Which breed should we get?

[kstaven]

Stepping outside the breed part of the equation for a moment. Some consideration to the quality and nature of your pasture should be considered also. It pays huge dividends to match animals to the available pasture and this is an area where many just starting out neglect and thus pay the price in having to bring in more feed.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

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).

Sorry but I have to disagree with the above statement. We are a heritage breed farm and this is certainly not a hobby farm. We specialize in selling registered breeding stock - Large Black hogs & St. Croix hair sheep. Now I do realize that there are many many hobby farmers out there that are just "playing" at farming & not making money but they & many others are helping keep us in business & there is nothing wrong with that. There is a huge demand for heritage meat!

Marketing is a HUGE part of a business, no matter what line of business you are in. It is very unlikely that folks are going to come knocking down your door for animals. You have to put yourself out there & make yourself visible. It takes time & investment.

As to what breed is best, as has already been said, everyone will have a different answer & opinion. You need to research your potential market, see what is already out there. For us, it was the St. Croix hair sheep. We wanted a hardy breed, that did well on grass/hay alone, parasite resistant, good mothering instincts etc. AND we did not want to have to shear each year. They are definitely not as big as Kathadin so cannot compete in the meat market as well but are excellent for folks wanting to raise their own meat - hobby farmers etc. Input is small, output is good. St. Croix are not seasonal breeders so you can get 3 lamb crops in 2 years.

Hope this helps & all the best in your research,

Liz

 

[boykin2010]

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).

Sorry but I have to disagree with the above statement. We are a heritage breed farm and this is certainly not a hobby farm. We specialize in selling registered breeding stock - Large Black hogs & St. Croix hair sheep. Now I do realize that there are many many hobby farmers out there that are just "playing" at farming & not making money but they & many others are helping keep us in business & there is nothing wrong with that. There is a huge demand for heritage meat!

Marketing is a HUGE part of a business, no matter what line of business you are in. It is very unlikely that folks are going to come knocking down your door for animals. You have to put yourself out there & make yourself visible. It takes time & investment.

As to what breed is best, as has already been said, everyone will have a different answer & opinion. You need to research your potential market, see what is already out there. For us, it was the St. Croix hair sheep. We wanted a hardy breed, that did well on grass/hay alone, parasite resistant, good mothering instincts etc. AND we did not want to have to shear each year. They are definitely not as big as Kathadin so cannot compete in the meat market as well but are excellent for folks wanting to raise their own meat - hobby farmers etc. Input is small, output is good. St. Croix are not seasonal breeders so you can get 3 lamb crops in 2 years.

Hope this helps & all the best in your research,

Liz

I agree with you. I have purebred and registered Katahdins. I also specialize in raising rare and exotic breeds of chickens from all over the world. It is a hobby, but there is a huge demand and I do make money. Can't go wrong with any type of hair sheep. Excellent mothers, parasite resistance, meat, temperment etc.

 

[Dieds]

We have two Baby Doll lambs, and they are a hearty breed of miniature sheep and are so cute. I have read that their meat is delicious but we are raising ours for pets mainly. However there are farms that rent their herd of Baby Dolls out to vineyards because they are too short to reach the grapes but will take care of all the weeds and grass. Their fleece is also excellent.

http://www.oldeenglishbabydollregistry.com/about_the_breed.htm

They are easy to handle since they are so small so might be a good breed for someone new to sheep (like my wife and I) and your son.

My son is trying to decide which sheep breed would be best for him to raise. He needs to make a profit. He is looking mostly for meat sheep, but he wouldn't mind if he could also use the wool. His favorite, he thinks, are Jacobs and Tunis. Appearance is important to him. As well as a Heritage Breed, not production. They will be on a small pasture. He wants to start small, but get some that he would be able to use for meat the first year and also buy some for breeding so that he could continue his herd. Suggestions?

 

[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.

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.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8189/8088691061_a90a2a4f18.jpg

2 year old ram
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8189/8088700487_9d66317c86.jpg

Natural colored yearling ewe
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8183/8088699998_d1c8416eed.jpg

Border Leicester ewes in full fleece
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8323/8088691225_c286c56370_m.jpg

With Border Leicesters being primarily wool and secondary meat they would probably not be high on our list. I think we need to switch those qualities for our needs.

