First time sheep owner needs advise

   / First time sheep owner needs advise #1  

ctpres

Gold Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
323
Location
BAR BOB Ranch, Needville Texas
Tractor
Kubota 3400HST
Bringing two Painted Desert hair sheep home Sat. One young ram and one bred ewe. Been reading as much as I can but figure nothing better than experiance. Shelter almost done and five acre perimeter fence repairs almost done. In case interested what Painted Desert sheep are, here is link to breeders site El Cascabel Farm
Any comments, help apperciated.
 
   / First time sheep owner needs advise #2  
ctpres said:
Bringing two Painted Desert hair sheep home Sat. One young ram and one bred ewe. Been reading as much as I can but figure nothing better than experiance. Shelter almost done and five acre perimeter fence repairs almost done. In case interested what Painted Desert sheep are, here is link to breeders site El Cascabel Farm
Any comments, help apperciated.


Good luck with the sheep! Do you have other farm animals around? If not, why sheep? We raised sheep for a number of years and it is an experiance for sure. Time to start looking for a young sheep dog LOL.

In the spring you will be busy with birthing and after that you might have to watch that ram a bit. We rasied ours for wool and meat so after birthing all of the rams were taken care of, for that you will need an elasticator!

VEGA: Newsletter
 
   / First time sheep owner needs advise #3  
Everyone around here has sheep dogs that stay with the flock. Mostly to keep wild dogs and coyotes out. I don't have sheep dogs but I have three big mean bird dogs protecting them. I can't figure why they won't leave my chickens alone though. :rolleyes:
 
   / First time sheep owner needs advise
  • Thread Starter
#5  
"Do you have other farm animals around? If not, why sheep?

No other creatures. Head Honcho/wife dosn't want dog or any other kind of pet and I want to enjoy some of my retirement doing things other than mowing. Why sheep? because I just happened to see an ad pic for the Painted Desert sheep and think they are real neat looking.

What kind of perimeter fence are you using?

Perimeter fence on two neighbors side is 36" fifteen yo w two stands of barb wire on top, very bad shape on one side. Rear and cross fence at house brand new and same type.
One of my many mental struggles with this sheep project is how to fence for sheep. Deed restrictions will limit us to 7.25 sheep or one per acre, so we're not talking about a money making project. Head honcho going to town this am to get 48" sheep class fencing, posts and walk gats. Meanwhile I'm setting posts for "day one" confinement area. Since I don't have any idea what i'm doing everything is being done with remodel in mind.
 
   / First time sheep owner needs advise #6  
I would add a guard animal, it will be a matter of time before something gets in to them. Consider a llama, they are similar to sheep in many ways and easier to clean up after.
 
   / First time sheep owner needs advise #7  
Dittos on the llamas. All they do is run up and intimidate a predator, they really don't have any defenses except size, they can kick a little or they can spit on 'em! They are very defensive about any herd of sheep they are with.
My wife raises Shetland sheep, and they have helped out a lot.
 
   / First time sheep owner needs advise #8  
Any shelter? Ran sheep for a while part time. Access to shelter means can bring them in at nite, have a place with power for shearing and tending, birthing etc. Nice to have easy access to water as well. Sheep make good brush clearers and there meat is fantastic if done before 18 months ( when the lanolin gland starts kicking in and it is mutton ). Milk makes good cheese. Kind of tricky to use as lawn mowers since most lawn grass does not seem to have enough nutrients in it. Have heard of putting holes in the ground and tethering the sheep to poles and just move the poles to different holes.

Bottle lambs are as cute as a button and will follow you around every where if allowed (however the feeding every couple hours gets old real fast when it is day and nite so the shelter is for the recliner for when you fall asleep with a bottle in your hand). Check out the local spinning guild, chances are they will have lots of info about turning the wool into some thing wonderful. You can mix it with the dog fur as well. (Have done springer spaniel and poodle)

Was very cute last nite, the buff chicken was hanging out with the highlander cow that was laying down, the rooster was under cows neck and the cow was just rubbing away on it and then they all took a little nap together. Could not get the cam for a pic, but hopefully someday.
 
   / First time sheep owner needs advise #9  
ctpres said:
Bringing two Painted Desert hair sheep home Sat. One young ram and one bred ewe. Been reading as much as I can but figure nothing better than experiance. Shelter almost done and five acre perimeter fence repairs almost done. In case interested what Painted Desert sheep are, here is link to breeders site El Cascabel Farm
Any comments, help apperciated.
I found that Wiltipoll sheep are a good buy and are a very easy care low maintenanceshhep, compared to many other breeds. They are ideal for a first start owner of sheep.
 
   / First time sheep owner needs advise
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Wiltipoll said:
I found that Wiltipoll sheep are a good buy and are a very easy care low maintenanceshhep, compared to many other breeds. They are ideal for a first start owner of sheep.
Sorry-to late for that idea. We already up to 7! Our Painted Desert hair sheep must be close cusins. Just have horns, in fact Painted Desert rams are raised for trophy hunters. We are so green at this that any and all ideas and info is appreciated. Thanks
 
 
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