Rachel Hester: Hey guys, I just wanted to interrupt quick to give a shout out to our sponsor, the North America Dairy Sheep Association. Natsa is open to any sheep breed or crossed use for milking purposes. Natsa supports dairy shepherds and is elevating dairy standards in sheep in America. Natsa now offers a Milk Star program, has sanctioned dairy sheep shows, and is now offering a breed up program. Want to know more about dairy sheep? Did you know that I write books on the topic? There is my big book, which is published by Sawdust Publishing and is available on my website or Amazon and sawdustpublishing.com. In this volume, The Guide to Homestead Dairy Sheep, you will find everything I wished I knew when I first started raising dairy sheep. I feature other dairy shepherds and go into detail on topics like different breeds for milking, parasite management, milk sharing with lambs. Liv Fox: Welcome back to the Woolly Way. we have Samantha Bull ⁓ and ranch name, I say rather, is Pasquills Ranch, located in South Dakota. Samantha, thank you so much for agreeing to come on the podcast. ⁓ So ⁓ let's just jump right in. you tell our viewers speaker-0: Welcome to the wooly way of podcast specifically for dairy shepherds. is folks wanting to raise sheep for the purpose of harvesting milk. I'm your host, Rachel. Thanks so much for listening to the Woolly Way Podcast. speaker-1: We hope you enjoyed our episode and have gleaned at least one tip you can implement in your flock right away. If you like what you heard, please hit the subscribe button. And if you wouldn't mind, leave us a review. This helps others find our podcast so that they can enjoy learning about dairy sheep along with you. The Woolly Way podcast is a production of Whoopsy Daisy Farm and Crafty Fox Bakers. For updates and information about our show, follow us on Facebook or Instagram. and I'm Liv Fox. We cover all things pertaining to raising dairy sheep here via animal nutrition, housing, health care, lambing tips, cheese making, and even some butchery and fiber arts. Samantha Bohl: Not too bad. speaker-0: After all, if you raise dairy sheep, you are going to have wool, and if your operation is successful, you'll eventually have surplus lambs to decide what to do with. Rachel Hester: You can become a member or get more information by going to the website www.northamericadarysheep.org or you can email the association at northamericadarysheep.com We are so thankful to Natsa for sponsoring this podcast and helping bring more resources to the dairy sheep community. Stay tuned for future podcast episodes how to set your flock up for the best lambing and therefore milking season possible, I briefly discussed digestion and nutrition of sheep. Since writing this book, folks have asked me questions about more nuanced topics, so I have begun writing ebooks that are topic specific that you can purchase on my website and receive as an instant download and print at your convenience. Currently we have, Bringing Your New Sheep Home. Liv Fox: slash listeners your sheep operation, where you're located. You don't have to say like exactly where you're located, like how many acres your operation is, what kind of breeds you and how long you've been working with sheep. speaker-1: Ethical animal husbandry is the focus here, as well as sustainable agriculture. We want to provide you with the information you need to start and continue your dairy sheep operation in the best way possible for you, your sheep, and the amazing world we live in. speaker-0: Subscribe to our YouTube and email list and look us up at whoopsydaisyfarm.com to find both. Have a particular guest you'd like us to host or a topic you'd like us to cover? Fill out our contact form on our website or shoot us an email at whoopsydaisyfarm.gmail.com. See you next time! So grab a nice cup of sheet milk and let's dive in. Rachel Hester: which explains in detail our step-by-step method of introducing new dairy sheep onto your homestead and getting them used to you as their shepherd. Since there are currently no dairy specific hair breed sheep available, dairy shepherds will have to shear their sheep annually and then decide what to do with their wool. Wool has a lot of misconceptions surrounding it and I want to help shepherds understand that it is a commodity and not a burden. So I wrote my other ebook, Five Uses of Wool in the Homestead, which is designed to give you practical ideas Samantha Bohl: Okay, so I'm located outside of Eureka, South Dakota, which is a tiny town. it's North Central South Dakota for people who are unfamiliar. And our ranch is pretty much mixed livestock. So we have cattle, sheep, chickens, children, ⁓ know, dogs, you name it. ⁓ Rachel Hester: where we talk to NADSA board members about what NADSA is trying to accomplish in America for the dairy sheep community. Liv Fox: Okay. Rachel Hester: on how to utilize this amazing product around your homestead the second you shear it off your sheep. The ebooks are only available on my website at www.wipsydaisyfarm.com Samantha Bohl: We have about 330 head of purebred and commercial ewes. So there's, know, we have a mixed of wool and then we got the 13 head of dairy sheep and then there's another 10 head of just the American dairy as I like to call them, the ones that are in the States. so I guess that's what we have for sheep. I started back before I was married in Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: So 2012, I think, and I'd bought 40 head from Sailburn. So that's kind of how my adventure started before my barn was ready. Bought some ewes. ⁓ lambing on the trailer, I think. And so it's kind of been full speed ahead since I started. So yeah, it's, it's been fun, I guess. Love sheep. I kind of got ventured out of the cows. used to have more, more to do with cows, but sheep. Liv Fox: Okay. Okay. Samantha Bohl: but children are just a lot easier to manage and for myself to manage so it kind of works. yeah. I suppose we probably run the sheep on, let's see. Liv Fox: Thank Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: between I suppose 800 acres in different spots and then the we have the ranch consists about like 2200 acres total between the cattle and stuff. So yeah, it's it's pretty decent sized We're not flat so we have some nice hills so like now I don't know about you guys, but all our snow is gone ⁓ It's kind of a mud mess. So thankful we have heels to put stuff on So that's that's nice Liv Fox: ⁓ wow. Okay, wow. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So what kind of fencing do you guys run? Cause you have large acres ⁓ to cover. Is it all like permanent fencing or do you still run some electric netting to move them around or how does that work? Samantha Bohl: Yeah. It's been a work in progress. of this stuff has to be there. ⁓ some use that respect barb, but there's some that don't. So most of it is we're getting to the point where it's woven ⁓ then that's the permanent. And so then we'll rotate with the electric netting. ⁓ I've to get ⁓ used respect two wire hot wire, but some are obviously not as Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: keen on that so that's been, try to find the naughty ones and keep them in a different spot so they don't teach the rest. Yeah ⁓ we do a lot of rotational grazing. It seems like it really works for us and we use that practice with our cattle too so that it's really nice. It's really cut down on worms ⁓ and parasites. Liv Fox: Thanks. Yes, yes. Okay. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: because we don't, haven't wormed my uflock, as a uflock since 2021. And we ⁓ just checking of Fomachas that way. And ⁓ it really proven to be effective that way. even if do have a, say a wet spring and we just kind of monitor stuff or dry and it just, we don't usually have an issue. Liv Fox: Okay, wow. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: I think it's just really helped over the years evolve the animals into more efficient, more resistant or more capable to handle the stress of the worm. Yeah, we did, I have noticed that the ewes though, the young ones, two year olds, once they break teeth, those are gonna be your most susceptible animals to have worms. And so those are the ones that we watch, like the coming two year olds, especially if they lamb. