So,... I got some sheep yesterday...

[big brown horse]

Technically you can get milk from any mammal... They may not provide as much as a "dairy breed" sheeple. I don't think Dolly is a "dairy breed" either, more meat and wool really, but that is not going to stop me.

I'm considering her my "starter" sheep. A practice sheep if you will. I may not even have the stamina to keep up with all that milking anyway. In any event, she makes a durn good lawn mower. And if i have the heart her babes can be used for barter or butcher.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I admire those of you who are jumping in with both feet. I am holding out for a mini cow. I hear they are working on breeding one you only have to milk once a day. If I can afford it, that is!

 

[big brown horse]

I admire those of you who are jumping in with both feet. I am holding out for a mini cow. I hear they are working on breeding one you only have to milk once a day. If I can afford it, that is!

How exciting! You can carry her around in your VW! I am excited for ya, keep us posted!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Yeah, I realize thy can be milked, but I'll have to share with all the young'uns. This was hubby"s thinking--that we can milk them. We'll see....

I looked into mini cows--very difficult to come by around here. I would have been okay with goats, but hubby was not fond of their antics, and sheep suit our land better than goats do.

Also, you canmilk any animal only once a day if you wish. You jsut gotta slow them down so they only produce enough for amorning or evening milking.

This will be an adventure at any rate. Pretty soon we'll have to look for another farm--one with more land , for all the critters we seem to be accumulating. Hubby and I actually taked about it. We'll see...

 

[FarmerChick]

now is the time to buy real estate.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

That makes sense, but I think I've heard that milk production goes down if you don't milk twice a day? I think the point of this proposed breed was to get a consistently high amount of milk per day, with only one milking . . . but I don't know. And now that I think about it, maybe that wouldn't be a good thing for the cow's health?

 

[miss_thenorth]

now is the time to buy real estate.

While that might be true, we would still have to sell our place. Maybe we'll talk to the guy who owns the land next to us to see if he'll sell us some land.

 

[bibliophile birds]

may i politely request that everyone stop posting about their recent sheep acquisitions.... the temptation is becoming overwhelming! i found myself rummaging through the old barn today in search of things i could sell (in fairness, there's a lot of stuff we don't use around here) to justify buying sheep! it's terrible.

must.have.sheep....

 

[dragonlaurel]

I've heard that sheep are harder to milk because they have smaller teats. You are worried about enough milk for the kids too. Seems simple to me. Get a few sheep and let the kids milk them. They are herd animals.

 

[Beekissed]

That makes sense, but I think I've heard that milk production goes down if you don't milk twice a day? I think the point of this proposed breed was to get a consistently high amount of milk per day, with only one milking . . . but I don't know. And now that I think about it, maybe that wouldn't be a good thing for the cow's health?

This is easy to get around by keeping her calf on her for one of the milkings....this way you have a milk fattened calf and you keep your high production. You could even keep two calves on her and let them strip her when you are done milking in the morning, keep them on her all day, separate them at night and you get the full udder in the morning.

This way you are providing yourself with milk AND meat!