Keeping sheep - my goals in the next 10 years

Just to entertain my thoughts and because I'm super super bored....

Does anyone here know anything about or actually raise/keep sheep?

Within the next 10 years hopefully I want to acquire a small plot (around 15 acres) of land near the interior of the province that is appropriate for livestock and comfortable living (kinda tired of cities...). And I really want a hatchery and to keep sheep.

I don't plan on having a huge flock. I know their basic feed and space requirements and that if it's a larger amount of sheep I will need herding skills, a herding dog and preferably a LGD as well (which I have and will probably continue to have in the future). Does anyone on here actually have any though or know about the differences in the breeds of sheep?

I really like the look of the Cheviot, Karakul, and Hampshire sheep.

So damned fluffy!

Depends on what you want from them meat? fiber? I know a bit about them but I think sheep drool and goats rule so....I do think baby dolls are cute though. What type of LGD are you getting another Kuvasz? Are you going to get a perimeter guard as well? Most of the time that works out better with a larger herd you have your first defense (CAS, Gampr, ect) and then you still have some that stay with the sheep (Kuvasz, Anatolian, ect)

Not much, but we have 5 wool sheep, 3 purebred Shetlands and two Border Leicester crosses. The basics I've learned so far? Test your fences! Because they will! Can't count the times Weena (BL) has gotten out now, Loo (Shetland) is a big escapee too because she's the smallest. And if you get a "bottle brat" ram, NEUTER! We did just because we didn't want a "ram", but have since found out that more sheep related injuries (and even a few fatalities) are caused by bottle brat rams than any others.

This is Nigel with chicken Coco


Oh yeah, and Shetlands are like goats, here's Nigel climbing the fence, he's such a PITA! He gets into everything.

Auggie's breeder has sheep. They are Barbados sheep so haired sheep instead of wooly sheep. I kind of think I would like some wooly sheep myself, but the Barbados sheep are really easy keepers. I also really like St. Croix sheep too as far as haired sheep go (also, both sexes are polled, which is kind of nice.)

I definitely would like some one day, mostly as "pets" for the dogs - sheep to work my dogs on. But I don't think it will work out that way financially, unless I seriously find a guy crazy enough to embark with me on things like buying a small hobby farm and raising sheep...
And chickens.

Hey, they exist. I found one lol.

Personally I like Katahdin an St. Croix sheep. And Boer goats.

As for containment...hot wire is your friend.

I don't know anything about raising sheep or about sheep in general. But I follow a blog called Ingleside Farm (she has a facebook page too) and she raises Icelandic sheep (I believe that's correct) and she has a wealth of knowledge. you shoudl check it out

A dog show friend of mine is married to a veterinarian. For her birthday 30 years ago, he bought her 3 sheep. All because she had a Tervuran and took some herding lessons.

Today she keeps a flock of blue faced Liecester sheep that she takes to shows and sells their fiber. Of course that means she also breeds and sells livestock guard dogs.

So, be careful what you wish for.

http://www.beechtreeblues.com/

ETA: She always tells people who are interested in herding. "My sheep are not toys for dog." LOL! Her Dutch Shepherds leave the sheep alone. Probably because of the huge white dogs that protect them.

My husband and I have already decided that the next house we buy (2-4 years from now) will have acreage so that we can keep a small flock of sheep. I will say that from what I've learned hanging out with sheep for the last 5 weeks is that man, they are dumb creatures! Zinga chased one into a gate yesterday so hard that he was wobbly afterwards. Um really sheep? She's 18lbs, you could just stomp her.

You should totally get painted deserts! Supposedly their meat tastes less like mutton and more like venison because of the recent mouflon blood. Someone needs to get them so they can tell me if it's true.

Get fainting goats!!!

OMG Romy.
That should not be as funny as it is. Holy crap.

Re: Painted Desert sheep -- there is a place here that raises and sells them lol. I've considered them but some of the herding folks here claim they are completely nuts and a pain to work with and care for as a result.

Sheep are the dumbest animals on the face of this earth.
Rams can be nastier than cat crap, so yeah, neuter!

My mom's boyfriend has a hobby sheep farm, you couldn't pay me enough money. Not unless they come up with a breed that weighs like 25 pounds each
My mom's boyfriend's ram is a seriously scary animal, he'd LOVE to kill you if he could just get the chance. If Shelby his BC wasn't around he honestly would not be able to let the thing out of it's pen, he'd never get the stupid thing back in the barn!

Soay rams top out at 75 lbs, ewes are around 55. They supposed to be delicious and quite hardy, which may compensate for being over your weight limit

ETA: I bring you the Ouessant:


Wouldn't be surprised if they sell for $1,000,000 in the US as novelty pets.

And these are both short-tailed breeds, so no docking.

ERMAHGERD!

I want those.

^that, completely. Blaze was chasing one in a large fenced area one time, and the silly thing rammed her head into the fence and got it stuck. Really?

They are such dump creatures. I will say, though, that it seems the more you spend with them, the easier they are to move, per se. The more they are around people, the more they follow you around. At least that's the way it works in herding. They're called knee-knockers.

I don't know about 25lb sheep...but Shetlands are usually under 100lbs and supposedly pretty friendly/docile.

Of course if you get Shetland Sheep them you must get a Shetland Sheepdog. It's only right.

And btw sheep may be dumb but so are beef cattle. And far less likely to kill you. I consider sheep a personal safety improvement lol.

Unless they are fleece/wool sheep. Shearing is NOT in my future. (famous last words)

Barbados sheep shed their hair on their own! A few other haired sheep do too.

Yeah they are pretty much dumb as a box of rocks. I find it slightly charming though LOL.