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. subintestinal parasite. Yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: We do lamb on pasture sometimes. So yes, have to watch those ones. ⁓ Liv Fox: Okay, so with rotationally grazing and having that many acres to cover, do you graze that area more than once in a grazing season or is it enough where they only typically hit an area once? Samantha Bohl: have to, sometimes it gets dry, they have to come back. So, ⁓ but try to not do it much, you know, now that we're getting more of the acres that we want fenced that way. Eventually we, ⁓ like to, know, leave them out and then just rotational ⁓ that spot and kick them out and then not use it. Or if we do use it, it'll be a winter graze, you know, or like. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Okay. Samantha Bohl: not touch it all summer or spring and then kick them out for winter and let them utilize as much as we can and not have to bail feed or then feed on it. So once we hit early on. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. Samantha Bohl: Try to work that way around, guess. Liv Fox: Okay. for your guys's winters, like how much snow covered, like are you able to ⁓ stockpile any grazing ground or do you get enough snow where they're not able to really paw it up? Samantha Bohl: It's a hit and miss. last few years it's been ⁓ mild winters I would call it and then a years ago we had a, it was pretty mild but then we had a rainstorm and so I had used with like two inches of ice sickles hanging off of them and I mean everything was covered. I mean we had power out, ⁓ it bad. So it depends and you know. Liv Fox: Okay. Okay. Okay. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: Yeah, you hope for the best. can graze some stuff, ⁓ not always possible. But we do put up hay and have to buy hay and all the fun stuff that go with that. So, yeah. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. So with your different flocks, and I don't know if you run your commercial use with your dairy use or not, but like, what do you do with of them? Samantha Bohl: So the commercial ones in the registered. So the registered consists of horn door sets. So we really got into those a few years ago, trying to find some. Liv Fox: Okay. Samantha Bohl: the ones that work, I guess. ⁓ Our system isn't like everybody else. We don't feed grain as a rule, so we don't grain them throughout lactation either or through gestation. you know, starting ⁓ bought from random people when we first started getting used, once I ⁓ the sale barn stuff. then in 20... Liv Fox: I Okay. Samantha Bohl: 18 I had bought some ewes from a few different people and I You know had land them out They had triplets and their bags were beautiful and I thought wow we're gonna you know, this is gonna be great. You're gonna have all these lambs and Watching the lambs all of a sudden they you know, I'd find one dead in the jug I'm like, oh crap like, you know, the lambs are just fine. Well, it turns out they all had hard bag and then we had bought Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. ⁓ no. Samantha Bohl: really good registered suffix from Montana and ended up bringing some of that whatever they had, uh, strain OPP in and they had arthritis and they were poor doers and they got skinny and then they're coughing and so we had the whole shebang. So in that fall we decided to depopulate so we sold, I think we had 350 to 400 at that time, sold everything. source from clean ⁓ well don't know if they're tested, they were clean flocks. So they never brought anything in. So they were OPP free as you would call it or negative as I like to say. So that's how sourced from them, which most animals are crossbred. So they're like a fin, dorset ⁓ and stuff cross the majority of them. So from there, we just, you know, Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. Samantha Bohl: Our idea is to try to maintain a parent flock, if you will, so you have a line of ewes that's very consistent. So if you ever want to cross breed, know what they're going to produce. know, years. Yeah. So some of our ewes are pretty line bred and so are our cattle. So it kind of goes hand in hand. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. You know what to expect. Okay. Samantha Bohl: We know the consistency, we know what they're gonna throw, we where flaws are, what their flaws are, if they have flaws. ⁓ And we we wanted to these door sets, so I finally found somebody who was willing to test, and so we tested them. She had clean stuff, she was a veterinarian herself, so that helped. ⁓ And so. Liv Fox: Yep. ⁓ okay. Samantha Bohl: We got those horn door sets and I did venture to Canada and imported a few from Canada to get some different bloodlines. So now we have a decent flock of horn door sets that are very maternal and can raise lambs without grain. And what else we got? You know, that took a lot of years of selecting. mean, we didn't. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: It didn't happen overnight and it was very expensive because, know, and to this day, now I test vigorously with the OPP. I just randomly test and I sell the ones that we sell, we test. And also I've implemented adding Yonis into the big flock. So everything that I've had has always tested negative for both of those. Yeah. Yep. Yes. Yep. Yep. I just. Liv Fox: Then it happened overnight. Hmm? Okay, so even your commercial youth black, you still test them for yonings too. Okay. Samantha Bohl: I've heard really bad stories of people when they get it and it just destroys their whole flock, their whole, cause you can never get rid of it. You know, there's the bovine strain and there's the ovine strain and ovine is so hard to clear for some reason. just, ⁓ I just don't want it. It's easier not to have it and to test for it and make sure you don't instead of bringing it in. And I just feel like those, you know, it's an expensive test. It gets expensive. Liv Fox: Right. Yeah. no game. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: But it's worth it for us, I guess, in my eyes. Liv Fox: Well, yeah, for the long, long-term and longevity of your flock. I feel, I feel like, and it's because I'm mostly involved in the dairy sheep side of things. but I feel like it's becoming more, more common. Like people are more willing to test for OPP and, and Yonis. And I don't know if it's because they have witnessed. Samantha Bohl: rate. Mm-hmm. Liv Fox: what it does a sheep and because it's so hard to get rid of, it's a fun thing watch. So have had friends that have had yonis and they called hard and gonna keep testing, but it's like, man, that's tough because like ⁓ you said, you can't get rid of it. Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. And even with those OPP positive ones, they were too, and were testing positive and showed major signs. I mean, and I've talked to lot of veterinarians in the diagnostic labs when we were trying to figure out what was going on. they're just like, it's just, there's many strains and obviously you got a combination of a lot of bad ones. So, you know, and just a scary deal. just. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Okay. Samantha Bohl: I don't ever want to go through that again. And so that's why we started and making sure everything was clean. you know, so we got those horn door sets and then we did find some pulled ones. So hopefully that'll be this year's little project of some pulled because we got some from Canada were pulled to you. So what else do we got out there? We got, you know, the fin door sets that we originated with. So a lot of those girls are pretty old. So they're really good genetics. Liv Fox: Okay. Samantha Bohl: And this year on remind you are, you know, just reminding everybody that we don't use grain. So we've had five use have quads and I've weighed them and they've all weighed 7.4, 7.5, 7.2 and one was 7.4. So, and everybody was consistent. So when people say, you can't do that. Well, you can. I just think there's a big, uh, Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Wow. Okay. Samantha Bohl: overhead of universities wanting you to think that you have to feed grain or have really good, you know, and this year our hay wasn't very good. But, you know, it's just, I don't know. Liv Fox: Okay. What are your packers like? Samantha Bohl: I don't know. It's got, you know, some brome, some ⁓ bluegrass, just crested wheatgrass. It's hit and miss in different spots too. So. Liv Fox: Okay. Okay. So you guys haven't focused efforts on pastures or anything like that. You're feeding native. ⁓ okay. Samantha Bohl: We did, so this was my grandparents place, but used to, there's a lot of crop ground ⁓ over abused crop ground. And so we did do a lot of range pasture planting back into native grasses. And so that's how we turned a lot of stuff. So we don't really have a crop ground per se. You know, we got a couple fields we plant. Liv Fox: Okay, okay. