Tag: goats
West Africa Cultural Farm Exchange
Farm Visit: During a week of Wisconsin’s -10° F weather we enjoyed a visitor from Bamako, Mali, West Africa. Drissa visited Wisconsin to learn how to produce value added meat products and to work with a chef as part of the Common Pastures project. Although we generally have lambs and kids in the spring a few […]
Why Are We GPS Tracking Sheeps?
GPS tracking of livestock is being used more frequently by U.S. farmers to monitor the movements of their animals as they evaluate land utilization and improvement through grazing. GPS tracking data helps farmers understand a great deal about how pastured animals interaction with the land. This is important for land preservation and recovery activities. In […]
Winter Feeding Trials
We are often asked what our sheep and goats eat in the winter. Northwest Wisconsin is a cold and snowy place. Turnips and some types of grasses such as rye and wheat can be grazed throughout the winter if the snow cover is soft and sparse. Grass that is young and growing in the fall […]
Pumpkin Time is Breeding Time in the Upper Midwest
Fall is Breeding Time: Delicious pie pumpkins are fun to eat but also highly nutritious and prepare ewes for breeding. Ewes that are provided higher nutrition before breeding are more likely to conceive and successfully carry multiple lambs. Extra pumpkins are easy to find after Halloween and the ewes love this addition to their diet. […]
Between the Rains a Farm Visit
Visiting the farm in October: Usually autumn in Wisconsin is sunny with a brisk wind blowing colored leaves that crunch on the dry ground. This year the summer was very dry slowing the growth of native grasses. Then in October it seemed to rain everyday. The ground was so dry the rain did not soak into […]
Why Are The Lambs Eating Turnips?
Customer Question: What do your sheep eat? (Part 2: Late summer diet) As summer turns to fall the growth of warm season grasses slows, seed heads develop and the previous tender stems become tough. A field may look full of grass but the nutrient content is often very low as in the photograph below. Whereas, the […]
Customer Question: What Do Your Sheep Eat?
What our sheep and goats eat depend upon the season. In the spring the new grass growth is eagerly anticipated after their winter’s diet of harvested grass and alfalfa hay. If the opportunity presents itself a eager sheep may test the gate latches and often manage to release a chain, open the gate and bellow […]
Goats Browsing in the Woodlot
Goats are natural browsers. This means that they like to eat with their heads up, often reaching as high as they can for leaves, twigs and wooded area’s understory. They prefer woods to grass pasture but will also nibble on fresh, uncontaminated grass. They are observed to be much fussier in what they will eat […]
Ethiopia Highland Shepherds
Sheep, goats, and their shepherds in the Highlands of Ethiopia. During the wet season, children from the age of 4 are often responsible for moving the livestock to pasture in the morning, staying with them during the day, and returning in late afternoon. These children take on their responsibility seriously. When they return to school at […]
The Shepherds of Guinea-Conakry
Why is improved goat and sheep production in Guinea important? The average protein intake in Guinea is 5.9 g in contrast to the standard American diet of 101.9 grams for males and 70.1 grams for females (National Health and Nutrition Survey). This low level of available protein makes goat and sheep production an important agriculture focus of […]
Nubaria Region Sheep Production, Egypt
Confinement livestock practices are often associated with large factory farms and overcrowded conditions. The photo of a successful working farm in Egypt demonstrates that this does not have to be the case. Although grazing land is not readily available in this part region the livestock are allowed to graze produce residue seasonally. When they do […]
Sustainable Sheep Farming in Mali
Lofiné, Mali is approximately 100 km south of Sikasso and 30 km from the Ivory Coast border. This is traditionally a poor region of Mali but not because of encroaching desert or arid conditions. The rain is heavy from May through September and continues through December. This heavy rainfall results in a wet, humid environment […]