How about sheep?

I asked a couple weeks ago about raising goats and I received ALOT of reasons why not too! LOL But a guy I work with raises 4-6 sheep each year and says there isn't much to it. He says he makes a little money and enjoys them. So Im seriously considering getting some. I have the land, shelter, water and hay so what is there to consider before I get some? Thanks

Get sheep or goats or pigs or cattle.

Usually your intuition is better than the advice that is offered on the internet. Get them and give everyone advice the next time someone asks!! I have had pigs and cattle, never a goat or sheep. They don't appear to be difficult though, get some and have fun!

Thanks Dalet. I raised a couple calves last year for the freezer. Im gonna get another one this summer but want to do something else also!

I have been told most of my life that sheep and goat is some nasty tasting meat so I have avoided eating either, till last yr, when I went to the local butcher, and picked up a goat roast, out of courisoty. I sliced 2 steaks off, and the wife fried them up for us. I liked the taste, but it was very tough. I cut the remainder up into stew meat and the wife made stew in the slow cooker, and also added curry powder. What a great meal. Last fall, I called my daughter in law, and asked for one of her lambs. When the meat was ready, we drove across the mountains, and picked up the meat, paid her for the processing, and her price per pound, and have been actually enjoieng the change from Chicken, Pork, and our home grown beef, and curry poeder is a lambs best friend.

try slow smoking that goat like you would a brisket...you won't quit eatin it till its gone...mutton [sheep] is tricky to cook but done by somebody that knows how its great.

Well of I had to choose I would have goats no questions asked. Sheep are dumber then rocks and will walk right into water over there heads and stand there. I have goats and so did my parents and grand parents and the only problem is you need a good fence. Sheep on the other hand they as I said are dumber then rocks and will almost kill them self's. Just to prove it look at the good book it talks about having goats to keep the sheep safe that says something

Big difference between goats and sheep.

I have been keeping sheep for...lessee here...it'll be 20 years next Fall.

Started out with Shetlands, which are a primitive breed prized for the quality of their wool. "Primitive" in this context means they haven't been bred to the point where they're too dependent on humans. Eat about anything, no problems with lambing. Locally, folks put them out on an unoccupied island for the winter and they subsist on what browse they can find and eat snow for moisture. They're relatively small (a big ewe might go 100 or 125) docile, friendly and easy to handle.

Two years ago, I switched to Katahdins, as finding someone to shear was getting difficult and the wool wasn't worth spit unless you knew a home spinner or hobby knitter.

Katahdins are MUCH bigger (my ram goes about 300 pounds), but otherwise share most of the Shetlands attributes.

I've cut back now due to loss of customers for the lambs and the price of hay, but at the peak of things, I kept up to 20 critters on 3.5 acres of grass pasture and still had to mow to keep ahead of it.

Lambs raised on grass and Momma's Milk are excellent eating.

In that time I've lost exactly two adults to unexplained illness, and none to "stupidity". Perhaps that's due to the breeds I selected. I will say they are prone to panic and will herd up and run when they're startled, but that's a prey survival thing. They're nowhere near as smart as a dog, but I've never had occasion to call them stupid. They can read a clock and know when dinnertime is They also know that when I go up that ladder in the barn, hay is going to magically fall from the sky and land right over...THERE!

Chickens, now THEY are stupid.

Forgot to mention, Katahdins are a "hair sheep" that don't need to be sheared. They shed in the Spring like a dog.

Mutton (adult sheep) and Lamb are two entirely different types of meat IMHO.

Don't care for mutton myself, and I've had it cooked by "experts".

A good leg of lamb is easy to prepare and cook and is some DARN good eating.

SWMBO just jabs the exterior all over with a paring knife, sticks some fennel seeds in the slits, bastes it good with olive oil and pops it in the oven to roast in it's own juices.

Dang, getting old sucks...

Also forgot to mention that it takes at most 20 minutes a day to care for a small flock. Make sure they have water and make sure they have hay in the winter. At my population density worms are not an issue but I worm the adults once a year when I have them penned up to sort out the lambs and take them to market. I check their hooves at the same time and trim if necessary.

All they need for shelter is a wind break. Trying to keep them indoors in the winter is actually bad for them, leads to pneumonia. Not unusual for me to wander down on a winter morning and have a pile of snow sprout legs and turn into a sheep. They'll wander into a three-sided shelter to get out of the hot sun or a driving rain, but that's about it.

I feed mine a bit of grain twice a day. NOT necessary for their health, but acts as a training aid as they LOVE grain and will follow you anywhere to get it. Including into a catch pen...

