Is it Time to Sell The Sheep?

My husband and I have been keeping sheep since buying the 10 acre hobby farm.  The sheep are important as they do keep the grass chewed down and as such they prevent it from becoming a fire hazard.  In the fall tall dry grass is a real concern, but equally so are the risks in the spring, in fact a farm near us had a big fire caused by a fire in their burn barrel that got out of control.  As far as I know they lost their house, barn, and garage.

As such getting totally out of sheep is out of the question, but we are toying with the idea of selling all the lambs and the younger ewes and not getting a ram this fall.

This last winter was very hard on me physically.  Not only did we have a ridiculous amount of snow to deal with this winter but my back went out on two occasions and I could hardly move for days.  We lost 4 lambs over the winter, which really was not too bad considering the winter we had.

Mrs Dark Brown Barbado and her lamb

Some of our ewes are getting older, particularly Diamond, who was one of our first ewes, and Mrs Dark Brown Barbado, who we bought at auction very early on.  It is time they got a break from having lambs.
As such what I am thinking is to sell the lambs and the younger ewes, keeping the older ones and just letting them have a "retirement home" more or less.

I will still have to buy hay and oats for them in the winter, and will no longer have the benefit of selling lambs to offset the costs of feeding them, it will will still be some work, but less worry.

So I have the summer ahead to consider what to do with my sheep.  My daughter thinks it would be great to get horses instead, and while I would love horses, they are not exactly cheap. 

Tips on Keeping Goats or Sheep

Many hobby farmers, or acreage owners, have found that sheep or goats are great for pasture control. These small animals are much easier to handle than cattle, and require less space. They can be kept as pets, raised for meat, or as companions when only one horse is owned. There are a few differences between sheep and goats, the most concerning being diet (sheep cannot have copper but goats need it). With many breeds of each there is most certainly something for everyone.

If you are interested in keeping sheep or goats, this article is to provide basic information as well as to suggest other articles for further reading.

Sheep and Goat Diseases

You should speak to your veterinarian in regards to what sheep, or goat, diseases are common in your areas. Two of the most concerning are scrapie, and footrot. As well there are concerns about parasites so you will want to worm them yearly.  If you plan on breeding sheep or goats you will also want to be aware of mastitis, or an infection of the udder.

Breeds of Sheep and Goats

There are hundreds of different sheep and goat breeds, some suited more for dairy, others for meat, and others for fiber. Two of the most popular goats for fiber are the Cashmere goats and a Angora goats.

For sheep there are many hair sheep breeds which are less maintenance for people who do not want to worry about shearing. There are also some novelty sheep such as the Jacob sheep (often having 4 horns) and the rarer breeds such as the Icelandic Sheep.

With the wool sheep shearing is a concern as they can over heat if left with their wool on. Tail docking is usually often done in wool sheep.


Katahdin hair sheep ewe and lambs

Breeding

If you are interested in breeding sheep or goats, both have a similar 5 month gestation so the billy, or ram, is put with the flock usually in the fall for spring kids, or lambs.

You need to be prepared to bottle feed kids or bottle feed lambs as sometime doe or ewe is unable to do so for all her offspring.

Fencing

Fencing is also a concern in that goats can climb (or sneak under) many types of fence.  Proper fencing is needed as well to keep predators out.  A 3-strand barbed wire fence will not contain sheep or goats.

Guard Animals

In areas where coyotes, or other predators (even stray dogs) are a concern, many people keep a guard animal with their sheep or goats.  There are many dog breeds for this purpose as well as a donkey or llama.