Too Many Questions

[Moses Starr]

I want to get sheep and an reading a book on them but I have soooooo many questions.

1. My book says that you would need or want a veterinarian hand guide on hand just in case would you say you need this or not, if so whitch book, download, files, etc. What do you use?

2. Sheep need minerals do they get the minerals in the sheep feed or do you need to buy a sheep mineral replacement?

3. What does the sheep feed do, do you need the feed if you are giving the sheep hay and grasses?

4. What salts do you use a block or a bag of salt?

5. How much a month does a herd of 3 sheep cost, or 4 sheep?

6. Can you keep a ram with ewes together all year with lambs?

7. How do I know when a ram is attacking a lamb, will the mother help protect the lamb from the ram?

Hopefully this isn't too much questions I may have more to come

 

[Rammy]

Lots of good questions. There are alot of members on here who can help you with the answers. A few that come to mind is @Mike CHS , @Sheepshape ,@Southern by choice are very knowledgeable on this and will give you great advice. Good luck!

 

[Latestarter]

I'm not a sheeple, I'm an old goat (person)... But things are similar between the two.

The minerals are specifically trace minerals... they don't come "in their feed", or aren't present in sufficient quantity in their forage/soil/feed. You buy them in a bag (granulated/loose) or block. The minerals contain salt, so you don't need a salt block in addition. Just be sure you do NOT buy goat minerals as it will contain way too much copper (required in quantity by goats) than your sheep can handle and it can/will poison/kill them. Most goats folks here and I believe sheeple, recommend the granulated as opposed to the block. It's easier for the animals to get what they need vice standing there licking a block or trying to bite off chunks. Minerals should be made available to the animals 24/7, free choice, and presented in a way that they stay dry during inclement weather. Typically the animals will not eat/use "stale" or wet/ruined minerals. SO it will take a while to figure out how much is too much at one time. So you put out a little and increase until you reach the right amount to last several days to a week at a time.This is just an example (TSC) and your feed store/source could have one of a number of other brands/types.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-sheep-mineral-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

Sheep feed is used primarily to boost calories/protein for the animal to add to what they're getting from the hay/silage/forage/etc. You might have "easy keeper" sheep that thrive just on grazing and hay. That will also depend on the quality of your pastures and the hay that you purchase. Most small family/hobby farmers say they should have hay made available 24/7. Obviously that would be the case if they are pen kept and don't have the ability to forage on pasture. Feeding grain/pellets is really an "as needed" type deal. Many add the extra nutrition before breeding to make sure the animals are in peak condition. They cut back during the finals stages of pregnancy to prevent the lambs from getting too big and presenting birthing problems. Then add back after lambing to aid in milk production for feeding the lambs. Many feed pelleted feed to the babies/lambs while they are growing to help them grow and fill out fast to have them ready to market as soon as possible.

Again, make sure you don't buy a goat feed as the copper levels will be too high. You can also buy a medicated feed to help prevent Coccidiosis in the lambs. Some don't like using medicated feed. It's typically not needed with adults as adult animals normally build up resistance to coccidiosis and it doesn't present issues to/for them. It can bring down a baby lamb or goat very quickly and kill them. It generally manifests at ~ 2-4 months of age. The medicated feed won't kill/eliminate coccidiosis, it just helps keep levels low enough so it doesn't overwhelm the host animal, until they build resistance. You could also buy/use an "all stock" feed that is just generic and not specifically for a particular breed/species. The feeds also come in various levels of protein/fat/etc. Some folks like "sweet feeds" which have added sugar in the form of molasses. I've used them with my goats and have come to prefer the non sweet feeds. These are just some examples (TSC) and your feed store/source could have one of any number of other brands/types.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-sheep-formula-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...exp-15-pellet-dx-lamb-feed-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...-deccoquinate-dq-medicated-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...stock-sweet-12-animal-feed-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

 

[Mike CHS]

I wrote a long post earlier that mostly disappeared when I submitted but @Latestarter pretty much covered the feeding.

You can keep a ram with your ewes all of the time but you have to be prepared for a long lambing season since they will get bred not long after lambing. We have never had a problem with our ram hurting lambs since we pull the ram out of the lambing field before lambs are on the ground. I'm not sure about your question #7. It will be pretty obvious if a ram is attacking a lamb.

We gave free choice loose salt but our sheep don't ingest much in the winter. We now give a free choice product called Sea-90 and Selenium 90 mixed half and half but the product carried at the feed stores is adequate.

