Sheep People - tell me about 'em!

[Coltinator]

We are looking to get some sheep for our property and I thought the wise COTH community could help me with some of the details

1. Pasture - we have 4 acres in the main field, a smaller field (plan to start them here) and the front vineyard (will put minis here since they can’t eat the grapes). The fence is mostly page wire with barb wires on a couple of the fence lines. Is this ok? Do we need to get rid of the barb wire and put in all page wire?
2. Feed - do they need anything supplemental? I assume we need hay for winter months, but do we need any hay for now (until the grass grows in) or are they ok eating last years old growth? Do they need grain of any sort?
3. Water - anything special here? Do they need a lower water trough or is the standard horse trough ok?
4. Anything else we need to know before bringing them home? Like is there a minimum number for a herd to keep them happy?

Any insight would be very much appreciated!

[wireweiners]

I’m not really a sheep person but my sister is. Her kids showed sheep for years and she still raises them. So I know a little.

First: Why do you want sheep? Do you want pets, lawn mowers, mutton or wool? Do you want to breed them?

Second: As far as fencing goes, you not only have to think about keeping the sheep in, you have to think about keeping predators out. Sheep are really vulnerable to roaming dogs and coyotes. Shelter for mature sheep can be as simple as a run in shed.

Third: Unless you get hair sheep, you’ll have to shear them or arrange to have them sheared.

Contact your local extension agent and see if your state has a sheep council that may help. A local 4H or FFA group may be able to help also.

[Murphy_s_Mom]

I thought sheep would be fun…ha! I had three but the old girl (Fluffy) died last year. Now I just have Bella (Cheviot) and Cocoa Puff (brown Romney/Rambouillet). Food is your friend if you want any hope of getting near them. Most shearers won’t come near you if you just have a few. It’s not worth their time. I have hand shears (much cheaper than clippers). It’s not fun but has to be done. Cocoa Puff froze to the ground this winter. We had a lot of snow that turned into ice. Then we had a torrential rain and he got soaked. When he laid down he froze tight. Took me an hour to cut him loose (he was fine once he rested up in the barn).

Only use a plain white salt block. They can get copper toxicity so stay away from the trace mineral blocks. I also have goats (I much prefer them over the sheep) and they need copper so I can’t run them together. My hope with the sheep was a bit Little Bo Peep syndrome (thought they would be cute and cuddly) and I was wanting to spin my own yarn (except I can’t afford the various equipment needed).

They will blow right through your barb wire. Not sure what page wire is. If it’s a mesh fence it might be ok as long as it is anchored tightly at the bottom. Mine push under and wander merrily about the farm. I thought I finally had Bella contained but when I mentioned it to my neighbor she just laughed. Said Bella waited for me to go to work, let herself out to graze all day, then put herself back in the pen just before I got home. Cattle panels and horse panels (what used to be my round pen) keep them in. They get along fine with my mini and Shetlands. I’m thinking about selling them but I’ve become a bit attached to the buggers and they are getting friendlier with constant treats.

Sorry this is rambling…I’m at work and not supposed to be doing this!

[rockymouse]

We had a bunch of friends some years ago who were all silver-haired widowed ladies many decades older than we were. They were a little bit formal and all had been in the ranching business. We were at Easter dinner one year, at one of their houses, and somehow the topic shifted to sheep. One of these ladies sniffed. “Aw, sheep,” she said. “Sheep just want to die.”

Apparently, they’re finicky, maybe not super smart, and sometimes hard to care for. Things happen to sheep.

We still say this sometimes in the car, if we pass by a flock while driving someplace. “Aw, sheep. Sheep just want to die.”

[pinkpony321]

My in laws had sheep- they wanted to farm for lamb but MIL cried for days after the first load of babies left so that ended that. As discussed earlier, sheep can be standoffish and die for no damn reason. They had a herd and randomly groups of them would drop dead, and the bodies shipped off to the local university for necropsy that would invariable show cause of death to be indeterminable.
finnicky animals…but reallllly cute.

