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Pecorino, with new BFF Ernesto the Alpaca
A few weeks ago, Pecorino, our new Damara-Dorper cross ram arrived at the farm. Initially, he seemed a little coy, intimidated by all from the alpacas to last year’s lambs. Within even a week, it was clear that he was becoming enculturated into the flock, following their cues to move to new pasture, and joining the usual welcoming committee whenever we come to visit.
Friendship is parallel grazing. Note Pecorino’s fat-tail, a Damara characteristic, it’s the camel’s hump of the sheep world.
Now, Pecorino’s assembled something of a support group around himself, composed of alpacas Fidel and Ernesto and a wether lamb. They tend to remain aloof of the rest of the flock, grazing a little away from the rest. While other sheep-farming pals tell us that this is not uncommon, we’re genuinely amazed to see how Pecorino’s robust desert breeding is exhibited in his grazing habits. Where the Wiltshire Horns hurry for shelter at the first glimmer of sunlight and sit panting until a cloud covers the sun again, Pecorino and his clique munch on, apparently regardless of temperature, and far less selectively than the others. Now all we need is for him to start sharing those genes around.
Pecorino joins the party.
Great read guys….love your work.
Kerren & Daryl
Hey Kerren and Daryl, thanks for your kind words, we’re enjoying watching your property progress as well! Enjoying your outstanding chilli and tomato relish from the Cape Jervis Market too Kerren!
Hi guys, we’ve just had our Wiltshire ram arrive on the farm, boy is he MASSIVE compared to the girls, Pecorino has quite a feminine face in comparison. I too see the Wiltshires run for cover in the heat, even in our relatively cooler climate down here in the south east. They go bright pink when they first shed too if it is a hot day. Will be interesting to see how you go with the mixed genetics, I’ve heard dorper/damara are much more goat-like in their eating habits, consequently a lot harder on the paddocks than say Wiltshires and will make short work of pasture if you let them. I would love a Llama (apparently a bit more docile than alpaca? Plus I just love saying the word Llama…Llama…Llama ha-ha!) – we’re still discussing the pros and cons…
Hey Sharn, ol’ Pecorino’s a bit of a monster as well, despite his feminine face! Yes, we’re very interested to see how it goes with less selective grazers as well. Given that our pasture is pretty ‘diverse’, the Wiltis have been quite selective, eating some areas down quite substantially and leaving others untouched. Hopefully Peco and his offspring might help to knock down some of the more weedy species and prevent them from expanding. As it is, with the more palatable species eaten, it leaves plenty of ground for the expansion of the less desirables. We rotate our stock through 6 main paddocks, with some other supplementary areas as well, which is great for allowing pasture to rebound a little between grazings, as well as to manage the parasite load in each pasture a bit more effectively. Of course, even when the sheep are off, there can be 20-70 kangaroos and occasional deer grazing in any paddock, so the level of recovery is always tempered by that as well. All the best! Love to hear/see more about your place some time too!
We crash a couple of the neighbours cows through, which tends to sort out any untouched patches (it also sorts out the fences – they are heavy determined beasts that don’t see fences as barriers between them and grass, unless those fences zap). Diverse pasture sounds good, we have plantain and chicory that wiltshires will only eat occasionally – I just figure its more like a medicinal sample than a mainstay food source? Of course if they take over the pasture then we have a problem…its been suggested to us that we let a paddock or two seed down next summer with the grasses in there – not great for fire risk though. Still learning…. 🙂
Hey Sharn – great thought to move some cows through. I had thought a little bit about that, and wondered whether the cows less picky attitude might actually serve to open up more pasture for the sheep. We have some big clumps of phalaris that the sheep don’t touch, and if a cow was to mow it down, then it might actually make it more accessible to the Wiltis when it reshoots. Have you looked into the ‘flerd’ concept of multi-species grazing at all? Our Wiltshire horns demolish plantain, even when it’s dried out. I wonder what that means? Definitely a bit of self-medicating going on. Have you looked at the work of Nan Bray in Tasmania? She practices ‘nutritional wisdom’ with her flock of wool sheep. Interesting idea.