Colton's_Mom Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 My family is probably going to be moving out onto a few acres of land (5) in the near future (as in before I get a dog) so if the oppertunity did arise I could, possibly, get sheep if I thought they fit me. What are the lowest of the low matinance breeds? I live in the Kentucky/Tennesse/Indiana area. I wouldn't be looking at this for anything but a hobby I'd probably have all ewes (is that fine?). What/how much time, cost, and effort do you put in your sheep? What's a good starting breed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokjbc Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The cost of keeping sheep is going to vary quite a bit from region to region. If you have easy hay availability or pasture it will be alot less than what I pay. Currently, I pay $16.50 per bale of alfalfa- usually go through 9-10 bales a month, quite a bit more these next few months as I will have ewes nursing lambs. That is my major cost along with rent for my sheep lot (which assumedly would not affect you). I am in an area though with basically nil agriculture and much of our hay in the winter gets driven down from Canada. Most places are not nearly as high. I think most hair sheep breeds and crosses are great for beginners. They are relatively cheap, even dog broke ones can be available for less than $100 each, do not eat much and usually do not need to be sheared. I wouldn't recommend Barbados though, unless you can get some that are really, really dog broke and have been handled right. They tend to get very gazelle like and fast. There are incidentals to have on hand- but most sheep supplies are very cheap. Plus vaccinations according to what is recommended for your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokjbc Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 I just realized I left out "time and effort". With the hair sheep- if they aren't on pasture, they must be fed of course daily and you will need to keep feet trim (where I live it's very rocky, so I'm lucky enough not to do it) and wormed perodically according to your area. But really, they are not very time intensive in general. The hardest thing I have to do is that I have three individuals that have to be sheared and hair sheep with wool are the WORST to shear. I hate it. I'm going to try hand shears this year. If you plan on lambing (which I would not recommend until you have had sheep for a while), that is considerably more time, possible early morning hours, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnrs Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 We have hair sheep too and live in the desert (high desert of AZ at 4,400 ft). Although we have 80 acres not much of it is able to grow hay; too expensive. We paid $10 last summer for a bale of good quality alfalfa. The ewes we have (only 3 of them) each had 2 lambs each. They are basically trouble free although like Jaime said they do need to be fed every day (we feed a.m. and p.m.). We are truly blessed to have wonderful neighbors who also raise Barb sheep so they do feed for us when we have to leave. We get most of our rain mid summer so don't have to feed from about Aug. 1 til the fall. Good luck with your sheep when you get them. They are really easy keepers compared to the dairy goats we used to have. N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyGRanch Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 My family is probably going to be moving out onto a few acres of land (5) in the near future (as in before I get a dog) so if the oppertunity did arise I could, possibly, get sheep if I thought they fit me. What are the lowest of the low matinance breeds? I live in the Kentucky/Tennesse/Indiana area. I wouldn't be looking at this for anything but a hobby I'd probably have all ewes (is that fine?). What/how much time, cost, and effort do you put in your sheep? What's a good starting breed? I'm actually considering buying a few sheep within a year or two. I love having horses, but they are so high maintenance! The sheep people I've talked to (around here) say they're not nearly as difficult and time intensive as horses, as long as you have plenty of grazing land for them (we do, and we're about to fence in about 50% of our property). I'm mainly interested in having them "help me mow" the grass, we've got a ridiculous amount of mowing and a lot of it is good pasture mix and weeds. Mowing takes me 3-4 evenings a week, and if I had a few more grazing animals around to help cut down on some of the work, I would be enthralled. I was thinking of anywhere between 1-3 ewes, depending on how much we fence in and how adaptable they are...I have a lot to learn before I buy. I'm not 100% sure I will do this, but the thought has crossed my mind more than once Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red russel Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Don't forget to include fencing, fertilizer, pasture maintenance, either the purchase of shears or paying someone else (for those non-hair sheep and crosses that don't shed out completely), hay and someplace to store it, a trailer if you ever need to haul them somewhere, the truck to pull it, straightline amortization of your mortgage for that percentage of your property used for the sheep, 20 or so dogs to manage your flock of 10 or so sheep, dog trailer, lessons with your local trainer, clinics with Kathy or Jack when they come by... i'm kidding. kinda. there is a lot of stuff that all adds up. dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyGRanch Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Don't forget to include fencing, fertilizer, pasture maintenance, either the purchase of shears or paying someone else (for those non-hair sheep and crosses that don't shed out completely), hay and someplace to store it, a trailer if you ever need to haul them somewhere, the truck to pull it, straightline amortization of your mortgage for that percentage of your property used for the sheep, 20 or so dogs to manage your flock of 10 or so sheep, dog trailer, lessons with your local trainer, clinics with Kathy or Jack when they come by... i'm kidding. kinda. there is a lot of stuff that all adds up.dave 20 or so dogs for a flock of 10 sheep? No way!...really? (can ya tell I know very little about sheep?!) A friend of mine has a farm with sheep, she uses maremmas as LGDs. There's a breed I could easily have around, very, very cool animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 If you've already got solid horse fence that you could back with wire (if it's not already), it sounds like you've got a good setup to start with sheep. Hair sheep are low maintanence, particularly wethers or unbred ewes. They don't really need anything other than grass or moderate quality ("cow quality") hay when grass is unavailable. Equipment would be stuff you already have your horses already, probably, plus a pair of hoof shears or knife (around $15) and hand wool shears ($30). Or you can get the goofy leftover fleece that doesn't shed, with heavy duty electric horse shears and some patience. The problem comes when you catch the bug really seriously once there are sheep in your backyard! Then, see lists above of "requirements" that start accumulating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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