[Rackonteur]

Where do you live, Coltinator? I think sheep do better up north than down here in the south. But I’m not a sheep person by any means.

Based on the experience of some friends of mine, I’d go for goats rather than sheep.

Or if you want small livestock, ponies!

[D_BaldStockings]

google
sheepimprovement.net

-a good sheep forum. Don’t go buying not knowing anything about sheep, That usually ends badly.

If you want small ‘lawn mowers’, geese are also an option. - but there is the…goose poop.

[scheherazadetbmare]

Dogs kill them.
Coyotes kill them.
My relatives tried to keep a flock and were always having to fight off the dogs from down the road which killed every sheep they could catch.
Make sure your fence is high and has some hidden underground and is electrified.

[cnm161]

Good timing for me-- I’m just starting to lease some sheep (yeah, you read that right) for the purposes of herding dog training. The dogs have hobbies, and if they want to get any better, we need sheep at home.

Anyway, thanks for starting this topic!

[Feliz]

cnm161 - that really cracks me up that you are leasing sheep for your dogs :lol:

I live in New Zealand - land’o’sheep. My advice - don’t do it. Sheep do just want to die. They are very difficult to contain without sheep specific fencing. They will need shearing. They get flystrike here (don’t know if that’s a thing where you are).

However, I’m off to ride at a beautiful property tonight that is exclusively sheep and it is gorgeous - looks like a golf course. So if you can make it work they do a great job of keeping the land looking great.

[Coltinator]

Thanks everyone! Sorry for starting a thread then taking so long to reply… between getting the barn & property ready and a sick baby, getting to a computer (other than for work) has been nearly impossible! Trying to type this on my phone with a fussy baby in my arms so please excuse any grammar issues!

The only reason we are getting sheep is because our landlord wants them to keep the field and vineyards mowed… he wanted a pony for the field so thankfully I was able to talk him out of that! I haven’t dealt much with sheep but have with almost every other type of livestock.

The property was used for sheep by the previous owner and we did just speak with her this weekend, she had no issues with coyotes luckily… I know this does not mean for sure that we will be ok, but I do think my 100lb shepherd should help to deter predators.

Sheering will be the landlords responsibility to figure out. We are just responsible for the day to day care.

I have hay for them until we get some spring grass (upper Midwest). We found out how to get the water flowing down in the barn and the best part is that the autowaterer works! The fencing in the small pasture we will start them in is good, so I think we just need to fix all the barbed wire and should (hopefully) be ok!

Now I just have to talk the landlord (and my husband) out of buying the pregnant ewes he looked at - I mean sheep are one thing but ewes delivering in the next week are a whole different thing!

[Ghazzu]

Sick Sheep Seldom Survive.

[beowulf]

Granted my experience with sheep was only as a caretaker and not an owner, but definitely do your research before getting them.

The plus: they were the first to greet me when I arrived, and they have a screaming noise that rivals a rooster’s - there were three and they would put their little cloven hooves on the gate and swing back and forth, BANG BANG BALAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA – until I dumped their grain into their paddock. If I didn’t do it before I turned out the horses, they would scream their little heads off and scare everything.

No one mentioned how PICKY they are - they ONLY want the best grass - they did nothing for weeds and I’m surprised people would recommend them for that purpose. They will compete with horses for the good stuff and seem to have the same ‘palate’ and taste. They are the worst hay-pickers too - for every flake of GOOD quality hay on the ground, they’d nibble a stalk and then the rest would be left forever. They never, ever cleaned up a flake the way a horse should. This made picking up their paddock a PITA, and they’re just like horses where they won’t touch a flake if it’s anywhere near their poo or pee.

You will need grain if you want to catch them, and god help you when you do - for fluffy, cute animals their hooves are HARD. Shearing them is awful, especially if you have to do it yourself. You have to shear them too, and dealing with the after-care and cleaning of the wool is its own damn ordeal.

