Renting Pasture for Sheep

mckenna.broam

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What is a fair price for pasture rental? I'll be needing a spot for three sheep and haven't had a lot of luck so far but to be honest I don't know what's fair. I'd be supplying their feed, water trough and taking care of them. In my area people generally ask $150 a month to board a horse and that's with the owner supplying feed and caring for it, with it's own stall and access to pasture. That's all I have to base an estimate on but I've never boarded any of my animals or rented pasture before so I'm lost.

Please let me know what you charge or what the prices are in your area so I can get a better idea. Thanks!
 

Bossroo

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First, it would be very helpfull if we knew what area of this country you are in. For any small animal if you paid $150 / month , you will go broke in a blink of an eye. put an add in feed stores and / or Craigs list to see if anyone wants their vancant weedy land cleared of grasses as a service to them. Keep the distance from your home in mind or you will be burning up any profits in gas fumes and your time daily. Good luck !
 

greybeard

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I've leased 30 acres before to a neighbor that needed some extra cow grazing grass in exchange for him keeping up the fences..and I mean keeping them up to MY standards not his.
 

Baymule

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Welcome to the forum! I have sheep, but we own our place. I don't know what it would cost to board 3 sheep. Are you not able to keep them at home? They don't take a lot of room. Do you live in a subdivision with HOA rules? If you are not restricted and have a decent size back yard, you could keep them at home, but you would have to feed them and offer unlimited hay.
 

Goat Whisperer

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Could you raise up an extra lamb and offer the meat in trade for using the pasture?

We've done that with meat goats. Thought about doing a few lambs on our neighbors property (don't want them near my goats) but I just don't have the time.
 

mckenna.broam

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Could you raise up an extra lamb and offer the meat in trade for using the pasture?

We've done that with meat goats. Thought about doing a few lambs on our neighbors property (don't want them near my goats) but I just don't have the time.

I'm not raising them for meat, they'll be teaching sheep for an educational program I'm starting. Not a bad idea if I was better about not getting so attached to everything I see haha.
 

mckenna.broam

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Welcome to the forum! I have sheep, but we own our place. I don't know what it would cost to board 3 sheep. Are you not able to keep them at home? They don't take a lot of room. Do you live in a subdivision with HOA rules? If you are not restricted and have a decent size back yard, you could keep them at home, but you would have to feed them and offer unlimited hay.

Thanks! No HOA rules, just a backyard that's far too small for them long term. Although I've thought about rotational grazing through my neighbor's yards that don't use pesticides. But even then I don't think they'd be too happy in my yard. I'm planning on getting bottle babies and then once I have them weaned and they're a good enough size is when they'd be moved onto to pasture. It's just that for what I'll be doing with them I need access to them every day and housing them an hour or more away with people I know won't work.
 

mckenna.broam

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First, it would be very helpfull if we knew what area of this country you are in. For any small animal if you paid $150 / month , you will go broke in a blink of an eye. put an add in feed stores and / or Craigs list to see if anyone wants their vancant weedy land cleared of grasses as a service to them. Keep the distance from your home in mind or you will be burning up any profits in gas fumes and your time daily. Good luck !

Sorry forgot to include that! I'm in southwestern Idaho. Exactly, that's why I didn't think that was such a good price to pull an estimate from. Good idea about the vacant lots though, sort of like the rent-a-goat groups. The one place I did find was half an hour away and I can't make that work.
 

Southern by choice

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I'm not raising them for meat, they'll be teaching sheep for an educational program I'm starting. Not a bad idea if I was better about not getting so attached to everything I see haha.

Sorry forgot to include that! I'm in southwestern Idaho. Exactly, that's why I didn't think that was such a good price to pull an estimate from. Good idea about the vacant lots though, sort of like the rent-a-goat groups. The one place I did find was half an hour away and I can't make that work.

Idaho is having very serious predator issues with wolves and coyotes this is something you will need to consider as well.
Not sure what your educational program entails, you do mention needing access everyday. Will you be bringing people out or will you be taking the sheep offsite?
 

mckenna.broam

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Yeah we do have a lot of issues, coyotes more so than wolves. Where I'm looking at keeping them there hasn't had much of an issue so far. The sheep will be taken off site to elementary schools. A couple of the schools have Focus Friday's where kids learn about a specific topic and get to interact with aspects of the topic. They've had therapy dogs and ponies come in and after talking with the principals about what I do working with ranchers they are very interested in having sheep come in.
 
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