Those who milk sheep>

[Jes]

I'm kinda curious about getting a few Katahdins next year but am having trouble finding anyone with hands-on experience milking them that can tell me things like length of lactation, pounds produced per ewe, etc. I've found a few official-type records but I know that those are probably very different that what a small-scale farm sees. I have a bombardment of questions that I've been collecting.

 

[SheepGirl]

I found this link..... http://www.smallholderhollow.com/projects/milking-katahdins/

 

[Southern by choice]

There are other breeds of sheep that are more suitable. The Katahdin is primarily a meat breed.

 

[Jes]

Southern, are there any hair sheep that you could recommend I look into?

 

[Jes]

I was discussing sheep with my mother today and she stumbled on an idea that I hadn't considered:

we know someone nearby who keeps a flock of wool sheep (I don't know what breed) and do their own shearing. If I were to get East Friesian dairy sheep, would they consider it a worthwhile deal if I offered to let them have have the wool in exchange for shearing the sheep for me? I don't know what the value of wool is so I don't know if it would be something worth their time.

 

[BrownSheep]

Probably not, but it doesn't cost all that much to have a couple sheared. I found a lady who would shear them for $5 and less if she got to keep the wool.

It doesn't hurt to ask though.If your looking at only a couple of sheep they probably would let you bring your sheep over when they do theirs.

Another thing to remember is that shearing isn't all that hard. The only reason we don't do ours is it would take forever for us to do 30 sheep when it only took the shearing crew 30 minutes.

 

[Jes]

Hmm..ok. Well I really have no desire to do anything with wool; at least not at the moment. I don't think I want to deal with goats and all their antics, which is how I came about to the idea of trying out some Katahdins. I've found a few dairies around the US that use them for cheese making, so even though they're not a dairy breed, they can be bred for better milk-ability. We don't honestly go through so much milk; any animal (sheep, goat, cow, yak, etc.) that produced more than half a gallon a day would be too much for us. I want to start off easy and get used to the entire milking process before I consider upgrading. (DH is skeptical of homegrown products and says he will only drink store milk [his reason being that he "likes to know where food comes from"]. Whatever. I'm sure he'll come around.) at first it'll basically only be me using the dairy products.

I've read all the threads I can find on BYH about hair sheep vs. wool sheep and sheep vs. goats. It all seems to be preferential and dependent on each persons' situation. I suppose the only way I'm gonna really know what's right for us is to give it a try. I've got a year of research and learning to do before we're ready; I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Does anyone suggest against a beginner getting a few sheep and goats at the same time? Say, four ewes/lambs and two does/doelings?

 

[Jes]

I am sooo conflicted.

Sheep, or goats.

Sheep or goats?

Sheep?!?

Goats?!?

 

[BrownSheep]

*whispering* sheeeeeeeep

 

[Jes]

Thanks for the nudge BrownSheep. *LOL*

If my number-crunching is correct, I'd need at least 4 Katahdins to get half a gallon of milk a day...they only stay in milk for a few months, so if I wanted milk year-round, then double (triple??) that number to get the total herd size. I'm not sure that we should put as many as 12 ewes (plus their twins/triplets/quads!! ) on a 5-acre lot. I found one source that says it's possible to keep as many as 5 ewes per acre but I have no way of knowing if that is accurate. (I seriously doubt that I would start out with 12 ewes, were I to choose sheep. Probably more like 4 or 5 for the first year or so until I felt comfortable taking on more.) Then I came upon the problem of not knowing whether Katahdins can/will breed out of season. ???

Now, if we got goats, I would probably only need two or three does to be swimming in milk; IF I don't screw up and get goaty-flavored milk. I have a sensitive nose and even pickier taste buds. I'm very hesitant about using goats for milking. Goats just sound so annoying to me. I don't mind cute, funny antics but I like calm and behaved just as well. If I were chasing goats all over the hillsides I would .

I guess I'm wanting someone to tell me whether I can easily keep 8-12 ewes on 5 acres without over-grazing or over-crowding.