They also seem to get abscesses and little bruises easily, and trying to get a sheep to stand for a hoof soak is really hard. I had to rope all the help in the barn to get the slowest one’s ‘halter’ on one time for the vet. They are very fast when they want to be.

They are natural born escape artists, and don’t think it’s because they’re clever, cause they’re not. They just put themselves in tiny spots other animals possess the spatial reasoning to know is not a good idea, and then you have to extract them. While you’re extracting them they will kick you.

They are very fragile, and downright defenseless. They’re worse than horses in that regard - the poster above, “sheep just want to die” - very correct.

On the amusement factor, I rank them a little below a goat. I found their greetings in the morning to be very endearing, but absolutely abhorred any time I had to spend caring for them beyond dumping their grain - despite never being mishandled a day in their life, they acted like I was some unholy incubus come to kill them when I entered their paddock. For crying out loud they recognize me and my car, but when I’m in their paddock it’s MAYDAY!!

If you want something for weed control, I think a goat is the way to go but that too is an ordeal of its own.

[chestnutmarebeware]

@purryprowly

My sheep! And exmoor ponies thrown in for no good reason.

Are those Balwens? I’ve drooled over that breed for years!

[yellowbritches]

I LOVE sheep. I’m obsessed with them and would definitely have a couple of my own if I had my way. My neighbor keeps a flock of about 100 (they are a meat breed that she sells, which breaks my little vegetarian, lamb hugging heart), and we have a small flock at work that are pets. I’ve also cared for pet sheep on and off over the years. I adore them, but they are definitely not for everyone. They are naughty and kinda dumb and get themselves into impossible situations. I have rescued more than a few lambs who get themselves stranded on my stone wall. They are expert level escape artists (we have sheep fencing to keep them from climbing the stone wall between our properties, but they find their way over…I don’t know why my 7 acres of horse pasture is SO much better than their 200 acres, but I love them and don’t mind as long as they can get safely back home).

I would be more inclined to go with goats for what you are look for. Sheep are definitely an acquired taste. But, omg, they are so adorable and silly and perfect in their dumb little woolly heads.

Work sheep and one of our goats- https://www.instagram.com/p/BPVFLS0D79T/?taken-by=amandaofthefields
Bad neighbor sheep hanging out with my almost 31 year old man- https://www.instagram.com/p/BM67nUzjz4K/?taken-by=amandaofthefields
Bah ram ewe- https://www.instagram.com/p/BECY96NFoCm/?taken-by=amandaofthefields
A wee one I revived when I found him cold and alone shortly after he and his twin were born- https://www.instagram.com/p/BDRWBaGFoF1/?taken-by=amandaofthefields

[purryprowly]

@chestnutmarebeware

Are those Balwens? I’ve drooled over that breed for years!

They are a Dutch breed called Zwartbles. Good breed of sheep for the smallholder as they are naturally very tame.

[enjoytheride]

There are sheep called hair sheep that you don’t need to shear, although based on the responses here perhaps you’ve changed your mind!

[wireweiners]

You definitely don’t want pregnant ewes for a first time experience. My sister bred some of her ewes and she practically lived in the barn during lambing season. Some of the ewes needed help and then some of them would reject their lambs so they’d have to be bottle fed. Then some of the lambs couldn’t figure out nursing so would have to be hand fed. Oh, and the ewes would prolapse if their tails were docked too short.

If you have to have sheep, I would contact a 4H or FFA group and try to buy some wether’s after show season. Some of the kids don’t want their show sheep to go to slaughter and these are sheep that are used to being handled.

Personally, I’d rather now than have sheep or goats.

[Polydor]

@beowulf

Granted my experience with sheep was only as a caretaker and not an owner, but definitely do your research before getting them.

