wool
Recycling Materials on Hand for Compost Bin Plans
Add to Favorites There are endless compost bin plans available online. A basic understanding of what components a compost bin must have is essential. Composting is among the easiest, environmentally …
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Wool-Yielding Animals for Yarn and Fiber
Yarn weights are considerations when deciding which fiber breed or species to raise for your yarn. Wool, fleece, and fiber can be harvested from a number of wool-yielding animals, including sheep, goats, rabbits, camels, llamas, alpaca, bison, and yak!
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Dairy Sheep – Consider Icelandic Sheep
What struck me right away when my first Icelandic sheep lambed were the similarities that these sheep had with dairy goats. I had a commercial goat dairy in years past and these ewe lamb mothers had udders that would be respectable for a good milking dairy goat.
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Fiber Festival Fun
One way to maximize your wool value is to target fiber festivals which include spinners, weavers, and dyers. As a small producer specializing in fine wool sheep, our business depends upon finding innovative and profitable ways to market our wool.
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Sheep Breeds for Fiber, Meat, or Dairy
There are numerous breeds in the world and raising sheep serves many purposes. Some sheep breeds lend themselves to provide the whole range of products, Rambouillet sheep, Dorset sheep, and some other sheep breeds are good providers of wool fiber, lambs, milk, and eventually, meat.
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The Shocking Truth About Electric Fencing for Sheep
People have mixed feelings about the use of electric fencing for sheep and other livestock. For people unfamiliar with them, the word “electric fence” conjures up images of a well-done corpse hanging off a prison fence.
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The Dorper Sheep: A Hardy Adaptable Breed
Would you like to raise Dorper sheep, one of the fastest growing breeds in the United States and many other countries? There is good reason for the popularity of the Dorper sheep breed.
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5 Critical Sheep Breeds for the Homestead
Raised for their hides, meat, milk, and wool, sheep are versatile. In addition to providing a local source of food and fiber, small flock owners are looking to support livestock conservation by venturing into raising rare sheep breeds.
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Conserving Romeldale CVM Sheep
In 1915, A.T. Spencer purchased New Zealand Romney rams from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (the 1915 World’s Fair) in San Francisco. The prized rams could not be returned to New Zealand, and A.T. Spencer seized an opportunity.
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Heritage Sheep Breeds: Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em
Heritage sheep are rare, but their wool is special. The Livestock Conservancy’s new Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em project is focusing fiber artists on using rare breed wool and yarns to draw attention to their unusual and fine qualities.
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Best Dairy Sheep Breeds for a Farm
There are a few dairy sheep breeds you could add to your farm. The East Friesian sheep is considered the best breed of dairy sheep by researchers.
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Try Suffolk Sheep for Meat and Wool on the Farm
Suffolk sheep were first recognized in 1797 in sheep breed books. Since 1888, the Suffolk sheep have traveled to new continents and become a staple of American and Canadian sheep farms.
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Shed or Pasture Lambing
The muffled, deep Maaa of a ewe “talking” to her newborn lambs reaches my ears before I open the barn door. Newborn lambs nursing, tails whirling, makes walking to the barn on frigid mornings worthwhile.
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7 Pasture Pig Breeds for the Small Farm
Add to Favorites Raising pasture pig breeds is talked about frequently in farming discussions. Not too far back in agrarian history, pasture pig breeds were more common. Keeping a few …
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Cold Weather 101: Help Lambs Beat the Winter Chill
Add to Favorites As the temperature drops and snow starts falling, it is time to start thinking differently about how we care for lambs. For sheep raisers in cold climates, …
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