# ram with ewes



## foxywench (Feb 9, 2011)

a long time off yet but im planning a little flock of southdown babydolls when i get my farm, hoping to pasture them in a lightly planted orchard as lawnmowers, pasture pets and some fleece production.
i just love them!

but i have a few questions about keeping sheep...
can a ram safely be kept year round in the feild with ewes (and eventually lambs)
or would it be better to give the ram his own pasture and give him a wether buddy to keep him company.
im hoping to keep 3 ewes and a ram, though i know wethers give good wool, so i might end up wethering a couple of the male off spring just for wool use as well.

i know with the goats i plan on getting the bucks will be kept seperate from my dairy girls, and will have a wether buddy or 2...

but i wasnt sure if i shoudl do the same for my sheepies.

are southdowns seasonal breeders? id also be worried, if letting him live with the ewes full time that he might breed the girls too early after the last lambing.

can we tell im a newbie?

ive got at least a year before ill be moving and starting forward with all this, but i like to spend alot of time figureing things out.

my other question is can you pasture sheep and alpaca together, im planning on having a trio of gelded alpaca boys as pasture pets/fiber but not yet positive, and am trying to figure out how many pastures ill need for what i want to do with my mini farm lol.

side note, in terms of fiber use, im not planning a big production, mostly itll just be fiber for fun and mabe to help supliment income for feed costs in the winter.  im not planning on making a profit, though it would be a nice bonus


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## patandchickens (Feb 9, 2011)

If you keep the ram separate (e.g. with a wether companion) for most of the year, you can control when your ewes are bred, and also (the biggie, for me) you will not have to contend with a ram every time you want to go in and do something with the ewes during the non-breeding season! Even with a well behaved ram it is a real nuisance to have to keep an eye always on him and ready to take appropriate action.

The main downside of separation is just that obviously you need a second area in which to do it.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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## Bossroo (Feb 9, 2011)

Consider that in this day and age, the expence  of shearing will cost you way more than what the wool is worth... that is if you can even get a shearer to come out for a handful of animals . A babydoll southdown is a small animal, so the wool yield is small too. Being small, they also eat less grass so may not fulfill your lawnmower expectations. So a tripple wammy. Buying a wether will amount to a money pit as they are sterile, so can't reproduce. A quadruple wammy.  When one adds fancy words like babydoll, the price of the animal greatly rises. While you can keep sheep and goats together, they have different nutritional needs( goats need copper, while it can be deadly to sheep) so much more management and handling is required. Keeping a wethered goat is a money pit.  An intact mature male goat stinks to high heaven.  Southdowns are seasonal breeders. You can keep sheep and alpacas together, but have you priced them? I would purchase a standard Southdown or a Dorper, hair/wool shedding  meat sheep. At least I would have a much better chance to mow down the orchard as well as break even on investment and operating costs.


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## aggieterpkatie (Feb 9, 2011)

Bossroo said:
			
		

> Consider that in this day and age, the expence  of shearing will cost you way more than what the wool is worth... that is if you can even get a shearer to come out for a handful of animals . A babydoll southdown is a small animal, so the wool yield is small too. Being small, they also eat less grass so may not fulfill your lawnmower expectations. So a tripple wammy. Buying a wether will amount to a money pit as they are sterile, so can't reproduce. A quadruple wammy.  When one adds fancy words like babydoll, the price of the animal greatly rises. While you can keep sheep and goats together, they have different nutritional needs( goats need copper, while it can be deadly to sheep) so much more management and handling is required. Keeping a wethered goat is a money pit.  An intact mature male goat stinks to high heaven.  Southdowns are seasonal breeders. You can keep sheep and alpacas together, but have you priced them? I would purchase a standard Southdown or a Dorper, hair/wool shedding  meat sheep. At least I would have a much better chance to mow down the orchard as well as break even on investment and operating costs.


This is all true, but he/she will also be able to sell the lambs at a much higher price with babydoll southdowns.


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## Bossroo (Feb 10, 2011)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> Bossroo said:
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Yes, but the reality is... if one has the time to hold onto it for a long period of time and IF one can find a buyer... take a babydoll southdown to any auction and it just may be a no sale or maybe up to half the going rate of the other sheep at best. Just another thing to consider.