The plus: they were the first to greet me when I arrived, and they have a screaming noise that rivals a rooster’s - there were three and they would put their little cloven hooves on the gate and swing back and forth, BANG BANG BALAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA – until I dumped their grain into their paddock. If I didn’t do it before I turned out the horses, they would scream their little heads off and scare everything.

No one mentioned how PICKY they are - they ONLY want the best grass - they did nothing for weeds and I’m surprised people would recommend them for that purpose. They will compete with horses for the good stuff and seem to have the same ‘palate’ and taste. They are the worst hay-pickers too - for every flake of GOOD quality hay on the ground, they’d nibble a stalk and then the rest would be left forever. They never, ever cleaned up a flake the way a horse should. This made picking up their paddock a PITA, and they’re just like horses where they won’t touch a flake if it’s anywhere near their poo or pee.

You will need grain if you want to catch them, and god help you when you do - for fluffy, cute animals their hooves are HARD. Shearing them is awful, especially if you have to do it yourself. You have to shear them too, and dealing with the after-care and cleaning of the wool is its own damn ordeal.

They also seem to get abscesses and little bruises easily, and trying to get a sheep to stand for a hoof soak is really hard. I had to rope all the help in the barn to get the slowest one’s ‘halter’ on one time for the vet. They are very fast when they want to be.

They are natural born escape artists, and don’t think it’s because they’re clever, cause they’re not. They just put themselves in tiny spots other animals possess the spatial reasoning to know is not a good idea, and then you have to extract them. While you’re extracting them they will kick you.

They are very fragile, and downright defenseless. They’re worse than horses in that regard - the poster above, “sheep just want to die” - very correct.

On the amusement factor, I rank them a little below a goat. I found their greetings in the morning to be very endearing, but absolutely abhorred any time I had to spend caring for them beyond dumping their grain - despite never being mishandled a day in their life, they acted like I was some unholy incubus come to kill them when I entered their paddock. For crying out loud they recognize me and my car, but when I’m in their paddock it’s MAYDAY!!

If you want something for weed control, I think a goat is the way to go but that too is an ordeal of its own.

Yes! All of this! lol

Spent 5 years in Oz on a TB farm that also had merino sheep. Dealt with a ram who had a wicked abcess on his head-top of his forehead. And I mean disgusting gross custard type abscess. Couldn’t drain it due to location so meant a lot of poking and squishing and sucking it out with a syringe. He did survive!

And I stand behind the fact they don’t need 4 legs! They are darn quick with 3 and one broken one in a cast.

But they are cute. Wouldn’t have them unless i had a working sheep dog on hand.

P.

[RoughOut]

I wouldn’t say don’t get sheep. But have a knowledable person you can call (FFA Animal Science teacher, 4-H leader) someone who can look at a sheep thats laying on the ground trying to walk toward the light and can give them some pepto/banamine/glucose/ whatever they may need.

I have a flock of 100 and I just started being able to sleep again after lambing. We have a couple caracal who will lamb out of season. I have a Katahdin ram, and a mix of Dorper, Dorset, Tunis, Southdown, ewes. I got rid of the barbados and jacobs because they didn’t suit my needs but that may be more of the flock they came from than the breed.

Get yourself a good sheep mineral mix. And acclimate them to a bucket with grain. Easiest way to get a hold of them. My dog will herd them well pasture to pasture or to load them. But when it comes time to hoof trim, vaccinate, ear tag, castrate. Shake a bucket and they come running. Bonus if/when they get out. Grab your closest bucket/flower pot/ garbage pail throw a handful of gravel in it and they will also come running. Not the brightest.

No climb fencing for sure. You want to keep the suckers in and anything that finds them tasty out. I cross fence with electric mesh but someone always sticks their head through and zaps itself into oblivion before I have to rescue it.

Limit access to copper as others have said.

If you only have a few to shear get in touch with a larger farm and see if you can bring your sheep for the day to be shorn, or ask the local Ag high school.