Thinking of getting sheep

[michickenwrangler]

I'm thinking of getting sheep.

I just want a few, not more than 6, probably 3-4. I plan on raising them mainly for meat, although I would like sheepskins as a by product. Is there such a thing a miniature sheep? Or what are some small meat breeds?

Not really interested in dairy, not enough to mess around with milking. If I get a few ewes, how hard is it to find a breeding ram?

The sheep would have probably a little less than an acre for grazing and I do have another area I could fence off to rotate them back and forth.

Recommendations? Stories? Anecdotes?

I've had experience with goats and cattle but very little with sheep, except that they are tasty when I get them with onions and veggies at Mongolian Barbecue.

 

[jessica117]

There are miniature sheep... but I think most of them are more pets/fiber breeds. Shetlands are not quite mini but they are a small breed of sheep. They are also supposed to be excellent eating. My shetlands were for fiber so i've never actually eaten a shetland They also come in many colors if you are wanting the wool left on the pelts.

 

[patandchickens]

There are really not any "small meat breeds" -- meat breed in sheep pretty much means BIG, i.e. more meat produced per set o' four hooves.

Of course you can *eat* any kind of sheep, big or small -- the guy I got my shetlands from speaks very highly of their quality of meat, although as he says the chops are rather tiny.

You pay the same per-head fee at the processing plant no matter what the weight of the animal is, so larger sheep are more economical in that sense too.

Small breeds would include (but not limited to) shetlands and cheviots. The usual commercial meat breeds would be things like suffolks and hampshires and dorper crosses. There are more flighty small breeds than flighty large breeds.

IME it is REALLY hard to find someone who will let you use their ram for your ewes (maybe it is easier elsewhere but I think most places are at least kinda like this). Of course you can always buy a ram, use him for a few months and then butcher or sell him, but that gives you a higher chance of bringing in more diseases and parasites. I ended up just buying a 'keeper' ram, even tho I only have 3 ewes (plus a wether to keep the ram company, he came 'free' with the shetland ewe) - he is decorative and gentlemanly-for-a-ram and I am fine with keeping him from year to year. But it *is* a significant additional expense and aggravation.

If you just want them for decoration and meat, have you considered buying feeder lambs -- or even, if you are up for the challenge and potential disappointment, seeing if there is anyone trying to get rid of bottle lambs for cheap -- and raise them up til late fall and then send them off to freezer camp. That way you do not have to worry about the whole ram/lambing angle.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Ozark Daisy]

I love my Shetlands!
haven't eaten any yet, hoping to butcher some soon.
I have heard that the meat is mostly on the back legs, but not sure.

The Shetlands are quite flighty but in some way thats good.

We also have a few Gulf Coast ewes. They are a bigger wool sheep, that have a nice body.
They are on the critical list of ALBC. That means they would be hard to find.

 

[RustyDHart]

Scottish Blackface are nice....

 

[theawesomefowl]

If you just want meat, you should try raising some feeder lambs before you jump in with ewes and ram(s). I am planning on getting 2 Katahdin/Dorper cross 2-month-old lambs to go with my bottle goat I am getting next month. Katahdins and Dorpers both are hair sheep, so the pelts wouldn't be as nice, but they are good large meat sheep without shearing, since they shed their hair/fur.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Our processor charges by the pound. Ideally, I'd like two ewes for wool and two market lambs, maybe a ram to keep for breeding. So I think I'd probably want a dual-purpose wool/meat breed (still no interest in dairy).

Being in Michigan, I would need it to be cold hardy. AGain, a small breed would work best given our limited size.

Oh, and while I used to have goats, I have since come to realize that I was allergic to them. Who would have thought? Otherwise I would consider angoras.

 

[theawesomefowl]

You should get a copy of Storey's Illustrated Guide to Sheep-Cattle-Pigs-Goat breeds. It might help you choose, or maybe http://sheep101.info/sheepbreedsa-z.html

 

[patandchickens]

What do you want the wool for? Different breeds (sometimes different individuals within a breed too, for things like shetlands) have different wool characteristics. Some are great for felting, some suck for felting, some are very soft fine delicate-garment wool, some have more robust coarse strong wool, etc etc. You will want to factor that into your decision.

That said, I have to say I like my shetlands, especially I like that the ram (this particular one anyhow) is both gentlemanly (for a ram) and *small* i.e. when he whams into you in a gentlemanly way it does not hurt as much as if he were twice the size <g> BUT, if I were doing it over again, I would make sure to investigate the *particular personalities* of the *exact individual sheep* I was contracting to buy, because the shetland ewe I got is a total queen-bee b*tch and just a royal pain to deal with. If I had known what her personality was, I think I would have either made the guy sell me a different one or looked elsewhere, LOL!

Also if you want a ram then think about how you will be keeping him -- personally I would NEVER want him with the ewes year-round, partly because I want to control when they lamb but chiefly because I like to be able to go in and feed/check/pet/socialize with the ewes without having to constantly watch my back. And this is with a *good* ram, that I'm saying this -- they are not all as well behaved as Jose is. So if you are going to keep the ram separate for most of the year, you may want a wether or something like that to keep him company. (Thus, I have five sheep but only three are females)

Sheep are fun, but honestly for me this sheep thing has been quite a snowball and what started out as a very simple "I want two ewes to milk for cheese" has turned into five sheep and a fair bit in the way of new facilities

Pat

 

[chandasue]

Babydoll Southdowns are meatier but they are so small and adorable I don't know if it's worth it.