The Shepherdess

Resources for Beginner Sheep Farmers, Dorper Sheep for Sale in Texas!

raising dorper lambs

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March 2024 Farm Update | Raising Dorper Lambs in Texas

Interested in purchasing my Dorper Lambs for your own farm? Join my waitlist below!

Hey Friends,

I am so excited to share behind the scenes from March at my farm. Also, mark your calendars for May 10-11th. Lordwilling, I will be in Luling Texas for a meet-and-greet! Market at the Farm is a free event hosted by Sunny Hill Flower Farm at Mercy Meadows Ranch. RSVP below!

Market at the Farm in Luling, TX is the perfect Mother’s Day day trip: U-pick flower garden, live music, food, coffee, petting zoo, games for children, local vendor market and more! I hope to see you there :).

RSVP HERE

(RSVP is free. If your schedule changes you can be cancel any time before the event.)

The very last lamb of the season was born in March! I will have more details on 2024 lambs for sale in April’s farm update! Please stay tuned.

I’m grateful for early spring pasture! I launched my spring grazing program on March 7th, one week ahead of schedule! I was definitely glad to stop feeding hay a bit early this year :).

Speaking of grazing! I found a great deal on 1000 Pigtail Posts for rotational grazing (previous owner used them to create dividers at a concert)! But I don’t need all 1000… I’m passing the deal on to you by selling bundles of 20 at almost HALF RETAIL PRICE (free shipping on $75+). Go grab some!!

I rotational graze my sheep, moving them to a fresh paddock around 2-5x per week. I use two lines of (electric) Polytape to create new paddocks. The lines are set at around 6″ and 24″. The heights make it too low to crawl under and too high to (comfortably) jump over.

With 6 bottle lambs at once, I decided to invest in some fenceline bottle racks! It is fun to watch them lineup and feed themselves!

I have been weaning my bottle lambs at 40lbs (reaching this weight by about 10 wks old). I feed them hay and alfalfa pellets (sometimes a small handful of crushed barely mixed in) so that they are ready for a full transition to solid food once they reach 40 lb.

For my regular lambs I wean them off their moms around 50 lbs. They stay in my weaning pen until they reach 60lb. In the weaning pen I deworm them and feed hay and alfalfa until they hit 60lb. It usually takes 4-6 weeks for them to reach 60lb. At 60lb, they graduate to pasture and are grazed the same as the rest of the flock. This is my 3rd year using this weaning system. Lambs in this system seem to have better parasite resistance than the rest!

I just listed my Raising Sheep Book Bundle, with the 3 books I recommend you have on hand as a beginner Shepherd. You can buy all 3 together or individually by clicking here!​

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Thanks for reading! I appreciate your support very much!

-the Shepherdess

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8

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February 2024 Farm Update | Raising Dorper Lambs in Texas

Interested in purchasing my Dorper Lambs for your own farm? Join my waitlist below!

Hi all,

February was busy and I am excited to give you a look at it! I have had several emails asking if I have been impacted by the the Texas Wildfires. No, I am closer to the Louisiana border than the Texas Panhandle. Please pray the fires come under control within the next week. Ranchers are depending on it for spring grazing.

I have been sharing about Amos Miller case since early 2022 when the Federal Govt. filed suit against his Organic Farm. Miller Organic Farm is now being sued by the state (a second major lawsuit). This month, I left the farm to attend the Amos Miller Rally in Lancaster, PA. I obtained press-pass to the court hearing and plan to update you all with more info on the proceedings. ​WATCH MY AMOS MILLER VIDEOS HERE!​

Lambing is almost finished! I have one ewe left to give birth. I am grateful for a good season and lambs that are growing like weeds! A few of the Lambs that were born in November have already been weaned. The lamb at the front is not weaned, but is a bottle lamb so she is residing at the weaning pen :).

Despite a (mostly) smooth lambing season, I hit a snag with one of my ewes. The ewe was small, the lamb was large and poorly positioned.

After trying for an hour to deliver the lamb, I loaded the ewe into a pet taxi and took her to the vet (thanks to my dad and brother’s help)…

After a rough c-section a big ram lamb was BORN ALIVE, but not responsive!

I spent about 30 minutes rubbing, stimulating, and even giving the lamb CPR. The vet also came and gave him a stimulant.

The lamb survived and is THRIVING!! I am so grateful to the Lord for a happy ending! His mother is also recovering very well!

If you are waiting on info regarding Dorper Lambs for SALE, be watching for info in the coming month. I am focusing a lot more on meat sales this year, but may have a handful of really high quality breeding ewes and rams up for grabs.

My EAT BEEF, NOT BUGS tee is now available in sizes S-3XL!! Your purchases help support my farm and the work I share on the internet.

If you are interested in raising sheep yourself, check out my book: The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture

Thanks so much for supporting my work!

-the Shepherdess

“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Proverbs 24:16