OUR MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY
At Yellowbird Farms, our goal is to maximize production of our farm with the lowest amount of inputs. The foundation of this system is a ewe flock that is adapted to our environment and can graze year-round to meet most of her nutritional needs. We also see the sustainability of a farm as a financial consideration, and years of collecting performance data on a large number of lambs has given us the confidence to supplement specific classes of sheep at specific times to take advantage of opportunity to capture higher profits. Our low-input, high-management, pasture-based system performs best when partnered with strong, healthy sheep. Yellowbird Farms is one of the few seedstock farms with enough stock to source a complete high-quality flock rooted in NSIP data.
The National sheep improvement program
When we first began, we ran into difficulty sourcing a flock and eventually purchased 25 sheep from a "friend-of-a-friend's" farm. The subsequent issues with foot rot, parasite load and poor mothering almost made us quit in the first year. Thankfully, we learned about the National Sheep Improvement Program. NSIP provides shepherds real, hard data on sheep from participating flocks. Member flocks submit data to a national database that tracks the performance of individual animals and their progeny, and applies complex algorithms to help predict heritability of traits. Long story short, we sold all of our sheep and started our foray into REAL sheep with REALLY strong genetics.
|
REAL, HARD DATA
With on-farm data as the input, the NSIP algorithms generate Expected Birth Values (EBV’s) of important economic and production traits for each sheep, similar to the EPD's used for cattle. These are simple numeric “scores” of traits that help producers select sheep that give birth to multiple lambs, mother them through weaning then track their performance from weaning all the way to the butcher shop. Some breeders also regularly collect and submit data from fecal samples to measure each sheep’s resistance to parasite exposure.
|
|
OUR FLOCK'S FOUNDATION
When we sourced our ewes and rams for our second try at shepherding, we only considered flocks that were NSIP members. We further narrowed that list by only considering those flocks that submitted data for parasite resistance. There were few seedstock producers that took the extra step to measure parasite resistance, but we happily traveled to Georgia, Ohio and Virginia to purchase our NSIP ewes. And what a difference it has made! Since then, we have grown our flock from within, using only top-tier NSIP rams to ensure we only produce high-quality lambs.
|
|
"Jim is very detail oriented and it shows in his livestock management program. He collects data from his flock, analyzes it, adjusts for the inconsistencies then makes sound decisions in a way that produces a superior product. This level of care is second to none. I will follow his model and give my flock that same love."
- Sekou Abdus-Sabur of Abdus-Sabur Homestead
- Sekou Abdus-Sabur of Abdus-Sabur Homestead
THE YELLOWBIRD FLOCK
|
As a result of our careful selection of breeding stock, our ewes rarely require deworming, demonstrate strong mothering instincts, and can produce two crops of lambs in a single year, both in the spring and fall. Most literature speaks on the difficulties that southern sheep have lambing out of season, but our flock begs to differ! Our ewes lamb in February, breed back on pasture over the summer while their lambs are still nursing, and lamb again in October and November with little supplement. Our fall-born lambs reach market weight by the typical market peak at Easter, and face less parasite pressure while they grow, leading to stronger and healthier lambs.
|
|
"The quality of the sheep were outstanding and the friendliness of Jim and those with him made the farm experience wonderful. To the novice, Yellowbird Farms is a wealth of knowledge and a wonderful place to get a starter herd of sheep. To the experienced, Yellowbird Farms offers a wonderful selection of quality sheep to choose from."
- Eric Braselton of Braselton Farms
"The quality of the sheep were outstanding and the friendliness of Jim and those with him made the farm experience wonderful. To the novice, Yellowbird Farms is a wealth of knowledge and a wonderful place to get a starter herd of sheep. To the experienced, Yellowbird Farms offers a wonderful selection of quality sheep to choose from."
- Eric Braselton of Braselton Farms
our breeding partners
Yellowbird Farms prides itself on only purchasing sheep from seedstock producers that participate in NSIP. These partners have been our source for exceptional ewes and rams, providing the bedrock upon which our program was built. If you are looking for rams to add some first-rate genetics to your flock, these farms are a great place to start!
