John, I have sheep, chickens, mini Hereford cattle, full size cattle( one that had twins a week ago) and llamas to guard the sheep and have never realized a financial profit. I rest easy knowing the quality of the food my fine feathered, furry, hairy and woolen friends provide along with the companionship almost never found in my fellow humans profits me more in the short term than "profit$ " can. The long term benifits I'm counting on? better health due to quality food, low blood pressure due to the therapeutic benefits of spending time off the couch and in the animal's company . In short if you are looking for profit$ animals on anything other than a very large scale may not be the be$t choice but there's still nothing like cuddling a little Lamb, watching one be born or having a week old calf run across the pasture to your side for nothing more than a scratch on her head.
FWIW Dave Double J Farms <doublejfa...@wildblue.net> wrote: >At what point (herd size - lamb production) will these critters turn a >profit or at least pay for themselves? Last year was the first year in ten >that sales exceeded direct input cost, but not by much. I figured direct >input costs as pasture management (tractor, lime, fertilizer, seed), grain, >hay, minerals/salt, vet/medications. It does not count my labor or capital >improvements. The average sale price per sheep was $100, average direct >input per sheep was $65, input per lamb born was $85. The flock averaged 21 >animals over the year. I sort of understand the "economies of scale" idea >(at least to the extent a biologist can) but was wondering if there was some >"breakeven point"? If I add much more to the flock size, costs for grain >(which has gone out of sight already), hay, etc. will go way up because of >limited pasture. Thoughts? > >John Carlton >Double J Farms > >_______________________________________________ >This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list >Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info > _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
