The Practical Shepherd: Trials, Errors, and Successes While Maintaining Profitability

With sheep as the centerpiece of Still Waters Farm, Abram Bowerman presents low cost, practical solutions for raising healthy, happy livestock.

From the age of six, Abram Bowerman took an interest in sheep. With youthful ingenuity he earned enough to buy his first sheep, but quickly learned a lone sheep can become sick and ultimately die. His brother’s investment helped him avoid that initial mistake, allowing him to buy more sheep and build his business from the grass up, primarily on land he didn’t own. By the age of 25 he became fully employed as a stockman. Bowerman explains how working with cattle owners opened the door to stockmanship.

Livestock producers will learn:
• Healthy signs to look for when purchasing sheep,
• How to prevent disease and parasitism,
• The importance of clean water and shade,
• What to cull and what to retain for replacement ewes,
• When to make paddock shifts,
• The benefits of multi species,
• Using and training reliable guarding dogs.

With more than 20 years experience, Bowerman and his family raise 400 sheep along with goats, cows, horses and poultry on leased and owned pastureland.

In The Practical Shepherd, Bowerman walks you through the pitfalls and challenges he faced and overcame so that you, too, can be a profitable successful shepherd.

Abram Bowerman is a first generation shepherd. He bought his first sheep at age nine with money he earned. At the age of 25 he became fully employed as a stockman. With his wife and four children they manage sheep plus goats, cows, horses and poultry on Still Waters Farm in the Green Hills of Missouri utilizing 400 acres of owned and leased land. His goal has been to raise healthy, happy livestock.