# Which Breed??



## intlgrrl (Jan 3, 2016)

Help! I'm drowning in sheep breeds. I'm researching which sheep breeds I should consider for a first time sheep owner (I'm not purchasing anytime soon), however, being a knitter and wanting to have a fiber farm, I'm overwhelmed. And of course imagine my frustration that when I am somewhat interested in a breed, it not raised here.... *sigh. SO any suggestions would be helpful,

Thanks!


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## Latestarter (Jan 3, 2016)

There was a sheep person on here that had a "sheep selector" tool where you went down and selected what you wanted and it recommended which sheep breed was right for you. I can't remember who had it though... & I can't seem to locate it Grrrr.  @SheepGirl ? @norseofcourse ? anyone remember or have a link?


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## Latestarter (Jan 3, 2016)

OK, found it!

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/sheep-breed-selector.16689/


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## Bossroo (Jan 3, 2016)

Consider this... economically speaking , you can buy fine Marino wool yarn  at your local yarn store imported from Australia for far less than what it will COST you to grow your own. Even the cost of shearing your  sheep alone will cost more!


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## norseofcourse (Jan 3, 2016)

If you have a few wethers, you can have several different breeds.  I don't know all the breeds (or even most of them), but off the top of my head I'd check into Shetlands, Icelandic, Border or Blue-Faced Leicester, Cheviot, Babydoll, among others.  Have you ever been to Lake Farm Park? I think they have a bunch of different breeds of sheep (and they sell their wool cheap).  I love the look of Jacobs but don't want to deal with horns (my Icelandics are mostly polled).

Bossroo is right about wool not bringing much.  If you're going to attempt to make any profit on wool, you have to tap into the specialty/handspinner market, and find wools that are marketable to that group.

Have you been to any of the sheep and wool or fiber festivals?  There's a good one in May in Wooster.


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## intlgrrl (Jan 3, 2016)

Latestarter said:


> There was a sheep person on here that had a "sheep selector" tool where you went down and selected what you wanted and it recommended which sheep breed was right for you. I can't remember who had it though... & I can't seem to locate it Grrrr.  @SheepGirl ? @norseofcourse ? anyone remember or have a link?



I took both quizzes and came back with Columbia and Tunis respectively.... sigh still not sure


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## intlgrrl (Jan 3, 2016)

Bossroo said:


> Consider this... economically speaking , you can buy fine Marino wool yarn  at your local yarn store imported from Australia for far less than what it will COST you to grow your own. Even the cost of shearing your  sheep alone will cost more!



 Shearing will be a challenge, that for sure. I do plan to learn to do this though. Since I'm starting slowly, I figured this would be a good thing to learn.


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## intlgrrl (Jan 3, 2016)

norseofcourse said:


> If you have a few wethers, you can have several different breeds.  I don't know all the breeds (or even most of them), but off the top of my head I'd check into Shetlands, Icelandic, Border or Blue-Faced Leicester, Cheviot, Babydoll, among others.  Have you ever been to Lake Farm Park? I think they have a bunch of different breeds of sheep (and they sell their wool cheap).  I love the look of Jacobs but don't want to deal with horns (my Icelandics are mostly polled).
> 
> Bossroo is right about wool not bringing much.  If you're going to attempt to make any profit on wool, you have to tap into the specialty/handspinner market, and find wools that are marketable to that group.
> 
> Have you been to any of the sheep and wool or fiber festivals?  There's a good one in May in Wooster.




This is true and also why I am drowning in sheep breeds... I guess I shouldn't overwhelm myself, but this has all been fascinating to learn about


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## Roving Jacobs (Jan 3, 2016)

Definitely go to the great lakes fiber show in Wooster if you can. Feel a lot of wool, meet a bunch of sheep breeds and see what people are buying and selling. It's always a good learning experience and a lot of fun.


