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Please tell me about Shetland Sheep

Around The Farm
#1

I am thinking seriously about getting several sheep. Craigslist has some Shetland Sheep advertised. I did a Google search, and they seem to be a nice little animal. Can you tell I know nothing about sheep? I grew up on a cattle and hog farm, so I have plenty of experience with other farm animals, but not sheep.

7 months ago I purchased a small farm. I have 6 acres divided into 4 pastures. One pasture has a large hill which starts by the barn and drops down rather steeply into some bottomlands, where there is a pond. It is a difficult area to mow, and I am not comfortable putting my two horses out on it right now. Last year’s grass is ungrazed and long. I have found some metal debris and trash laying in that field, and I am sure there is more. I need something to uncover it for me without hurting themselves. Sheep seem like a good idea, and I think I would enjoy owning them long term. I have plenty of barn space for them, and I also have a small pasture they can have for their own in the future, that was securely fenced for goats.

I have several large dogs that are livestock and cat friendly, although I don’t think any of them have ever seen sheep.

The seller on Craigslist wants $200 each for 3 bred ewes who are 1 to 2 years old. Does this sound reasonable? I appreciate your thoughts and opinions.

#2

Bump for you…hopefully Thomas will notice. He knows sheep. (that sounds wrong…not what I meant!)
I think he’s been up later than usual over there in the UK due to being on lambing duty anyways.

Only thing I know is if Shetland Sheep are anything like Shetland Ponies…I’d expect them to be very cute quite the little wise-arses, LOL! :winkgrin:

#3

ask if they’re from a scrapie free flock.

#4

Oh geez…I was going to post asking what scrapie was but then googled it. Aphis has some videos of it…:eek: :no: :eek:

OP…do ask if it’s a scrapie free herd. Looks horrendous.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/scrapie/

#5

I believe they are a small breed of sheep. The wool has to be harvested/shaved at some point(s) in the year. A big concern would be predators- roaming dogs and such will kill them- so they would need a secure place at night for sure though problems do occur during the day.

Have you considered dairy goats to keep down weeds & grass in that hilly area?? A few whethers or does would work without quite the maintainance that sheep require.

#6

Odd sheep question…possibly something the OP would wonder too:
Is it hard for an owner to learn to shear sheep? Can it be done with a decent set of equine body clippers? Do sheep put up with shearing or do they need to be taught to be sheared…or do you need to be a sheep wrangler to get the job done?

Other question not really related to thread:
Folks not far from here have some sort of sheep in their front paddock. It has long almost corded looking fleece. It’s never been sheared that I’ve seen and looks like it might have curled horns…tight to the skull and something like bighorn sheep but nowhere near as large. (not positive it has those…looks like it does but it lives on a main route and I only ever seen it doing 50mph going by) Does anyone knnow what it might be? Are there any sheep out there that don’t require shearing? Why doesn’t it overheat in summer? (it lives with some huge weird looking goose, an emu and what looks like a roe deer)

#7

Shearing isn’t really that hard if you have experience body clipping horses. We learned to do it in my sheep class at college; some “non-ag” kids struggled a bit, but I found it pretty easy. True, the professionals can shear one in about 2 minutes, and it took me nearly 10min. And I certainly wouldn’t want to shear a flock of 200! But 10 or 15 sheep wouldn’t be too bad.

The sheep you see from the road are probably “hair” sheep-- they don’t grow wool, but rather long shaggy hair. They shed, so you don’t need to shear them. (but you also don’t get any wool to sell, either). They are meat breeds. Dorpers and Katahdins are most popular, but those may be Barbados with the horns.

Sheep are pretty stupid. They find more creative ways to die than horses. They aren’t very low-maintenance, either, between shearing, worming, feet-dipping, predator attacks, etc. If you want something to eat weeds that is a little more self-sufficient, get a goat.

#8

Thanks for the info eventerAJ! Probably is a hair sheep then…it looks like a Puli dog.
http://www.breederretriever.com/photopost/data/728/medium/puli.jpg

(and have to post this one because it’s making me :D…either jumping or someone scared the hell out of it)
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00475/Puli_Dog_280_475281a.jpg

They find more creative ways to die than horses.

Now that’s impressive! I didn’t think anything was more suicidal than a horse, LOL!

#9

[QUOTE=MistyBlue;4728454]
Bump for you…hopefully Thomas will notice…

Only thing I know is if Shetland Sheep are anything like Shetland Ponies…I’d expect them to be very cute quite the little wise-arses, LOL! :winkgrin:[/QUOTE]

Well I hope Thomas chimes in after he gets some sleep!

I had a Shetland pony as a kid, and she was a sweet little thing with a big personality. I wouldn’t mind some sheep that had her personality, LOL.

#10

[QUOTE=Ghazzu;4728468]
ask if they’re from a scrapie free flock.[/QUOTE]

Wow! I couldn’t get the videos from the link MistyBlue provided to load, but I got the idea. I had no idea that sheep got their own version of Mad Cow disease. I guess it makes sense. Thanks for the heads up! Now, the next question is, how do you pronounce “scrapie”?

