The Backyard Homestead

by Carleen Madigan

  Whole and Skimmed Milk

  After goat milk has been refrigerated for a day or two, its milk fat rises to the surface. Milk fat thinned with a little milk is cream. The milk fat content of goat milk ranges from 2 to 6 percent, depending on genetics, diet, and other factors. An average of 4 percent will give you about 5 tablespoons of milk fat per quart. The milk from Nubians and African Pygmies contains more fat than other milk, and the milk from all does varies in fat content during the lactation cycle. Milk fat content is important in making ice cream, butter, and certain kinds of cheese.

  If you are trying to limit the amount of fat in your diet, you may remove the milk fat to create skimmed milk. Store fresh milk in a widemouthed container. In about two days, most of the milk fat will rise to the surface, and you can then skim it off.

  Someone who is sensitive to cow milk protein may have no trouble at all drinking goat milk.

  Sheep for Meat and Milk

  For thousands of years, people have raised sheep for three critical reasons: milk, meat, and wool. Of course, other barnyard animals are also able to provide humankind with these items, but sheep have many advantages.

  They are much easier to handle than other farm animals, such as cows, horses, and pigs. Moreover, they require little room, they’re fairly easy to care for, and they can be trained to follow, come when called, and stand quietly.

  Sheep are also earth-friendly. Land that cannot be used to grow vegetables, fruits, or grains is fine for sheep. They eat weeds, grasses, brush, and other plants that grow on poor land, and their digestive system is designed to handle parts of food plants such as corn, rice, and wheat that people cannot eat. Many of the world’s most popular cheeses are made from sheep milk. Sheep wool, which can be used to make rugs, blankets, clothing, and other materials, is a renewable resource. Sheep manure fertilizes soil. The fat of a sheep raised for meat can be used to make candles and soap, and the pelt of that sheep can be used to make clothing.

  Sheep rely on their owners for food, protection from predators, and regular shearing, but they require less special equipment and housing than any other livestock. One or two lambs or ewes can be raised in a backyard with simple fencing and a small shelter. No sheep should be raised alone. They have a built-in social nature and a flocking instinct and are happiest when they have companions. Bummer (orphaned) lambs, however, are often just as happy around humans as they are with other sheep. Orphaned lambs quickly become attached to the person who feeds them.

  Sheep don’t need fancy food. In summer, they can live on grass; in winter, they can eat hay supplemented with small amounts of grain. Fresh water, salt, and a mineral and vitamin supplement complete their diet.

  Choosing a Breed

  If you want to raise sheep, you’ll need to know which breeds have the characteristics that are most important for your purposes. The climate in your region will also help you determine which is the best breed for you. If you live in an area with severe winters, choose a breed that can survive in cold weather. If you live in a wet area, look for a breed that tolerates rainy weather. If you live in a desert-like area, you will want a breed that is adapted to hot, dry climates. Look around and see what breeds of sheep are being raised locally — these breeds may also be the best ones for you.

  Sheep come in so many breeds that it would take a whole book to describe them all. This section describes some of the most popular breeds, as well as a few minor ones. If you keep in mind your reasons for owning sheep, these brief descriptions will help you decide which breeds are right for you.

  Columbia. Columbias are large animals that produce heavy, dense fleece and fast-growing lambs. Columbias have a calm temperament and are easy to handle. They have an open, white face and are polled.

  Sheep Terminology

  White face and black face. These terms describe the color of the wool on the sheep’s head and face. Normally, the wool on the lower legs is the same color as that on the face.

  Open face and closed face. These terms are used to describe how much long wool is on the sheep’s face. An open-faced sheep has only short, hairlike wool on its face. A closed-faced sheep has long wool on its face. On a closed-faced sheep, the wool may grow all the way down to the animal’s nose. Too much wool around the eyes causes the sheep to become “wool blind.” The excess wool must be clipped away so that the animal can see.

