Which breed should we get?

[Janice]

Thanks! Keep the comments coming.
What about St. Croix or Khatadin?
What are some other dual purpose breed possibilities?

 

[Janice]

Reality of today's sheep 101 ! Nostalgia and appearance in raising a "heritage" or "exotic " or "rare" breed of sheep and making a PROFIT do not equate in todays's marketplace. Now they are nothing more than pasture pets ( hobby loss to the IRS and any production costs are NOT deductable unless one proves one is in business for profit). In the US today, we can't compete with Australia in price recieved for wool as it costs way more in sheering costs as to the sale price of wool, therefore it is not profitable to raise this type of sheep even for a limited niche market. Wool with any colored fibers in it will sell at a discount at the auction marketplace, which means even less income $s. Some may claim otherwise, however they do not include their true costs of production as calculated by one's knowledgable CPA that is familiar in animal husbandry/ agriculture. As for meat production, Suffolk, Hampshire, Dorset, or standard type of Southdown are the most productive for money invested. However, the high cost of grain and hay as well as their need to be shorn, so the cost of sheering just may eliminate any profit from the sale of meat. For the hair sheep (sheds wool), one would get the most bang for the buck with the Dorper. If I was still in the sheep business, today my choice would be the Dorper. I say this from first hand experience as I have raised hundreds of sheep commercially ( purebred Suffolk for ram sales, Ramboullet and Corriedale ewes for wool bred to Suffolk rams for meat market lambs) for many years and I have since sold out due to annual ever higher production costs and shrinking profits.

Part of my concern is what he wants as opposed to what will be profitable and practical. We will be utilizing a local and direct marketing approach in order to build up the business slowly. We may have the opportunity to sell some of the meat to someone who is established and can't get enough lamb. This is not his only enterprise and will be part of a diversified business. He also has chickens, ducks, and turkeys. Plus we have a grain operation. And he is an artist. So, I'm hoping that with this diversity he will have some freedom to experiment for a while (he's just 16). I appreciate your expertise. Reality is always helpful. Thx.

 

[Janice]

There will be negative comments about every breed, but you shouldn't count on too heavily on them. Picking a sheep breed is really just a matter of taste and preference.

I personally don't care for Tunis or Jacob sheep. I haven't raised them before, but I have several friends who do. One thing to watch out for in the Tunis breed is leg structure. They are well known for being down in the pasterns (at least around here). The Jacobs I don't have too much against, but the ones with 4 horns are a bit scary. They also are a small primitive breed so they won't produce a very large carcass for you.

Has your son looked into one of the "dual-purpose" sheep? We raise Border Leicesters and they are great sheep. They have a striking appearance, beautiful wool, and they also grow quickly to make good market lambs. The rams are known for their gentlemanly personalities (we've raised Border Leicesters for 12+ years and we have never yet had an aggressive ram of this breed).

Can you tell me more about Border Leicesters? My son says he's knows nothing about them.

 

[Alice Acres]

We had the Suffolks and Hamps, etc too, many years ago. They are not cheap to raise, and have so much specialty breeding in them they've lost out on practical things - they can't get by on grazing or plain hay, they have difficulty with birthing and poor mothering too. All they have is a large carcass and ability to really grow with lots of food thrown at them.

We now have "mutt sheep" - and they are amazing. We add in a different ram to the flock every 2 yrs - always looking at our ewes and adding in a ram that improves on weaknesses in our current flock. It has been a total success. Our last ram was a super built Dorper, the one 2 yrs before that was a smaller grade Dorper. Before that was a Cheviot cross (my husband wanted the mothering this sheep had behind him, and a smaller size - he's had back surgery and the ewes were getting bigger than he preferred). They have also in them a smaller % of Suffolk, Rambouillet and a few other breeds.

Our new ram for this fall is a polypay/finn cross - as the Dorpers added nice build, but we lost a bit of our multiple birth rates. So this round should improve on that. It's actually kind of a fun balancing act.

 

[Four Winds Ranch]

I have raised Tunis and Hair sheep!
The Tunis have awesome wool! They finish very well, but their finish weight isn't very high, maybe around the 90-100lb mark! So are a little bit smaller than some breeds! They are awesome in terms of temperment, good mothering instincts, very thrifty eaters, and lots of milk! They don't always have twins or triplets though, in terms of profit. Their meat is very mild, even the mutton has no"sheep" taste! I love the tunis as they are cheap to feed and can be bred to many different breeds!
The hair sheep in my experience, take a little longer to finish, but do finish around the 90-100lb mark as well! They are easy to get along with, but you better have good fence because I find they are escape artists, and are very agile! Lol, once they find out the pasture is greener on the other side, good luck keeping them in! They have a "no-shear policy" which is very nice. Their lambs are tough when first born, and the meat is also very mild! I find they are not quite as thrifty on the feed as the tunis and don't have the milk volume! Their appearence is much more colorful as they come in many different colors and the Tunis is just white wool and red face and legs!
Sorry, I don't know anything about Jacob Sheep!

My son wondered if you were comparing the size of Tunis' finish weight to market breeds or other Heritage breeds?

I am comparing to the meat market breeds (Suffolk, Texel, ect). usually, at 6 months mine are about 100lbs, on grass, and the last 2 weeks I give them a half a lb of grain each. The katahdin, on the same feed I found to take at least 2 weeks to a month longer to finish.

 

[Janice]

We had the Suffolks and Hamps, etc too, many years ago. They are not cheap to raise, and have so much specialty breeding in them they've lost out on practical things - they can't get by on grazing or plain hay, they have difficulty with birthing and poor mothering too. All they have is a large carcass and ability to really grow with lots of food thrown at them.

