# Sheep house



## NachoFarm (Jul 4, 2012)

We have two adult ewes and one three month old ewe coming to us on the weekend and we're building the sheep house from scratch.  Any suggestions/advice on what works and what doesn't?  Cleaning, ventilation, flooring etc.  We want them to lamb outside in the spring and they will be kept outdoors all the time.  We will eventually have a flock of no more than 10.  We're in Ontario, so the summers are HOT and the winters are SNOWY and COLD!  Well...usually, last winter being the exception of course.


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## shawnfisher (Jul 4, 2012)

NachoFarm said:
			
		

> We have two adult ewes and one three month old ewe coming to us on the weekend and we're building the sheep house from scratch.  Any suggestions/advice on what works and what doesn't?  Cleaning, ventilation, flooring etc.  We want them to lamb outside in the spring and they will be kept outdoors all the time.  We will eventually have a flock of no more than 10.  We're in Ontario, so the summers are HOT and the winters are SNOWY and COLD!  Well...usually, last winter being the exception of course.


Define HOT-- does it ever get over 100 degrees up there for more than 6 days?

calf hutches work great, and will last forever-- in your situation-- I recommend them.  Probably just as cheap to buy, as build yourself.  

3 sided outbuildings work best- can be round top, or square.  tin works best on a frame

one of the best 'sheds', I ever had-- was an old fertilzer buggy turned upside down and the front cut out.  had the door on the back that you could raise or lower-- heavy enough to never turn over in the wind.


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## NachoFarm (Jul 4, 2012)

No, not over 100 degrees for more than six days sort of hot...although it's 41 (105) here today!!!  So we're all hiding inside from the heat.

Our neighbour has a dairy farm, do you mean those white igloo looking things?  How many would we need to house up to 10 sheep?  

So if we build a three sided shed would we leave the ground bare or do we raise it up?  We have some large strips of tin kicking around that came out of the barn and we were thinking of using it for the roof to help hold the snow and let the rain run off?

Oh, and sheep people...how do you keep water unfrozen for sheep in the middle of the winter?  I read that they can get water requirements from eating snow?  Otherwise, do they make solar buckets?


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## shawnfisher (Jul 4, 2012)

NachoFarm said:
			
		

> No, not over 100 degrees for more than six days sort of hot...although it's 41 (105) here today!!!  So we're all hiding inside from the heat.
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> Our neighbour has a dairy farm, do you mean those white igloo looking things?  How many would we need to house up to 10 sheep?
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see bolded.


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## sdsmowen (Jul 17, 2012)

Do they make heated waterers that are solar our barn has no electric run to it?


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Jul 17, 2012)

NachoFarm said:
			
		

> We have two adult ewes and one three month old ewe coming to us on the weekend and we're building the sheep house from scratch.  Any suggestions/advice on what works and what doesn't?  Cleaning, ventilation, flooring etc.  We want them to lamb outside in the spring and they will be kept outdoors all the time.  We will eventually have a flock of no more than 10.  We're in Ontario, so the summers are HOT and the winters are SNOWY and COLD!  Well...usually, last winter being the exception of course.


Ok I just gotta ask

LAST WINTER WAS WARM?  We're in AK, which is CLOSE to Canada but not Ontario, but we had -70 and -60 for weeks!!! Your lucky!


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 17, 2012)

I would think the calf hutches won't let multiple sheep get inside at once?  I know my sheep prefer to be together.  YOu can get large hutches, but they're pretty expensive.  We built a 3 sided wooden structure, and it works great. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just 3 sides and a roof.  We cover 1/2 the front in the winter as well, so it blocks more of the wind/snow.  

And water freezes here, I just break if a few times a day.  Man, with days reaching 100* lately, busting ice sounds pretty good about now!


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## kfacres (Jul 17, 2012)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> I would think the calf hutches won't let multiple sheep get inside at once?  I know my sheep prefer to be together.  YOu can get large hutches, but they're pretty expensive.  We built a 3 sided wooden structure, and it works great. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just 3 sides and a roof.  We cover 1/2 the front in the winter as well, so it blocks more of the wind/snow.
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> And water freezes here, I just break if a few times a day.  Man, with days reaching 100* lately, busting ice sounds pretty good about now!


how do you figure?  I used to have a triangle shaped fertilzer box flipped upside down for my sheep- 8' long and 4' wide-- 10 sheep could fit inside of it at once... and I'll bet that my sheep are the biggest both frame size and weight of anyone on this board.


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## Royd Wood (Jul 17, 2012)

kfacres said:
			
		

> I'll bet that my sheep are the biggest both frame size and weight of anyone on this board.


