THROW SOME KNOWLEDGE AT ME!

I want to learn everything about raising hair sheep for meat. SO THROW SOME KNOWLEDGE AT ME!

There are a bunch of hair sheep owners on here but it would be helpful to have an idea of what you don't know.

And you can learn an awful lot just by reading many of the threads to see the questions and answers already posted. Many times you don't know what you don't know until you actually have the animals and it becomes apparent that you need to know. I understand as a newbie, maybe you ask for everything because you don't know where to start or what to ask... That's why reading will really give you a great head start.

I want to know how much 5 sheep can eat in a day?

Ducklover2 said:

I want to know how much 5 sheep can eat in a day?

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Eat what? Grass? Hay? Feed? Do you have good pasture? As for feed, I give mine maybe a half cup of feed a day. It is more for making sure they come a' running when I call them. My pastures are in the "growing" stage, which means I need GRASS! We keep a round bale out for them, 9 sheep eat one 1200 pound bale a month.

On pasture, you have to get them off to let the grass grow back. Sheep will eat grass right down to the roots and kill the grass if it doesn't have a chance to rest.

I can tell you that 3 Awassi will eat a 30x30ft area down to the nubs in 2 days. I'm sure that someone who is good with math can actually figure out more than that.

Size matters! Big sheep, like Blue Faced Leicesters (AVOID keeping these) have rams weighing 240lbs or more and eat an enormous amount of grass/forage etc. Smaller sheep eat much less.

My sheep are all woollies and our climate is unpleasant, cool, often wet, and changeable. Climate also affects how much they eat.....thinner fleece, bigger animals, colder weather = much more food.

We usually get good grass growth across the summer over here and our sheep have no supplements at this time (unless we're trying to get lambs fattened quickly). In late autumn/winter/spring when the grass has stopped growing, they have silage and hay, plus pellet supplements, called 'nuts' over here, which we feed to them in the latter part of pregnancy and during the first 6 weeks or so of lactation. The worse the weather and the more lambs they are expecting, the more 'nuts' they get.

Sheep don't just eat grass, they will take large amounts of leaves, flowers etc....and any vegetable beds need to be securely fenced off. Poisonous plants also need to be dealt with as sheep may still eat them and make themselves very ill. Our vet describes sheep as "nervous creatures with an intense death wish"......kinda says it all.

Sheepshape said:

Our vet describes sheep as "nervous creatures with an intense death wish"......kinda says it all.

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My vet always said similar --- SSSS Sick Sheep Seldom Survive

Yes to all said above. Tell us what you have available, where you are located & what you "hope" to own for sheep & purpose you hope to achieve. Then some more specific help will be offered --- maybe more than you want

But, you will find knowledge here from people who know. Some are big farmers, others are the hobby/backyard, some retired from it all. Plus newbie and elders experiences. I don't have sheep -- but have goats, horses, chickens, often hogs. My farm days now are downsized compared to herds of years past. So far I still remember most of it .

We have 5 three month old katahdin/dorper. We are raising the sheep for meat. Middle TN.

Ducklover2 said:

We have 5 three month old katahdin/dorper. We are raising the sheep for meat. Middle TN.

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Can you give us pics of your pasture, close up to the grass and far away? Do you know how much land you have available for grazing? Do you intend to feed all on grass and hay or do you want to feed grains also? Do you know what kind of grasses you have on your pasture?