Seeking advice on sheep breeds

18 years ago

I have a small farm (10 acres) in central Michigan. I have 3.5 acres of pasture and a small stock barn. I kept two elderly sheep (old 4H projects), a columbia and a tunis cross for years. They both passed on last year I think they were about 18 years old. I'd like to get some lambs/older friendly breeding ewes this spring just to keep as pets. I'd like a smaller breed, maybe one with fleece good for weaving or hand spinning. I'm thinking about leicesters or baby doll southdowns. Anyone have any suggestions?

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Comments (6)

huisjen
18 years ago
Well, the obvious thing is to see what other people in your area keep as backyard spinners flocks. That way your sheep will be potentially part of a larger single breed gene pool. I think sheep from backyard flocks will probably be easier to manage than those that see a human once a year for sheering.

I keep a few Jacobs. I'll be getting my first lambs in a few months, I hope. They seem fairly easy to keep, thrifty, adaptable, all that. If my ram, normally good natured, gets a little upity, I can take him in a fair fight. His four horns mean that he's easy to grab. The fleece is white with black spots. It can be either all carded together or separated for spinning. Theres some variation within the breed, but the wool from mine is pretty nice.

I know of a guy in Alaska who got all excited recently because he got a tag to hunt Dhal sheep. In response, I hung this tag on my ram and took his picture.

{{gwi:35599}}

Dan
country_dreams
18 years ago
Soay Sheep are small, hardy and do not need to be sheared (their fleece comes out on its own). They are a primitive breed and do not require a lot of pampering. They might be just the right ones for you.
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Might I suggest, if you haven't already thought of it, that you make your building big enough to have a somewhat central room, with a large door to the outside, where you can store feed and bedding, as well as any other supplies that don't need weather protection - cleaning tools, maybe even the wheelbarrow? Opening off that or backing up to that, put your nest boxes, so eggs can be collected from there, with a door into the hens' enclosure next to that. Have 2/3 doors on the other wall(s), one(s) to the ducks and turkeys, and then one to the goats. That way, if by chance, anyone escapes through the inside doors, they won't be with the other animals, although they WOULD be with the feed. And that way, you wouldn't be going from one set of animals' enclosure to another animals' enclosure, but to a "neutral" area, so any escapees can be sent home, with no chance for any 'cross-contamination"! And your feed and bedding are central to everyone, with direct access. I can clearly visualize what I mean, so hope this makes sense to you. If the larger area with storage for feed and bedding, etc., won't work, for whatever reason, even a smaller hallway, with 4 doors, would give the same effect, just not as conveniently. If you really wanted to make a luxurious "Hen House", then having a sink with water, even only cold water, would be lovely. I am assuming that you will have a water spigot or hydrant (or 3) somewhere around the building, but putting it inside, and having an area to rinse out and thoroughly scrub waterers in relative comfort sure sounds nice! A hose could easily run into all the areas from a central spigot, or separate ones could be put just inside the individual shelter/sections - with suitable protection from the goats, of course! I am also assuming that there will be lights in all areas - emergencies, by their nature, don't happen only in daylight, so for that reason, if for no other, lights in part, if not all, of the building are almost a necessity!
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I would definitely do some reading first. If you can find anyone nearby who has goats, ask if you can spend several hours picking their brain and/or observing. Whether or not you pay for their time, a gift in-kind would be nice. You might ask the county extension agent what he/she knows or can find out for you about goat keeping - if nothing else, it might put you in touch with local growers. Asking at the local feed store might give you a couple of contacts, as might looking at the county/state fair, which may just be over..... Once you have done that, and found out what your market is, then you can better narrow down your choices. Making sure your fencing is good and solid would be one place to start - goats are better escape artists than cattle, and they try harder. Dividing your pastures into paddocks, and rotating them would be a good way of controlling what and how much the goats are grazing, but would be more labor intensive, in some ways. Making sure you have ample fresh water in all the paddocks would be another consideration. A spot to milk, pens for loading, if you aren't butchering at home for your own consumption (your state or county may have regulations about slaughtering stck to sell to the public), somewhere to store feed if you supplement, and some shelter from the elements would all be things to think about. Good luck!
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Have you considered weeder geese?? They do a really good job in orchards, are lower maintainance than sheep and for sure won't eat your trees. We have sheep and I adore them! If you do get sheep or geese for that matter, why don't you consider getting a heritage breed that also could use a little protecting? The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy has a list of livestock animals and poultry/ waterfowl, etc that are heritage breeds that are in low numbers. The heritage breeds tend to be more sturdy and need less intensive parenting (from you). We have 3 types of heritage chickens, turkeys to follow soon and CVM Romeldale sheep. You would also be helping to maintain biodiversity in our livestock populations. Just a thought. Here is a link that might be useful: American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
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I think it's amazing this thread went on so long with no mention of St Augustine. UC Verde and all the other buffalo and prairie grasses are for full sun. Kikuyu is one of the most invasive imported pest plants short of kudzu. The others mentioned are ground covers that do not repair themselves. Dichondra will die annually from flea beetle. They wipe it out faster than you can diagnose it, but it returns from seed. Fescue, in my opinion should be formally outlawed in CA unless you live west of the 5 in San Diego and Orange counties and west of the 405 in LA. North of the 10 it can be grown on the west slopes of the coastal range, but not in the valleys. St Augustine is a real turf grass, unlike many of the alternates mentioned. It spreads to repair itself under the dog feet, is very shade tolerant, also sun tolerant, and it will crowd out other grasses when mowed at the mower's highest setting. St Aug comes as pieces of sod on a pallet. Cost is about a dollar per piece covering about 2 square feet. It spreads 10 to 15 feet per year in all directions, so if you don't cover the entire area at one time, it will take over and cover for you. St Aug takes as much water as any turf grass if you want it to remain green. If you stop watering it for more than a month, it might die completely, so it differs from other grasses in that regard. But I have revived it from beyond the grave at my my new residence in the Texas Hill Country. St Augustine is considered to be a water hog, but that is pure myth. All grasses need 1 inch of water, once a week, in the hottest heat of summer. This goes for the cool season grasses in the north and the warm season grasses in the south. In Phoenix both bermuda and St Augustine need 1 inch every 4-5 days, but in the rest of the country it only needs it once a week. This time of year in your area you should be watering 1 inch, all at once, every 2-3 weeks. The problem with fescue is it needs water 3x per week in the summer and that dries up your aquifers and lakes. Not sure why you think you have clay, but you likely don't. I don't recall any brick factories in your area, so I'm skeptical. After 12 years of moderating three lawn forums, fewer than 10 writers really had clay. Your soil might have clay like properties, but those can be fixed. Even real clay can be fixed, but you have to have a good soil test along with a good reading of the soil test before you can fix it. 9 times out of 10 people who think they have clay have no clay at all but they do have fine silt and a salt imbalance (calcium, sodium, magnesium, and potassium). You can't know what the problem is without the chemistry test. A secondary issue causing hard soil is allowing the soil to dry completely such that the beneficial microbes in the soil are depleted and unhealthy. That can be fixed by spraying the soil with any clear shampoo at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Follow that with 1/2 to 1 inch of water and let it go for 3 weeks. At the same time feed the soil with an organic fertilizer like alfalfa pellets, corn meal, soybean meal, or even Milorganite. Compost and/or manure won't do the same thing as the fertilizer. The deep moisture creates a perfect environment for the microbes. The organic fertilizer feeds them. Hard soil is easy to fix. The best soil test in the US is from Logan Labs in Ohio. Yes, it's been tested against all the other labs. Get their $25 test and post the results on the Lawn Care forum and you'll get about $250 worth of free advice from people who know specifically what to apply, when, how much, how often, and where to get the stuff. If you want to see some alternate grasses in action, visit Descanso Gardens and the Huntington Library in Pasadena.
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tara_in_penna
18 years ago
I have leischer/romney crosses. Good for dual purpose-and no horns. I love them and they are as sweet as sugar. I do fancy the babydolls-such cute faces, but they are pricey.
Check out this site it lists all the major breeds and shows pictures. Good luck-Tara
http://www.quintillion.com/gssb/
goodhors
18 years ago
Cheviots are small, have very nice wool for spinning. Soft, long hairs spin well. Has a lot of crimp according to reports, gives yarn more stretch. My friend has several Cheviot sheep might even have lambs for sale this spring. Perhaps a whether would suit you more as a pet to shear. I can ask if you like. They are towards the Lapeer area in Michigan. Cheviots are kind of hard to find in some places. Cheviots are rather lively, very bouncy. Need good fencing. They appear kind of goatlike with the bald heads, legs and upright ears. Trim looking animals.