You could be right there and we are all so pleased for you


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## kfacres (Jul 17, 2012)

Royd Wood said:
			
		

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just using that as a reference to the number of sheep that can get inside and pack into a small structure.  You'd be surprised.

example of size:  42" tall x 43" long- weighed 395 pounds at Louisville as a yearling (in this picture).  This ram was 1st at the All American as a lamb (National Junior Show), 1st at IL State Fair, and Reserve Champion, 1st at Louisville Junior Show, and 1st at Louisville Open Show and Sr. Champion.  He then came back and claimed honors of being the largest Oxford ram ever shown at Louisville as a yearling.


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## SheepGirl (Jul 18, 2012)

kfacres said:
			
		

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What size/age sheep are you putting in there? If the box is 32 sq ft and 10 sheep could fit in there then that means each sheep only has 3.2 sq ft...so even if it was 1 ft x 3.2 ft space for each sheep, they still wouldn't be able to fit because your sheep are 43" long--which is about 5 inches too much.


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## kfacres (Jul 18, 2012)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

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I'm putting all sizes of sheep in it.  Clearly, not all of our sheep are 42" tall-- as the ewes and lambs will be smaller--- but they'll comparitively be bigger than almost all other sheep.

My brood ewes will weigh 250, and I'd say it will hold 6 of them in fleece.  I'd say this box could fit 15 lambs weighing 50 lb.


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 18, 2012)

I'm commenting on individual calf hutches, not community hutches.  If it's a community hutch, those are expensive and one could build a wood shelter for much cheaper.


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## bonbean01 (Jul 18, 2012)

I agree with that...plus with a wooden structure you would be set for when you increase your flock number and have the room for birthing areas too.  Your first post mentioned growing your herd to 10...I would think it worth it to build a permanent shelter from wood.  Just my two cents worth...not that 2 cents will buy you much these days


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## kfacres (Jul 18, 2012)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> I'm commenting on individual calf hutches, not community hutches.  If it's a community hutch, those are expensive and one could build a wood shelter for much cheaper.


I too am talking about individaul calf hutches... but my point is-- you don't need one hutch for one sheep-- you'll be able to have 5 or 6 at least fit inside one.


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 18, 2012)

kfacres said:
			
		

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You MUST be talking about larger hutches than the typical ones for 1 individual calf.  There is no way in heck you can get 5 ewes (especially your huge sheep) in a calf hutch that is sized for 1 individual calf .  No way.  Unless maybe you get a shoe horn, and decorate the hutch like a clown car.  In the hutch in the link, you could get *maybe* 2 ewes in there.  

My point was, if someone gets a smaller calf hutch, the sheep will not be able to fit in together, and I'm not sure sheep would like to be separated.


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## kfacres (Jul 18, 2012)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

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Ya, I've got about 25 of those hutches around the place and have used them for many other purposes other than calves...

My fertilizer bed-- isn't much bigger than a calf hutch.  It's about 4x10... the calf hutches are 4.5 x 6.


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## Ownedby3alpacas (Jul 18, 2012)

kfacres said:
			
		

> My fertilizer bed-- isn't much bigger than a calf hutch.  It's about 4x10... the calf hutches are 4.5 x 6.


I don't own sheep or have experience with them but i can't understand how 5 - 6 sheep can comfortably fit in one calf hutch. I have a dog crate almost that big and i can't see that many sheep being comfortable in that small of a space.


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## HankTheTank (Jul 18, 2012)

Sounds like you're playing sheep tetris


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## kfacres (Jul 18, 2012)

Ownedby3alpacas said:
			
		

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We used to lamb 80 ewes in a shed 22x28


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## bonbean01 (Jul 18, 2012)

sheep tetris


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## Pearce Pastures (Jul 18, 2012)

HankTheTank said:
			
		

> Sounds like you're playing sheep tetris


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## NachoFarm (Jul 19, 2012)

Lol, last time I checked in on this thread there were no new responses and now...

I think we may just leave the barn open for them this year, the door faces west but we don't have to leave it open all the way.  

Oh and as for the "warm winter" we had I had to look up what "AK" meant and if you're in Alaska I understand now your confusion.  Canada is so big that the climate in the north is nowhere near the same as in the south (kind of like the US no?  )  We had little snow and most days were above -10 celsius which is "warm" by Southern Ontario standards I guess.  I'm sure the Yukon had a bunch of snow too but they're over 5000 km from where I live.  I bet everyone around here is wishing for snow now...it was 42 celsius yesterday...so unbearably hot.


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