I am considering adopting sheep-Yikes

[jbrown_14105]

Hello,
I have 7.8 acres of land with chickens, duck, geese, rabbits, cats, (NO dogs) am I am considering adopting 7 sheep 3 neutered males & 4 females from the local SPCA because these sheep came from a State Parks game/farm program and the State has closed the park and gave the sheep to the SPCA (to deal with).
So other than having an enclosure & land with pond what else do I need to know as far as keeping sheep (Yeah alot of "questions" in that statement.

Help....been around sheep but only as a young lad on my grandfathers farm.

Jim Brown
Lockport NY (deep in the country though!)

 

[boykin2010]

Well first, do you know what breed(s) they are?
That helps a lot because different breeds can act totally different.
You would need at least 2 acres for 7 sheep and you will have to feed hay in the fall and winter. They need a shelter for when it rains but they are really easy keepers. They also must have access to CLEAN water all the time. Do the sheep have wool? My sheep dont they are hair sheep and they shed their wool naturally.

Are you planning on breeding the 4 ewes?
Sheep can get very attached to their owners and actually be quite affectionate.

Unless you have a very specific question just browse around the interent and other threads on BYH. Thats what i did. Now i must admit i LOVE my sheep. This is my first year with them and i have doubled my herd in the last 2 months. My 4 pregnant ewes had 6 babies this year. 3 females and 3 males. I am keeping the females for breeding and selling the males to people for meat. There is a bigger than you think for sheep. I have already had 3 or 4 people wanting to buy sheep from me.

Hope this helps

 

[jbrown_14105]

The sheep are 5 years & 10 years old, the females are "fixed" because they came from a State Park which had a petting zoo.....but now the State has closed down the park. They are at the SPCA awaiting to be adopted I think as a whole count.
I don't know the breeds yet looks to be mainly "white face", but they all look like they have a fairly heavy coat of wool, maybe almost a year worth so shearing time is getting close.
We need to go out there and meet with the SPCA about adoption process.
Thanks for asking

Jim Brown
Lockport NY

 

[patandchickens]

One thing to know about sheep is that they are *giant* predator magnets, and require pretty serious fencing (preferably including, but NOT limited to, a very well-charged electric component to the fence) not just to keep sheep in but to keep loose dogs and coyotes OUT.

Another thing to know about sheep is that if they are not hair sheep you will have to shear them; it can definitely be done yourself if you have a good back and enough time and patience, and are not too picky about the results LOL, but it is another expense (either buying something to do it yourself, or seeing if you can pay someone enough to come out and do only a few sheep)

Another 'nother thing to know about sheep is that when they decide you are a friend they have the *cutest* little sniffy noses. They like to give you these very delicate feather-light sniffies all over you. It's cute.

Pat (who did not actually expect to like the sheep all that much, but now, almost exactly 1 year into sheep ownership, is actually rather attached to them )

 

[Bossroo]

Jim, Stike 1) the ewes have been fixed, and the males as well, so no chance to reproduce. Stike 2) 5 - 10 year olds... nearing end of life. Will make for a disposal problem of the carcass in the near future. Strike 3) At least 1 year's wool growth, therefore you will have to shear them come spring. I am assuming that you have never shorn a sheep before, so you will need to hire someone to shear them. The cost of shearing will exceed the value of the wool in today's economy. My recomendation... PASS !!! Find some hair type, feeder,ewe lambs ( able to reproduce when mature) to keep your land mowed. Much more economical and enjoyable in the long run.

 

[maude]

Hi all. I have been wanting to adopt a few sheep to keep my acre mowed and to have fleece for spinning. I need oodles of info and have been reading sheepy books, but it's nice to talk to real humans with experience. Where do I begin?
1. Having read about some of the plants that are toxic to sheep, do I start by having a Plant Person (someone who knows a daffodil from a dandelion...) walk my land in search of toxicity?
2. Then, how to handle fencing? Do I divide my property into 3-4 separate pastures for rotating - allowing parasites to die and grass to recover? How long do I leave them in the same pasture? Who installs fence?
3. Does the fence need to be electric? Would wire mesh be suitable and safe?
4. Water. I know: clean and copious. I use well-water. Do I install a trough or do I carry buckets to the thirsty little devils in their pastures?
5. Grass. Do I seed my "lawn" with anything special to entice them to "mow?" Are some breeds better mowers than others?
6. Shelter. Would a run-in do? Opening facing south?

Thank you for your words of wisdom.
Maude

 

[patandchickens]

1. Having read about some of the plants that are toxic to sheep, do I start by having a Plant Person (someone who knows a daffodil from a dandelion...) walk my land in search of toxicity?

Hm, these will be your first large livestock then? I guess your best bet, in the absence of a friendly extension service agent, would be to sweet-talk some local livestock-raising person into coming over and taking a look round; or alternatively, talk to people at the feedstore etc and see which particular plants are a problem locally, learn from a book how to identify them, and go look yourself.

2. Then, how to handle fencing? Do I divide my property into 3-4 separate pastures for rotating

The most economical yet safe/effective thing (especially with things like sheep that are really at the mercy of roaming dogs/coyotes) is to put GOOD perimeter fencing all round your property, ideally fairly small wire mesh plus a couple well-charged well-maintained strands of electric wire; and then use something less-serious, such as portable electric fencing, to crossfence as desired for rotation.

- allowing parasites to die and grass to recover? How long do I leave them in the same pasture?

Google "rotational grazing" and you will find a lot more than I can tell you in a short post Mind, the answer depends whether you are just concerned with maximizing pasture productivity, or whether you are seriously trying to avoid worm problems (hard with sheep unless you have *lotsa* land for them)

Who installs fence?

Er, typically you do You can hire someone to put in the posts for you if you really want -- look on the feedstore bulletin board or ask around, you want an agricultural type fence guy NOT a suburban privacy-fence installer. But unless you are doing chainlink or high tensile wire, neither of which you're likely to use, there is really no reason someone without serious physical limitations can't do it themselves. Just make sure you learn how to do it RIGHT for the type of fence you choose - crappily installed fence is a waste of time and money.

4. Water. I know: clean and copious. I use well-water. Do I install a trough or do I carry buckets to the thirsty little devils in their pastures?

Whatever you want. Depends a lot on your property, how many sheep, how much upfront "facilities improvement" $ you want to spend.

5. Grass. Do I seed my "lawn" with anything special to entice them to "mow?" Are some breeds better mowers than others?

Weeeelllll... what are you expecting in the way of "mowing". If you want it to look like a lawnmower was maintaining it, ain't going to happen. If you just want "not long grass" then THAT is certainly doable. Remember you will get vast quantities of sheep poo (little round pellets very similar to bunny droppings) alllll over everywhere.

You needn't seed in anything, although if your lawn is a total monoculture of bluegrass or something like that you may find it holds up better if you let it get weedy (which you'll almost *have* to do anyhow) and maybe seed in some clover in modest amounts.

If it is all a mass of weeds right now, of course, rather than being actual lawnish pastureish stuff, then you WOULD need to rip it up and seed, and then leave it for at least a couple seasons to establish BEFORE adding sheep.

6. Shelter. Would a run-in do? Opening facing south?

Yup.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat