Raising Sheep ( lambs for 4H )

[huntandjeep]

My oldest daughter (10) wants to raise a couple lambs for 4H this year , since she's to old for chickens this year. I have no clue about sheep other then they are white and fluffy .
 What kind of fence should I use ?
 How much space do 2 need to roam in ?
 What kind of shelter do I need to build them ?
Thanks Allen

[nwwanderer]

Sarah Smith, extension in Grant county, is the best go to for lambs.  Really knows her stuff. 
Woven wire fence, couple hundred square feet if your are providing all nutrition and a little out of the wind shade is plenty.
They are dog magnets, some of the sweetest pets you have ever seen will kill them. 
Sheep also invent new ways to die pretty regular.  Drowning, hanging, foot caught, over eating, etc.
That is enough negative, great project!!!!

[Machias]

I HIGHLY recommend you look into Katahdin sheep.  They are a very hardy, disease resistant, hair sheep....no shearing required.  Taste VERY good.  Easy lambing and after the first year normally have multiple lambs.

[huntandjeep]

I HIGHLY recommend you look into Katahdin sheep.  They are a very hardy, disease resistant, hair sheep....no shearing required.  Taste VERY good.  Easy lambing and after the first year normally have multiple lambs.

These will not be pets , they will get auctioned off after my kid shows them at the fair .

[Machias]

I wasn't suggesting them for pets, they TASTE great...they are livestock.

[jackelope]

Our 4-h club has a sheep project. Happy to put you together with our project leader if you want to talk sheep. She’s very knowledgeable.  Kids need to get their market lambs here pretty quick for fair season.

[actionshooter]

Our 4-h club has a sheep project. Happy to put you together with our project leader if you want to talk sheep. She’s very knowledgeable.  Kids need to get their market lambs here pretty quick for fair season.

Great offer....
 My kids did market Lambs... I hate the damn things, but its great for the kids. Lots of responsibility to be learned.

[huntandjeep]

Yeah she needs to have them by the end of February. 
 As for eating them there is no way my kid could eat her lambs , she had a hard enough time eating her chickens eggs when they first started laying .

[jackelope]

Also I don’t know why she’s too old for poultry in 4-H. We have kids from seven years old all away up to 18 years old participating in the poultry project.

[Axle]

I second Katahdins. And yes - they do taste great. I've had them for years now. I had American Blackbelly sheep for many years and they are awesome to own and raise. The rams get attitude after 3 years and want to kill everyone so there is a risk factor to that breed. The blackbelly sheep were also much slower growing. The next for me will the Dorper sheep. I think the market to sell them is better. And from what I've read, the meat might be a bit better than Katahdin sheep.

[jackelope]

I don't know much about sheep but I attend a couple youth livestock sales every year and have been helping with our market rabbit program. The sheep the kids have seem to all look the same every year. Before you settle on a breed, I'd talk to others in your area and see what breeds typically do the best at your sales.

WSU Extension has some good sheep stuff on their website.

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2070/2018/03/Judging-Sheep-and-Oral-Reasons-101.pdf

https://foodsystems.wsu.edu/animals-for-food-performance/sheep/

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/AG/documents/other_animals/FeedingSheep.VT.pdf

[jackelope]

@huntandjeep  Did your kids get lambs?

[huntandjeep]

@huntandjeep  Did your kids get lambs?

@ Jackelope , yes she picked up 2 ewes a month and a 1/2 ago. Shes enjoying them , trying to learn what she needs to do with them for showing etc . Wife meet a girl at the feed store that shows sheep so shes going to come out and help my daughter with some pointers and what she needs to work on.Think we are going to sheer them this weekend to see where they are with weight .

[jackelope]

Right on. Good stuff.

[huntandjeep]

Quick update , Both sheep made weight one weighed in @ 119 and the other  125.  She showed them both today in the market class , was pretty nervous but she did awesome . 2 1st place Ribbins in 2 different weight classes , she also showed a fellow club members 2nd lamb since both of hers were in the same weight class . Tomorrow she shows in the Sportsman class with her lambs. Then on Saturday its auction day . That's going to be a tough day for her . I'm sure her , her sister  and the wife will shed a tear  ( I might get a little lump in my throat , just for what my kids going through) .  But she knew going in to this what the outcome for them would be .

[Machias]

Awesome!!!!!!

[huntandjeep]

    Ok final update.  Yesterday was the Sportsman class of the show  (80% person 20% animal ). Goats went 1st and took 3 1/2 hrs ( last year same # of goats was about 1hr45min). She stared getting her sheep ready @ about 1hr in on the goats. By the time it was her weight class the sheep was restless and over the whole thing , It broke free from her and ran around the ring a couple times.  My daughter stayed cool and finally caught it . Answered the Q and A perfectly.  Wound up in 4th place . I believe she would have took 3rd ,  maybe reserve grand champion  . Anyway me and mom are super proud of her and everthing she has done in her 1st year .
    Today was auction day and she held her cool in the ring ( even knowing the sheep weren't coming home ). Wound up getting $3.75 a lbs for 1 and $3.50 for the other. After 4% to the auction and the $150 a friend gave her because he wouldn't be able to bid  she should pocket around 1k ( could be more not sure if anyone else gave her any add ons at the auction ).
   When it was time to say goodbuy is when the emotions hit ( I held my cool until she made eye contact with me then I think I got some dust in my eyes and had to put on my sunglasses  ). Gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was of her and  told her she gave those lambs the best life they could have led and showed them so much love . She agreed , and walked away head held high. Ready to do it again next year  .