  Prick ear or lop ear. Just as a German shepherd’s ears stand up and those of a cocker spaniel hang down, a sheep’s ears can stand straight up (prick ear) or hang floppily down (lop ear). Some sheep’s ears even stand out to the side.

  Polled or horned. Polled sheep have no horns and horned sheep have horns.

  Open and black face

  Closed and white face

  Corriedale. Corriedales, noted for their long, productive lives, are distributed worldwide. These large, gentle-tempered sheep have been developed as dual-purpose animals, offering both quality wool and quality meat. A strong herding instinct makes them excellent range animals, as well. They have an open, white face and are polled.

  Dorset. The Dorset is considered one of the best choices for a first sheep. Dorsets are medium-sized and have a very gentle disposition. A Dorset has very little wool on its face, legs, and belly, which makes lambing easier. Its face is usually open, and it is white on both the face and the legs. Both polled and horned types are available.

  Dorsets are a fine choice for both wool and meat. Their lightweight fleece is excellent for handspinning, and they have large, muscular bodies and gain weight fast. Dorset ewes are good mothers, and Dorsets are one of the few breeds that can lamb in late summer or fall.

  Hampshire. The Hampshire is among the largest of the meat types, and the lambs grow fast. Its face is partially closed; the wool extends about halfway down. It has a black face and legs and is polled. Hampshires have a gentle temperament that makes them popular with children.

  Common Sheep Breeds

  Corriedale

  Dorset

  Hampshire

  Katahdin

  Tunis

  Romney

  Suffolk

  Katahdin. This breed of sheep is an easy-to-raise meat sheep that has hair instead of wool. It does not require shearing, because it sheds its hair coat once a year. Katahdins can tolerate extremes of weather. Except for the fact that Katahdins do not produce wool, they possess all of the ideal traits for a pet or small flock: They are gentle, with a mild temperament; require no shearing; have few problems with lambing; are excellent mothers; and have a natural resistance to parasites. They have an open, white face and are polled.

  Polypay. Large and gentle tempered, Polypays are a superior lamb-production breed with a high rate of twinning, a long breeding season, and good mothering ability. They are also known for having strong flocking instincts, quality meat and wool, and milking ability. They have an open, white face and are polled.

  Romney. Like other gentle-tempered sheep breeds, Romneys make excellent pets. They are polled and have an open, white face; black points (noses and hooves); and a long, soft fleece that is ideal for hand-spinning. They also produce good market lambs. Romney ewes are quiet, calm mothers. Romneys are best suited to cool, wet areas.

  Suffolk. Suffolks are similar to Hampshires. They, too, are large and have fast-growing lambs. They have an open, black face (unlike the Hampshire’s partially closed face) and are polled. Suffolks are usually gentle, but some can be headstrong and difficult for younger children to manage.

  Tunis. Around for more than 3,000 years, the Tunis is one of the oldest sheep breeds. It is considered a minor breed because relatively few Tunis can be found in the United States. They are medium sized, hardy, docile, and very good mothers. The reddish tan hair that covers their legs and closed faces is an unusual color for sheep. They have long, broad, free-swinging lop ears and are polled. Their medium-heavy fleece is popular for hand-spinning. The Tunis thrives in a warm climate, and the rams can breed in very hot weather. The ewes often have twins, p
roduce a good supply of milk, and breed for much of their life span.

  Proper Sheep Conformation

  Heritage, Rare, and Minor Breeds

  The breeds that have fallen out of favor with industrialized agriculture are referred to as rare, heritage, or minor breeds. Many of these breeds were major breeds just a generation or two ago, but as agriculture has focused on maximum production regardless of an animal’s constitution, these old-fashioned breeds have begun to die out. The loss of heritage breeds can have an especially grave impact on homesteaders, who are usually interested in low-input (less work on the part of the farmer) agriculture. These breeds, although not the most productive in an industrialized system, have traits that make them well suited to low-input farming. Some are dual-purpose, able to produce both meat and fiber. Others are acclimatized to regional environments, such as hot and humid or dry and cool conditions. Many perform well on pasture with little or no supplemental feeding. Others resist disease and parasites. Some have such strong mothering skills that the farmer doesn’t have to do much work during lambing season.

