Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 834 - 824. How to Raise Sheep

Chapter 834: 824. How to Raise Sheep

Song Tan began to reflect on her ill-preparedness.

These sheep are so jumpy, she’d have to expand her contracted land on both sides when she gets back.

But for now...

As the saying goes, "Train a dog for a thousand days to use it for one moment," the two sheepdogs should be able to keep an eye on them, right?

She overlooked this detail and changed the subject: "Is there anything particular they need to eat?"

Boss Yang was casually detailed in sheep farming: "They can eat pretty much anything, but in winter or at critical times—you know what critical times are, right? Like pregnancy or lactation, they need to be fed quality feed!"

"At night, they will return to their pen on their own. Don’t let them out when there’s dew in the morning; eating grass with dew is bad for them, makes them prone to illness."

Oh... it doesn’t seem too hard when put that way.

"It’s really not hard!" Boss Yang took her to the sheep pen: "Raising these creatures, don’t just listen to a bunch of theories, that’s useless! You have to actually raise them and figure it out as you go, then you’ll get the hang of it."

This is indeed the words of a hands-on type; Song Tan agrees with this idea, but her way of "figuring it out" might differ a bit—

Just be stubborn and dive in!

Getting closer, one could hear a flock of little sheep bleating with their pure white fleece and others fluffy yellow, brown spotted, and black irregular patterns...

"They’re quite cute."

Song Tan took her time to look and was very satisfied: "They all seem to be in high spirits."

The little lambs hopped around lively and agilely on the logs piled up in the pen, as if they had tiny springs attached to their feet.

Even Qi Lin couldn’t help but relax a little: "They are indeed very cute."

Boss Yang also nodded seriously: "Indeed, they taste good! The lamb is tender—What are you staring at me for? You raise sheep to eat them, don’t you?"

Eat them, sure, but Boss Yang really knows how to kill the mood!

Song Tan quickly shifted the topic: "If they can’t eat green grass with dew, can they eat fresh, watery ones?"

"Yeah, they can!" said Boss Yang: "For instance, freshly cut vegetable leaves, dried and chopped soybean stalks, all good. Just avoid the wet, dewy stuff."

"Try feeding them a bit occasionally, and observe. If there’s no problem, don’t make a fuss about it—but since you’re a novice, better be careful."

After rattling off a bunch of advice, he finally asked: "I usually let the entire herd out together; are you sure you want them all? If you think it’s too many, I can just sell you the lambs and the rams."

Of course, she wants them all; there’s not that many to begin with. Song Tan was curious: "Why would you only sell lambs and rams?"

Boss Yang explained specifically: "Niu Ben said your family has money, you’re not in a hurry to make a profit from sheep farming, you have patience—nowadays, many sheep farmers lack patience; they usually buy ewes that are pregnant or in the breeding season."

"That way, they can sell the lambs and make some money in a few months; it’s a preferred method for those who don’t have a strong financial backing. If you think it’s too much, I still have ewes left and I could make some calls to sell them as quickly as possible."

Song Tan suddenly realized—ewes at 22 yuan per jin (catty), compared to lambs at 20 yuan per jin, it’s not much more expensive. Farmers buy them and in at most six months, they can see the birth of lambs.

The lambs are raised for three months, reaching about 30 jin (catty), and selling them off makes an average of 600 yuan per head.

This way, within a year, the farmers can see a return on their investment, which would give them more confidence and relieve their financial pressure.

So, Boss Yang’s first preference is to sell the entire herd; but with 46 sheep, if the buyer’s place isn’t big enough, he’s giving the option to sell separately!

"Alright!" Song Tan carefully examined the sheep; their spirits were indeed quite good, and besides, nearly half of the 46 heads were lambs weighing around 30 jin (catty) each. Comparing their price to that of cattle, it’s like heaven and earth!

She quickly gave Boss Yang a calming reassurance: "No problem, I’ll take them all."

"Wait a minute, that actually feels quite good! No wonder Boss Chang loves to say that."

Boss Yang was so happy. He quickly set up a corridor between the two sheep pens with a scale placed in the middle.

As he herded the sheep, he also took note of their weight and price with practiced ease.

Suddenly, Qi Lin realized:

"Do we still have any Milk Vetch stalks?"

"Of course!" Song Tan replied with exceptional cheer.

Not just Milk Vetch stalks, but also mung bean stalks.

They had been dried specially for grinding and feeding to the pigs, and most of them were given to Old Man Li to feed Dahuang.

Then that incident happened to Old Man Li, and Dahuang became part of her own family.

During that scorching summer, with an abundance of water grass, green grass, and weeds, there was no need for dry feed.

So those stalks of Milk Vetch were still unground and had become part of the winter fodder reserve.

Qi Lin nodded: "Then... is it time to dig up the sweet potatoes?"

Huh?!

Song Tan caught on: "Yes! They can be dug up in these next few days—you want to eat the Sweet Potato Vine, right?"

"Right." Qi Lin really liked eating the tender Sweet Potato Vine, especially when stir-fried with chili, lard, and garlic. Oh, that taste...

That dish alone could go with three bowls of rice!

Now, just thinking about it, he could hardly stop the drool—yet next year he would be dining in the mountain canteen! How many more days could he enjoy such good food?

With this in mind, he grew even more determined about the 8000 post-tax decision!

If it wasn’t 8000 after deducting the five social insurance and one housing fund, he couldn’t agree to it!

But now, mentioning the Sweet Potato Vine, he also had another idea: "I mean, the Sweet Potato Vine we get from the harvest can also be dried and ground into fodder."

After all, the Riverside Beach now had plenty of green grass to eat, there was no need for concentrated feed. Better to eat fresh first!

Thinking this way, his eyes glanced at the scale while his hands didn’t slack, swiftly recording the data.

Song Tan nodded: "Right, I completely forgot... Ah, if I knew we were going to raise cattle and sheep, I should have had someone collect the Milk Vetch in our several acres of land earlier this spring."

The roots of Milk Vetch can fertilize the soil, the tender leaves are edible, and it blooms beautifully—practically no downsides!

And drying and grinding the leaves, that’s one of the richest nutritional feeds!

As she contemplated this, her list of crops to grow next year just got an addition. Song Tan sighed, then looking at the final price calculated by Qi Lin, she realized—

Compared to the price of cattle, this whole flock of sheep is truly a bargain!

Then Boss Yang realized, "Right, our family also loves eating mutton. If you plan to sell these sheep, let me know! I raise my own sheep, and you plan to let them roam free, so I’d feel more confident about the meat."

Song Tan: ...

A moment later, she tactfully said: "Maybe you should keep looking at other sheep you’re not sure about—I need to market these sheep, they’ll be live streaming with online influencers. I can’t offer a discount."

Live streaming marketing with the host Qiaoqiao, no mistake there.