Sheep recommendations

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showqa

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Hi all - I'm thinking of buying sheep to help with the management of my grazing, but the thing is I don't know anything about them. What would be the best breed/ I won't be slaughtering them for the table - they will be purely grass cutters. How much could I expect to pay? And what about goats instead of/as well as?

Thanks in advance.
 
I adore goats and want to have a few someday. I think they are the most entertaining creatures.

However, they are generally a pain in the bottom. They are escape artists and require very good fencing! They are much less 'hardy' than sheep and require really good shelter as their coats are not naturally very waterproof. I also think they are more susceptible to disease than sheep, although maybe I have been unlucky. The goat in my avatar (yes he's broken to drive) has an ongoing liver problem which has cost a LOT of money...

Regarding sheep, we used to have a flock of Jacobs at one of my yards, they were no bother at all but looked a bit scary with their horns!

You can keep them together but I think I am correct in saying that feed for sheep should not contain copper, whereas goats need some copper in their diets. I expect there are more knowledgeable HHOers who will come along with much better advice than this.

ETA: if you have the time and energy for handrearing lambs/kids you can get them really cheap. RSPCA and other rescue places usually have a few 'pet' sheep looking for homes.
 
goats are lovely but eat anything!!living in Walesyou could try Lleyn or welsh mountain, both hardy- best to buy in the early autumn, sheep prices are high at present, and by autumn folk want to sell older ewes before winter- hope this helps-
 
showqa said:
Hi all - I'm thinking of buying sheep to help with the management of my grazing, but the thing is I don't know anything about them. What would be the best breed/ I won't be slaughtering them for the table - they will be purely grass cutters. How much could I expect to pay? And what about goats instead of/as well as?

Thanks in advance.
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Hi there. Although good for pasture management, sheep are not an easy option. As one shepherd friend of mine says 'Sheep spend most of their time working out how to die'. We had a small flock at our yard I was at and over my 12 years there we seemed to spend a lot of time digging maggots out of the sheep, untangling them from fences, getting them off their backs or just maintaining them with lovely jobs like dagging. Get a tractor and mower!
 
Well, where do I start... probably at the beginning:D
To keep sheep you need:
a CPH holding number (from DEFRA or whatever the Welsh equivalent is)
a flock number (from Animal Health)
and obviously some sheep:)
I would go for a polled breed if to be kept with horses/ponies
it's true they can't have copper, so can't share horses' feed or licks etc

as to specific breed, I don't know... we have some polled dorsets, some Ryelands(they're fairly high maintenance though), some Texels and some Zwartbles

come on, help me out a bit with some more specific questions:) otherwise I'm going to write an essay:o
 
Forget goats ,lovely animals but sheep will do a much better job. Sheep are also a complete pain and actively look for new ways to die. They do require regular attention and a bit of knowledge. How good is your fencing,sheep are escape artists. Forget all about electric netting ,Well constructed fencing with wire sheep netting ,preferably high tensile ,is the way to go.If you buy hill breeds of sheep you can expect far more trouble from escape attempts,than a downland breed,but they are hardyer.
 
I once kept my old mare at a yard that had sheep.

She was banned from going out with them as she used to pick them up by the fleece and move them out of the way.

She was somewhat special!
 
Ryelands are also known as 'stay-at-home' sheep and from that point of view are easy to keep. They also have lovely friendly personalities. But they, like all sheep, look constantly for new ways to die. The number of times that local dogwalkers etc have told us that they have stood ours up again! They need to be shorn every year and if you only have a few this can be difficult to organise. You also need to be aware that some horses do not live happily with sheep and there are instances of horses killing/injuring sheep.
 
I've had two horses that tried to kill sheep, one succeeded in breaking a sheep's leg. I've had two different farmers' sheep on my land and all they wanted to do was escape or die. They stank. They burned the grass with their pee. The horses rolled in sheep poo and it was horrible to get off. The grass got too rich with being close cropped and a horse got laminitis. They have to be sheared, dipped, innoculated and wormed.

Forget it - buy a topper!
 
lleyn's are good as they have the welsh blood in them so quite a hardy breed but without the breakout tendancys of the welsh mountain sheep that they are descended from, they also dont need much in the way of feed or at least mine did't as they managed to stay fat on dust:) they also didn't seem to get much trouble with their but that could just be down to luck! but as someone has already said you will need to get a holding and flock number. if you don't want the hassle of looking after sheep but want the grass kept down you could offer it the grazing to a local farmer you'd still need a holding number but the farmer would be able to do this by obtaining a temporary holding number which i think has to be renewed each year
 
if after all this you go ahead and get the sheep and holding number, you will be able to keep heating costs down with the amount of paperwork/leaflets that defra will insist on sending in triplicate and which only ever seem to be more suited for the fire!!
 