 

[Janice]

Stepping outside the breed part of the equation for a moment. Some consideration to the quality and nature of your pasture should be considered also. It pays huge dividends to match animals to the available pasture and this is an area where many just starting out neglect and thus pay the price in having to bring in more feed.

One concern we have includes a breed that does well on grazing and foraging with less need for grain. Pasture is one thing we are working on before we actually purchase any sheep.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

One concern we have includes a breed that does well on grazing and foraging with less need for grain.

Our pastures here are in BAD condition. What little good we had practically got wiped out in the drought this past summer. We grow lots of "lovely" weeds here! LOL! Our St. Croix get no grain - they are out on a large pasture through the day & then when we bring them into the smaller pasture at night they do have access to hay. We also feed Redmond Conditioner mixed with kelp - 2/3 redmond, 1/3 kelp.

Sheep really do not need grain IMO, they are ruminants so whatever breed you decide on make sure you purchase from someone that raises them on pasture as you want to. My advice would be to not purchase from a breeder that feeds grain as you will have to wean them off of it which takes time. (Not pointing fingers at anyone here, we each have to raise our animals as we see fit.)

Liz

 

[Janice]

One concern we have includes a breed that does well on grazing and foraging with less need for grain.

Our pastures here are in BAD condition. What little good we had practically got wiped out in the drought this past summer. We grow lots of "lovely" weeds here! LOL! Our St. Croix get no grain - they are out on a large pasture through the day & then when we bring them into the smaller pasture at night they do have access to hay. We also feed Redmond Conditioner mixed with kelp - 2/3 redmond, 1/3 kelp.

Sheep really do not need grain IMO, they are ruminants so whatever breed you decide on make sure you purchase from someone that raises them on pasture as you want to. My advice would be to not purchase from a breeder that feeds grain as you will have to wean them off of it which takes time. (Not pointing fingers at anyone here, we each have to raise our animals as we see fit.)

Liz

In truth, my comment about grain should have been a duh moment. I'm so used to dealing with poultry that I hadn't thought about grain and sheep. Rest assured I would have and my son probably already has. My primary thoughts, I think, were about hay and keeping costs down and having sheep that were more self sufficient. I'm assuming that weaning them off feed grains is a little bit like weaning a bird off just bird seed and onto pellets which have much more nutrition. (We have a cockatiel and that's one of the things we learned before getting her).
Thanks a bunch for your input. I appreciate all the information!

 

[Cornish Heritage]

I'm assuming that weaning them off feed grains is a little bit like weaning a bird off just bird seed and onto pellets which have much more nutrition.

All I can speak from is our own experience. Our herd were used to some grain & so when we got them last winter we did feed a little corn. They were very pregnant, had had a stressful long trip to our farm & were not in the best of conditions. Hay was hard to find last winter so quality was not what we would have necessarily chosen but we had to do with what we had. They lost condition & were not in good shape when we weaned the lambs. Needless to say they took a while to breed back by which time we were headlong into the hideous drought. This time though we brought hay in from out of state so they were getting good nutrition. They are looking fantastic now - like what they should & we are looking forward to a good lamb crop here soon.

This herd was out of California in an area where they rarely get pasture due to the climate so being on grass 24/7 was a completely new experience for them not to mention a totally different climate. They had a lot of adjusting to do but they have done it

I also know from experience that grain fed cows have a hard time adjusting to living on pasture. Someone once told me that it can take 2 years for an animal to adjust from being grain fed to grass fed & I can believe that in some instances. In pigs if you were to put a commercial, confinement pig on grass the chances of it even surviving is slim. Their genetics have been SO "played" around with that some of these animals can no longer survive outside. Of course a pig does need some grain input each day as it has a digestive system like our own but the genetics for grass on the whole still need to be there.

SO depending on the animal & how it has been raised, it can be better to purchase from a breeder that is raising them on pasture alone.

Liz