This seemed like a reasonable number of sheep.

July 28, 2011

The problem being that we had nothing but rain so the pasture did nothing but grow. All of central Alberta, and southern Alberta did much the same, although parts of northern Alberta experienced fires that left the town of Slave Lake ravaged (later it flooded).

You might think the animals were thrilled with all the grass... but no, they were being eaten by mosquitoes if they were not being pelted by rain, the shed had not much of a roof left so they mostly stayed in the old barn poking out only rarely to get something to eat, then going back to get away from the bugs. I have been here now 6 years, the mosquitoes were the worst I have ever seen.



July 28, 2011



For almost one week in July we had sun, but it was tempered with thundershowers at night. The lucky thing being this was the week our cochin chicks hatched at least they had some sun. I am not so sure if there has been a day with no rain, or not.

The sheep cannot keep up with the grass, and nor can we, lawn mowing is a never ending chore. The mosquitoes are not quite as bad and the grasshoppers are assisting in chewing down the pasture. Aggie is getting fatter and fatter (donkeys get fat on their necks) and we see the sheep now from time to time when they poke their heads up above the grass.

If you have been following this blog you know the sheep are Patsy in the front (with 5 horns), Mrs Brown Katahdin, Diamond, with Mrs White Katahdin tucked in behind, Girlie and her mom, Dark Brown, and off to the left is Favorite Sheep.  Blackie is only see in the above picture, where Aggie is also getting in on the shot.  Crystal is actually behind Aggie rolling in the mud/dirt.

To compare I will show you a picture taken in roughly the same spot two years ago.

Patsy in 2009 - same pasture as above.

Poor Rooster

Our poor new rooster, he lost his mate and his tail feathers all in the same day.  He was lucky to get away with his life, and fortunately roosters are not too fussy about their hens, and he can get a new one.  Read more of what happened the day a fox visited our farm.

hen in front, rooster in back

A few weeks ago we bought a few pet chickens from the bird auction. For the first time we got roosters. We put pairs of hens and roosters into our various bird enclosures. After a few weeks of getting them familiar to their new homes we would let one pair out in the day so they could be even more free range.

One pair was a Polish hen and rooster. Ideally they have feathers that shot out of their head like a crown or punk hair cut, our birds were just starting to grow these feathers in. They enjoyed being out and especially loved eating the dandelions. We have several pet cats, and they didn't bother the birds at all, so we had relatively no worries about letting them out in the day, at night they returned to their enclosures and we would shut the door.

the rooster days before the "attack"

We have never had fox problems on our hobby farm before. There was one time several years ago where a fox visited in the day, we played a bit of a game with it. I was trying to chase it away but it was on the other side of a large round plant bed, the fox would run around one way and switch directions every time I did rather than running off. Eventually he gave up and left and we never saw one since.

June 4th I let the pair out at 7:00 in the morning and at 9:30am and was just getting ready to go down stairs to clean the cat litter box. I have to walk by the front door, and when I did so I glanced out just in time to see a fox running by with a black chicken in its mouth!

I wasted no time in running out and going after it, still in my pajamas. I chased the fox down the driveway and was yelling. At a point the fox amazed me and did actually drop the bird. The panicking bird ran right past me heading for home while I chased the fox a few more steps. Then I turned to find the bird, but it was missing.

My husband came out (alerted by my yelling) and we both looked for the bird, and its mate. At this time we were not sure which chicken the fox had been holding in its mouth as even when I saw it running I was still focused on the fox. We found a big pile of feathers which were mostly long ones indicating that it had been the rooster, but the hen was also no where to be found.

I had to go to work, my husband continued to search the yard for the frightened, but fortunate, bird. It wasn't until 5:00 that day that the bird made its presence known, returning to its enclosure. It was the rooster. He looked angry and a bit scared, he hopped up on a roost where he felt safe. We still had no sign of a hen. It has been two days and she has not shown up (we were hoping she was hiding scared somewhere). It appears as though the fox must have gotten her first, and was returning for the rooster.

rooster back in his pen too scared to go on the ground

Foxes are known to be particularly smart, and good hunters. We never found any feathers indicating where it got the hen, so it must have got her without warning. A fox will often return to get as many birds as they can when they find an opportunity. We are lucky it only got one, but now our rooster is sad, lonely, and missing most of his tail.

rooster on the ground, missing his tail and hen

I have been keeping a look out for the returning fox, and so far he, or she, has not been back. 

We cannot blame the fox though, it was only doing what was natural, trying to get food to survive.

More Reading on Chickens

Keeping Pet Chickens

What Breeds of Chickens are Best for Pets

Can Chickens be Kept with Other Pets

There's a Pig in the Yard

The other morning as my daughter was getting ready for school we noticed one of the cats looking keenly at something. I went to the window but couldn't see what it was so we figured it was just birds. Twenty minutes later and my daughter heads off to catch the school bus, but something is wrong, and I hear her calling me. I worry that something happened to one of the sheep, or perhaps there is a fox in the yard.

When I open the door to see what caused the commotion, my daughter calls to me “There is a Pig in the yard!”. I put on my boots and rush outside to see a male potbelly pig running up and down the fence line trying to get into the pasture with the sheep, who were well back from the fence.

The donkey, Aggie, and the llama, Crystal, were also standing well back, confused by this strange animal. I was a little disappointed that neither one of these “guard animals” was trying to chase the pig away.

