What breed to you recommend for children?

[SheepGirl]

Sheep warm up to small, loud children that are running around. I take my ewes to the fair and they are shy the first day or two and won't let anyone pet them, but at the end of fair week, they pretty much ignore the kids and when they come running in the tent yelling, the sheep remain laying down and they let the children pet them.

Children especially love lambs. I've brought 4 month old lambs and also mature ewes to the fair. Lambs definitely attracted more attention. Can't you tell? These lambs are 3/4 Babydoll x 1/4 Montadale.

 

[BarredRockMomma]

I met the two sheep wethers that he has last week. I think that he got started right with them as soon as the sheep saw us he called out and came running over to see us. He was not happy when we left he thought that we should stay and love on him

 

[ShariN]

Also recommend, Babydoll Southdowns, as they are small. The ewes tend to be super gentle, calm, and very sweet. They are also easy to halter train.
The line I had was wonderful to be around.

My Katahdins... I tamed mine down and they are gentle and they are halter trained, but they are big.. running about 250lbs... not something I would want around small children.

I did end up with one super sweet Finn ewe, she was easy to halter train, sweet and friendly.
She is half the size of the Katahdins and very refined. Not as small as the Babydoll's, but also another possibility.

 

[trampledbygeese]

What a great idea, getting kids use to animals young. The skills they learn will do them a lot of good later in life. Though, of course, if they aren't use to farm animals, you may need a high adult to child ratio - and have the adults trained well on how to interact with animals.

My farm is on a main road, so often people stop by with their families (because of course, farmers have nothing better to do with their time than to turn their home and sanctuary into a petting zoo... I really need to charge admission). Most of the time the children are wonderful with the animals, but it's the adults that cause the harm.

Sheep breed... how about Black Welsh Mountain? I've just got some girls and they are the calmest, loveliest ladies. When they get to full size, at about 3 years old, they will only weigh about 100 lbs. A lot of the primitive breeds, like fin race descendants (icelandic, shetlands, &c.) are small, hardy, and patient with children (when properly socialized to them - ie, had plenty of positive interaction with children during their first 8 weeks of life.). These are also the breeds that will bring the most cash for fleeces. Anywhere from a dollar an oz (well skirted raw fleece) to 20 dollars an oz (well skirted, prize winning, raw fleece). The rarer the breed, the more valuable the fleece - most of the time. If you are going the fibre root, talk with a handspinner before you commit to a breed.

Does the 4H exist where you are, or is it just a Canadian thing? They have amazing resources on children and animals... well, basically that's what they do, only with growing plants and tractors. I love any organization that produces 12 years old who can repair tractors or milk cattle, better than many seasoned farmers.

Do let us know how the project goes.