We now have "mutt sheep" - and they are amazing. We add in a different ram to the flock every 2 yrs - always looking at our ewes and adding in a ram that improves on weaknesses in our current flock. It has been a total success. Our last ram was a super built Dorper, the one 2 yrs before that was a smaller grade Dorper. Before that was a Cheviot cross (my husband wanted the mothering this sheep had behind him, and a smaller size - he's had back surgery and the ewes were getting bigger than he preferred). They have also in them a smaller % of Suffolk, Rambouillet and a few other breeds.

Our new ram for this fall is a polypay/finn cross - as the Dorpers added nice build, but we lost a bit of our multiple birth rates. So this round should improve on that. It's actually kind of a fun balancing act.

Great! More info please How do you decide what breed to start with? As you read, he really likes the Jacob and Tunis. I wonder if he could find a Jacob cross and get a ram that would breed some size into them?

 

[Alice Acres]

We had the Suffolks and Hamps, etc too, many years ago. They are not cheap to raise, and have so much specialty breeding in them they've lost out on practical things - they can't get by on grazing or plain hay, they have difficulty with birthing and poor mothering too. All they have is a large carcass and ability to really grow with lots of food thrown at them.

We now have "mutt sheep" - and they are amazing. We add in a different ram to the flock every 2 yrs - always looking at our ewes and adding in a ram that improves on weaknesses in our current flock. It has been a total success. Our last ram was a super built Dorper, the one 2 yrs before that was a smaller grade Dorper. Before that was a Cheviot cross (my husband wanted the mothering this sheep had behind him, and a smaller size - he's had back surgery and the ewes were getting bigger than he preferred). They have also in them a smaller % of Suffolk, Rambouillet and a few other breeds.

Our new ram for this fall is a polypay/finn cross - as the Dorpers added nice build, but we lost a bit of our multiple birth rates. So this round should improve on that. It's actually kind of a fun balancing act.

Great! More info please How do you decide what breed to start with? As you read, he really likes the Jacob and Tunis. I wonder if he could find a Jacob cross and get a ram that would breed some size into them?

You sure could
What I would do is look around and see what sheep are available in your area (or the distance you are willing to drive). If some sheep appeal, then get them. This time of year you also could be looking at getting bred ewes - we've done that and rarely gotten a bad deal. And with the drought - there are farmers culling because of feed costs, and getting rid of sheep they otherwise would have kept. (Sadly, that was us earlier this summer ) A truly good time is upon us if you are looking at getting or increasing your flock.

My birthday is in November, and one year my husband went to the local livestock auction and brought home 4 bred ewes (and said - Happy Birthday!!). They were sturdy girls, and all except one turned out to be fantastic moms and actually their offspring became the ones we loved and kept every year - and led our pursuit in the branching out from purebred stock. We have had black faced, speckled faced, red legs, dotted legs, etc. Now with 3 consecutive white faced rams (1 Cheviot, 2 Dorper), we are mostly a white faced flock - but still have some pigment and dots.

Oh, and we went with the smaller sheep because my husband does the shearing (yes, it's great!), and after back surgery he needed some smaller sheep. I've noticed we are creeping up in size again (the 2 Dorper rams)...and the new ram is smaller...so next spring we should have smaller sheep again.

 

[boykin2010]

I raise Katahdins and turn a profit. They are very easy to work with and the purebred/registered ewes and rams bring pretty good money in my area.
They finish nicely and taste delicious. Plus, they are good hardy sheep with no parasite problems and are excellent mothers. I really don't think you can go wrong with Katahdins.

 

[BrownSheep]

I actually never ha an issue with my Suffolk and Suffolk cross ewes. They gained weight and were verrrrrrrrrrry attentive mothers. I really support Alice's crossbreeding suggestion. All of our ewes a cross bred now mainly Suffolk x horn Dorset x Ramboulliet and what ever sneaks in with the ewes we buy. They gain weight pretty well ( suffolk and dorset )and the wool is nice ( Rambouillet and Dorset). With your son being 16 I would suggest he find an FFA chapter. It's a great program can't brag on it enough.

 

[purplequeenvt]

There will be negative comments about every breed, but you shouldn't count on too heavily on them. Picking a sheep breed is really just a matter of taste and preference.

I personally don't care for Tunis or Jacob sheep. I haven't raised them before, but I have several friends who do. One thing to watch out for in the Tunis breed is leg structure. They are well known for being down in the pasterns (at least around here). The Jacobs I don't have too much against, but the ones with 4 horns are a bit scary. They also are a small primitive breed so they won't produce a very large carcass for you.

Has your son looked into one of the "dual-purpose" sheep? We raise Border Leicesters and they are great sheep. They have a striking appearance, beautiful wool, and they also grow quickly to make good market lambs. The rams are known for their gentlemanly personalities (we've raised Border Leicesters for 12+ years and we have never yet had an aggressive ram of this breed).

Can you tell me more about Border Leicesters? My son says he's knows nothing about them.

Border Leicesters are a dual-purpose breed, but they are most often raised for their wool with the side benefit of meat. They weigh between 150-250 lbs, give 7-8 lbs of wool annually, the ewes are generally good mothers, and the rams are easy-going and gentle.

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of the breed.....

My sister (several years ago) with Otis and Arlo, 2 of of first lambs ever. Both were bottle fed and didn't have a mean bone in their bodies.

2 year old ram

Natural colored yearling ewe

Border Leicester ewes in full fleece