Too Many Questions

[Latestarter]

I believe it was @mysunwolf that was milking her sheep.

 

[Sheepshape]

Well, my sheople BYH friends have done a very good job of covering your questions. As I'm from 'across the Pond' their answers are infinitely better than mine as the names od supplements, feeds and even forage are different over here.

I'll just refer to ewes and rams.....they will co-exist peacefully, but the ram will mate with any ewe at any time that one comes into season. If there's more than one ram around, they will fight each other over ewes.

Rams with lambs.....never had a problem with rams and either sex of lamb. When the ram lambs start to attain sexual maturity the adult ram may start to get aggressive towards the ram lamb. When ewe lambs start to reach sexual maturity he will mate with them (any of them). I've never really seen an adult ram get aggressive with lambs.

With regards to milk production, ewes vary quite a lot, between breads and inter-breed. All produce milk, of course. I don't keep any dairy ewes, though I've milked ewes many times for a variety of reasons.....hard on the back! There are those who have dairy ewes and I'm sure they will answer your questions more usefully.

 

[mystang89]

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

What you've asked has mostly been answered but I'll give you my perspective, which is a newbies.

1.) I use this website.

2.) I use mineral blocks which I purchase from Orschelns, Rural King or Tractor Supply which are designed for sheep. Watch out for copper.

3.) I use sheep feed for a few reasons. To put weight on sheep that lost too much during lambing season. To help the sheep to keep weight during lactation. To get the sheep to go where I want them without fighting them.

4.) I don't use salts, just mineral blocks.

5.) Starting at mid-spring and going through a good bit of fall it hardly costs me anything to raise 5 sheep. For my lactating sheep (2 at the time) I'll go through 50lbs of feed in about 3 weeks, so that's about $10. Another $10 for a block a month or so for them. That's pretty much it unless they get sick which I haven't had too much of a problem. I try to sheer my own but if I can't I need to add another $30 or so on top of that. For the sheep that aren't lactating I may buy a mineral block a month...ish if they need it. Other than that I don't have to pay for anything from Mid-spring through fall. Winter they eat hay so I have to save for that unless I'm able to bale my pasture. The prices there will depend on where you live.

6.) I have no clue but it was pretty much answered already. I don't keep mine together at all but that's just a personal choice.

7.) Again, I don't know but it was well answered.

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?

1.) I'm sure you can milk any kinda sheep but the amount you will get and the length of time you can milk them might not make it worth the effort. /shrug

2.) That completely depends on what type of sheep you have, the time of lactation period you are milking and their breeding. I have Awassi which are supposed to be great milkers,yet I topped out at only 3 cups per day from 2 sheep whereas others who had the same type of sheep were sporting a liter or more from 1 sheep per day. So, what type, when your'e doing it, how often you're milking and how their lineage is.

Again, take it with a grain of salt. I'm new to this myself as this is only my second year but I hope I can give a bit of help.