Newbie lamb'er

[CrealCritter]

Another interesting article to me. I did not know Katahdin could also be milk sheep (so they are dual purpose (meat + milk) is this information correct?

Sheep Blog — Milking Sheep

All you need to know about milking sheep

www.milkingsheep.com

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[Beekissed]

Another interesting article to me. I did not know Katahdin could also be milk sheep (so they are dual purpose (meat + milk) is this information correct?

Sheep Blog — Milking Sheep

All you need to know about milking sheep

www.milkingsheep.com

.

They are if you work towards that. They are one of the milkier hair sheep out there and you can cull for a milkier strain of that breed if that's your focus.

 

[baymule]

I don't milk mine, but they have big udders.

 

[CrealCritter]

What did you decide to do?

I have 22 acres pasture that can support up to 200 sheep (plus purchased hay in winter). That was with the previous property owner.

I have approx 15 ewes and 1 ram. They are a commercial mix bred for being pastured in my climate. They are wool sheep, that have Dorper in their mix. I'm finding that Ile de France breed grows out beautifully here so I'm leaning that way while keeping the commercial mix.

It's divided into 5 paddocks, but we dont necessarily use rotational grazing. We would need a larger flock or a lot more fence, but were not willling to do either. They graze where they want and dont cover the whole pasture. They would be fine on half as much if they were rotated or the pasture was managed. We have no reason to bother improving the pasture at this time. I have enough pasture that we can also cut hay from it. We use 200 - 250 square bales per winter.

My ewes are very productive (not desirable for grassfed/pasture raised), so we have to supplement with grain in winter.

My ewes produce about 3 lambs per ewe averaged over the flock/season. Ideal is 2 lambs per ewe because you get more pounds of live weight lamb, the ewes maintain condition better, and it works out better financially.

I have one ewe that produces quads, and lambs month(s) after the others. Hers reach 60 - 75# live weight, while the rest are usually 100-120# by the end of the growing season. We get 6 to 7 months of pasture here.

We harvest 2 large lambs for our freezer. Plus 2 deer or 3 fawns. Thats plenty for my family of 4 for a year, plus enough to share. The rest go to auction.

I would really like to try and raise some sheep. But I put them on the back burner for now since it seems I'm not quite done with cattle yet.

I have so many questions about raising sheep I honestly don't know where to begin. The more I read the more confused I get. I'm sure it's just me and my lack of thermology and my severe lack of husbandry skills. Franky when I read about some of you and microscopes I get totally lost...

In all honesty how hard is it to raise healthy sheep? Or would I be doing more harm than good if I just gave raising sheep a try? That's my biggest concern. With sheep, I don't what I should be doing.

Can we please start with the very basics, like fencing and pasture requirements? Honestly I'm just totally lost and don't know where to begin.

I have an area around a pond that I "think' would be a good area for sheep and goats. When I fence it in, it will be about 3 acres of pasture and about 2 acres of pond. I would like for both sheep and goats to eventually clean off the banks around the pond.

I really like this 2x4 woven wire fence, but man the price is crazy high. https://fencing.bekaert.com/en/fence-products/bekaert-sheep-and-goat-30-1348-4-12-5-ga-330

Any other suggestions I'm really lost.

Thank You 👍

Jesus is Lord and Christ.