We don't have a vet's hand guide but keep the Merck Vet Manual bookmarked:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/

We still consider ourselves novices even though we have been around sheep for almost 10 years and raised them now going on three years. There is some great basic information at: http://www.sheep101.info/

We have been able to find answers to almost every question we had by doing a search on this forum. If that doesn't get you the answer all you have to do is what you already did and that is to ask your questions.

Do please add some more info like the kind of sheep you want and what you plan to do with them. Sheep breed has a lot of importance on the type of answers you get.

 

[Latestarter]

5. How much a month does a herd of 3 sheep cost, or 4 sheep?

Wow... there are so many variables here it's near impossible to answer accurately. Will it be 3... or 4? or maybe 8-12? (wait, you'll see, they MULTIPLY! )
1. What breed sheep? Large/medium/small? This will determine how much they'll eat.
2. Easy keepers or hard, pregnant ewes or not? lambs or adults? Do/will they be requiring supplemental nutrition in the form of pelleted feeds to maintain body quality?
3. Quality of the hay you make/purchase. High quality hay requires less per sheep to eat but costs more to purchase. Low quality the animals will have to eat more to get what they need, but you'll pay less to purchase it. Another issue with low quality is the animals will "waste" more/ not eat it and drop it to the ground and pee/poop on it. And of course with low quality, you'll most likely have to supplement with pelleted feeds.
4. Quality of forage available to the animals in your pasture(s). Sheep are primarily grazers (grass and weeds) but will also browse (vines/leaves/bark/tree stuff). They eat the plants right down to the dirt so if in a small area, they'll wipe it out/destroy it very quickly. Having a way to "rest" pastures by rotating the animals through will help immensely.

I presently have 6 adult, standard size goats, 5 females and one buck, and 7 yearlings, 5 female and 2 wethers. I break it down because the boys are much larger/"beefier" than the girls. And of course the adults are bigger/eat more than the yearlings (but not by much at this point).

So a total of 13 animals. I go through ~11-12 bags of feed per month at ~$10/bag and it's a 17% lactating goat pelleted feed. I go through about 12 bales (small square @~60-65 pounds) of orchard grass/alfalfa mix hay per month @ ~$13.50/bale. My animals are able to go out and browse pasture all day long in addition to this. They don't get as much from browsing in the winter of course so they get boosted hay and pellets. They are getting pellets twice a day and I provide flakes of hay to them twice a day, morning and evening. I used to free feed the hay but there was way too much waste so I now feed what they can eat at a sitting each time. Much less waste. I also tried 4 types/combos of hay till I found this which they eat best. Some hay they would barely eat so almost all went to waste. Those who don't know say goats will eat anything. I've found that to NOT be the case. They're mighty picky.

I buy goat minerals in 8lb packages at ~$10/bag and go through 4-5 a month

So, if you total all that up, it's running me about $322.00 a month to "maintain" my herd. Of course there are other expenses like medications, vaccines, vet costs as required... brushes, combs, hoof trimmers, banding equipment and bands, other equipment, collars, you get the idea. I haven't sold enough animals to even come close to breaking even. A very expensive "hobby"... But man do I enjoy that fresh milk! I go through about 2 gallons a week @ $6.00/gallon for raw cow milk at a local dairy. I could add potential savings were I to milk more than the one doe and make cheese and other goat milk products. I could also use the extra milk to supplement feed for other animals I have. Not a thing you'll typically get to enjoy with sheep, though there are dairy breeds of sheep too. You could save a good bit by butchering your own sheep for your freezer.

So there's a lot to consider when trying to estimate costs...

 

[Rammy]

Shows you what I know a out sheep and goats. I was thought there might be differences in what a sheep and goat would get as far as supplements and feed, so I didnt even think to suggest @Latestarter , or @Goat Whisperer would also give excellent advice. My apologies.

 

[Latestarter]

When you tag either SBC or GW, you really get the potential of help from either or both. They're farm partners, and work very closely together so if one decides to try and help, they can "mind meld" if they feel the need, with the other, to give a better/best response.

 

[Rammy]

Oh! I did not know that. Cool!

 

[Moses Starr]

Wow thanks for the help I have a couple more questions

1. Can I milk any breed of sheep and get milk or do I have to specifically gat a milk breed

2. How much milk does 1 ewe give?

 

[Mike CHS]

There are a few people on the forum that I think milk their non-dairy sheep but their lactation period is relatively short compared to dairy sheep or even goats. East Friesian sheep are actual dairy sheep. No idea on how much though.