Join us as we share our life raising Icelandic sheep
Whether you're a seasoned shepherd or just starting your journey into raising sheep, our channel is here to provide you with valuable insights, tips, and heartwarming moments in our life raising sheep.
A branch of @hickorycroftfarm, we have been raising Icelandic Sheep for almost 10 years, so join us as we explore the ins and outs of raising happy and healthy sheep. From lambing season joys to practical tips on feeding, housing, and healthcare, as well as using all the three products they can provide (wool, meat and milk) we shall share our experience with you.
Join our community by subscribing, hitting the notification bell, and sharing your own experiences in the comments section. Life Raising Sheep is not just a channel; it's a community where we celebrate the joys of raising sheep, tackle challenges together, and build lasting connections.
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That was a good and honest conversation. Thanks for sharing your experiences and observations
We fell down! 😂
This is how my sheep act ALLL THE TIME. So skiddish. I'm not sure if I could get my ewe onto a stand
It’s so nice to see one of your long-time plans coming to fruition! How long do the sheep keep producing milk? Sheep yogurt is my favourite yogurt, but I can’t get it in the little village where I live. I have to drive an hour to the nearest city to a specialty grocery store to get it. They also occasionally have sheep milk. You are so lucky you can make your own yogurt.
Great video. Will they keep producing if you keep milking after weening?
Congrats!! Y’all have come a long way!
I think your yarn looks great, and it was consistent enough to make a lovely pair of socks. Whenever I get lots of nepps like that, I just embrace them and I love the texture in the final knitted/woven item.
So pretty you make it look easy
Glad to see yall milking!!! How much cream are your girls giving you?
Good to see you continuing on your quest to produce your own dairy .Can Steph keep up? I am sure Chris will crunch the numbers.
Are you leaving the lambs on all the time or separating them at night?
Don't worry about the size of that yarn... I have made some wonderful boot socks out worsted before and your socks look amazing.
Your milking stand looks great! What plans do you have for the milk? Butter, cheese, yogurt? Or just for drinking?
Hello. Just dropping a note to say hi, and I hope you are doing well. Prayers for you both, and I hope you have a great week!
Using cooling racks as drying racks was a great idea! Will definitely be using that one in the future.
It looks to me like the fiber is too fine to go through the drum carder. Even your hand cards look too course for that fleece. Just last week I hand carded a couple of locks of fine Shetland and it looked just like that. I had to comb it and it is beautiful.
using your handspun is always so much better! :D
I'm looking into this breed. Thank you for your video. I previously read they will take care of brush more like a goat than other sheep. Is that your experience? You mentioned needing a lot of grass, so just trying to get clarification. Definitely wanting the right breed for our situation. Thanks again.
I just love watching your videos. Always informative and relaxing 😊
Hey guys! Will I see you this weekend? 😁 Great video once again!!
Looks good...I don't eat pork so this looks just fine to me, thank you for sharing!
Great idea using the plant racks! Cant believe I hadn't thought of that. Will do that next time. Hadn't built drying racks yet.
I would love to feed sheep like that one day. Right now there are other priorities which make it difficult, but praying to get there one day.
I have spun more than 2000 pounds of woolen spun yarn on my (mid 70's) Traditional wheel. Now I use it to ply singles and I spin on my Haldane Orkney wheel. I take care of the old Ashford and it just keeps on going. No significant wear or problems. I changed a driveband ten years ago. Unfortunately Worsted spinning on the Traditional is like going in slow motion. Since the start of this Covid nonsense, I haven't been able to give away woolen spun yarn.
is it second cuts?
How do you keep your wool free of moths?
I enjoyed watching your process of cleaning fiber and noticed all the bags of wool you had yet to do. Then I watched this 'cold water wool wash' method and wonder if it could work for you too? kzread.info/dash/bejne/lGyt2cikl6vRiM4.htmlsi=S-u8xX8upRqvGyfr
What region are you in?
Where do you live? It's so green there! I can't wait to have leaves on the trees again
If there is anything that would make me want to be on a farm, it is the idyllic sound at the end of all your videos. Love it!