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: cover crops and then that's kind of what our forage stuff is and couple of them aren't fenced in for sheep so not do I get to use it and utilize it but someday I'll get to utilize it so that's kind of my next big thing is hopefully running them on cover crop and rotating them in with the cattle or something so but yeah it's they they look really nice in the you know you get a nice flush off that grass ⁓ I Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: That's the only way we flush too, we don't flush for breeding or anything like that. yeah, and they do fairly well. Liv Fox: Okay, okay. Okay, well that's awesome to hear. Do your dairies, even your, what you call your American dairies, those do well on it too. Samantha Bohl: Yeah, yeah, I've had a few and some of them have come from Deb, so they're, I mean, they're high percent, you know, and last year I don't know how many years I've had them, three years now, four years. Anyways, they, they've done really well. They've milked over three quarters of a gallon for the one consistently. And then, you know, and I just let them run out my yard because I don't want to have to walk forever to find them. ⁓ Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You don't want to go for miles to find where they're at. Samantha Bohl: No, they're pretty tame to come home, but it's just I got plenty of grass in my yard too that they can mow and since they're so tame I don't have to worry about the kids or anything. You just got to make sure the kids shut the gate so they can't go on the highway. But no, they've held really good condition. mean, I give, so like ⁓ to sure that they keep producing, I do feed my dairy sheep grain, you know, to a point. I give them oats and Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. Samantha Bohl: I like to use extruded soybeans. They do really well on them too. They've done really good. Liv Fox: Okay. and that probably helps them stand for you to milk as well. Samantha Bohl: Yeah, yeah, yeah, everybody's willing though. all are excited to get in there. I suppose it doesn't help that they're always offered grain either, you know, it's more of a treat. So it just seems like, yeah, I don't have an issue with that, I guess. Liv Fox: You Yeah, yeah. Do you hand milk or do you machine milk? Samantha Bohl: So I used to hand milk. I was milking four of them a day by hand. then last, let's see here. Yeah, last year I had our sixth child. when I was pregnant with her, my husband said, I am not milking ⁓ teats because they're too small. A goat? Fine. I cannot do the sheep. So I ended up getting a milk machine because of that. ⁓ else I probably would have. Liv Fox: Okay. Okay. Samantha Bohl: So I don't know. enjoyed that. I got a simple pulse. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it It's a nice little machine and my kids can run it. So that's nice. Liv Fox: would you end up going with? Okay, all right. That's what I have. I'm always like team simple pulse. Mm-hmm. Okay, Samantha Bohl: Yeah. Liv Fox: ⁓ is the age range then of your kids? You've mentioned your kids help out on the ranch and everything. Samantha Bohl: Yeah, so I got a 10 year old, an eight year old, an almost seven year old, five year old, a two year old, and then she's gonna be a year and a month. So yeah, they're all in a row. ⁓ they've ⁓ ⁓ a lot. The ⁓ helps with everything. there's lot of pictures where I have her. Liv Fox: Okay, all right. You are a busy lady. Okay. Samantha Bohl: Kids are all in the barn, either in lick tubs or just... I remember having my two-year-old down there while he was probably 18 months at the time, but he wanted to be held and I have a picture of it and it was just the funniest thing because he had to wear my daughter's snow suit because it was winter time, but... Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: He wanted to be held, so I put him on the little harness that you carry around, you know, carry the kids. But I hung it on the sheep's gate because I couldn't carry him around anymore, but he couldn't watch me. But he's just sitting there hanging and like, well, you're happy. So but it's so funny because he's been painting. Makes a cute little girl, I guess. So yeah, they're always down there. Right, right. Yep. Yeah. Liv Fox: Yeah, happy and safe. That's all that matters, right? Samantha Bohl: They are very well rounded in the sheep and everything else that we do, guess, for that matter. don't really have a choice. Liv Fox: your ⁓ that are old enough for 4-H, do they like show sheep at all in your county fairs or anything? ⁓ Samantha Bohl: ⁓ we're not in the 4-H thing, but we did start showing, sheep. We started showing the dairy goats that we got. We got a few Neovians. ⁓ we started with that, but I, I really, you know, the whole disease biosecure thing is just one of the, we're, try to be super careful and ⁓ retest a hundred different times and ⁓ actually tarps up when we do take them and ask that nobody touch them. And you we. Liv Fox: OK. Samantha Bohl: ask for pens far enough away but I'd really like to try to take a dairy sheep one year and just try to get it out there a little more and and see what we can accomplish with that and just kind of get information and you know and plus the dairy people even goats they're so much more informed about disease so it's a dairy animal it should be in the dairy side so my risk versus the show sheep will be Liv Fox: Yes. Yes. Samantha Bohl: lot less risky. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Yes. Yep. Absolutely. Samantha Bohl: So that's kind of our for maybe this fall. ⁓ I know the kids are excited to show stuff. So we'll see if I can get a sheep willing to go and somebody enough to want to have one at the fair. Our ⁓ local isn't, I mean, it's pretty big for the state, it's not, don't know what you want say, but it's just not the... ⁓ Liv Fox: ⁓ huh, yeah. Okay. Samantha Bohl: Not a lot of animals, I guess. There's a lot of chickens, but it's just not as big as it used to be. Liv Fox: Okay. Mm hmm. I think a lot of fairs in general are having that. So. Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Liv Fox: Well, hope it goes well for them. ⁓ hope they like it. They can be ambassadors for dairy sheep. Samantha Bohl: Yeah, we got a few months to practice and prep and you know and now that I so we imported some apricians in October. So they are registered, they are purebred, they are you know some of the first if not the first from for years and Liv Fox: Yeah, absolutely. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes, yeah. Samantha Bohl: So we've had two lambs so far out of couple of ewe lambs. they're, you know, I think they were just born in March. So they're just turning a year. So they've had their first babies at not even a year and they have been great moms. have nice otters ⁓ and really bags. So I'm really excited. It'd be really cool just to take one of them too and be like, ⁓ look at this. You know, this is. ⁓ Liv Fox: Good. Okay? ⁓ absolutely. Absolutely. Cause yes, like you said, it's been a long time since anyone has imported. Like I know there's been a few rams imported, through, for some commercial dairies, ⁓ at, know, not you're at a small scale level at all ⁓ from top of your operation, but you know, for somebody who's running, you know, a smaller Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. ⁓ Nah. Liv Fox: dairy sheep flock. Like that's very exciting. I'm very excited for you that you were successful in getting them imported. Samantha Bohl: Right. Yeah, it was a lot of work, but it was a good time. We took all the kids up there and made it a family deal and yeah, freed home once we got them. So, and they've done really well. mean, they transitioned well. You know, there's a lot that goes into transitioning since we've done a lot of buying from Oregon and Canada. So we've... Liv Fox: Okay. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: kind of we're prepared, it's just, you they got to get used to your environment, your water. You know, you don't think about that until you're like, wow, you know, it is, there's a lot, the environment, other animals, the water, the hay is all different, the feed's all different. People are different, you know what? I've had, yeah, I've had people come and milk for me while we're gone and. Liv Fox: Thank Right. I was just thinking the routine is different. Samantha Bohl: those ewes would not let their milk down and did not want to get on that stand because they're like, don't know you. ⁓ So yeah, they're, you know, even when my husband comes out and the ewes are like, we don't really like you. ⁓ yeah. Yeah. Yeah. definitely have favorites. So, ⁓ you that's a lot of stress on a young animal, you know. ⁓ Liv Fox: If It's like, see you around, but you're not our person. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: So I have to say I'm really pleased with how they've done. excited to see ⁓ the rest of them do and you the ⁓ babies ⁓ boy ears are huge. ⁓ yeah, they look similar to like some of the ones I've got, you the American ones like I said we have before but man they got really big eyeballs and really big ears in their babies so. Liv Fox: Okay. day. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: There is a difference in look to them and their wool looks a little bit different too, but... Liv Fox: Okay, how is, how does their wool feel? Like is it fairly coarse still? I have a you that's also from Deb and she, she actually has really nice wool. Like when people come and wanna get some yarn for me, they always, her name's Stella, they always go for Stella, always. Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. know, it's really long. It's not coarse. It reminds me not quite like a fin. It's more lustre-y feel. It's a... Yeah. I'm not really good with wool. just... You know... Yeah, everybody talks about the rambalays and stuff. But yeah, I keep finding myself in love with the animals that have terrible wool quality. Like the dorsal just don't... Liv Fox: Okay. Okay. I know enough to be dangerous and that's about it. Samantha Bohl: get it you know we have a couple fins and people like theirs for the spinning and they're black so it's pretty but just someday my kids aren't little maybe I'll find time but to do with it or try to learn how to spin it I don't know but yeah Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. So on that note, what you have a ⁓ sheep operation, what do you do with your flocks? Is it just in bags or store it or. Samantha Bohl: Right now? Yep, right now two years are just stored in a quanted across our road and yeah, two years worth. I did have a gal call me. They're starting to do wool pelleting of us and she asked if, ⁓ I haven't called her back, but yeah, she asked if ⁓ assuming that's what she wanted it for. There's ⁓ place over... Liv Fox: Okay. Okay. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: I think they got a little pellet and they're starting to do it. So that might be an outlet. Usually if I do take it anywhere, I'll take it to there's a place in Bellefouche that's lacking for their name what it's called, but they have a really big mill there and then ⁓ can sell it for you and I finally sold some my three, four years ago stuff ⁓ it didn't, I mean, I think 15,000 Liv Fox: Okay. Okay? Samantha Bohl: pounds worth, brought $900. So it's like, yeah, that was worth it. But it's not stacked in a Quonset anymore. Liv Fox: aww Right, right. Samantha Bohl: It's really sad to think that that's, you know, a natural, what is it, you know, whatever the natural product of them is, yeah, is just going to waste like that. People don't, can't find anything better to do with it or utilize it somehow. All our synthetics that we use is just taking over everything. Liv Fox: natural fiber. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. it is and I know people complain like, well, it's so expensive. I'm like, but it lasts for, if you take care of it, like it'll last forever and for generations, depending on what it is. So I, I, it's warm and then I, so I only have one small child. So I do have time to knit. Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. Right. And it's warm. Liv Fox: Occasionally, like different parts of the year, not year round. I have knitted like some t-shirt type sweaters and they actually are like pretty light ⁓ I will wear them in the summertime. I'm really hot blooded. So, I even with a long sleeve sweater in the dead of winter. I tend to get too hot in them. So, I been surprised that I've been able to wear like the the lighter weight shorts leaves in the summertime and feel like I'm squeltering to death. Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. Someday, I'll venture back into that. Liv Fox: Yeah, well you're busy right now. Samantha Bohl: Yeah, I still like to just keep doing my milking thing and trying to add on to that. Liv Fox: So what do you do with your milk? Samantha Bohl: I sell it to a few ⁓ and then we just drink what we have and ⁓ things. I haven't made too much. I've tried cheese once and it took long time. ⁓ I flustered and ⁓ too kids and too much going on. So that didn't turn out as well. Yeah, so we just, and I've made ice cream a few times, turns out really good. I just need to get a really good yogurt recipe and ⁓ make that. if cottage cheese wasn't so hard. Liv Fox: Okay. Bye. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: A people tell me it's really hard to make, but I'd really like to make that too. Liv Fox: Yeah, I've not dabbled in cottage cheese, so I can neither confirm nor deny how challenging it is. But I shouldn't have that figured out. I wouldn't think so. I mean, in my mind, I would think like you would kind of go through like making the cheese. I don't know what culture you would need, but like you would cut it and then like you could, after you got the whey out of it, you could just mix like Samantha Bohl: Mary. It doesn't look like it'd be that hard. Liv Fox: cream or milk back in is my thought. But I could be totally off base. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. And I don't know about your kids, but my daughter, cottage cheese. ⁓ yes. Samantha Bohl: Mm. Yeah. Nah, yeah, I don't know. just doesn't look that hard. It's all curdling and ⁓ anyways. ⁓ Mm-hmm. ⁓ yeah, these guys do too. a handy little snack. So yeah, it works well. Liv Fox: So with your lambs, what do you do with your lambs both ⁓ with your commercial uflock and your dairies? Samantha Bohl: So a lot of the commercial stuff, if they meet my criteria, so I have a very high criteria of breeding standards, if they meet that, then I'll keep some and then I try to sell some eulams. But they only are out of the best use. mean, it's and mean, they got to very maternal. don't... Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: If they don't like their lambs, they don't fall into a jug real well. If they don't milk and can't raise two, they're not selected. And usually I keep most stuff out of like the twins or triplets or, you know, just, so some of those will get selected. The there's a few ram lambs too, you know, the commercial ⁓ the Dorset horn side too. And so the ones that aren't usually just go for in the feedlot and then we'll market them when they're, I like to market them when they're about 80, 70 pounds somewhere in there. Our closest feed, not feed yard, but sale barn, I guess that is pretty fairly decent is in Aberdeen, so that's an hour from us. And then there's another larger one that's in Sioux Falls or it's at Wessington. Liv Fox: Okay. Okay. Samantha Bohl: It doesn't matter. ⁓ ⁓ of Sioux Falls. It's a really big, you know, they get a lot of people from Montana ⁓ sheep down there. ⁓ It's a big, it's a pretty big yard that they do a lot of sheep in. So we'll take some down there and especially when like now the market's great. So, you know, I wish I had a whole bunch of lambs sitting in my lot, but I don't. ⁓ Liv Fox: Okay. Okay, okay. Hmm. Samantha Bohl: So yeah, once we wean, we'll put those in the feedlot and then feed them. then we have, you know, we've been dabbling in the meat aspect of things, finishing some lambs. And so we've been privately selling lamb meat ⁓ and or whole lamb to people to, ⁓ you know, that we have had we have the capability of doing, you know, all grass or obviously, you know. