Mesta Meadows
Sheep and Cattle Ranch

• Introductions

  • Instructor and participant introductions

  • Tour of Mesta Meadows Ranch and Facilities

  • Sharing objectives for the operation

• Picking the right sheep breed:  

  • Overview of dairy, versus wool, versus meat, versus dual purpose

  • What are your farm goals – just pleasure, grounds management, showring, profit, commercial and how this impacts sheep selection, etc.

  • Hands-on session: Meet some sheep…

• Sheep containment and housing

  • Containment – types of fencing both permanent and temporary

  • Handling equipment – must have, nice to have, the ideal

  • What types of shelter do sheep need (and how it varies by breed)

  • Pasture versus barn based lambing

  • Temporary shelters (i.e. cattle panel ‘hoop’ barns)

  • Hands-on Session: Building a cattle panel hoop barn and electric-net holding pen

• Handling sheep

  • Basics of sheep behavior

  • Basics of how to handle and behave around sheep

  • Leading versus ‘herding’

  • Herding dogs

  • “Flipping a sheep” – how to handle a sheep in the field for treatment

  • Hands-on Session: Flipping a sheep, moving a small flock​​​

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• Sheep Nutrition

  • Basics of how sheep digestion works

  • Different nutrition needs at different points (i.e. lambing, breeding, etc.)

  • Nutritional issues: acidosis, bloat, pregnancy toxemia, urinary calculi, white muscle disease (selenium deficiency) and how to avoid / treat

  • Hands-on Session: Determining a ration using the ration calculator spreadsheet

• Parasite Management

  • Holistic parasite management: GWENO – Genetics, Weather, Environment (not weather), Nutrition, Operations

  • Barber pole worms and coccidiosis

  • Diagnosis: Famacha scoring, bottle jaw, and other symptoms

  • Natural Prevention: Multi-species grazing, tannin rich forages, nutrition

  • Drenches: drenching approaches, types of drenches

  • Hands-on Session: Famacha Scoring, drenching sheep

• Breeding

  • Breeding cycles, accelerated breeding systems

  • Body scoring

  • Ram pre-breeding  checks

  • Hands-on Session: Pre-breeding check – ewes and rams

• Hoof Care

  • Hoof care

  • Foot baths

  • Treating foot rot

  • Hands-On Session: Trimming hooves

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• Lambing

  • Basics of lambing

  • Stages of lambing, what to look for

  • Deliver issues and how to handle them

  • The lambing kit - essentials

  • Hands-on Session: TBD

• Lamb Care

  • Post birth – lambing, tagging, and docking

  • What to look for in a new born lamb, signs of trouble, chilled lambs, saving colostrum and using it

  • Tubing a lamb

  • Colostrum – milking a ewe, storing colostrum

  • Caring for Bummer lambs

  • Triplets, Quads, and what to do

  • Weaning lambs

  • Hands-on Session: Tagging and docking a lamb

• Lamb Issues

  • Coccidiosis

  • Pneumonia

  • Polio (Thiamine deficiency)

  • Hands-on Session: Pre-breeding check – ewes and rams

• Sales Channels

  • Livestock Auctions

  • Direct to Consumer

  • Breeding Stock Sales

  • Wholesale sales

  • Hands-on Session: TBD

• Farm to Consumer Marketing

  • Building a customer base

  • Ecommerce marketing

  • Working with customers

  • Creating a brand

  • Hands-on Session: Build your brand strategy

• Record Keeping

  • Essential records, what matters for profitability

  • EID tags pros and cons

  • Record keeping software

  • Estimated Breeding Values (EBV’s)

  • Hands-on Session: TBD

• Livestock guard dogs and herding dogs​