ISO:Looking For Dairy Sheep??

[MagicSnake]

Hello My Family/I Are Looking For Dairy Sheep We Are More Interested In Registered East Friesian We Live In Indiana But Are Willing To Travel As We Have Been Having Trouble Finding Any I Show In 4H And Would Love To Add Dairy Sheep Into My Herd If You Have Any Available Please Message Me On Instagram At _lilah_price_

 

[mysunwolf]

Hi there, there is no official dairy sheep registry in the U.S. Most people who show dairy sheep show them under "Natural Colored" and show the black with white blaze coloring of Friesians. Check out Dairy Sheep Association of North America for a breeders list. Good luck!

 

[purplequeenvt]

There are no breed registries for any of the 3 dairy breeds found in the US.

The 3 breeds are:
East Friesian (most common)
Lacune
Awassi

The Awassi are fairly rare and expensive to purchase. There is also a lot of crossing done, especially between the Lacune and EF.

The EF are known for their productivity, but are also known to be delicate flowers. My limited experience with dairy sheep was with a couple EF and they were definitely delicate, especially compared to our hardy Border Leicesters and Shetlands.

You may run into difficulties trying to show a dairy sheep as no one else shows them and no one knows how to judge them. You might be able to enter them in small county fairs or youth/4-H shows in the ”grade ewe” class, but without registration papers, you wouldn’t be able to enter in the larger breed classes.

My personal opinion, get EFs if you are really wanting dairy sheep (just understand that they will never be a ”chuck them out in the pasture type of animal”), but if showing is what is important to you, pick another breed.

I raise Border Leicesters and Shetlands. Showing has never been my thing, but my youngest sister is obsessed and some of my ewes (and their ancestors) were part of our show-strings over the years.

 

[purplequeenvt]

An alternative breed if you are looking for something with a breed registry and milking abilities would be the Finn.

The Icelandic is also known as triple-purpose (milk, meat, wool), but they tend to be more on the feral side of things and it can be hard to find sheep that are from strong milk lines.