#11

[QUOTE=SLW;4728580]
I believe they are a small breed of sheep. The wool has to be harvested/shaved at some point(s) in the year. A big concern would be predators- roaming dogs and such will kill them- so they would need a secure place at night for sure though problems do occur during the day.

Have you considered dairy goats to keep down weeds & grass in that hilly area?? A few whethers or does would work without quite the maintainance that sheep require.[/QUOTE]

These particular ewes for sale have just been shaved, so I would have a year to figure out how to get it done again. I would probably just try to find someone local to do it.

That is a good point about the roaming dogs. We do have a lot of dogs in the neighborhood, but they seem to be livestock friendly. I share a fenceline with a dairy farm, so there are a lot of calves there, and I share another fenceline with a quarterhorse breeding farm. However, I have heard coyotes in the woods, and some idjit down the road has hybrid wolves which are reportedly 90% wolf. I hear they get out sometimes, and their immediate neighbors are pretty stressed about them. I hear them howling some nights, and they make quite a ruckus. I do have extra stalls I could put them in at night, and my chocolate lab sleeps in the aisleway of the barn. He is a farmdog I inherited when I bought the farm, and he takes his barn pretty seriously. He is gentle with the barn cats and the horses don’t mind him at all, so I think he would be OK with sheep.

I’ve thought seriously about goats, and they are still in the running. The farmer before me raised meat goats, so I have fencing that will supposably hold them. However, when I research them, I find as much negative information about goats as I do positive. I have a nice, amiable, compatible group of animals right now, and I hesitate to bring drama into the barn if I can avoid it. Goats seem like they may bring drama I don’t want.

#12

[QUOTE=MistyBlue;4728747]
Odd sheep question…possibly something the OP would wonder too:
Is it hard for an owner to learn to shear sheep? Can it be done with a decent set of equine body clippers? Do sheep put up with shearing or do they need to be taught to be sheared…or do you need to be a sheep wrangler to get the job done? [/QUOTE]

That is a really good set of questions. I would probably try to find someone to do it for me in exchange for the wool, at least until I learned how to do it myself. My back isn’t what it used to be, so I may leave that to the slightly younger set.

#13

[QUOTE=MistyBlue;4728747]
Odd sheep question…possibly something the OP would wonder too:
Is it hard for an owner to learn to shear sheep? Can it be done with a decent set of equine body clippers? Do sheep put up with shearing or do they need to be taught to be sheared…or do you need to be a sheep wrangler to get the job done?

)[/QUOTE]

It was very hard for me to shear our full sized sheep. I hated it and it’s the reason I finally let them go.
You can’t shear wool with horse clippers but you can get a sheep shearer head that will fit on your clippers. Be careful…those things will cut your finger off.
OUR sheep never accepted shearing gracefully. It was always a knock down drag out but professionals know how to set them and don’t have near the drama that I did.
After shearing I would also taste lanoline for a good week.

Having the sheep was fun for a while but it got old really quick.
One good thing our sheep would clean up pastures a lot better than these picky goats that I have. When the sheep got through it looked as if a huge vacumn had gone through.

#14

Erm… just what did you mean :winkgrin:

I was up lambing last night. Right smack bang in the midst of the busiest time with about 30 ewes delivering each night!!

One of my friends who is about 2 miles from here has quite a large flock of them (about 150) and I’ve occasionally had a few. My shetlands have all been dark brown in colour.

They’re pretty good for complimentary grazing with horses… but then so are all sheep!

They’re a hardy breed and will eat anything and everything in their path! Including trees and hedges!

You’ll need to carefully consider your fencing though and will have to have some sort of sheep netting. They are also pretty good at jumping! Not a problem if you’ve a fence the height to keep horses in - so 3’ 6" minimum. You won’t need barn space. They’re a very hardy breed and live out all year round in wind, snow and rain. The only time mine are ever in is when lambing and then once the lambs are up and about and say 3 days old, they’re back outside right away. I only keep them in then to stop them being taken by foxes and getting waterlogged and frozen with our fantastic Scottish Borders weather!

I don’t know US prices but I can tell you that I just sold a shetland ewe with a pair of lambs at foot for nearly £200 so to me that doesn’t sound like a bad price at all.

Have a look at this for more about the breed and with an FAQ:

http://www.shetland-sheep.org.uk/faq.html#fencing

Someone mentioned scrapie… It’s pronounced SCRAPEY. Read this for information on that:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/bse/othertses/scrapie/index.htm

#15

[QUOTE=EventerAJ;4728807]
Sheep are pretty stupid. They find more creative ways to die than horses. They aren’t very low-maintenance, either, between shearing, worming, feet-dipping, predator attacks, etc. If you want something to eat weeds that is a little more self-sufficient, get a goat.[/QUOTE]

Wow, suicidal sheep AND horses! Throw in my suicidal chocolate lab too, who got himself stuck in a pile of downed trees behind my neighbors when he was chasing a rabbit. I had to drop a rope down around his torso and pull him up and out of that deep hole. He’s lucky I found him. He was trapped for about 18 hours.