  Interest today in preserving heritage breeds of livestock, including sheep, is increasing. A driving force in this movement is the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC). For more information about heritage breeds of sheep, contact the ALBC (see Resources, page 340).

  Lamb meat is delicate and tender; the meat from older animals, called mutton, can be used like ground beef.

  Culling and Butchering

  If you breed sheep, eventually you’ll have to cull the flock to improve your stock. Keep the best ewe lambs to replace less productive older ewes. Butcher all ram lambs, unless you intend to raise a breeding ram for your own use or to sell. Unneeded lambs should be butchered at five to six months of age.

  When evaluating older ewes for culling, consider age, productivity, and general health. Cull the following types of older ewe:

  • Ewes with defective udders

  • Ewes with a broken mouth (teeth missing)

  • Limping sheep that do not respond to regular trimming and footbaths

  • Ewes with insufficient milk and slow-growing lambs

  Lamb meat is delicate and tender; the meat from older animals, called mutton, can be ground and used like ground beef. However, mutton is easier to digest than beef is, which makes it a good meat for people who have gastrointestinal difficulties.

  You can either take your sheep to a custom packing plant to be slaughtered and butchered or do it yourself. If you want to do it yourself, consult a good manual (see Resources, page 340).

  If you’re going to work with packers, you’ll have to give them some instructions. Consider these guidelines:

  • Cut off the lower part of hind legs for soup bones.

  • For mutton, have both hind legs smoked for hams.

  • For lambs, the hind legs can be left whole, as in the traditional leg of lamb, or cut into sirloin roasts and leg chops.

  • The loin, from either mutton or lamb, can be cut as tenderloin into boneless cutlets or as a loin roast.

  • Package riblets, spare ribs, and breast meat into 2-pound packages. Rib-lets, which are sometimes referred to as short ribs, are almost inedible when prepared by most cooking methods, but when prepared in a pressure cooker for about 45 minutes, with 1 inch of water, barbecue sauce, curry sauce, or your favorite marinade in the bottom to start, they are a real delicacy. For lambs, the spareribs and breast can be barbecued or braised. For mutton, these cuts are pretty much waste products.

  • For mutton, have the rest boned, trimmed of fat, and ground. Double-wrap in 1-pound packages.

  • For lamb, the rack, or rib area, can be cut into lamb chops or left as rack roast. The shoulder can be cut into roasts or chops, and the neck and shank can be used as soup bones.

  • If you want kabob meat, make sure to have it cut from the sirloin or loin.

  Cattle for Milk and Meat

  Raising cattle, a milk cow, or even just a calf or two can be a profitable and satisfying experience. Cattle are an efficient way to produce food because they can graze on land that won’t grow crops and can eat roughage that humans can’t.

  They can mow the hillside behind your house that is too steep for a garden or survive on a back forty that has too much brush, rocks, or swamp to grow any crop other than grass. Cattle provide us with meat or milk while keeping weeds trimmed, which is a good measure for fire control and yields a neater landscape.

  Moreover, getting set up to raise cattle often does not involve much expense, except for the initial fencing to keep them where you want them. And if you don’t want to bother with purchasing hay and grain, you can use weaned calves to harvest your grass during the growing season, then send them for butchering when the grass is gone — thus making seasonal use of pasture and creating a “harvest” of meat.

  Raising cattle can also be a soul-satisfying experience. They are fascinating and entertaining animals; working with cattle is never boring. It can be physically challenging at times, as when delivering a calf in a difficult birth and trying to catch an elusive animal. But for those who enjoy raising cattle, the chores of caring for them are not really work. Their interaction with these animals is part of their enjoyment of life.

  What Do I Need to Raise Cattle?

