Housing tips for sheep

[Eliza]

Say fellow shepherds, I need your views on the least labor intensive way to keep sheep. I have two wether babydoll southdowns. They are in clean, three-sided shelter facing south. The floor is two stall mats laid over crushed stone dust. I had just been using hay to bed the enclosure, but this creates a terrible, festering, organic carpet in a short period of time! Talk about labor intenstive moving that stuff out! Out of desperation, I used bagged shavings with a board across the front to keep the shavings in the shelter. They like this, although I suspect that combing out the fleece in the spring will be a nightmare.

Also, I changed from just winging in the the hay, and now place it in a large round pan. Besides a manger of some configuration, what else works for everyone else?

Eliza

 

[Iceblink]

In the Spring, Summer and Fall my 2 sheep live in a 5'x12' chain link dog kennel. I put wheels on one end and move it 3 times a day. Now that it's getting colder, I put them in the barn at night and out in their pen during the day. I like my system because it's like mini rotational grazing. I have covered 3 sides and the top of the pen with tarps, and that keeps the wind and rain out. As long as I move it enough, the pasture only improves, and I don't have to worry about bedding. It is pretty time and labor intensive though, that pen is heavy.

In the barn I use a mix of straw and shavings. So far it works.

I made a hay feeder out of an old 5 gallon bucket that can hang from a chain in the barn, or on the side of their pen. It keeps the hay off the ground and they can't step in it and waste it.