Tea Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Thanks GRANDPA! THANKS DOGS The first 6 sheep and goats sold so well through our butcher in Seattle that he is ordering 6 per week! At an average of $5.00 per pound! We are making a little movie of browsing and grazing the sheep loose. It is saving us! Had to tell you folks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Why is the title Tea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Great news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Way cool! Can you supply 312 a year of a consistent quality and on a regular schedule, or is this just a seasonal thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted September 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Oh Bill, I knew you would get to that! As you are a good buiness man. Sadly no! Not alone I can't BUT! I am working with two dairies, sheep and goat and one other farm to collect their stock and browse and graze them loose so we can help them as well as use our own stock. The trick is to work together. Then everyone does well. The problem is the dairy ewes cannot live on the indigenous brush like my own stock can, Not as well anyway! (However we will probably be donating a ram to them and that will help their lambs. both in carcass quality and parasite resistance Our carcasses are small but we explain to folks why. It is a trade off. People love it!) The goats can live on our brush, but in my area the parasite load is very bad. And the goats do not do well with it. However browsing the goats on the indigenous brush helps with that because of the tannins in the leaves. I have a Science teacher and his whole class working with a lab identifying what is actually happening. But man! I am happy with this! I just hope it is not just a flash in the pan! But at least we have done it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Walk on air for a little while -- pat yourself on the back. You are doing something that 99.44 percent of sheep producers in the US would never even think of, let alone try, let alone succeed at. There's nothing wrong with providing six lambs a week for the part of the year you have them -- just be careful not to promise anything you can't deliver. In fact, promise a little bit less, and surprise them with a little extra when you can offer it. I have two butcher shops clambering for three to five lambs a week; both would like that many year round. Realistically, there's only a couple of months when I can provide that many. I have promised each three lambs a week starting in December and ending in early February. There will be several weeks in there when I can provide four or five, but I will not promise them any more than what I will be able to do on the worst weeks. Manage your customers' expectations, and always try to offer a little more than you promised. They'll be so much happier than if you say "I'll try" and fail. Ignore all the entrepreneur's stories about agreeing to produce something and then figuring out how to do it. The world is littered with the carcasses of business that were built on that model. For every one entrepreneur who pulls it off, there are 1,000 or 10,000 who miss the mark. If you miss the mark, you not only close the door for yourself, but for others who might refine your system later on and approach a market that has been burned in the past. The news of your shortcomings -- if you allow them to happen -- will travel much faster than the news of your successes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Bill You are a smart cookie! Thank you for the advice. I think it is absolutely right! Anyhow....the other thing is the mutton is selling better than the lamb! I take some in today and have another order for next week. And then the shop told me they would help me finance the thing if I need it! The other thing is the sheep dairy lambs in feb and they will sell me the lambs at a month old. But here is the thing. I have to use a replacer with no animal products in it. (It is Seattle after all.) So no tallow and no blood plasma. So I have used goat's milk, with good sucess. Uh but 100 lambs? Uh that's ALOT of Goats! I do not know how they would do on powered Goats milk. I have only used raw, unpasturised. Boy I hope this works!!! Kind of Scary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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