Stupid too? I was also thinking about getting some chickens. There can’t be anything more stupid than a chicken!!! I haven’t named my farm yet, but I am seeing an unfortunate trend here, LOL. At least the horses are Arabs, so they aren’t dumb!

#16

[QUOTE=pj;4729289]
Having the sheep was fun for a while but it got old really quick. One good thing our sheep would clean up pastures a lot better than these picky goats that I have. When the sheep got through it looked as if a huge vacumn had gone through.[/QUOTE]

PJ, How many sheep did you have? Was the shearing the part that got you down, or was there other things you didn’t like too?

I do like the idea of having the sheep do the pasture maintenance for me, especially on the hilly parts. About half of my pasture land is hilly enough that it is a bit dangerous for me to try to cut it with the riding lawn mower.

#17

The hair sheep that I am familiar with (mainly Katadhin) don’t have long dreadlocks. Certainly not resembling a Puli.
Sounds more like a wool breed that just hasn’t been sheared.

#18

[QUOTE=Thomas_1;4729293]
One of my friends who is about 2 miles from here has quite a large flock of them (about 1,000)[/QUOTE] Wow, that is a mind boggling amount of sheep!

and I’ve occasionally had a few. Mine have all been dark brown in colour.
The brown are a beautiful color. I’m not sure what color the sheep I am considering are. I haven’t contacted the Seller, as I wanted to be firm in my interest and not waste his time. I appreciate all the information everyone is providing to help me decide!

They’re pretty good for complimentary grazing with horses… but then so are all sheep!
That is good to hear and is an important criteria in my decision. Do you know how horses consider them? I wouldn’t mind if my mare considered them as companions when I take my gelding out. The gelding doesn’t mind when the mare leaves; he is much more independent.

They’re a hardy breed and will eat anything and everything in their path! Including trees and hedges!
I don’t mind that, as I don’t have many trees in the pastures and any hedges that are there shouldn’t be. There are a few mature cedar and Oak trees, but I think the sheep would be hard pressed to damage the Oaks. They are absolutely huge.

You’ll need to carefully consider your fencing though and will have to have some sort of sheep netting. They are also pretty good at jumping! Not a problem if you’ve a fence the height to keep horses in - so 3’ 6" minimum.
This might be a problem. The farm was fenced for meat goats, so it has closely spaced high tensile electric fencing, but no wire netting. If it would keep a goat in, do you think it might keep a sheep in? Also, if I only have a few sheep and there is a lot of forage, would they still go looking outside the fence?

You won’t need barn space. They’re a very hardy breed and live out all year round in wind, snow and rain. The only time mine are ever in is when lambing and then once the lambs are up and about and say 3 days old, they’re back outside right away. I only keep them in then to stop them being taken by foxes and getting waterlogged and frozen with our fantastic Scottish Borders weather!

The pasture that I want to put them in has access to an unused run-in in my barn, so it would be easy to give them shelter if they want it. You probably won’t believe this, but I think your weather sounds fantastic. I grew up on a working farm in Michigan, which can have some pretty severe weather. Kentucky has pretty mild winter weather, and I actually enjoyed the snow storms we got this year. I was rooting for more, and I was disappointed that we didn’t get the snow that the East Coast got.

I loved reading James Herriot growing up, and I guess almost everything I know about sheep comes from reading his books. Are they as popular in Scotland as they are in the U.S.? I guess I should get them out and read them again!

I don’t know US prices but I can tell you that I just sold a shetland ewe with a pair of lambs at foot for nearly £200 so to me that doesn’t sound like a bad price at all.

Thanks for that information. I haven’t had much success in googling to find U.S. prices, as most I have found are several years old. Plus, I would think that a pregnant ewe is going to be more valuable than a ram or wether. Do you agree with that?

Thank you for the links. They have great information!

#19

Breeds I know with a long stapled coat (which is the terms for longish and curley corded sort of a coat) include:

Leicester Longwool
Lincoln Longwool
Dartmoor
Devon and Cornwall Longwool

#20

[QUOTE=ToiRider;4729342]
PJ, How many sheep did you have? Was the shearing the part that got you down, or was there other things you didn’t like too?

I do like the idea of having the sheep do the pasture maintenance for me, especially on the hilly parts. About half of my pasture land is hilly enough that it is a bit dangerous for me to try to cut it with the riding lawn mower.[/QUOTE]

It was just the shearing that cured me. Other than that I enjoyed them throughly.
:slight_smile: I don’t think there is anything cuter than a baby lamb either.
I didn’t enjoy banding their little tails (and other parts on occasion) but it wasn’t hard to do.

They aren’t very bright and take special watching at lambing time. We’ve had ewes to drop a lamb in the freezing cold pasture and walk off and leave it to go to the barn to have the other so you have to watch for that kind of “thinking”.

We started with four and stopped at 12.
Truely if we could have found someone reliable to shear that small number each year I’d still probably have sheep.

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