Anyone out there know about.....sheep

[ChrystalPaths]

It's been a heck of a long road for me in the last few years, herniated discs, getting burned, realizing the man I am married to is an abusive so6, so I have decided 2007 and is going to be a year of change for me. I'm down to only 2 minis, would kinda like one more to even things out so to speak. Since losing Treasure it just doesn't feel balanced. BUT my fears are founder again come spring. See,I have a huge front paddock (about 15 acres) broken into 3 areas with hot wire. I have nitemares about turning 2 little minis out on spring grass. :new_shocked: I have never ever worried over this before, I always had enough ponies but now only the 2.

Here is what I'm wondering.....I want to be able to keep the hollow so I need a product that can help with income. I have the Chrystal Path which is slowly growing, I may need to get a job which is difficult because of physical limitations and my location being that jobs are about 30 miles+ to drive to and we here are very "economically depressed". Frankly we're right out there with the hillbillysand rednecks. I keep trying to think what I can do to make a bit of money and fix the grass worries..SO...I was wondering about sheep.

Will they stay in hot wire?

Will they get along with horses?

Any health issues that would compromise the horses?

Do they need foot trims? (gosh I hope not)

ANY other info would be appreciated. And (forgive me) but I am interested in meat sheep more than wool, not much of a market for that here, but can do both. I want even tempered easy to manage sheep, not monster huge, but smaller. Any suggestions as to breed? Thanks! :saludando:

 

[SHANA]

Hi, my grandmother has sheep and yes they will stay in electric fencing as long as they know there is power in it. May have a few escapees but most of the time they stay. In winter they can stay outdoors with a shed and be given a round bale which lasts usually about a week depending on how many sheep you have. They do need hoof triming but the guy who shears them does it twice a year. Once in spring when he shears the sheep and once in fall. They also are wormed twice a year by the guy who shears the sheep. Hmm the lambs are cute, the rams can be gentle or you can get a really mean one. I have been rammed a few times so usually take a plastic hose piece in with me and the ram leaves me alone. Also they get along with horses as i had my horses there for many years. I hope this helps.

 

[Ashley]

Ours never stay in electric fence.

Yes they do need feet trims. but they are very easy and only about 1-2 times a year. THis is typically done when they are sheered in the spring(yes they should be done every spring).

Yes they get along with our horses. WE have 3 kinds of sheep, but none are meat sheep. If you are looking as a meat animal, I would look into goats. We have a pretty high demand for goat meat around here.

 

[Shari]

It's

a bit of money and fix the grass worries..SO...I was wondering about sheep.

Will they stay in hot wire?

Will they get along with horses?

Any health issues that would compromise the horses?

Do they need foot trims? (gosh I hope not)

ANY other info would be appreciated. And (forgive me) but I am interested in meat sheep more than wool, not much of a market for that here, but can do both. I want even tempered easy to manage sheep, not monster huge, but smaller. Any suggestions as to breed? Thanks! :saludando:

staying with in the hot wire...depends on how the sheep were raised with it.

most sheep will get along with horses..however some horses will stomp sheep to death

Health,,,,no

Yes,,they need foot trims just like any other animal.

Sheep can not have copper at the amounts horses need it. You will not be able to run the sheep anywhere where they can get access to horse mineral block, grain or vitmans.

 

[lvponies]

My father-in-law gave up raising cows and went to goats instead. Apparently, there is more money in goats then cows. Just an idea...

 

[Ferrah]

Most sheep won't stay in hot wire. Wool is a good insulator, so they don't feel the shock!

Shari is right, sheep can't have any copper as it can poison them.

Sheep need a hoof trim once or twice a year, but the foot shears cost only about $15, and the hoof trimming is quite simple to do.

Sheep will eat pretty much anything, so you need to rotate their pasture or they can graze it down to nothing. Sheep usually get along really well with horses. We have friends with a hobby farm and they run their sheep and Miniature together. The sheep and horses stay in their own "herds" and rarely intermingle.

 

[capall beag]

Deb,

what about Meat goats?

Our 4-H group have been learning about meat goats boar crosses, I think, are very popular. There is a huge demand for goat meat in the New york City area........I guess(according to the report) there is an ever increasing demand for goat meat and at this time demand outweighs supply.

Now if you were in Ireland I would say Sheep would be better

:

I guess many immigrants from the Carribean and South America enjoy goat and many of these immigrants are living in the NYC/and surrounding areas.

I thought it was a fascinating article!

I have never eaten goat but my Dad said when he lived in Jamaica....many years ago, it was very popular.

Just think no shearing

I think it is easy to trim goats feet.

 

[Just Us N Texas]

When I was a small child, my grandparents raised a huge flock of sheep. We had a large tobacco barn with a stripping room attached, and he brought the sheep that were close into the barn at night to keep an eye on them. When they were very close, he brought them into the stripping room, and sat with them all night. We hardly ever saw him in lambing season. All I remember about them is that they are dumb as a box of rocks, try to find things to hurt themselves, and don't always lamb out well. I got to raise all the orphans, and those that the mom didn't want to take, and I loved every minute of it.

Someone came every spring, (a crew), and sheared them.

I think they are probaably pretty labor intensive.