[kselkhunter]

Congrats to your daughter.  4-H is such a great learning experience for kids. 

[jackelope]

Awesome!
Man that’s a great end to the year. It had to be hard for her but she powered through and got it done. Way to go, kid!

[Mark Brenckle]

That's great, congrats to her!

[Whitpirate]

As a small time farmer these are the best stories and lessons.  The future of ag is in sons and daughters like yours and understanding the work, joy and sacrifice lessons learned early will help them in the future.  Hopefully her project was profitable and remember to save for the next one!

Auction and harvest days are hard but we do our best to see them happy, safe and well-raised until it is time for them to sustain us.

[Machias]

Thanks for the update, I can see why you guys were so proud.  Awesome job to all of you!!

[luvmystang67]

Awesome. I did 4-h for 10 years. Started with market lambs and moved up to hogs and beef cattle as I got bigger and could handle them a little better. I always had the most fun with pigs. They’re hilarious. Cows are fun as well. Sheep irritated me a bit, but we had about 100 of them so I guess that’s just how it goes.

Keep it up! Gets the business juices flowing and helps develop responsibility and a great start to a savings account!


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[nwwanderer]

If they happen to stick with ag options later have them check out all of the scholarships for ag students.  There is a bunch.  Good job!!

[actionshooter]

That's awesome!
  Both of my kids were very active in 4H and FFA and both are doing great as adults and working in fields related. My oldest just got a letter from a FFA student this weekend where she is giving back, any of the kids who an showing an animal and asks gets an add on from her. 

[buglebuster]

It was good to see you there Allen! Your daughter did a great job, you’d have never guessed it was her first year! We are excited that our oldest daughter can finally show a market animal there next year and will be showing 2 wether goats.

[C-Money]

4-H is excellent! Wish I would have seen this post earlier. My two kids show lambs as well. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions in the future. Seems as though you have it figured out pretty well! What fair were you guys at? Congratulations on a good fair/show.

[jackelope]

We still have a month to go for our fair.  My kid is fully involved in 4-H but hasn't jumped in to the youth livestock show/sale yet. She says next year she'll do a market rabbit. We'll see how that goes. Some of you guys should come over to Monroe for next year's show. It's a ton of fun.

[huntandjeep]

It was good to see you there Allen! Your daughter did a great job, you’d have never guessed it was her first year! We are excited that our oldest daughter can finally show a market animal there next year and will be showing 2 wether goats.

You to Micheal , I think she did well , until her lamb got wild , then i could tell she was getting flustered. Shes already talking about what she's doing different next year . And wants to raise breeder sheep    . And now my 6 ( 7 next fair time ) wants to show a pygmy goat  .
 Jackelope  might take you up on that.  Would be cool to see what is done differently .

[jackelope]

Here’s all the info for this year’s show. The only hard part is you’d have to be here for the mandatory meeting. I heard you can have an “agent” present for the exhibitor. Not sure. I’ll see Wednesday night how that works maybe.  All I know now is there are 21 kids with rabbits at the show which is 3x more than last year.

https://www.evergreenfair.org/DocumentCenter/View/1525/Livestock-Show-Sale-book?bidId=

[buglebuster]

Here’s all the info for this year’s show. The only hard part is you’d have to be here for the mandatory meeting. I heard you can have an “agent” present for the exhibitor. Not sure. I’ll see Wednesday night how that works maybe.  All I know now is there are 21 kids with rabbits at the show which is 3x more than last year.

https://www.evergreenfair.org/DocumentCenter/View/1525/Livestock-Show-Sale-book?bidId=

Can out of towners show and sell market animals?

[jackelope]

Here’s all the info for this year’s show. The only hard part is you’d have to be here for the mandatory meeting. I heard you can have an “agent” present for the exhibitor. Not sure. I’ll see Wednesday night how that works maybe.  All I know now is there are 21 kids with rabbits at the show which is 3x more than last year.

https://www.evergreenfair.org/DocumentCenter/View/1525/Livestock-Show-Sale-book?bidId=

Can out of towners show and sell market animals?

As far as I know they can. You'd just have to attend the mandatory meeting and complete the Youth for Quality Care of Animals program beforehand. YQCA is new for us this year. I'm not sure if that's standard elsewhere but they're requiring the kids complete it this year. If your kids are 4-h'ers the my 4h login will work for a login. It's probably not a bad program to put kids through either way just as learning material. The record book and stall card is in that link. At our fair it's not a 4-H or FFA event. It's a whoever wants to participate event. Haul in is on a Wednesday and the sale is on Saturday night. I'm pretty sure I'm going to the meeting tonight so I should know most of the other details afterwards.