The Shepherdess

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

sheep farming for beginners

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August 2023 Farm Update

Hello Friends,

August ushered in a slower pace on pasture and allowed me to launch and ship the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture. The heat was extreme and we had little or no rain, but (remembering last year’s drought) I reserved some pasture in prep for another dry spell. Here is a look at August!

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​I also want to issue a quick apology! Over the past couple of weeks those who ordered sheep supplies have experienced delays in shipping. I typically ship my sheep supplies within 1-2 business days, but with the Book Pre-order, a few of those orders were lost in the influx. My shipping helpers and I have caught up and plan to be back on track with supplies shipments this week.

The Sheep are doing amazingly well in the dry heat. The Dorper is built for drought conditions, so they are having no trouble sailing through the dry spell!

We have had little rain and triple digits for 6 weeks straight. The good rains this spring allowed me to put some pasture in reserve for the dry spell!

My book: The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture has launched and is shipping now!!! I am so grateful for your response to this book.

My incredible family jumped in to help fill your orders!

I really hope this book helps to soften your learning curve and hasten you to a pleasurable, profitable experience with sheep!

I have a NEW SHIRT AVAILABLE! Probably one of my favorites yet :).

I am so grateful for your continued support! I look forward to seeing you again next month :).

-the Shepherdess

“Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3

Are you looking for pasture raised sheep to buy? Check out my pasture based breeder directory!

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Overwhelmed.

Order your copy here!

If I can be honest I was really really nervous (even shaking a little) when I launched pre-order yesterday morning.

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I am self-publishing this book.

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All production and distribution costs have to be paid in full and those costs crept into 5-figures for this project.

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It was a real risk… but I felt really strongly that this was a book that beginner sheep farmers needed.

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It was my goal with a 9 day pre-order to be able to cover costs.

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Within 9 hours you purchased enough books to cover the of the production.

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THANK YOU for supporting this effort. I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

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-the Shepherdess

About the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture (Hardcover Book)

​Raising sheep on pasture requires a basic understanding of pasture management, breeding & lambing, and mitigation methods for common disease. I walk the beginner shepherd through each aspect; sharing vivid pictures, easy to follow instruction, and personal stories from my own journey with sheep.

If you want to know what kind of info I provide through this book, here is a look at the table of content!

Order your copy here!

“And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Psalm 90:17

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The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture: A Book for Beginners in Sheep Farming

The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture: a Book for Beginners in Sheep Farming.

Buy the Book here

About the book: The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture

In 2017, my family and I moved to the country. Shortly thereafter we bought a flock of 36 sheep. We had no previous experience in raising four-footed livestock. Our first few years as beginner sheep farmers was incredibly rough. Over the course of five years, we earned a hard and fast education on animal husbandry. We learned through losses, trial error; you name it, we probably went through it.

In 2020, I personally stumbled upon the concept of regenerative pasture management. It was a combination of an education on basic husbandry principles and regenerative pasture management that took death rate on our sheep farm from 40% in our rookie year to less than 5% three years later.

Industry average death rate for sheep farms nationwide is 15%, so this drop is absolutely astounding.

For the past six months, I have been working to condense everything that allowed us to so dramatically increase productivity on our sheep farm.

The result is a rich resource for beginner sheep farmers.

That resource is a book that I am so thrilled to announce: the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture. What sets the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture apart from any other book on raising sheep is that it is a photo-educational book. As much as it tells you what to do, it shows you what to do.

The pictures in this book are vivid and show you step by step how to implement the basic principles necessary to raise and rear a healthy sheep flock. What’s more is that sprinkled throughout the book are a series of QR codes. Should you choose to pair technology with the use of this book, you can scan those codes to be taken straight to videos that further expound the processes explained on the page.

While this book was not necessarily written for children, the easy to understand framework makes it ideal for a young audience. The videos that are accessible through these codes are hosted on a child friendly platform and free of third party ads.

This book is being launched exclusively through shepherdess.com and will not be found on Amazon.

Thank you all for your support to this point! I wouldn’t be doing this without you.
-the Shepherdess

“And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Psalm 90:17

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THE 25 SUPPLIES I USE ON MY SHEEP FARM

15 products are what I call my ESSENTIALS BUNDLE (I talk about them in this video), the remaining 10 products are important to have on hand for the long term (scroll for what they are). Enjoy an overview of all 25!

