Sheep and what breed??

[anthonyjames]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum Sheep. I have been looking around for info on goats and sheep. I am in Eastern WI between Milwaukee and Green Bay. I have access to currently 5 acres of pasture that a farmer is letting me raise meat chickens on. Also, they are letting me store all my hens for eggs and breeding as well as a couple of pigs and a few sheep or goats for winter. I just have to come clean the barn and the normal stuff. Which is fine. But I have been thinking of sheep to run in the pasture in front of my meat chickens.

My goals or outlook are the following:
A) Have them eat the grass in front of the meat birds so I don't have to cut or mow.
B) Be able to have a female and male that will breed naturally
C) Hopefully have the lamb they have come fall for food.

What is the best type of sheep for our climate?
Does not require sheering every year?
Is good for meat?
How long or what age do you raise the lamb to before processing?

Thanks

 

[Beekissed]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum Sheep. I have been looking around for info on goats and sheep. I am in Eastern WI between Milwaukee and Green Bay. I have access to currently 5 acres of pasture that a farmer is letting me raise meat chickens on. Also, they are letting me store all my hens for eggs and breeding as well as a couple of pigs and a few sheep or goats for winter. I just have to come clean the barn and the normal stuff. Which is fine. But I have been thinking of sheep to run in the pasture in front of my meat chickens.

My goals or outlook are the following:
A) Have them eat the grass in front of the meat birds so I don't have to cut or mow.
B) Be able to have a female and male that will breed naturally
C) Hopefully have the lamb they have come fall for food.

What is the best type of sheep for our climate?
Does not require sheering every year?
Is good for meat?
How long or what age do you raise the lamb to before processing?

Thanks

You need Katahdins or Dorpers, as they shed their wool each spring and are good for most any climate, hot or cold. They are both considered meat breeds.

A lamb is still considered a lamb until they get their two first permanent teeth ...around 10-12 months. I'm not sure when they normally butcher but I believe they are mostly above 65-70 lbs when they do.

If you are raising on pasture, they will finish out more slowly than if fed grain supplements.

For five acres you will likely need more sheep than just two to keep down your grass, and you want to be able to pen your ram away from your ewes when you don't wish them to be bred.

These hair breeds can breed all year round so, unless you want lambs during inclement weather, you will have to isolate your rams and any uncut male lambs over 3 months of age. You can just place them on a separate pasture rotation if you have adequate fencing.

 

[anthonyjames]

Beekissed,

Thanks for the quick response.

So how many more would I need for 5 acres?
If they can breed at any time when is best time to breed for spring arrivals? What is gestation period?

What do you mean by uncut males? Been castrated? I have no issues putting them in pasture and a hoop house by themselves. How much pasture would be recommended? I am thinking of putting them in 40 x 40 electric fences. How often would they need to be moved to a new paddock? Daily, every other, 3 times per week?

How do you price or find a good price on sheep?

One last thing: If I wanted to get milk from these how would I plan for milking? Do you leave the calf with mommy during the night and separate during the day? Is the milk good to drink raw as from a jersey cow?

Thanks Again.

 

[Beekissed]

Beekissed,

Thanks for the quick response.

So how many more would I need for 5 acres?
If they can breed at any time when is best time to breed for spring arrivals? What is gestation period?

What do you mean by uncut males? Been castrated? I have no issues putting them in pasture and a hoop house by themselves. How much pasture would be recommended? I am thinking of putting them in 40 x 40 electric fences. How often would they need to be moved to a new paddock? Daily, every other, 3 times per week?

How do you price or find a good price on sheep?

One last thing: If I wanted to get milk from these how would I plan for milking? Do you leave the calf with mommy during the night and separate during the day? Is the milk good to drink raw as from a jersey cow?

Thanks Again.

How many you stock per acre depends on your grass quality, if you are utilizing rotational grazing and the weather. Of course, it is best to err on the side of too few than too many. Maybe one of the other sheep people who run more sheep can answer that one.

Their gestation is period is a little under 5 months, so for April lambing one would breed in December.

How often you move is also dependent on many factors: grass quality, time of year, how many sheep you stock, etc. This is something you will have to play with. They say you shouldn't let them eat the grass down past two inches in length. If you stock more sheep in a smaller paddock, they will eat the grass more evenly and cleanly due to competition for food. But...you will have to move them more often.

Unfortunately, all these things are something you will have to play with and see the results, make changes to suit the situation, learn from any mistakes.

Meat breeds aren't generally kept for milking but you can milk them. Most generally, if you are milking and leaving the lamb with her, you would let them nurse during the day(after morning milking), separate at night and take first morning milk each day. Lambs don't nurse much at night, so they won't do well if they only get to nurse during that time.

Sheep's milk is supposed to be very rich and taste more like cow's milk than goat's. Great for making cheese.

You will need a good milking station/stand, much like one would with a goat. Sheep's teats are very small, so this is an issue. There have been threads on here in which they discuss this dilemna.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Yep, Beekissed gave lots of good info.

For stocking goes, it's generally recommended for 3-5 sheep per acre, but that depends on SO many factors. It really comes down to that individual operation.

Same with rotational grazing. You may find in the spring you have more than enough grass, but in the summer you're short. For general purposes, we recommend grazing no closer than 3" in order to keep the grassed from beign too stressed.

These are all good questions for your state grazing specialist or your local extension agent.