Hello from Northern Nevada

[NH Homesteader]

Oh nice, I am near the Lebanon area. I love NH right now... Ask me again in February and I'll say differently lol!

I am planning on getting sheep in about a year also, for fiber and meat. I am primarily a goat lover though, they're a little more endearing than sheep (sorry sheep people! Lol)

 

[Joel_BC]

Welcome pippomky75. Sounds like you're getting established with zest on your land. Also seems implied that you've got a good source of water there. Great!

(Is there really any market for tumbleweed, or is that a Nevada quip?)

 

[tortoise]

you can tell me how awesome sheep are anytime, I am really looking forward to getting them. I want to raise for fiber, but it does get pretty hot here, any breed you would suggest"?

See if merino can handle your climate. I can't have merino here, they can't handle our cold winters. I have a couple with a bit of merino mixed in and the wool is much nicer!

 

[NH Homesteader]

I am hopefully getting Cormos, which are a Merino/Corriedale cross. Might be good for there also. They're a better fiber animal than they are a meat animal. They're pretty hardy.

 

[pippomky75]

Welcome pippomky75. Sounds like you're getting established with zest on your land. Also seems implied that you've got a good source of water there. Great!

(Is there really any market for tumbleweed, or is that a Nevada quip?)

No that's my bad sense of humor. I when they dry out, they get a pretty high creosote content that makes then great for starting fires, but they are covered in thorns, so not easy to handle. when they are young and green they make great graze for goats sheep horses and cows. This is one of many reasons I want sheep, to keep them in control.

 

[pippomky75]

I am hopefully getting Cormos, which are a Merino/Corriedale cross. Might be good for there also. They're a better fiber animal than they are a meat animal. They're pretty hardy.

nice! We occasionally get in the single digits, and if it snows it melts when the sun comes up because our ground never freezes. It does get around 100 degrees maybe20 days a year, otherwise we are high 80s low 90s for most of the summer. We have super low humidity so shade is actually 20 degrees cooler. I'll have to do some research on the Cormos, see what ranges do well for them. And let me tell you, I have not shoveled snow since I left New England- I don't miss it!

 

[pippomky75]

See if merino can handle your climate. I can't have merino here, they can't handle our cold winters. I have a couple with a bit of merino mixed in and the wool is much nicer!

I love working with merino wool, has a great finger feel! Saw a neat article today, thought you could add it to your arsenal of "why sheep are awesome" info: https://modernfarmer.com/2017/11/know-ewe-sheep-can-recognize-human-faces/

 

[tortoise]

Sheep recognize cars too! I come home and they RUN to the barn. . Heck, I walk out of the house and they run to the barn.

My ewes are tame. My oldest girls are 4 years old -they know their names! Most farmers would herd sheep into a chute for sorting..... I walk out to the barn and call "BAY-BEEZ!" And they run into the barn. I shut the door, call them over and let them out one at a time until I have them sorted how I want. My only real problem with this is my 3 year old ewe is so pushy and affectionate that she blocks the door. I have 2 ewe lambs born this past spring that are just starting to be less afraid and come up to me for grain. They get much more tame after their first lambing because they spend a couple weeks in a jug getting lots of grain and personal attention.

I have one tame ram - he is dangerous! But he is a merino cross and has the nicest wool, and he is lead trained so I can halter him if necessary. I learned my lesson with him. My younger ram has never been handled other than shearing. He's afraid of people, which is much safer for us.

 

[waretrop]

I love the hut you built for her is that a year round house or just warm weather?"

Alice's condo will have heat in it but not till January. We just don't have time to get it ready right now. I have to add new pictures to "alice-my-very-special-pet" thread.

She actually has 4 areas in her life plus a 10 minute vacation running our living room. She has a nice cozy area in our kitchen with a heat box in the corner. She also has a greenhouse on a patio off the kitchen with a horse trough laying in its side for a hot box. The greenhouse is heated and has linoleum and a heat light. Then she has an outside grass area that is fenced in off the greenhouse with the condo out there. The condo has a long ramp and glass windows to keep the weather out. There is all kinds of electric hook ups for lights and heats.

So @pippomky75 Alice probably doesn't have as much space as your guys have but she does have a little paradise up here in Pa. I also have a Russian. He doesn't play with Alice nor does he have the space that she has. I must admit he takes a back burner next to Alice. Although they both have great personalities...

 

[Hinotori]

Welcome!

Yeah, tumbleweeds are pretty easy to get rid of when young but I have many memories of the pain of forking them into piles to burn.

Side note, young tumbleweed is edible. Doesn't taste bad cooked