Supplies I use for my sheep.

I farm a small flock of Dorper Sheep on a pasture based system in Northeast Texas. I am running approximately 50 head of purebred and registered Dorper sheep on 23 acres. At lambing 50 breeding ewes will swell to around 100-150 sheep in total.

When my family and I started farming Dorper sheep, we had just moved from the suburbs. We had no farming experience beyond a few chickens. Our first 2 years of sheep farming were very difficult. In short: we had a lot of dead sheep.

Our biggest death losses were with lambs. Our lambs would be born healthy, bouncing, and beautiful; but between 12 and 16 weeks many of them would get sick and die.

It was a very discouraging 2 years, but in 2020 three things turned our sheep farm from dead zone, to profit center. Those three things were:

  1. Learning how to apply the right care at the right time.
  2. Practicing good pasture management.
  3. Learning how to market sheep.

When we got the hang of these three things, the death rate on our farm dropped to 1/3 of sheep industry average in just 18 months and we began generating significant revenue through the sale of surplus lambs!!

This video is going to cover part 1 of this 3-part improvement with a list of the 25 supplies I use to administer the right care to my sheep at the right time. If you want to go deeper watch my FREE 1 Hour Class on the Basics of Raising, Grazing, and Marketing Sheep.

Extra Label Disclaimer:

A few of the products I use are FDA labeled for farm animals like pigs, cows, and goats. I use them all for my sheep under “extra-label” application. This means I have a good relationship with my vet who oversees my use of these supplies on an “extra-label” basis.

As a disclaimer, be sure you have the same vet oversight and approval when you are using products for sheep that are not FDA labeled for sheep.

25 SUPPLIES I USE ON MY SHEEP FARM:

(Each photo links to a product page for ease of purchase!)

  1. Cydectin Dewormer: *Culling for parasites should be a top priority as dewormers lose effectiveness the more you use them. The goal at my farm is to cull in such a way as to use them less and less of this every year.

2. Toltrazuril for Coccidia (extra-label): This is a product for horses. I use it for my lambs when they display symptoms of coccidiosis (symptoms typically look like persistent diarrhea and/or pot bellies with skinny hind quarters) I use Toltrazuril at a rate of 1 CC per 5lb body weight.

3. Drenching Gun: This is a tool for administering dewormer or other liquid supplements into the mouth of sheep.

4. VITA JEC B-complex Fortified: This is my most used vitamin shot on farm. I use it any time a sheep has been through severe physical stress (stressful lambing, high parasite load, etc).

5. ANEM X IRON (extra-label): This is a product for pigs. I use it on my farm for ewes that are very anemic. In instances of parasite overload I will follow up the deworming with both vitamin B and Anem-x to fast track the rebuilding of red blood cell count in the sheep.

6. Disposable syringes (with matching needles): These syringes are for the vitamin shots I just referenced. The two different sizes I use are 3 mil and 12 mil. The syringes also work great if you are giving an oral drench to a lamb that has a mouth too small for the drenching gun.

7. Colostrum Replacer: Colostrum intake is a life or death issue for young lambs. I always keep a high quality supplement (linked) on hand for orphans or lambs whose moms are not making enough on their own.

8. Tube Feeding Kit: This is for feeding lambs straight into their stomach. I like to use this for getting formula into the lambs stomach and will transition to a bottle once I know the lamb is for sure orphaned.

9. Lamb Bottle: This is a must for orphan lambs.

10. Nutridrench for Sheep: This is a great oral vitamin. I have not found it to be as potent or fast acting as the vitamin shots I just mentioned, but I have still found it effective, especially if you are not comfortable with giving shots yet.

11. Selenium Gel Oral Supplement (extra-label): This is a product for goats. I use it for sheep when I detect a selenium deficiency. This usually displays itself in weak legs in young lambs or white muscle disease.

12. Rubber Gloves: Important sanitary precaution.

13. Arm Sleeve Gloves: For internals at lambing.

14. TODAY (extra-label): This is a product for cows. Inter-mammary infusion for mastitis.

15. VETERICYN PLUS® WOUND & SKIN CARE: I don’t use it too often, but it is good to have a wound care product because wounds to happen sometimes.

16. VETERICYN® HOOF CARE: This antibacterial spray is a quick way to treat hooves. Limping is often not foot rot, but foot scald. However, the bacteria that causes foot scald can develop into foot rot. Quick treatment of a persistent limp is advisable.

