Posts by Ulf Kintzel
Think like a sheep and you will be able to catch it. How often have you been outsmarted by a sheep when you tried to catch it? Here is some advice on how to win that battle of minds. Sheep are not stupid like many people claim. In a sheep’s world, all of what it…
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Determining which pasture weeds are nutritious additions and which are undesirable. Weeds are called weeds because we named them that way. The word “weed” suggests they are undesirable. However, not all weeds are created equal. This article addresses that. Perennial pasture never contains just the planted and desirable forage species like the grass species and the legumes that…
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How to care for a ram once your breeding season has ended. It is winter right now and your breeding season has probably ended. What should be done with your ram or rams? According to the questions I receive, the first inclination of people is to remove the ram from the flock. My advice is to leave the ram with the ewes after the official…
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How to provide drinking water for sheep. If you have sought any sort of consultation in how to set up a grazing system for sheep, you will likely have been advised to lay waterlines to provide drinking water to the flock. In this article, I will lay out an alternative way to accomplish the same without going…
Read MoreGuarding means that the dog views the livestock as members of its own pack. In 2011, I wrote an article for the Small Farms Quarterly about “Livestock Guardian Dogs.” In the past nine years I gained many additional insights and had new experiences, which I want to share in this new article. A heavy…
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A sheep that twins means increased farm profit. One of the most productive measures of a ewe is her ability to have twins instead of just having one lamb. A sheep that twins is more likely to make you a profit. A sheep that has consistently just one lamb may cause you to lose money. So, you would want as many ewes as…
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The benefits of keeping Kiko goats with sheep. People who pass by my farm are often surprised to see goats in my flock of White Dorper sheep. “Why do you have goats?” they most often ask, if they can spot them. So, why do I have goats? Goats have a different grazing behavior than sheep. They prefer coarser plants. They love to browse.…
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Sharing the design of hay feeders for round bales and logistics of feeding hay to sheep in the winter. Various companies offer round bale hay feeders for sheep. They all have one characteristic in common: they cost a lot of money. I have been using self-made hay feeders made from livestock panels for two decades.…
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How to effectively use breeding harnesses and spray paint for sheep. A customer of mine asked me: “Do you use a breeding harness for your ram?” She did and had problems keeping it on the ram. Her question prompted me to write this article, explaining how I make certain that I know which ram breeds…
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An introduction on how to use color and number code ear tags for sheep. The USDA decided years ago to combat Scrapie, a disease similar to Mad Cow Disease that affects sheep and goats. In its effort to do so, it became law in the United States that you must get a premise ID number…
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