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Why Select Hound River Farm
• Parasite resistance
• Pasture based operation
• Practical philosophy
• Great selection goals
• Clean, healthy and Humane environment
• Happy sheep
• Heat tolerant animals
• Scrapie certified
• NSIP participant with excellent records
• Seasonal grain supplementation only if required based on nutritional needs
• No blanket use of wormers
• We raise sheep for breeding stock and lamb meat sales
• Because they said we couldn’t do it
History
Hound River Farm is a large sheep operation in South Georgia. We started a few years ago in the coastal plain region in a county were the extension agent said we could not have sheep because of parasites – “Nobody has sheep around here … they won’t survive”. Well, we have proven him wrong with a growing ewe flock of over one hundred. The Katahdin breed is a wonderful and resistant sheep which can flourish in the deep south as well as many other climactic regions.
We have chosen breeding stock from Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana. We raise sheep for breeder stock sales as well as for lamb meat. We are Scrapie Certified – Georgia Flock #412. We are active participants in the NSIP including the fecal egg count EPD. We can provide any and all data on our animals. We are active in the KHSI, Florida Meat Sheep Alliance and SCKA and will be the host farm for the 2009 SCKA meeting in June of next year. Our farm has over sixty acres of coastal Bermuda hay and other forages for grazing. We provide our own winter hay and supplement with grain during winter, breeding and only as needed otherwise. We run a strict pasture based system employing a management intensive grazing philosophy as much as possible.
Humane Certified
We have just attained the distinction as the first sheep farm in the country to become American Humane Certified. We are in full compliance with the American Humane Association Welfare Standards for sheep and lamb production. This organization started in 1877 and differs from the American Humane Society. The Association supports livestock operations and all animals along with child interests. They are advocates of the animals as well as the livestock industry. We love animals and rescue hounds – now up to sixteen. We have chickens and cats as well. We pursued the certification which requires an independent veterinary inspection and compliance agreement, to validate our humane interests. http://www.americanhumane.org
Selection Goals
We select for excellent breeding stock that can survive in our climate. We specialize in parasite resistance. The most recent data from our FAMACHA records reveals 63% of breeding ewes have not been treated with any wormer in the last two years without losses in that group. Moreover, 36% of the breeding ewes have never been wormed at all while on our farm. We do strictly use the FAMACHA system and never worm without cause. We check routinely and monitor resistance to wormers with FEC data. We think this is vital to the success of the sheep industry with the known problems with sheep wormer medication resistance. We do not let our sheep just die from worms – we actively manage and battle as best we can. Unfortunately, sometimes a few do not make it even with medications. Worms are there and are a problem and that is why we want to select for the most resistant sheep – if not resistant then certainly, resilient.
We also select for heat tolerant sheep with slick coats. We do not select for white sheep and have a mixture of colors from dark brown to white. We are a pasture operation and therefore, pasture lamb and have to have mothers that have good mothering ability. This includes easy lambing followed by raising the lambs to a healthy market or living weight. We clip and dip the navels and tag the newborns soon after birth. We do monitor closely, but select for the moms that can do it on their own. That is one of the great reasons to have the Katahdin breed.
We select for prolificacy and see our experienced ewes with well over 150% lambing rate. Since we are a provider of lamb meat, we are interested in the overall pounds of lambs weaned as a selection EPD. This is what makes the sheep industry tick – end product to the consumer – meat. Certainly, this is important for the shepherd interested in good breeding stock as well. Lastly, we select for sheep with an excellent conformation. Dumpy or chunky sheep are not as tasty!
Philosophy
Our farm philosophy is simple – we want the sheep to do what they do best – eat grass and convert the sun’s energy into usable energy for us in the most effective way possible. We let the sheep do this on their own but, with active management from us. They are given plenty of fresh hay in the winter and supplemented with a variable protein natural grain feed mixture during winter lambing season. Supplementation is based on each animal’s specific nutritional requirements and we never give free choice grain. They are happiest when grazing on their own. We provide free choice minerals and plenty of fresh water. We only treat sheep as needed for illness. We do not provide prophylactic medications except for the yearly CD/T vaccine. We do not use any artificial stimulants or hormones. We are enrolled in the new export Scrapie program and will comply with all necropsy requirements. We are interested and actively learning everyday.
Come visit our farm in South Georgia or for a quick peak at our existence:
HoundRiverFarm.com
Milledge and Roxanne Newton
5550 Skipper Bridge Rd
Hahira, GA 31632
229-794-3456
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Sheep for sale:
3/15/08
Hound River Farm has plenty of lambs available.
This includes:
Registered ram lambs
Registered ewe lambs
Commercial ram lambs
Commercial ewe lambs
Commercial ewes
Registered rams
Scrapie testing for this year is pending
NSIP data for this year is pending
See website for more up to date info and some prices
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Current Events
3/15/08
We are done lambing for now. We have selected a few ewes for fall lambing and they will be bred with a fine ram from Missouri.
Please see the website for more news and updates.
HOUNDRIVERFARM.com
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Katahdin