Newbie lamb'er

[CrealCritter]

I am trying to talk DH into getting some hair sheep, he is resistant but I think that is because he doesn't really know what a hair sheep is. I found a place that sells meat from their sheep, so I will have to buy some and get him to try it as a first step.
The lady who lived at our place 2 owners ago (about 15 years) raised wool sheep. But she clipped them, washed and carded the wool, natural dyed it and spun it into yarn. Then tried to sell the yarn.

@CrealCritter Aside from the lanolin taste to the meat, if you have wool sheep I think you also have to have someone come and sheer them every year for you.

Thanks for all the info ladies. If I ever stop learning I'll be 6 feet under pushing up daisies. I LOVE learning from you all... Honest practical answers from those who know. There's no way better for me to build confidence to try something, I've never tried before.

And... You can see the evidence clear as day of how the internet is chalk full of misinformation. I read late last night that sheep need to be wormed every three to 4 weeks. I scratched my scruffy beard and said that just doesn't seem right... So I asked here and whammy bammy my suspicion was on queue...

"Nope. That's a great way to breed resistant worms rather then resistant sheep. When that happens, then you have no more options available when they get a heavy worm burden. Then sheep die." <--- thanks @Beekissed

 

[CrealCritter]

Still a ways off from puting my first hoof on the ground but this article from 2002 is pretty good (for me).

https://www.backwoodshome.com/dorper-sheep/

 

[Beekissed]

Still a ways off from puting my first hoof on the ground but this article from 2002 is pretty good (for me).

https://www.backwoodshome.com/dorper-sheep/

Read a bit more about Dorpers from other corners before you make a decision? They tend to have hoof problems more than other hair breeds, the rams are notably more rammy than the other HS breeds also~haven't heard many report a docile, easy to work with Dorper ram, plus that lack of shedding off well results in most people having to dock the lambs to prevent flystrike. Nearly every pic of Dorpers you can find on the net shows them docked.

All of that adds up to more problems than a newbie lamber may want to deal with.

 

[Finnie]

.... join backyardherds there is a great Sheep forum there.

Yes! Do this! They are wonderful over there!

 

[baymule]

I studied hair Sheep and decided on Dorpers. I got Dorper crossed with Katahdin ewes, bred. Then I got a Dorper ram. Somewhere along the way he got sorta mean and would ram me every chance he got. With my little granddaughters running around, I couldn’t have that. I changed his name to Ramburger and he was quite tasty. Plus all the above reasons that Beekissed mentioned, I changed my mind to Katahdins. MUCH calmer.

 

[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

.

 

[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.

 

[Beekissed]

I used to want those with big udders, but I think I'm changing my mind. After watching Greg Judy talk about the grass to milk conversion rates and how heavy milking cows maintain the worst conditioning, I'm starting to see things differently. Now, if my goal was just milking sheep with a little meat on the side, I'd breed towards milkiness.

But, I've one ewe in my small flock that has proven Mr. Judy's opinion on milkers vs nonmilkers. Rose has a gorgeous udder, would do a milk goat proud, and is feeding twins....and looks like a starving refugee. She looks like a goat or a dairy cow, with bony hips sticking out, ribs showing, etc. The sheep with smaller udders are not losing conditioning like she is. When I first got Rose she had weaned off triplets and looked pretty bad, while Shine had fed twins and looked sleek and well rounded. Shine has a horrible looking udder...smaller, saggy, lopsided, sort of flaccid looking compared to Rose's lovely fullness.

It's not enough sheep to know for sure, but I'll be watching those with larger udders vs. those with a medium udder as we go along to note if the conditioning of these two types of ewes are affected by the greater milk production. I do know this....all the lambs seem fat and sassy, so everyone's getting plenty of milk, so big or small udders don't seem to make a difference in lamb nutrition.

 

[tortoise]

My goal is to raise them for table fare. I want to start small no more than 6. One male (ram?) And the rest females. Butcher 3 females and be left with two females and a male to breed for next year's butchering. You know self sufficient kind of thing. I will have two pastures at a minimum. A 6 acre and a 10 acre. Just want to maintain small "herd". maybe those pastures are to big?

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.