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Okay. Samantha Bohl: put them on a grain feed ration too. So we have kind of the capability of doing both. You know, so it's kind of what people want or preference or if they say what they'd want one or the other. So that's kind of what we do with those. dairy side of things, you with obviously with the new ones, I'm going to keep everything and I'm going to see how they do. ⁓ But like the American ones, yeah, I like to keep as many yulams as I can. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right, yeah. Yeah. Samantha Bohl: Cause you know, they gotta be a good mom though. You know what? I'm not going to sell or ⁓ something that's not a good mom by any means. And they got to milk, you know, good. Cause they are dairy. We don't want just a court a time. That's just milking no reason. So ⁓ they be a good mom and gotta be a good milker. So I do sell some of them. yeah, we that's. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right. Samantha Bohl: And I have just, you know, what the East Frisians that we bought in brought in. I have not a waiting list, but yeah, people have asked to be put on it. eventually, eventually when I get my poop in a group here, I'm going to, you know, make a little form online or whatever, you know, so people can get in touch and then they can have people fill that out. So, you know, I just don't have the numbers right now to be. Liv Fox: ⁓ yeah, I'm sure. Yes. Samantha Bohl: selling all that kind of stuff, you know, selling them at large. Yeah. Liv Fox: Yeah. Well, and that's fair. You know, you, you made a large investment in the ones that you imported last year and folks have to understand that you're trying to build those numbers. mean, I, I don't fault you at all for saying, don't really have, I don't anticipate having anything for sale in 26. Samantha Bohl: Right. And I just really want to see how they do too for the first year. You know, it's a big, it's a big change. It's a big, the big gamble. mean, realistically, it's a lot of hours, a lot of distance travel. So I just kind of want to see how they do. And like you said, they are some of the first ones, I just want to make sure that, you know, they are what they are and do well. You know, I don't want to sell people bad things either. So. Liv Fox: Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right, right. Samantha Bohl: I want to make sure that there I got good ones that I can say, yeah, I know what this mother was like and her lamb looked good last year. So I'm sure she'll be great this year, you know, or I hope, you know, can't guarantee, but close enough. At least I have a little information behind it. I don't, you know, where that's where records for me are very important. You know, even on the commercial side of things, every use tag, everyone's numbered. The lambs are all tagged. We follow them through. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: Something dies, we know it. tried to weigh a lot of things this year too, just to kind of see where they were and see if weight has anything to do with lambing size or how they grow and finish out in the year too. yeah, so yeah, well, ⁓ have a few for sale for them. Actually, I think I'm almost sold out of e-lams for the American Dairy Sheep too. So I've got a couple little buck lambs, high percentage ones, but. Liv Fox: Okay, yeah. Samantha Bohl: Other than that, that's kind of what I usually do, I guess. And the other ones that, if they are bottle fed or whatever, we just kind of keep the pets. And then the bottle lambs get put in the feedlot with the rest. Liv Fox: Okay, so when you're milking, do you lamb share or do you let the dam raise them to a certain age and then you just wean them or do you bottle feed them right from the get-go? What is your guys' process? Samantha Bohl: So when I first started, I only had like a couple. So I would milk share for a while and then about a month and I'd just wean the lambs and bottle feed a couple times, you know, once a day or whatever. Just, and then I got them really friendly too. So then I'd have the milk that I needed. And now that we got a few, so I just lamb share with those now. And you know, if I need excess, there's a few use at milk, like a gallon a day. Liv Fox: Okay. Samantha Bohl: Man, if you don't watch her beg, you got to make sure the lambs are drinking during the day or who have to. But anyways, yeah, that we just milk share those and then I let them raise them to about three months and then I'll pull them off. And then if I, you know, I know people want lambs and they want them friendly, then I can start working them on the side to, you know, I train them as they're growing to get on the stand and kind of let them see where their mom's going up on the stand. They're getting grains. And then they get used to the whole. stanchion type deal too. like my lambs to be friendly so I like that little human interaction type deal. So sometimes that's where the bottle feeding is kind of nice at the end there. Even if it's just once, you know, once a day for like a week then they still think you're great because you fed them. ⁓ Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Yes, they look for that bottle even sometimes when they're an adult, I feel like. Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. And you know that I have a few Dorset use and some other ones that are really friendly, man, anything with like some dairy in them, are so friendly. They're like always, if they could smile, they'd be like, hello, know, smile, nice to see you. You know, we're excited to see you. And that's why I always pitch room is, but yeah, they're, my dairy use are very friendly. So. Liv Fox: Yes. Yes, yes. Mine are like obnoxiously friendly. have, I have some ewes that have lambed ⁓ were not mine. They're, I'm kind of, kind of being ⁓ a foster shepherd right now for them, which is fine. ⁓ But one had lost her lambs before she came up here. So I'm having to milk her. Cause the of my flock is not due to lamb until like mid to end of April. And they are just like dying. So they're getting grained still, but they are like dying because Sweet Pea is on the milk stand getting, you know, like all this grain all to herself, you know, she's not having to fight with anyone about it. And the other night I just wasn't paying attention. Chores were all done and I was walking out of the barn and Stella, my favorite you, she squeezed out behind me Zach was in there. He was like, ⁓ I'm like, it's fine. She's literally going to go up on the milk stand. And she did. She ran around to the ramp right up there. And I just grabbed her collar and said, you're, you still got another six weeks of cooking sister. ⁓ Walked back down and put her back in. But, but yeah, they're just like, they just, ⁓ they to be on that milk stand so bad. ⁓ Samantha Bohl: Yep. Yes, I have one ⁓ you in, you know, even even in the summertime, she knows ⁓ sister barn is like a hoop barn and then it's too old hip roof barn and then there's like a little door to go through if we shut it off and like now without really having we shut it. But anyways, ⁓ she's in that barn and she knows, you know, I got to just use my paw and push the door open and she'll push the door open and. knows exactly where to go up on the stand and yeah, she's. Liv Fox: Does she take any friends with her? Samantha Bohl: Yeah, not paw hoof. No, usually she's the only one. She's the only one who's figured out how to use her foot hoof to open that door. I mean, then she'll sit there and use her hoof and then she'll push her head and she'll lean right into it because it's on a spring. I mean, there's some resistance, but yep. And she's runs right out there. And today I didn't milk her this morning just because I didn't need all the extra milk. But yeah, she was sitting there pawing at the door. like, yeah, sorry. Tomorrow. Liv Fox: Okay. Mm hmm. Okay. Hahaha Samantha Bohl: You know, she's, what about me? Yeah, they all have their personalities. They're kind of like little dogs. It's, you know, goats and all the dairy sheep. They're all like, I don't know, pets. all have their own personalities. Liv Fox: ⁓ huh. Yes. Yes. Do you guys end up naming all of your dairies or not so much? Samantha Bohl: No, I like like the American Dairies we got some of them from a couple different people so they kind of have names either like where we got them from or like kind of resemble the people we got them from I'm just I don't know seems like ⁓ yeah ⁓ and my kids used to be really good at naming stuff and they just don't help me with naming so Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. You have a lot of cheese. With a lot of names in the back. Samantha Bohl: But with these new ones, we might have to get special names for them. Yeah, just got to decide. You know, like, I always wondered, too, some of my goat friends in the dairy side, all have, you know, every year has a different letter that they give names to. So, you know, I was like, oh, should I do that? You don't want to be like the goat people, but I don't know. I have something to think about. Liv Fox: Okay. