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Duckymark

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I have started a 2 year journey towards having sheep. Through this winter and spring I'm focusing on establishing my poultry and starting a garden. After that I'll be starting to build fences and a small barn and getting beehives on the property for the garden so I should be ready for sheep by the following spring.

My name is Mark and I'm in the western mountains of NC. We have a local Shetland sheep breeder the I will be getting my sheep from when I'm ready. I'm planning to use them for wool, milk and meat. The breeder offers stud service so I'll only be getting ewes and nutering any male lambs for meat.

I'm here to learn as much as I can before and during my journey into sheep tending.
 

Southern by choice

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Welcome to BHY! :frow

There are many "sheeples" here who did the same thing as you! Learned, planned, and then did! They have a wealth of information to share.
Tagging a few - @Baymule @Mike CHS There are many others but these two did exactly as you are. I think it is pretty cool to watch the process unfold.

You may want to update your location status to reflect Western Mtns NC. That helps folks understand your region and that is helpful when situations arise.
Location affects parasites, feed, forage etc.
 

Mike CHS

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Welcome Mark. There is a ton of info on this site and an awesome bunch of people varying from almost no experience to decades and without exception they really enjoy helping. Like SBC said, we did basically what you are doing but accelerated our plans when we took on 10 pregnant ewes before we were totally ready but needed to help out a friend get her numbers down. I'm looking forward to watching your journey and hopefully I can help you avoid some of the mistakes we made.
 

Baymule

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I was a member here for five years before we moved and got sheep. This is the best forum on the entire internet, the people here are wonderful. There is LOTS of information in the posts, I would suggest reading them and studying the failures and success that others have had. We share our ups and downs here, so we learn from each other.

Welcome to the forum, glad that you are here!
 

Duckymark

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We've had goats before and they thrived. We just got tired of untangling them from the fences and dragging them off the mountains. I'm hoping that sheep are calmer and easier to pen and corral. I'm hoping for 3 purpose (meat, wool, milk) with a preference for wool then meat and milk as an afterthought. We don't drink much milk.
 

Latestarter

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Greetings and welcome to BYH from NE TX! So glad you joined us. As has already been shared... there's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. By all means browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. There are quite a few previous discussions on "which sheep breed is best (for me)... Here are a couple of links that might help: http://www.selectsmart.com/plus/select.php?url=sheepbreed
http://www.selectsmart.com/plus/select.php?url=uncommonsheep

Please post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

PLEASE put at least your general location in your profile. It could be very important if/when you ask for or offer help or advice. You know, climate issues and such. I recommend at least your state as most folks won't be able to figure out where if you put anything more specific (county, town, street, etc) by itself. Old folks like me :old will never remember from this post & look there first. To add it, mouse hover over Account top right and a drop down will appear. Click on Personal Details and scan down. You'll see the spot for Location. Then go to the bottom and save changes. Thanks! Hope you enjoy the site!
 

Sheepshape

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Hello and welcome. You sound organised....I came here 12 years ago and took on the resident 4 heavily pregnant ewes....now that was a baptism of fire.
establishing my poultry and starting a garden.
If my experience is anything to go by (or you have lots of netting), this is a contradiction in terms. My garden is one large larder and dustbath for my 30 something chickens . My vegetable garden is, however, fenced out which stops them from destroying everything for the majority of the time. Beware of having good fliers if you don't like wing-clipping. I previously kept La Flèche and they would roost on top of the house, so the garden fence was no challenge to them.
Sheep can be VERY jumpy if they are not trained/tamed.Lambs are easiest, but even older sheep are open to training. Sheep are, contrary to what you may have read, quite bright animals and can be easily trained to come to you for food treats. Getting them used to feed from a bucket is a great boon. All you will need to do is to rattle the bucket and they will be there. I have mine trained to hand clapping. I clap my hand a couple of times and call them and they are over in a few seconds.
Shetland sheep are as tough as old boots with regards to their handling of bad weather and poor diet, but aren't the friendliest.They are small sheep, so the amount of meat on them is fairly low. Bigger sheep are often the most laid back and have much more meat, but they can be much less hardy.
Wool from sheep breeds varies a lot.....some wool is only good for stuffing, some for carpets, and high grade wools for garments. Shetland sheep wool is good for spinning and making garments.
Sheep are flock animals and where one goes they all go.....so if you can persuade one that they want to leave the outdoors, you usually have persuaded them all.
All intact rams are potentially dangerous....especially the ones with horns and Especially in the breeding season (if you get seasonal breeders).
 

Duckymark

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Hello and welcome. You sound organised....I came here 12 years ago and took on the resident 4 heavily pregnant ewes....now that was a baptism of fire.
If my experience is anything to go by (or you have lots of netting), this is a contradiction in terms. My garden is one large larder and dustbath for my 30 something chickens . My vegetable garden is, however, fenced out which stops them from destroying everything for the majority of the time. Beware of having good fliers if you don't like wing-clipping. I previously kept La Flèche and they would roost on top of the house, so the garden fence was no challenge to them.
Sheep can be VERY jumpy if they are not trained/tamed.Lambs are easiest, but even older sheep are open to training. Sheep are, contrary to what you may have read, quite bright animals and can be easily trained to come to you for food treats. Getting them used to feed from a bucket is a great boon. All you will need to do is to rattle the bucket and they will be there. I have mine trained to hand clapping. I clap my hand a couple of times and call them and they are over in a few seconds.
Shetland sheep are as tough as old boots with regards to their handling of bad weather and poor diet, but aren't the friendliest.They are small sheep, so the amount of meat on them is fairly low. Bigger sheep are often the most laid back and have much more meat, but they can be much less hardy.
Wool from sheep breeds varies a lot.....some wool is only good for stuffing, some for carpets, and high grade wools for garments. Shetland sheep wool is good for spinning and making garments.
Sheep are flock animals and where one goes they all go.....so if you can persuade one that they want to leave the outdoors, you usually have persuaded them all.
All intact rams are potentially dangerous....especially the ones with horns and Especially in the breeding season (if you get seasonal breeders).
We have tons of deer so my garden has a 5ft tall fence around it with a single Barb wire strand 8 inches above that. I maily have meat chickens that I raise in 3 shifts thoughout the warm seasons. About 25 at a time. I have a small egg layer flock of 6 birds but I use electric netting and clip one wing worth of feathers. I haven't had any get out yet. They have a rolling coop inside the netting.

I'm ok with small amounts of meat since I will be doing all the processing myself. We were at a fiberfair and spent time with a few breeds and breeders and the Shetland overall seemed calmer then the other breeds and the breeder I want to get some from had the calmest sheep of the breed. If it were up to me I would get a hair sheep but I was overruled by the mother and SO.
 

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