My daughter said the pig has been running at the neighbors and they knew who owned it, so I called them. Apparently they had informed the owner, but the pig's owner had not come for it so they were very happy to keep it, as they have another pet pig too. So we proceeded to try to chase the boar (male pig) to the neighbor's home, about ¾ of a mile away.

All was going well until a car came down the road and the potbelly pig ran into the forest. I tried to find him but those things are fast and soon was too far into the forest to see or hear. Hopefully he found his own way out of the woods and back to the sow (female pig) at the other farm.

We have never kept pot bellied pigs, or any pigs in fact, as pets, but here is a link you can read to learn more about Pot Bellied Pigs as Pets.

Read about What to do when you Find Loose Livestock.

Sheep Trivia and Facts

Just wanted to share some neat information on sheep, sheep trivia, as well as a few odd facts about sheep.

Not all breeds of sheep have wool, many have hair which they shed just like a dog.  They are called "Hair Sheep" and there are many breeds.  When crossed with wool sheep, the sheep often  have a mix of both (the part Jacob sheep pictured is also part hair sheep, you can see she is shedding).

Sheep do not have top teeth at the front of their mouth.

Some sheep have no horns, others have many, the sheep pictured below is a part Jacob sheep ewe, she actually has 5 horns although one is poorly developed.  Many sheep of this breed have four horns.

Sheep normally have long tails, these are often docked to prevent feces from building up on the tail. However there are also breeds of sheep who have fat tails, thicker than a persons arm.

Tennis rackets are often strung with “sheep gut” it takes the small intestines of eleven sheep to produce one racket.

Lanolin is an oil that protects the sheep's wool and keeps it water proof. It is also often used in products for human hair. Hair sheep do not have this lanolin.

Gestation (length of pregnancy) in sheep is 5 months. Most sheep will have one lamb their first year, and 1-3 lambs every year there after.  The process of giving birth is called "lambing".

Sheep are herd animals, they very much need to be kept with other sheep.

Although naturally nervous, sheep can be halter trained.

Sheep are natural grazers, but enjoy treats such as cut up apples, carrots, and beans.

Sheep cannot have copper in their diet, too much is toxic to them.

Lambs often jump will all four feet in the air at once, this is a playful jump known as “pronging”.

photo by scott liddell

Read more Trivia and Information on Sheep!

Baby Katahdin Scares, then has Lambs Days Later

Baby Katahdin, our youngest ewe - being born last year, and the only one who would be a first time mother, is a shy sheep.  She is a bit smaller and was terrified of us earlier in the year.  Throughout the winter she has slowly learned how to trust us (the oats helped) but is easily intimidated by the bigger sheep who push her out of the way at feeding time. 

She has been thin - so I have been hand feeding her extra oats.  Two nights ago, however, she started choking on her oats, to the point it looked like she was a gonner.. she was frothing at the mouth and stood frozen, clearly in fear.  I gave her a hard smack on  her shoulder hoping to clear her throat.  Well the poor sheep must have thought I was horrible, but after a few tense moments she was fine.

Today, March 19, 2011, I went outside to give the sheep some hay for lunch, this is because our weather has been crazy this winter and we still have over a foot of snow on the ground and it gives them something to do in the middle of these winter days – eat. Finally we are seeing temperatures around the freezing mark, or just above – today was +1C (just above melting).

At the time I could see Girlie was in the shed with her two young lambs (just over a week old) and with her was Baby Katahdin – and just above the snow drift I could see a tiny white head pop up so I knew she had a lamb.

I went into the house to call my daughter for help. It's never easy getting one sheep and her lambs into the barn in the middle of the day. We spotted a darker lamb laying near by – shivering – both were still wet, born only minutes earlier. It took some doing but we finally got them into the barn (and chased the other sheep back out).

My daughter dried off the lambs, while I got their mother some water - ewes often need a good drink after lambing and this one was no exception. 

Having twins for their first year is not easy, she seems to be mothering both though and hopefully will have enough milk to provide for them - as she has been thin and does not have a huge udder - this is a concern!

The white lamb is a male - ram lamb.  The brown one is a female - ewe lamb. 

So that brings our total to 18 lambs - 9 male, 9 female, a perfect split!

Adopt a Sheep

When most people think about adoption they only think about cats, or dogs. Maybe they think about exotic animals such as rabbits, but few think about adopting farm animals and livestock.

There are some pet rescues that also offer, or even focus only on, rescuing livestock and farm animals. There are loads of sites for finding farm animals for sale, but few that focus on farm animals, such as sheep, for adoption. One that does have a listing of sheep for adoption is petfinder.com.

My petfinder search showed nearly 30 sheep for adoption, most were rams, or wethers, but there were also lambs, and ewes. All of the adoptable sheep I found where in the USA, but petfinder.com also offers space for animal shelters, and livestock rescue groups, from Canada and Mexico to list their adoptable animals.

I strongly encourage anyone looking for a “Pet” sheep to check out petfinder.com's listing of adoptable sheep.

Below I want to show examples of two of the adoptable sheep from Petfinder.  I hope they get homes soon. 

Visit Hannah's Page on Petfinder here.

Visit Authur's Petfinder page here.

If you are unfamiliar with sheep like Authur, he is a Jacob sheep - noted for their colors and fancy horn growth.