“ I leave the ram in for three weeks , and have all my babies on the ground within three weeks of each other ,” Shannon said . “ A very small percentage will not end up bred , less than five percent . I ’ ve only had one or two a year not get bred .”
Another skill they have tackled is feed management , fine tuning to bring out the best in their flock . “ The sheep are 100 % controlled feed , we don ’ t graze the sheep ,” Heath explained . “ With sheep you can control how often you ’ re having singles versus twins and triplets with your protein and calcium content in your feed program . As a rule , we prefer not to have triplets – Your odds of losses are higher , and we ’ re not commercial , so we try to focus on quality of production rather than sheer number …. We try to mirror more of a natural diet . Livestock , left to their own devices , will cover distance as they eat .
And in that process , they ’ ll expose themselves to different grasses or grains or legumes …. We inadvertently can starve our herd of different nutrients by not allowing variance in their diet …. It has been a lot of trial and error over the years , with different feed programs … . The grasses in Texas are different from the grasses in Colorado , which are different from the grasses here . In each place , we ’ ve been able to take something we like and apply it to our feed program .”
2020 and all that came with it highlighted some of the benefits of not being as tied in to an urban lifestyle , even in South Dakota , which represented to many “ the last bastion of freedom ,” Heath noted . But this desire to live a rural lifestyle and to pursue their homesteading endeavors goes deeper than simple food security or personal enjoyment , into issues of faith and worldview . They described how this rugged and agrarian way of living has brought the Bible to life for them in new ways , from a deeper understanding of the parables of Jesus to Old Testament principles of stewardship and management of natural resources . “[ S ] omething as simple as separating the goats from the sheep ,” Heath said . “ It is one thing to read that as a Christian , and process it from a paradigm of being in the city and not really understanding the difference in how goats and sheep behave . It has an entirely different impact when you ’ ve raised both and interacted with both , and you ’ ve seen the patterns of behavior that go with goat-like behavior and the patterns of behavior that go with a flock of sheep … and they are so vastly different .”
“ More times than I can count ,” Shannon said , “ I ’ ve watched our ewes chase our dogs off , or run a coyote off . They ’ ll keep their babies together in the center , and the mamas will stamp their feet at them , put their heads down and charge – no horns , but they are as brave as can be . Because they know their shepherd has got their back ….[ Sheep ] are good stewards of their flock together . But the goats will drop their babies and walk off !...[ Another ] thing that you see in Scripture is , ‘ I know my sheep and they know me , I know my flock and they know me .’ I can call them by name . It is just like it says in the Bible . They know our voices . They won ’ t go to another shepherd .”
“[ It ’ s about ] the changes we ’ ve seen in our lifetime ,” Heath said thoughtfully , “ combined with an interest in preserving some of those skill sets , learning them and allowing us to live a more Biblically centered lifestyle as well . It is holistic , it all ties together . If you have faith , it is closer to how we were instructed to live .”
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16 Down Country Roads November / December 2024