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## norseofcourse (Jan 3, 2016)

intlgrrl said:


> This is true and also why I am drowning in sheep breeds... I guess I shouldn't overwhelm myself, but this has all been fascinating to learn about


Then don't make a hard and fast decision yet.  You're developing a long range plan right now.  Make a 'short list' of sheep breeds you'd like to have - even 5 or 10 'possibles' wouldn't be too many.  Continue to learn and revise the list if you want, keeping notes of why you want a particular breed (or don't).

When you find your property, move in, start whatever work you'll need to get it ready for livestock, and start keeping an eye out for sheep for sale in your area, or contact breeders of the breeds you've been interested in.  If you're patient, some good deals may come along - a 4H'er selling their stock to go to college; a breeder downsizing; someone deciding to switch breeds.  You'll have more flexibility than if you decide now that you will only have "X" and "Y" sheep.


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## intlgrrl (Jan 4, 2016)

Does anyone here have any favorite breeds? I find I like the look of natural colored sheep, but they don't seem to be common


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## purplequeenvt (Jan 4, 2016)

Technically speaking, a "natural colored" sheep is any sheep that is not white. The most common Natural Coloreds in the show world are Columbia Crosses.  

Border Leicester and Romney fleeces are favorites of handspinners. And a cross of the 2 breeds is lovely. 

I think your first decision needs to be what type of fleece you are interested in.


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## intlgrrl (Jan 4, 2016)

I thought Romney was a bit rough, well I do remember spinners complaining about it when I was a kid... has the texture changed?


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## Roving Jacobs (Jan 4, 2016)

Keep in mind also that there are fads in sheep so what's super common or popular right now might be hard to find in 5 years or vice versa. Right now people seem to be crazy for cormos, longwools and bfls around here, who knows what people will be nuts for in the future. All my jacobs came from people who were getting rid of them to get icelandics and now a lot of them are trading those in for a couple different longwool breeds. Meanwhile I'm still very happy with my jacobs because they work well for what I want.


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## purplequeenvt (Jan 4, 2016)

intlgrrl said:


> I thought Romney was a bit rough, well I do remember spinners complaining about it when I was a kid... has the texture changed?



Romneys are a long (coarse) wool breed so yes, the fleece is a bit rough. Not nearly as coarse as a Lincoln though. 

Personally, I love the long wool breeds. We've raised Border Leicesters for almost 16 years and we also have a few Lincolns, Southdowns, and Shetlands (not long wool). We also raised Romneys for a number of years.


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## intlgrrl (Jan 5, 2016)

Roving Jacobs said:


> Definitely go to the great lakes fiber show in Wooster if you can. Feel a lot of wool, meet a bunch of sheep breeds and see what people are buying and selling. It's always a good learning experience and a lot of fun.



When is the Great lake Fiber show???


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## Roving Jacobs (Jan 5, 2016)

It's May 28-29th at the Wayne Co Fairgrounds in Wooster. There's a sheep show/auction, wool competitions, and vendors. My farm vends there every year and I'm hoping to enter some fleeces this year. I think Norseofcourse is vending and showing this year too?


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## norseofcourse (Jan 5, 2016)

Roving Jacobs said:


> It's May 28-29th at the Wayne Co Fairgrounds in Wooster. There's a sheep show/auction, wool competitions, and vendors. My farm vends there every year and I'm hoping to enter some fleeces this year. I think Norseofcourse is vending and showing this year too?


Yep!     I'll have some of my stuff at a friend's booth, and I'll be entering a fleece or two in the wool competition.

The fiber show website is here:
http://www.greatlakesfibershow.com/
They'll update it more as the show gets closer.


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## intlgrrl (Jan 11, 2016)

I have marked the dates down!  So, do people usually keep more than one breed of sheep, or is that a personal choice?


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## Roving Jacobs (Jan 11, 2016)

I think if people are breeding purebred sheep the generally just have one breed, occasionally two, so they can really focus on that one and not have to worry about separating flocks. I am definitely the outlier with 3  People interested in production often have several breeds and mixed stock they mix to get the traits they want. If you're just keeping them as fiber pets there's no reason to not a few of whatever breeds you like though.


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