Our Operations.
Over our years of experience, High Country Shepherding has fine tuned the way our projects are run. From our sheep, to our camp, everything is carefully considered and adapted to the area in which we are grazing.
Our Sheep.
We can scale our sheep numbers up or down to suit the size and vegetation load of the area you need targeted. We have run projects ranging from small scale 200 sheep projects, up to 1500 flock numbers covering 400ha.
Our sheep are sourced from large scale, Alberta based producers. The flocks are chosen carefully, meeting criteria that ensures a positive outcome for both the producers and the clients who hire us.
All sheep go through a veterinary health check. These checks are done in order for us to maintain the biosecurity of wildlife populations in the area. We closely monitor the health of our flock through out the summer. The integrity of our animal husbandry and welfare is at the forefront of our operations.
Our Camps.
We run our camps as sustainably as possible. All of them are off grid, predominantly using solar power or propane. We mostly have canvas wall tents for accommodation, this allows us a little more freedom over where we camp, not having to stick to hard standing or road ways.
Our sheep stay in camp overnight with us, we have electric fencing to keep them penned. The sheep pens are moved as frequently as possible to avoid too much soil disturbance, especially during wet weather. As long as we have plenty of places to put night pens, we can stay a while!
Bear safety is a top priority when we set up in bear country. All staff are trained on bear safety and we run a bear smart camp. Surrounded by electric fence and keeping food storage and cooking separate from sleeping areas, we maintain as safe a camp as possible.
The Results.
We actively graze the sheep for up to 12 hours each day. Depending on sheep numbers and vegetation load, we can cover up to 400ha in a 90 day contract. The pictures below show a before and after of an area with heavy grass load, this took two passes over with the sheep grazing.
We follow all government regulations that you are held to, whether that’s riparian habitat management, wildlife buffer zones or invasive species management.
Wildlife.
We are well versed in safely operating in areas with all manner of wildlife, from grizzly bears to wolves and everything in between. We maintain safe camp practices to significantly reduce wildlife encounters caused by attractants. We have safety protocols in place, but our main aim is to avoid creating situations where encounters happen in the first place. Between our guardian dogs, established protocols and staff training, we have had no incidents in camp over the years. We see wildlife but they tend not to stick around for long once the dogs start guarding!
We work in areas with species included in the SARA list. We work with you, operating within your established environmental management strategies and parameters.
We cannot operate within the Alberta 50km wild sheep buffer zone. This is due to domestic sheep and biosecurity concerns surrounding M.Ovi.