Another friend had Corridales. They are larger, very wooley, though wool has a lot of lanolin. They look greyish because wool is greasy. Also shorn for handspinning, with very long hairs in the wool, making it a soft yarn. Friends had colored ones, black, grey, but white is nice too.

I have heard that Cotswalds are nice sheep to work with, great fleece. Seemed fairly tame to handle, not a large sheep, compared to Hampshires. Get lots of wool with great length of hair from them.

Tiny sheep would be Shetlands, with super wool. Great texture and length. Ewes are clean headed and legged. Might be expensive because they are not very common. Again a whether might be a good choice for pet to shear, cheaper because the meat price would be small with tiny bodies.

We have our 4-H lambs on order for DD's summer project. Lambs are always so much fun to have. We just don't have room to winter sheep, barn is full with hay for horses. Let us know what sheep you decide on and how it is going for you.
Pipersville_Carol
18 years ago
I've got Babydoll Southdown whethers. They're mellow and have cute faces, but at five years of age they each weigh close to 200 chunky pounds. You can tell they're a meat breed, they're very blocky and strong. And their wooly faces and legs do seem to get extra dirty. I've read that their fleece is of limited value, don't know how good it would be for spinning.

I love my Southdowns, but if I had to do it again I might get a prettier breed.
huisjen
18 years ago
Most, but not all, of the shetlands I've met have been very wiley, skidish, and hard to manage. On of these is my wether. I got him to keep the ram company durring the enforced non-mating-because-I-don't-want-January-lambs season. But if I get a ram lamb it's getting snipped and the shetland goes in a curry. I think the only way I'm going to be able to shear him is if I shoot him first.

I like the low maintenance and thriftyness of breeds that haven't been fussed with, but make sure you properly evaluate the individual as well as the breed.

Dan

Seeking advice on sheep breeds

Comments (6)

huisjen

country_dreams

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