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## foxywench (Feb 10, 2011)

well im planning on learning to shere myslf, i work at small local farms over the spring and summer and one of the famrs im working has southdowns and alpaca and shes going to teach me how to basic sheer both, she doesnt do fancy show cuts, and i know itll take alot of time and practice, but im also a dog groomer and know my way around a set of clippers lol
, and obviously alone babydolls would be much easier to handle for a beginner to start out with simply due to size.  also smaller sheep = smaller shelter, less suplimental feed ect,  the fleece from the southdowns would be for my use and i dont need alot of fleece honestly...
theyd mostly just be pasture pets and mabe even show...
im hoping i could get a little money back on the offspring, but im also not against putting any that dont sell in the freezer, im from the uk, where there still alot of 'old english" southdowns of the itty bitty size and they are a meat breed...i dont need alot of lamb as it will be just me and my animals lol.

on a side note...i do see the issue with the price of breeding grade alpaca...ive seen females going for $14,000 upwards!
but ive actually seen gelded alpaca going for dirt cheap in the area im looking into eventually set up my mini farm, and baby males planned for gelding are pretty much tossed away because of the cost of gelding, 
I will obviously need help to sheer an alpaca, unless theres a method other than laying the animal down as i have no plans to build a sheering table lol.
id hope to get enough fiber off 3 alpaca to feed them during the winter.

im planning on dedicating 1/2 an acre to the 3 ewes sheep + 1/4 an acre for the ram and a gelded buddy, OR 1 acre for 3 ewes and 3 alpaca and another 1/4 for the ram and his wether buddy.  which would be lightly planted with well pruned apple, pear, plum ect.  i dont want a huge orchard.

my goats will be my "income" livestock (i make soap), the sheep and alpaca will be more pleasure than buisness...not that i dont get pleasure form goats too and wont be keeping many goats either...its more i just want a little group of lawnmowers who will also donate fiber 

side note, i will NOT be attending auctions with any of my animals, just for personal reasons from experience.
i plan on attending some shows, mabe making a little name for myself and targeting a smaller market


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## patandchickens (Feb 11, 2011)

foxywench said:
			
		

> obviously alone babydolls would be much easier to handle for a beginner to start out with simply due to size


I dunno bout that -- I have two "normal sized sheep" (British Milksheep x Dorset) and three shetlands, and honestly for me the shetlands are considerably harder to work with because they ARE smaller (and they are not AS small as babydoll southdowns)!  You have to bend over more, you can't see underneath them as well without bending way down and spooking them, and being smaller they can evade you through smaller gaps and wiggle out of your arms more easily.

(I will admit they are also a bit more skittish than the dairybreds, which doesnt' help... but I really think they'd be harder to work with even if they had the same behavior. Same as how minis are harder to groom and do feet on than ponies, and ponies harder than horses )

Not trying to dissuade you from whatever breed you want, just making an observation 

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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## foxywench (Feb 11, 2011)

lol, i meant interms of sheering, ill be able to lift a babydoll onto a sheering table or lift them in general better being alone, a full sized sheep though...i dont think i could handle alone

i have small dogs lol so i dont mind the bending for the foot care and such, least right now while im in my 20's

the babydolls ive been around have all been bottle raised and absolute darlings, so im planning on bottle raising any i get also.  (though im not expecting them to be "dog like" lol.

shetlands are cute, but ive never been around any on small acreage, there are alot in wales and they pretty much roam free over hundereds of acres.  definatly hardy little beasts


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## abooth (Feb 11, 2011)

I have babydolls and I love them.  They were expensive but that is a one time price I was willing to pay.  Their size makes them very un intimidating.  Especially for a beginner.  I have never been sorry I got mine as they are pets/lawn mowers and are very good at their jobs.  They have sweet temperaments and seem to like people time.  Their fleece has a short staple but has a lot of barbs in it so it is great for blending with other fibers (like maybe your alpacas).  I say if ya like 'em get 'em!


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