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I've heard of people doing like themes too, like one year, like they do flower names. I know someone who did like Disney characters year and I'm just like, that's cool. But I also don't think I'm that creative to stick with ⁓ everyone from that. ⁓ Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. Well, and then if they do the letter year, then you're on cue. I mean, how many names start if their girls start with Q? Kind of run out after a while. Liv Fox: I'd have to Google. Maybe you'd have to find names where the Q is silent. Samantha Bohl: Yeah. Liv Fox: Out of all of your sheep you have, because you do have a wide variety, do you have ⁓ particular breed or crossbreed that's your favorite to work with? Samantha Bohl: Hmm. I don't know, they all have their place. ⁓ It's really, like I said, it's really neat to see, you know, since we've selected so hard for certain traits like maternal and then worm and just no grain and all that stuff, it's really fun to see some of really nice ones of the horned dorsal we have when they have their offspring just watching them. So yeah, I really like watching those. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: They're really fun. I was pregnant, they're, you know, maternal, you gotta remember, you know, you gotta protect your baby. So ⁓ I was pregnant ⁓ year, I had to get in the pen and just make sure that the one was getting up. She had three, yeah, year she had three. And one wasn't getting up or whatever. And man, ⁓ I they got nice horns, they're pretty big. And ⁓ she like. ⁓ Liv Fox: Okay. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: you're not coming in here. And I mean, it took all I had to keep her away from me and she was just being a mom, you know, so, but, you know, I'd rather have them too maternal and too aggressive than not enough. know, that's the worst where you'd have yous out there and chewing their cud and had a baby laying there. And, you know, I, I thinking, we had one night I went out and so let me start We have a hoop on and so Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. ⁓ Okay. Samantha Bohl: In the wintertime, I land about 300 years in the hope barn. It's like about a drop. Yeah. So everybody is shuffled in there. And so we start in, I think that year we started end of February or whatever. So it gets pretty cold sometimes, but it usually stays about 30 degrees, you know, give or take. So it stays pretty good. but I went out ⁓ we had just started a couple of weeks into it, but I went out ⁓ they, Liv Fox: ⁓ wow. Okay. Okay. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: I kid you not, there was 26 to 30 lambs everywhere. And I'm like, ⁓ my gosh, who, you know, who goes with who? And I don't know if we had too many registered ones, but everybody had a full belly. Everybody was up moving ⁓ know, nobody cared if they were their lamb or not their lamb. Everybody was loving lambs ⁓ nobody, know, every Liv Fox: ⁓ man. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: Everybody that had a lamb loved a lamb, no matter if they had three or four in a corner or if it was one. mean, but to me, that's a good maternal, you know, everybody is taking care of them. Everybody was fed and I didn't have to worry about it. It's just, um, so who goes to who now? You know, I think there was eight ewes or something like that that had lambed out there. So there's a lot of lambs per ewes. But to me, that's it. That's a good way to look at it. I mean, Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Samantha Bohl: And you know, the finned dorset have a lot of lambs. The horned dorset have a lot of lambs. I've had triplets out of them. This year, most of the finned dorsets are the ones. And three quarter ⁓ horned ones had a couple of quads too. I mean, yeah. I like dairies because of their personality and the ability to be friendly with them. But on the standpoint of creating lambs and. Liv Fox: Okay. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: selling and marketing, that's, you know, the Fendor set and the Dorset have been really good for us. I don't know if that answers your question or if I got sidetracked again. Starts talking about something. Liv Fox: Yeah. Yeah. Well, like you said, like you almost have like three different flocks of sheep your ranch, you know, so you have like three different projects that you have going on now. ⁓ so like that's fun. Like the, ⁓ I think genetics are really cool and I like to follow like production records. So like the nerd in me would be like that, that sounds like. Samantha Bohl: You're right. Mm. Yeah, you're right. You know, and we I forgot we have some registered Ile-de-France, too So there's only a few of them. So we got some of them, too I'm trying to think if I missed any other ones. got yeah a lot of stuff, but yeah, ⁓ still ⁓ two are still probably my top favorite ones for raising lambs though, I mean They've done really well. And yeah following genetic lines. It's really interesting. You know like Liv Fox: Have fun time. ⁓ OK. OK. Okay. Samantha Bohl: you know, going back of line breeding or who's, you know, who throws what and where does that come from or whatever, you know, you have used consistently have triplets or breed back every year. And it's just, it's fun to watch. And that's why I say love records. So I can go back last year and be like, wow, she did phenomenal. You know, I had, I looked, cause a guy wanted some Bram Lams and he didn't care if they're commercial or not. So I have a Finn Dorset U and I looked back for three years on her records and Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: for three years in a row she had triplets. And two years of those three years, they were all buck lambs, all three. So I, you know, I don't know. people have said that that's rare. Like ⁓ more you have of a, say buck, buck, buck, then those are ⁓ ram, you want to say it. But if they're all three of the same sex, that's a higher fertility trait. I don't know if that's true, but that's what they've said they've read or. Liv Fox: ⁓ wow. Okay. Mm-hmm. Okay. Samantha Bohl: and I haven't specifically looked into it, I mean, it's kind of interesting if you kind of go, I mean, how many times do you have ewe lambs all, you know, three ewe lambs? I did have one of those American dairy sheep. She had four ewe lambs. She had quads. Yeah. And she didn't have, she wasn't grained either. I mean, I wasn't expecting her to have four and all of sudden I'm like, oh well. And they were really consistent too. So. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Yeah, like that's like winning the trifecta. Okay. Uh-huh. Samantha Bohl: But yeah, they're all used. Liv Fox: Okay. So and with your sheep, whether it's the commercial use or the dairies, when they have triplets or quads, are they successful in raising them on their own or do you guys help with bottle feeding too? Samantha Bohl: Yeah, so some use they are good at raising them. I've got... five or six ewes that are still raising them triplets without grain, you know? And that horned orsa, one of them that is like our matriarch, like we wish we had 100, 200, 400 of her. She's the one who raised her quads, or quads, she had triplets. She raised her triplets without any grain and they did phenomenal too. And she just, I mean, she can hold body condition. She's just great. Like I said, if we could have 400 of her, we would. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. Samantha Bohl: ⁓ but yeah, so there's, you know, a handful of use that can, and then I just, you know, I feel like sometimes it takes a lot on their bag too. You know, that's a lot of, even on the dairy side of thing, you kind of watch them little buggers. They really hit sometimes trying to get that milk out. And that's a lot of mammary abuse. So I don't want to ruin my used bags and udders. So I just kind of watch how they're doing. If I feel like they're not getting enough and doing too much damage, we just pulled one off. Liv Fox: Yes, yes, yes. