A Look into the Future

Once the goats are settled into our daily lives, the next plan is for some sheep in the bottom paddock.  This is at least a year (and six hundred metres of fencing) off, but I am putting my mind to it already to be open to any and all information on sheep that presents itself.

An advert in the local paper for Wiltipoll sheep, led to a bit of googling and reading which showed that these could be a much better option than the Dorper sheep that a number of our neighbours have.   Both are wool-shedding sheep which make them more suitable for small farms as they don’t need shearing, crutching,  dipping, mulesing or tail docking.  In addition, chemical treatments are not needed for flies or lice and they are grass seed resistant.

The bias towards Wiltipolls was reinforced today when I found a great site with some golden rules of farming – which had the following

• 41. Dorper lambs could not be contained with a chain wire fence and a security guard. They are the epitome of “Free Range.”
• 216. Dorpers were not introduced to Australia, they merely escaped South Africa.
• 217. Dorper, when translated from Afrikaans, means “Fence, what fence?”
•  218. The best way to contain a Dorper is a freezer.

I am off to the Balingup Small Farm Field Day in April to see some different breeds of sheep.