We had sheep cows and goats the better part of my
life growing up. My father switched to all sheep
when he was 85 years old because they were easy to
take care of. I'm not sure of the breed but they
had black faces. My father always complained about
the goats killing the trees by eating the bark. The sheep
were his lawn mowers all summer and the lambs went
to the auction every fall. Only problem with sheep
where I live is the coyotes will take the smaller
ones if they are not in the barn at night.

We had sheep for about ten years, mainly as a 4H project for the kids. The biggest thing was fencing. Not as big a deal as for goats but still a makor concern. We had Hi-Tensile elec. perimeter, and portable elc. three strand for paddock divisions. We never had a problem with dumbness, but one was a big enough problem with being too intelligent that we had to cull her because of it. Culling due to inability to lamb unassisted is important. Grade rather than purebred tend to be easier. Ours didn't tend to take much time, but you need to use common sense and don't have old vehicles and appliances, or hazardous fluids in the pasture with them.

Hair sheep bring more $$$ at the market and are easier to raise and a lot more healthy.As of late lambs and goats bring more per lb than cattle

Sheep aren't dumb, they just aren't like cattle, horses, or dogs. Actually, cattle can be pretty stupid when you come down to it. I'm in the middle of lambing right now. 32 live lambs on the ground from 16 ewes, 5 in in the bummer pen that were extras (I won't put more than 2 lambs on a ewe anymore and some of mine have 4 lambs so they go in the bummer pen) lost one still born from a ewe I had to pull the first of 2 lambs on and later lost that lamb and the ewe too, lost one that just went down hill from the 2nd morning on and one I just found dead, might have got stepped on of something. I still have 40 some ewes to lamb. In the late summer or fall I'll sell the ram lambs and any unwanted ewe lambs. I know I'll get at least $100.00 a head, I averaged $1.66 a lbs last year, $2.33 the year before. My overhead is in fencing. I bought 4 sections of Premier electronet last year, best thing since sliced bread. Other than that I give the fresh ewes a little grain to give them a boost. The rest of it is simple stuff like BoSe shots, tags, etc. Worming in minimal with katahdin/Dorper crosses I have, but it still pays to rotate the pastures. That's my biggest issue since moving them is a nightmare at present. I've been "bucket training" them for a year now and they follow much better. It's keeping them where I want them that is difficult and that's where the electronet comes in. I also lost about 50 lambs and ewes to coyotes last year, but have Pyrenees guard dogs in with the sheep now. I hope to build up to a flock of 150-200 ewes, depends on what my land will support and how much brush I can beat back. Coyotes thrive on lamb and brush is a hunting coyotes best friend.

Funny/cute story from last week. We got the guard dogs this winter. The female is fine with the sheep but doesn't care much about the lambs. The male OTOH, he adores the lambs. Went out last week to find Sam with 3 lambs, cleaning them off, while they climbed all over him. The lambs ewe was going nuts because Sam had kidnapped her "babies". Had to put same in the crate or he'll take all the lambs! It's funny to see that big 100 lbs dog mothering the little lambs.

During my 4-H and FFA yrs. we had 25 to 30 ewes on the place . There was a small pond in one pasture and a creek in another and I never seen a sheep get more than knee deep in the water let alone go in over there head and drown ! As a kid I did 95% of the work with them and only remember one ewe that got sick and died , did lose a lamb now and then . They do need worming . We did have a neighbor dog get in and chase them and lost a couple then , they cant handle alot of stress . If a 12 yr old kid with other things on his mind can raise them with good luck they cant be to bad to raise , maybe some people are not any smarter than the sheep . If you are planning to get a few lambs to raise for the summer you wont have any problems .

One other thing, not mentioned, yet. Sheep LIE!

Before you jump in make sure you have a market for them. We have (4) 14 year old sheep that were raised for the 4-H auction many many moons ago and we couldn't give them away at the time. So now they have become permanent residents of the farm. In the summer we let them out in the yard to "mow" the lawn and they stay in the yard without a fence, then also know that when it gets dark its time to head to their little fenced pasture. They all walk up to you like a dog when you pull in the driveway and want to be scratched behind the ears like a dog. I wish we had a local market for them as they are very easy to raise and care for.

You got that right! "8^)

Yup, mine are basically pets, even the ones that wind up on the dinner table.

Coupla years ago, SWMBO went through a bad spell and came out of it allergic to all sorts of things, including dog hair/dandruff. So, I had to get rid of my dog and I've ALWAYS had dogs.

Sheep are kind of a poor substitute (they don't play fetch worth a damn and people look at ya funny if ya let 'em ride in the front seat with ya...) but they're better than nothing.

I got three ram lambs this year and they all think they're lap dogs. Come running for a scratch every time they see me walking around.