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: Like I said, there's about six ewes that still have their triplets on and doing good. So just kind of watch. Kind of married to the life. Liv Fox: Okay. Okay. Okay, that makes sense. do you guys or have you ever done any like embryo transfers or LAI or anything like that? ⁓ Samantha Bohl: So my step, not my stepbrother, my husband's stepbrother is a veterinarian and so we went down to Texas and took that embryo class that, what's his name down there, does for the sheep deal. And we did cattle too, but I was more interested in the sheep aspect of it. So that's our next, one of the next upcoming things we'd like to do. Liv Fox: ⁓ I- Samantha Bohl: like to try to do some of that stuff. You know, like I said, we have a few years here that we really, really like. So that's, you know, get some embryos out. Yeah. Yeah. I was just, yeah, a lot of planning and a lot of set up because you have to have a nice clean spot. And then, you know, there's people that do it or you can take them there, but know, you don't want, I want the facility made sure it's clean. They didn't have a whole bunch of sheep in beforehand or, ⁓ Liv Fox: That's why I asked. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: We have to have an area set up here that's pretty sterile or really clean. that's yeah, eventually we'll get there hopefully. But yeah, and you know, later on if the dairy stuff, know, our East regions, if we feel like we need some, you know, different blood or something, which I don't know, we'll see how it goes. yeah, it'd be semen would be a good idea too. Even with these horn. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Samantha Bohl: Dorsa, it's just always a risk bringing something in. you know, but I was told semen can, it's ⁓ tested beforehand and if the RAM was not OPP tested, there a chance you can get it through the semen. Embryos are sterile. So don't know why we can't use more of that stuff instead, but. I got into a conversation with a sheep guy about that one time where he's like, I just don't understand what's wrong with these people. Don't they realize there's, know, no disease can be on a sterile thing and embryos are sterile. why the imports and exports thing, you know, he was just going on when it was closed for so long. He's like, I just don't understand why it's closed. So which makes sense. You know, why can't you bring sterile objects in? not going to hurt anything, but. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard telling. Yeah, I was gonna say that gets into politics, I'm sure, and way above my pay grade. Yeah. Samantha Bohl: That's a whole nother discussion, man. politics and biology that I'm yeah, I'm not all qualified about but It's still interesting. Yeah someday. I'd we'd like to try to dabble in that maybe the AI stuff. So yeah Yeah ⁓ Liv Fox: ⁓ huh. Yeah. So I just dabbled in it last fall. And those ewes are the first ones due to lamb end of mid to end April. But the veterinarian I worked with, would really, he's really chomping at the bit. He does IVF with other folks that do like club lambs and stuff like that. he would really like to, he's like, it would make your breed up process so much faster. I'm like, I hear what you're saying, but it also costs money. ⁓ Samantha Bohl: Yeah, right. Liv Fox: I'm just not there yet. Samantha Bohl: So what was your conception rate on the AI? Liv Fox: ⁓ so for my AI five out of six took, so I was pretty excited about that. ⁓ especially since, when he first warmed up a ⁓ at a time, he's two different Rams. at one before we started, he asked, he's like, now if you know, the motility is really high, like, do you want to, like, we can split straws so we can make straws go further. ⁓ and I said, okay, like. Samantha Bohl: Okay, that's very good. Yeah. Liv Fox: let's see what motility is like, cause I also don't want to shoot myself in the foot either. And he's like, okay. and motility was like between 20 and 30%, like when he first thought it and he had said, he's like, it just, could be dependent, like what kind of extender they used. They could be, you know, slow to basically wake up. Um, and because I wasn't the first one to use those straws in She also, her vet had said something similar she had, I think three out of five of hers took. I was feeling pretty optimistic, but I told him, I was like, I don't want to split straws. just we're going to use a whole straw per you. And ⁓ I with the conception rate that I ended up with, the semen started. getting a lot more active and doing its job when it was fully warmed up in the uterus. So anxiously awaiting to see what ⁓ the ground. Samantha Bohl: ⁓ yeah. Yeah, it'll be exciting. Liv Fox: Yes, yes. So it's probably be some of the most expensive sheep that I have here on the farm. Yes. Yes. So, and I come from the horse repro world where there's a lot of high dollar horses that I've had a hand in helping come into this world and raising. And I'm going like, it's going to be the same thing with the sheep now. Samantha Bohl: I hear you. You can guard them with your life. You Liv Fox: but it'll be fun. ⁓ be worth it. So. ⁓ Samantha Bohl: Right, right. Liv Fox: What is something that you would consider like one of the biggest highlights of shepherding career thus far? Samantha Bohl: ⁓ whole getting them, the importing from Canada has been some of biggest stuff. mean, even the horn, when they opened that, I think that was the first year we brought those horned orsits in. So that was a really big one. And then like this going up to Canada was, mean, was a very long trip ⁓ very expensive sheep and ⁓ of the first ones back in here. ⁓ mean, how can that not be a highlight? ⁓ know? ⁓ Liv Fox: Yeah. Right. Well, and like, when did it sink in for you? we did it. we achieved ⁓ Samantha Bohl: So I gotta tell you what happened though. you know, all this work and all the money and you know how much time, of course the APHIS does not and will not respond to you by phone calls anymore. I mean, you can't call them. It just, they won't respond. And so everything's done by email. So you can about imagine the hours I put in of back and forth, back and forth because it has to have this, you have to have this and blah, blah, blah. So when we finally got to the point of Liv Fox: Okay. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. and Samantha Bohl: I had to tell Will Drift that yes, we're going to be up there, this is when, and so far I got everything about ready. We should be, you know, we're planning up on this weekend or this week and we'll leave Friday and we'll... So we left Friday and stayed in Wisconsin Dells with the kids for a weekend because we figured I'll get ⁓ rest of the paperwork because they told me Friday, yes, you will have... Liv Fox: Okay. Samantha Bohl: your import permit by Monday, no later than Monday. And I'm like, great, if not Friday. So I'm like, okay, so we're safe to leave. So we tucked everybody in and ⁓ people watch our critters here and left. And so Wisconsin is what? I don't know. It's ⁓ the distance. So we stayed there and we left Monday morning. I got in my vehicle Monday morning. Of course I'm driving and get like... Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: to the gas station getting ready to leave and I just Googled or go through my email and I'm like, yes, here it is. You know, I click on it and it's like, we are sorry, we cannot issue this permit. And I'm like, a lot of bad words came out of my mouth and my kids are like, uh-oh, mom's not happy. ⁓ I'm like, ⁓ I had to pull over. And ⁓ yeah, they just said we couldn't issue this permit. And so I was so mad and you can't call anybody. