Sheep questions (beginner)

Nao57

Loving the herd life
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So I don't have sheep and haven't done them. But I'm thinking about trying them.

If you have them out to pasture are they smart enough to not overgraze the same spot and go to the next one? (I hear goats are terrible about stripping everything down. Although many ppl here probably like goats.) How do you manage this to prevent it?

I mostly want to make sure what I need to do know about the pasture management side and what I'd need to know there first?

It sounds interesting.

I do have some livestock experience in ducks and rabbits. And a few projects like that. But not sheep.

It seems interesting to try them out. My grandfather had sheep years ago before he died. And his whole family liked doing them. I'm thinking it might be good to get into them next year if I can manage a few changes. But I wouldn't want to do them without doing homework first. (Make sure the pool has water.)
 

Hair Sheep Girl!

Exploring the pasture
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So I don't have sheep and haven't done them. But I'm thinking about trying them.

If you have them out to pasture are they smart enough to not overgraze the same spot and go to the next one? (I hear goats are terrible about stripping everything down. Although many ppl here probably like goats.) How do you manage this to prevent it?

I mostly want to make sure what I need to do know about the pasture management side and what I'd need to know there first?

It sounds interesting.

I do have some livestock experience in ducks and rabbits. And a few projects like that. But not sheep.

It seems interesting to try them out. My grandfather had sheep years ago before he died. And his whole family liked doing them. I'm thinking it might be good to get into them next year if I can manage a few changes. But I wouldn't want to do them without doing homework first. (Make sure the pool has water.)
I've had sheep for up towards 15 years now, the best I've ever come across are the White/Red Katahdin and the Black-bellied Barbados hair sheep. I'd definitely start small with like 10-12 head just to get the hang of it. And just like everything else it takes a lot of work, dedication, and learning, for the first year or two, but I can tell you no flock is the same. As my dad put it, "Trial and Error is the only way to really gain the true knowledge you seek".

To answer your over grazing question, I personally put about 15 head on a 5 acre pasture, that had been used as a cattle feed lot for about 5years, and it took about a year and that pasture was greener then when it had been fenced off.
Sheep rarely overgraze when you have enough pasture.
I do like to feed a bag of corn morning and evening so they'll all come up and i can be sure they are all there. You will need to invest in a good dog to keep the critters out of them, coyotes are pretty hard on sheep. I use Great Pyrenees, we breed our own Great Pyrenees so we know that they come from good working stock. My dad actually sells them if interested. And we breed and keep good Rams around to help people out.
 

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