17. Hoof Trimming Shears

18. Paracord (Lambing rope)

19. Mineral Oil: Hand lubricant for situations of assisted lambing.

20. Eartags

21. Eartag Markers

22. Eartag applicator

Prescription Only Products:

These are 3 products I use that are available through a vet only.

23. General Antibiotic: VET ONLY. Antibiotics used to be available over the counter, but as of 2023 they are prescription only. Because I use antibiotics so infrequently and have a good relationship with my vet, the recent changes to prescription only have not made a significant difference on my sheep farm.

24. CD/T: VET ONLY A shot to guard sheep against bloat and tetanus.

25. BO-SE: Selenium-Vitamin E Shot.

I hope this info helps you!

-the Shepherdess

“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21

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Answering your questions about the Shepherdess Masterclass!

ENROLL HERE!

Here are some of the questions coming through about Monday’s Launch of the Shepherdess Masterclasss: a video led course for beginners on raising, grazing, and marketing sheep! I am excited to see you then!

How and where do I enroll?

Enrollment opens on Monday at 8 am CST at  Shepherdess.com . At that time you will see a HUGE “ENROLL NOW” banner at Shepherdess.com… it will be hard to miss :).

Are there early sign up bonuses?

YES. First 20 students to enroll will receive 2 hard copy books on animal handling and husbandry. Temple Grandin’s Guide to Working with Farm Animals and Storey’s Guide to Raising Miniature Animals.

My schedule is busy, are these one-time only live classes?

No, these are on-demand classes. You can learn in line with your own schedule and replay each class if you need to. There are 3 student-only livestreams that I will be hosting at set times, but the classes are accessible 24/7.

Why limited enrollment?

I want to ensure a high quality experience. This enrollment window will close after 7 days. I plan to launch another enrollment cycle once the first round of students are taken care of!

I already have sheep, how will this help?

This course has a lot of marketing and business building info in it that will help you transition into a for-profit flock. Also, a lot of struggles emerge when your flock begins lambing. This Masterclass covers how to care for ewes at lambing and how to avoid common causes of death in lambs from birth to 8 months.

What does the Shepherdess Masterclass teach?

Alot. Here is the run down!

•LAMB FOR LIFE: How to avoid common causes of death on sheep farms. (With hands-on tutorials on how to give shots, medicine, etc)

•GRAZING SHEEP 101: How to setup a grazing system that only takes 1 HOUR PER DAY to maintain. (With Hands on tutorials on how to install charger systems, ground rod systems, what fencing to use, etc)

•MARKETING SHEEP+: How I market sheep (and more) for a full time income without leaving the farm.

6 Farm on the Web Marketing classes:

•How to setup a Newsletter for your farm.

•How to setup a Website for your farm.

•How to sell products on your website.

•How to advertise on social media without paying for ads (3 classes for Youtube, Instagram, and Facebook.)

In summary you receive:

9 One-Hour Masterclass Video Sessions

3 EBOOKS (80 pages each)

14 hands on TUTORIAL VIDS (average of 5 minutes each)

2 Supplies Lists (with links to best-price sources)

5 Worksheets

1 Shepherdess Photo Filter for professional quality iPhone shots.

Enrollment BONUS:

First 20 Students to enroll receive 2 hardcopy books.

All students will receive 3 student-only LIVESTREAM Q+A’s with the Shepherdess.

… a $985 value.

What are you charging for the Masterclass?

I am offering this info at a special price of $425 next week.

Will you offer a payment plan?

Yes! The payment plan is 4 monthly installments of $110.

What if I have already bought some of these classes from you in the past?

You can purchase the ones you don’t own  a la carte on this page .

I’d like to share about your courses on my social media, do you have offer affiliate commissions?

Yes!  CLICK HERE  for info.

-the Shepherdess

“Know ye that the LORD he is God: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3

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A Sheep Farming (and marketing) Course for ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS

What is the Shepherdess Masterclass?

9 video-led training classes

(1 yr. access with e-books and worksheets):

•Raising Sheep (LAMB FOR LIFE)

•Grazing Sheep

•Marketing Sheep+

•Farm on the Web Class Bundle (6 step-by-step marketing tutorials for using Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Newsletters, Websites, and E-commerce to sell products.)

-the Shepherdess

Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.” Isaiah 48:17