Pasture Raised and Grass Fed on Stony Brook Farm

Currently, I raise Icelandic sheep, which is an ancient breed that has not been “improved” by the introduction of genetics from other breeds. An Icelandic sheep from today is genetically the same as an Icelandic sheep from 1,000 years ago, which is one of the reasons that I chose the breed. One thousand years ago in Iceland, sheep needed to be hardy to live. Many modern sheep breeds have been “improved” to the point of needing to be coddled in order to thrive. I want my sheep to be hardy, independent, parasite resistant, good mothers, and thrifty with feed, and Icelandics fit the bill (many other breeds, of course, also fit the bill). However, for a shepherd with no dog and not much help, the independence of Icelandics may be a draw back.

The sheep, including the breeding stock, are grassfed, which means that all they eat is grass and hay. They get first cutting hay, except for the last four to six weeks before lambing and after lambing until they get turned out on pasture. During that time, they get second cutting mixed alfalfa-grass hay for the increased protein.

Pasture
I practice management-intensive rotational grazing, which means that I rotate the sheep around a pasture in fenced off sections known as paddocks. The management-intensive part means that the sheep are not moved according to any fixed schedule. They are moved according to the amount of grass left in their paddock and the growth rate of the grass in the rest of the pasture. In the spring, the sheep are moved more frequently because the grass is growing quickly, so I do not need to force them to eat down the grass; I can allow them to graze down just the succulent tips and then move them. In the depth of summer, however, when the grass growth has slowed down or even stalled, it is necessary to hold the sheep in one spot longer to give the grass in other sections of the pasture a chance to grow to grazing height. This means that they will be eating down the less tender, less palatable stems, so lamb growth rates will go down some. This is one of the reasons that lambs are “finished” in the fall because as the cool weather of fall settles in, the grass (and therefore lamb growth) takes off again right before going dormant for the winter.

While on pasture, the sheep are given plenty of water and free-choice access to Redmond mineral salts and Redmond livestock mineral conditioner. They also have a tarp covered cattle panel hoop house shelter for shade and so they can get out of the weather if they want to.

Environment and Handling
My goal as a farmer is to re-create my livestock’s natural environment as much as is possible within an unnatural system. Therefore, I try to create an environment that is as free as possible from unnatural stresses like confinement, and when I handle the sheep, I like to do so in a gentle, calm, deliberate way so that the sheep are not made anxious, excited, or frightened. While I always try to practice low-stress handling, I sometimes fail, as Sheep Mayhem illustrates.

Shearing
I learned this year just how hot an unshorn sheep gets. Before the sheep were sheared last week, they started panting when it was only sixty degrees. Therefore, unless I were to switch to a hair breed of sheep like Kathadin, which shed their wool each season, shearing will be a necessary stress the sheep will need to endure each year. From a welfare perspective, then, I will make sure the sheep are sheared each year before the hot weather sets in, and I will make sure that the shearer handles the sheep as gently and calmly as possible, which the shearer that I used this year (and will use next year) did.

Hoof Trimming and Other Management Tasks
I believe that hoof health is an important part of overall health, so I make every effort to trim hooves before they get too long. Badly untrimmed hooves can lead to hoof rot and/or lameness. Hoof trimming is of course unpleasant for the sheep, but I try to do it as well and quickly as possible.

The sheep need to be de-wormed periodically because intestinal parasites, especially of the blood sucking Haemonchus Contortus (Barber Pole Worm), can cause sickness and death if left untreated. I would like to use a non-synthetic chemical dewormer like garlic juice, which was shown to be effective against coccidiosis and Barber Pole worm in lambs in a USDA SARE-grant funded study a few years ago, but in 2008, I ended up with a sudden parasite infestation explosion due to a period of wet, hot, humid weather, and I decided to use Cydectin, a synthetic chemical dewormer because the sheep were showing potentially fatal levels of anemia, and I didn’t want to risk using the garlic juice. I plan to try the garlic juice in 2009.

Icelandic sheep have short tails, which is another reason that I chose them, so I do not need to practice tail docking.

Because I direct market my lambs, I am able to market them as ram lambs, so I do not need to practice castration.

Trailering
Every effort is made to load the sheep calmly and quietly, and I do not pack the sheep into the trailer like sardines. The trailer ride to the local slaughterhouse is only about twenty minutes.

Slaughterhouse
If the sheep I raise are treated poorly at the slaughterhouse, then I have failed in my effort to raise sheep according to the highest welfare standards. The people at the slaughterhouse need to handle the sheep in a low-stress manner, both from the trailer to the holding pen and from the trailer to the kill floor. The slaughterhouse that I use for the sheep does so.