  You can raise a steer in your backyard in a corral or on a small acreage, or you can raise a herd of cattle on a large pasture, on crop stubble after harvest, or on steep rocky hillsides. Cattle can be fed hay and grain or can forage for themselves. Economics and individual circumstances will dictate your methods. If you have pasture, all you’ll need is proper fencing to keep the animals in, so they won’t trample your flower beds or visit the neighbors.

  You will need a reliable source of water and a pen to corral the animals when they need to be handled for vaccinations and other management procedures. If you have a milk cow, you may want a little run-in shed or at least a roof, so you can milk her out of the weather if it’s raining or snowing. Most of the time, cattle don’t need shelter; their heavy hair coat insulates them against wind, rain, and cold. In hot climates, however, shade in summer is important. A simple roof with one or two walls can provide shade in summer and protection from wind and storm in winter.

  The novice cattle raiser may also need advice from time to time from a veterinarian, cattle breeder or dairyman, or the county Extension Service agent. Don’t be afraid to contact an experienced person to ask questions or to request help.

  Cattle provide us with meat or milk while keeping weeds trimmed.

  Choosing the Right Kind of Animal

  Your choice of calf will depend on how much space you have and what your goals are. Do you want to raise a steer to butcher or sell for beef or a heifer that will grow up to be a cow? A calf can be raised in a small area, even in your backyard, if your town’s ordinances permit livestock. But if your goal is to have a cow that someday will have a calf of her own, she’ll need more room.

  If you are raising a calf to sell, you should probably raise a steer. Steers weigh more than heifers of the same age and bring more money per pound when sold. However, heifers are more flexible — you can raise them as beef or keep them as dairy animals. Dairy heifers are worth more money than beef cattle when they mature. If you want to eventually raise a small herd of cattle, choose a heifer to start with. Her calves will become your herd.

  Bull. When a male calf is born, he is considered a bull because he still has male reproductive organs. Most bulls are castrated and become steers. Only the best males are kept as bulls for breeding. A commercial herd may contain no bull calves. A rancher may buy all his bulls from a purebred breeder and not raise any of his own.

  Steer. A bull becomes a steer when he is castrated. The steer may still have a small scrotum or his scrotum may be entirely gone, depending on the method used to castrate him. Beef calves are sold as steers.

  Heifer. A heifer is a young female animal. Between her hind legs, she has an udder with teats on
it that will grow as she matures. A bull or steer calf also has small teats, just as a boy has nipples, but they don’t become large. A heifer’s vulva is located under her tail, below the rectal opening. The female animal is called a heifer until she is older than two years and has had a calf. After this point, she is called a cow.

  Cattle Names

  Bull (intact male)

  Steer (castrated male)

  Heifer (unbred female under two years old)

  Cow (female over two years old that has given birth)

  Choosing a Dairy Breed

  Why raise dairy cattle? Perhaps you want to keep a heifer as a family milk cow or start your own dairy herd. Or maybe you want to raise a dairy heifer to sell. A good young milk cow is worth more than a beef cow; a dairy cow can make more money producing milk than a beef cow can make by producing beef calves.

  You can be successful with any of the dairy breeds, but you may want to choose one that is popular in your area, especially if you want to sell your heifers.

  Ayrshire. These cattle are red and white. The red can be any shade and is sometimes dark brown. The spots are usually jagged at the edges. Cows are medium sized, weighing 1,200 pounds; bulls weigh 1,800 pounds. Cows are noted for their good udders, long lives, and hardiness. They manage well without pampering, and they give rich, white milk.

  Milk Factory

  A top-producing dairy cow gives enough milk in one day to supply an average family for a month. The average milk cow produces 6 gallons a day (96 glasses of milk). A world-record dairy cow can produce 60,000 pounds of milk per year — that’s 120,000 glasses of milk!

  Brown Swiss. Brown Swiss are light or dark brown or gray. Cows weigh 1,400 pounds and bulls weigh 1,900. Brown Swiss are noted for their sturdy ruggedness and long lives. They give milk with high butterfat and protein content.