So you’ve decided to purchase a few ewes, maybe a ram and start a homestead dairy. I often find folks can be unaware of what questions to ask. Before I provide my own list of questions, I recommend you get to know your supplier, be it dairy or homestead and may end up getting some of your questions answered without even having to ask. I look for people who are willing to share photos of their farm and photos of the livestock.
- Dam’s history. Many folk are very willing to share how wonderfully plentiful the dam’s milk is. First, get suspicious of any claim over 1 gallon a day. That is practically unheard of. Ask how old the Dam is, whether they had lambs with the dam (will decrease what is available when milked), when they separated the lambs from the mother and how much grain they feed. A ewe will increase the amount of milk provided in lambing years 2, 3 and maybe 4. Then she will likely plateau before declining.
Throughout the lactation period there is also a build up from day of lambing until the 3rd month. Then she’ll plateau and then decline. So when someone says they are milking a gallon, ask them how long during lactation does that quantity last. Finally, ask how many months the lactation period runs. As with milk volume per milking, a ewe in year 2 or later may be milked longer than a first year fresher. - Dam’s udder. I swear I see some folks using the same photo that I’ve already seen elsewhere. Yes, we all want a large, well formed, well attached udder with good sized teats. But we need to know any photo is from the Dam in question. When you get photos of the farm and operations in advance, it gets easier to spot someone who may be using borrowed photos if the background does not match anything seen on the farm.
- Ask if there has been any history of mastitis with ewe’s dam. Do not buy any animal if the answer is yes.
- Ask about the dam’s mothering abilities. Don’t purchase any lamb from a dam who has a history of rejecting. This behavioral attribute may not be passed on but why take a chance?
- Ask if any lambs from that ewe have been lost (deceased). If the answer is yes, ask from what cause. This is not necessarily a red flag but more than one per dam is.
- Ask how they raise the lambs. Do they separate from their dam within a week or two after birth and raise with other lambs on replacer milk (which is usually derived from cow’s milk) and fed lamb feed. When do they get to pasture? (Note our lambs are with their dams and only separated at night after 3-4 weeks. They follow them onto pasture after the first 5 days and learn to eat from pasture that way. This is very different than what some dairies do.) How a lamb is raised is a personal decision. We just like to be as natural as possible.
Finally, you should get to select your lamb (within limits). Photos of the lambs should be available. Some info on the dam and ram should be available on a website or sent to you directly.
Establish expectations on FAMACHA score to be showing at pick up as well as general condition.