Careful with the electric netting for sheep, heard someone say a couple of their sheep got their heads stuck in it.
I'm from N. Alberta and Finn sheep (Finn landrace) is very popular too in our area. They do very well in the cold. Ewes usually produce multiple births with little medical issues and high survival rate. They have a docile temperament. I'm not a lamb or mutton eater, but I have heard that their meat is popular and are tasty. They also have very nice fleeces for spinning. Most are white but you can get a few black ones. The white fleeces take dye quite well. They are single coated, which makes fleece preparation for spinning simple by one step if you separate tog and pel of the Icelandic fleeces. Don't get me wrong, as a hand spinner, I also enjoy spinning Icelandic fleece too.
Thank you. How many acres of pasture do you have? Also, what do you use to seperate paddocks?
What dewormers do you use?
I read Icelandic 🇮🇸 sheep and momentarily got really confused why I was listening to a southern US accent. 😂
I am watching from Bangladesh❤🇧🇩
Oh, sorry for the loss btw from last July. Great video for learning purposes!
Have you heard of gulf coast native sheep? Honestly those and st croix are just miracle genetics in my opinion. It’s crazy how those breeds developed in hot and humid environments almost year round. I worked at a sheep dairy here in the southeast and they started their flock with gulf coast native ewes and kept infusing dairy genetics to finally build up their flock that could milk and handle the extreme weather here. Barberpole is my enemy!
Great video as always, thank you. Quick note on the robot idea, that doesn't sound sustainable either. So unfortunately, no robot for you! 😅
Seems like if the cows are on your property, eating your pasture... That makes them your cows. Keep them if their previous owner is so careless. (Mostly sarcasm.)
Respectfully, on the contrary, I think understanding the rules of homesteading is incredibly important and I personally find it interesting. By now fencing and water have been drilled into my head. But I am sure there are any number of other courtesies and reciprocal agreements that we could learn from that really shape not just good community relations, but homesteading culture in general. Short version, thanks for the great video! 😁
You are right, rules will mean nothing and we will have to live with it. It will be a rough world, and those who are bullies will suffer the consequences at times. We had our neighbors cattle and bison coming onto our property, we kept calm and didn't raise any fuss. When our cattle ate at his place, we heard about it loud and clear from him. Many others had to deal with this same issue. After 7 years, the whole area was against him. The district and police got involved after bison kept escaping, don't know if charges were laid. A few were animals were shot by others, who don't obey hunting laws, the bullies I call them. There was a happy ending to this story. Fortunately, the big rancher had to pay for bison fencing last summer as police were not happy. I don't know why, but the end result worked out beautifully. All the best in dealing with your bully neighbor.
Sorry to hear about your struggles, trying to milk without some sort of a setup is really difficult. I am in a similar situation, started milking for a bum lamb. Luckily I had a ewe have a single and I've pretty much had success grafting the bum onto her. I am fortunate to have a stanchion my husband built so that makes milking the ewes a lot easier.
After handling the girls all year, I feel a lot more prepped for this year. I am going to build a stand as well so fingers crossed we will all be ready here. We are planning to document as we learn 😀
I bet your hands are so soft working in all that lanolin!
Soft and constantly smelling of wet sheep it seems. The joys of being a shepherdess 😆. Wouldn't change it.
Can you roo any breed of sheep?
There are a few primitive breeds that roo, the Shetland is one that I know does. But most sheep over time have lost this quality.
Interesting video, thank you. Do you think it would be possible to explain the equipment and setup that would be needed for milking? I have tried looking it up before, and it's hard to discern sometimes between when someone is being truthful and when you are being marketed to. Thanks in advance!
We are planning to document as we go. It is all a learning experience for us, and we are going to show what worked and what didn't as we go. Hopefully, we will be able to find simple, cost-effective ways to make it work.
@@liferaisingsheep That is great. Thanks!
I love this Channel. I only found it last week but I am invested in you and your beautiful sheep!
Thank you so much! We are so glad you found us and are enjoying it 😀
Good luck! I agree the set-up is important to make the milking easy for you and for the sheep