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. What? Yeah. Yeah Right. And did they give a reason why? Samantha Bohl: So I'm like, what am I gonna do? Yeah, well, no. So I finally emailed them back and said, I don't understand. Everybody told me your office specifically told me this. And so we took off and they email me back saying, well, you shouldn't have took off because you didn't have the permit. I'm like, really? Anyways, beside the point. And so she's like, all we're missing is RFID tags, which I gave them to the port vet and Mind you, the port vet stuff is not the same as the USDA vet. Everything's completely different. Everything's a completely different template. No, they do, but they don't. It's different templates. Everything's different. You got to have different paperwork for their different paperwork for here. And it's all on a different website. It's all in a different web design. It's not the same, which I don't understand. But anyway, so all I had to do is she actually, and then she finally called me because I was about beside myself. Liv Fox: Yep, they don't talk to each other. Yep. Yeah, yes. Samantha Bohl: And so she finally walked me through some of this stuff and we got it figured out but it was just like We could have we could have done this a lot easier I mean and she's like I apologize I was out of the office and people that were in the office gave you the wrong information and didn't tell you what y'all needed and But well, I mean it was just I was hot there for a while Liv Fox: Okay. Yeah. Okay. Well, yes, like you said, like you had a lot of time invested, a lot of money invested. You weren't even at home anymore. You know, like you were on your way. Samantha Bohl: Yes. Yes. Well, Axel and Chris, well, Chris was leaving to go overseas for some stuff and she's like, I got to be out of here by, you know, certain, so this was like our time, like the only time we had available. like, if we, I don't know what we're going to do, you know, so I was a little frustrated, but yeah, we finally got it. And thankfully, but yeah, it's a bugger of a lot of work, you know. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Right. It is a lot of work. I didn't handle the paperwork. I was like the cheerleader ⁓ my friend who did the paperwork. ⁓ I'm so glad she did it because she's stay at home mom, but she helps with like bookkeeping with her husband's business. But ⁓ like you like a lot of back and forth emailing, she just spent a lot of time doing it. And there was just no way that I would have been able to have done it. Samantha Bohl: Yeah, right. Liv Fox: Cause you, again, you need to do it during business hours. They're not working beyond, you know, that eight to five realm. And so that makes it really challenging. you down, ⁓ we down a lot of bunny trails before we finally got on the right bunny trail. just because there there's not even like, ⁓ like a list of like, here's all the things that you need to do. And here are the links to the website and these are Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. Right. Mm-hmm. Liv Fox: Fees that you can anticipate to pay. know, like if somebody would do that, it would make everybody's life so much easier. Yes, yes. And that was the place where we picked the semen up from. They told us like they have one person specifically that their full-time job is to just monitor the different countries like as they change their rules for importing semen or live animals like Samantha Bohl: I know. It's like they like to keep you guessing though. Yeah. Liv Fox: They have one person that that is their full-time job year round. I'm like, that's crazy to me. Like, crazy. Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah, the list of, you know, imports and exports and what is required to go in and out is It's it is. nuts. So yeah. Yeah, which is good. I mean, we can't complain because we don't want screw worm up here either. you know. ⁓ But, yeah, I'm glad it's done and over. ⁓ It finally hit me we were... Liv Fox: Yes. Right? Samantha Bohl: there, you know, because we did stay for a couple days and visit with them guys. yeah, then when we got him home, you know, like, wow, we got him here. ⁓ now what? You just keep healthy and happy. Yeah. It's always nerve wracking, long trip like that to, you know, shipping fear and everything else. ⁓ Liv Fox: Okay. huh. Yeah. Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What ⁓ I like to ask all our guests, what is ⁓ a ⁓ like a message that ⁓ you feel you would like to share with other shepherds, whether they're new or thinking about into the shepherding world. What's a take-home message you would like to offer them? Samantha Bohl: Oh man, you know the biggest, it's more of advice if you will, but you know one of the biggest things like I said we went down that hole of getting sheep and getting into it and getting into it in a hurry and found disease. So if you're looking at it and you're serious about starting something and you're wanting to get into sheep I would make sure they come from tested flock and make sure they do test regularly. Just because they say they're tested doesn't mean they are. buy from clean, buy from tested and ask for the results. And sure you buy from that do similar ⁓ your operation. We ran into too where we bought from ⁓ people that feed lot more concentrate and then come here. ⁓ Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Samantha Bohl: It doesn't jive. can't live as well. ⁓ similar, you know, buy similar and buy clean. ⁓ don't know, are, and similar and clean. It's a way to start your flock, you know, good moms, clean moms, you know. You want, you know, people say you don't want your kids sick, so would you want your animals sick, you know? Liv Fox: Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Samantha Bohl: You don't want your pets sick either, so. Liv Fox: Right. Well, and it'll just save, save yourself a lot of heartache. Both like, you know, yeah, mentally and yeah, that physical or financial heartache of having to pay vet bills and cause you're not sure what's going on and stuff like that. Yeah. Samantha Bohl: yeah, ⁓ money. ⁓ Right. I don't think people understand that animal loss is a reality. it's gonna happen. ⁓ so yeah, having animals just makes it a tenfold worse. Liv Fox: Mm hmm. Yes. Yeah, yeah. It makes it real easy to want to throw your sucker in the dirt and say, I'm done and leave a bad taste in your mouth. Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. Yes, yeah. Yeah, it's I think that's helped us the the biggest is making sure stuff was clean. We've seen a huge improvement in flock health, animal health, and in their, I don't know, all over just sheep health. If that's a thing, you know, just they run and play and they're just healthier. So yeah, right, right. Liv Fox: Mm-hmm. Yeah! Yeah, let's sheep be sheep. Samantha Bohl: I guess if that's a take home message that would be it. Liv Fox: Yeah, I think that's a great take home message in all honesty. great advice for somebody who's looking to, you know, take the plunge into the sheep world ⁓ if they have and they're like, ⁓ maybe this is explaining some of my, my problems. ⁓ Samantha Bohl: Yes, yeah and those diseases got so many different avenues you know I never thought I'd throw it this was this OPP symptom until we had it so you know yeah yeah and every you know how many people go out and want their dogs tested for hip dysplasia and all this if you wouldn't buy sickly pets you know why would you want to buy sickly sheep? Liv Fox: Yeah, yeah. Right. Right, right, yeah. Samantha Bohl: and put it in a comparison or a, you know. Liv Fox: Yeah, no, it is, honestly. And sometimes, you know, people will sometimes balk at the price of an animal if it's been tested for diseases or whatever, you know, dogs, know, genetic problems. Well, if if you're buying from tested that to me, it's worth paying more to be like, OK, like I'm Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. Liv Fox: I'm purchasing from a clean flock. I shouldn't be, you know, cause my flock is clean. I want to keep it clean. I don't want to bring somebody in and then have problems and have to depop my entire farm. That would just, I would cry. I 100 % would cry over that. Samantha Bohl: Mm-hmm. Great. ⁓ yeah, trust me. I went through many tears. Yeah. Yeah, it's... yeah. Liv Fox: Yeah. Samantha Bohl: It gets better. Liv Fox: Well, thank you so much for coming on to the podcast. I know you are a very busy woman, a very busy mom, and we're catching you like kind of like in between your lambing as well. So I appreciate you taking the time to come on the podcast and looking forward to following your journey with the East regions that you've imported. Samantha Bohl: Yeah, well, thanks for having me. Liv Fox: Maybe we'll have to have you come back and just give us an update on how that's going and kind of what you're seeing all your free time, right? ⁓ Samantha Bohl: Yeah, sounds good. Yeah, right. Yep. I can squeeze you in. Liv Fox: I appreciate that. ⁓ Thanks for coming. We'll see you next time. Samantha Bohl: You bet. Well, thanks for having me. It was fun. Yep, bye bye.