# Questions about milking sheep



## KristyHall (Jan 27, 2011)

Does anyone know what sheep's milk tastes like? Are some breeds better than other on milk production. I intend on getting meat sheep and am considering getting some i can milk so I don't have to get a milk goat. Does sheep's milk make good butter and cream?


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## The Old Ram-Australia (Jan 28, 2011)

G'day KH,if you go to a site called Sheep 101 and click on breeds A-Z you will be able to see all of your options.Most sheep's milk is used for 'specialist cheeses' down here and although all sheep will give milk there are one or two breeds that far out- perform all the others.

 Just out of interest you can do alot worse than a really nice Toggenburg or two as house milkers and I'm sure you could find a 'buck ' nearby to get them in kid and keep you in milk.
 I look forward to some other comments on this topic,regards .............T.O.R.......................


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## aggieterpkatie (Jan 28, 2011)

It's definitely possible to milk sheep, although it might be a little harder than milking a goat.  Sheep have teeny teats which makes milking slower, plus they don't give nearly as much milk as a good dairy doe.  But, like the quote from Meet the Parents, "You can milk anything with teats."     Sheep milk does make delicious (and expensive) cheese!  Some breeds milk more than others. One of the more commonly used milk breeds is the East Friesian. I'm not sure how easy they are to find though.


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## KristyHall (Jan 28, 2011)

Thank you. After I posted this I found sheep 101 on my own and was reading up on them but I didn't get far. Do you know if Toggenburgs or East Friesians need to me sheered? I know some meat sheep don't need to be sheered.


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## elevan (Jan 28, 2011)

For milking critters with smaller teats, I'd recommend:  http://www.maggidans.com/milker.htm

They are made for pygmy goats which have small teats...hard to milk by hand.


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## ksalvagno (Jan 28, 2011)

Toggenburg is a goat breed.


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## aggieterpkatie (Jan 28, 2011)

KristyHall said:
			
		

> Thank you. After I posted this I found sheep 101 on my own and was reading up on them but I didn't get far. Do you know if Toggenburgs or East Friesians need to me sheered? I know some meat sheep don't need to be sheered.


East Fresians do need to be sheared.  Toggs don't because they're goats.


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## patandchickens (Jan 28, 2011)

KristyHall said:
			
		

> Does anyone know what sheep's milk tastes like?


Very sweet and rich, almost like melted premium ice cream, with (to me) only the faintest possible whiff of, well, not goatiness, "sheepiness" I suppose ("not coming from a cow -iness", really)

I like it.



> Are some breeds better than other on milk production.


Definitely. However be aware that the VERY high production dairy breeds are not the lowest maintenance or necessarily the healthiest easiest-lambing healthiest-udder breeds (I have been told this *repeatedly* about East Friesians, and BY East Friesian breeders ), so you may want somthing more of a compromise (more-moderate output but less high maintenence).  

Or if you do really want a seriously dairy animal, see if British Milksheep are in the US yet? (I have two partbreds that I will hopefully start milking this year; but if the breed is on your side of the border, it hasn't been for long)

If you want something that does not require shearing, the term you need to be looking for is "hair sheep". Some hair sheep breeds have (at least some lines) with decent milk production, for instance some Katahdins.

Honestly if you want milk for drinking not for cheesemaking, in most situations you would probably be a lot better off with a GOAT than a sheep.



> Does sheep's milk make good butter and cream?


It is naturally-homogenized like goat milk, thus unless you only want teeny amounts of cream/butterfat you would need a mechanical separator I think, same as for goats.

Most people who milk sheep do so for cheesemaking, because sheeps milk has almost twice the solids content of cows milk (and a lot more than goats milk too) thus you get much higher cheese yield from X litres of milk.

I believe miss_thenorth is the person on this forum with the most personal experience milking sheep for drinking purposes, you might try getting in touch with her if she does not see this thread?

Pat


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## KristyHall (Jan 28, 2011)

Thanks for all the info!
We don't drink enough milk to justify the need of a lot of milk. We love cheese though.
I don't want something terribly high maintenance and I intend on having a milk cow too. Do meat sheep also produce an ok amount of milk? I am probably going to have about 2- 5 female sheep, and then let them have a date with a friend's ram for some good lamb meat and the occasional drink of milk. But if they make good cheese then I'll just make cheese from heir milk and get my milk supply from a nice little dexter cow.


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## Lacaune (Mar 8, 2011)

I milk a flock of dairy sheep twice per day here in Wisconsin and sell the milk to cheese plants.


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## Aped (Mar 24, 2011)

One of my katahdin ewes lambed in the beginning of this month. I started milking her a week after lambing and with one milking a day I am getting about 20 oz from her every morning. I feel like there is more in there but the emptier her udder is, the harder it is to milk so the lamb takes care of all that. I have been mixing it with my goat milk and using it to make cheese. Between my one nigerian who is lactating and the katahdin I get a little over 2 gallons a week and all that goes into one small wheel of cheese. I can't wait to try this cheese in a few months.


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## CPT Bluegrass (Mar 24, 2011)

Interesting topic.  I would be interested in milking sheep as well although I might get a goat for the purpose of doing so.  Do goats and sheeps coincide well?


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## Aped (Mar 25, 2011)

I have both and I think many people on here do. They get along well. I actually prefer the sheep, they are more well behaved and lower maintenance but dairy goats produce more milk and have a longer lactation than most sheep. Their milk is more versatile too, I prefer not to drink sheep milk because it's a little too fatty I think. I don't get enough to drink anyway so it all goes to cheese. In the future I may go with all sheep.


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