 

[Fred]

There is one thing no one has mentioned about goats, and I'm talking about the entire male ones. THE SMELL IS INCREDIBLE. My husband had goats before we were married and his billy goat smelled so bad it took a week of airing out my truck. Linda B

 

[backwoodsnanny]

Debs

You have some very educated responses here. As for hot wire for some it works for others they walk through it but there are breeds of sheep now that dont require shearing and yes their feet do need to be done usually twice a year. You do have to be sure that they dont have access to horse grain or horse minerals because that is poison to sheep and by the same token sheep grain can have ingredients that are poisonous to horses. Oh and by the way sheep and goats can founder as well though not as often as equine.

 

[Ferrah]

Sheep can't get founder, but they are prone to bloat if they are allowed to gorge on fresh spring grass or you change their diet too suddenly.

And there is a breed of sheep that doesn't need shearing at all. They are called Barbados Black Belly and they are really quite neat looking. Instead of wool they have hair that they shed every spring. The Barbados Black Belly also dress out quite well and their meat is a lot leaner than other breeds of sheep.

 

[Casnos Minis]

[SIZE=18pt]I think goats might be a better answer like some have already said. I know around me there are both. You could get Cheviot(sp?) sheep, they are small. I'm not sure how many people around you have sheep. Maybe there is a local 4-H group you could call about goats and sheep to make your final decsion.[/SIZE]

Christy

 

[Fred]

I used to have a customer that did nothing but market lambs and did quite well with them. Most of my clients that have sheep or goats tend to do better with the sheep. Yes, sheep can be escape artists but so can goats, the goats we had didn't like to graze as much as go for the weeds and poison ivy [they love poison ivy]. In fact the power companies have been grazing sheep and goats to keep the power lines clear and it has been working for them. Linda B

 

[Bess Kelly]

Have you considered having someone mow & bale the excess pastures? If there are farmers looking for hay in the area you may be able to lease the field, sell the hay, etc.

Some will cut/bale for a fee (yes, that's spending, not making $) and some will cut/bale for a % of the yield. Then you can sell the excess.

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Thank you for all your info and help. As with minis I will take my time and learn before jumping in.

 

[Boinky]

after having both..i truly prefere sheep to goats.. If you want them in electric it will NEED to be a very very high powered electric fence charger and preferably high tensile fencing. My sheep ran wild on about 30 acres off mount desert island here in Maine. they were in 5 strand high tensile and i guess they stayed in that fine..i brought them home in the middle of winter and could NOT get them to stay in electric. they ran the town for a few weeks before the ground thawed and we were able to put up paige wire fencing. in the summer months after sheering i could run them in a 4 strand but they got out every now and then. I do think sheep are easier to keep in if you have good fencing than goats..goats seem to be able to get out of EVERYTHING. Sheep are also rather low mantainence for the most part. Shearing is a PAIN IN THE BASS but shearers don't usually cost that much.. between $5.00-$10 per sheep (and trust me..that is not enough money for the work they do!!! LOL) they also do the feet while they are sheering. They will need to be wormed as well. Certain breeds eat less grass and more brush so would be less competitive with the horses or other livestock you run on it. I raised shetlands and although they DO eat grass..the prefered weeds and brush before the grass. they were the best pasture maintence i know of. they kept down what the horses wouldn't eat! my pasture looked like a manucured lawn all summer. If you went with a mulipurose breed such as the shetland who is known to have EXCELLENT wool and is also a meat sheep you could use them either way. I guess the new rise in popularity is milk sheep.... that seems like alot of work to go out and milk every day..but that is another option. There is the potential to make alot of money with wool if you pick a quality wool producing sheep and are able to get a shearer that does not second cut. I know a couple years ago shetland wool was like $15.00 per OUNCE. it takes some work to get that quality. They would need to be sheared in Januarary or early srping and fall as they are a natural shedding breed and the hair break ruins the quality of the wool if you let it go too long. you also must try to keep them very clean and get as minimal amount of hay chaffee, shavings ect as possible. much of that stuff is very hard if not impossible to get out of the wool even after it's cleaned.

as a spinner i can tell you nice quality wool is highly saught after..i would buy fleeces off you directly if you had a quality fleece.

Hillary

 

[coopermini]

Dinimore,

We have a freind at University New York College of Agriculture and Tech. at Cobleskill that may be loads of help. She is Dr. Cynthia Shelley. She is an Animal Science professor at the school. We have known her for years and she is a wealth of knowlege. She also happens to raise beef cattle, sheep and goats on her own.

Her office # 518-255-5845

Mark

 

[Ashley]

Our goat/sheep pen has a mix. We have lamanchus, fainters, pigmies, shetland sheep, miniature scottish black face, baby doll, neubians and boers. They got a section of the horse pasture 2 summers ago. Once all the horse fence is switched over to feild fence they will rotate pastures. You can look out the barn and tell what pen the goats and sheep are in. There isnt a weed in sight. Very well groomed.

If you want sheep, think about baby dolls. They are small, very friendly, dont move fast. They are not a meat sheep but do sell for good money $250 on up depending on color and sex.

 

[R Whiteman]

Thank you for all your info and help. As with minis I will take my time and learn before jumping in.

There is a breed of sheep called Katahdin. They were bred in the US for meat without having to deal with shearing. Once their baby coat is grown out, they shed all wool as an undercoat and are a haired breed, but definitely a sheep rather than goat. They are a midsized sheep. If you want an easy to read reference on all things sheep, look for Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep by Paula Simmons and Carol Ekarius. It's reasonably priced and covers everything you need to know and more.