There is a breed of sheep called Easycare. They are what it says on the tin!! Look up their breed website for details of the breed and sale dates or contact details of private sellers.
 
Read as many books as you can about sheep - they are a pain and are quite expensive to keep if you just have a few - you need to find someone who is willing to shear a small number.
They need dagging and spraying in spring to help stop maggots.
They need worming and regular hoof trimming.
Winter time they need shelter and hay/extra feed.
They are always going lame for no apparent reason what so ever - often a different foot each day!!
We have had a few killed by horses over the years - a few of our gg's have seen the sheep as great footballs!!
You do need to speak to DEFRA as others have said to get a holding number, and to move them anywhere you need to fill out a heap of paperwork!
If you are wanting sheep for ragwort control forget it - they would rather eat the nice juicy grass - bitter ragwort is a last resort!!:D

As for goats they are nice but as others have said they escape at the drop of a hat, they are primarily browsers so will prefer to eat your hedges rather than the grass, and do require housing in the winter as they don't like their feet getting wet or muddy and they are not that resiliant to cold and wet either!!
A pasture topper is a far cheaper option!!!!:D
 
We have 10 sheep and they have done wonders for the pasture management. They do take some looking after but the benefits outweigh the problems in my opinion.
We started with Ryelands but I wouldn't recommend them as lawnmowers because they get VERY fat VERY quick, we lost one last year at 2 years old because her legs just could not hold her she was far too fat (yes I am ashamed, we didn't know what we know now and learnt the hard way and she was born with dodgy joints exacerbated by overweight). We now have to keep the Ryelands in a starvation paddock which largely defeats the object of having them........
We also have Jacobs, they are better for not getting too fat but someone at the Yorkshire show told me today if you want good grass cutters that don't get fat to get Shetland sheep (I think that's what she said, it has been a very long day!) anyway apparently they don't get fat and make lovely meat....not that we eat ours!
Good luck!
Edited to say we paid around £40-£50 each for our weanling lambs, if you can get them hand tame it makes life much easier too.
 
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OMG - that all sounds positively terrifying! I knew there were sure to be complications, but I didn't think they would be THAT complicated. Sounds as if goats are a no - no then. Mmmm - confused. Thing is with a topper, it'll keep the grass down but it doesn't do the job of cross grazing does it? Horses kill sheep - never knew that.
 
I would say its the exception rather than the rule that horses attack sheep. But dogs certainly do so if your grazing is near houses (and dogs) expect trouble.
 
agree dont take them on lightly. for max benefit and least casualties have them in diff field to horses and rotate them round. I started with 6 shetland ewes and now have 28 incl lambs and a ram!! My old ewes arent escape artists but some younger ones i bought are beasts for it!

But they are great for the land, make it much more even if you put them on after the horses.

Agree about the elec fence, ours are ok with it but only while the grass is nicer on their side of the fence....
Unreg pure shetlands arent expensive compared with a Lleyn or more commercial breed. Maybe £100 for a commercial breed, maybe £30+ for an unreg shetland.
 
How about deer - my 4 reject reds are quite good at keeping the grass down where the horses poo which is quite handy as the sheep won't really eat those bits either, they can get out of the way of playful horses, and if a dog did get onto your land they would chase it off!!! - the only down side is you do need six foot fencing!!!:D:p
 
I have Shetland sheep, they are great at keeping the fields in good shape and are very hardy. As I only have a few I shear them myself. They do require regular upkeep which usually involves getting your hands very dirty.
 
Never ever have Rylands, the are gorgeous to look at, hell to clip and spend most of their lives on their backs! I have had Rylands for 10 years and have since given them to a farmer with time on his hands! Their fleece is worthless and they are bad to lamb, being stuffy and fat. Having said all that, there isnt a cuter lamb on the planet!
 
Sheep are great fun to have, they all have different temperaments. Yes they can be a bit stupid but easy to tame. We are lucky (I think!) and live in the middle of nowhere in Canada, so no red tape (not sure if a good thing as any tom dick or harry can have livestock!). So our sheep have the run of the place (8 acres) I put them in at night so the coyotes don't get them but the 3 dogs do an excellent job keeping those away!

Anyway my recommendation is the Katahdin quoted from http://139.78.104.1/breeds/sheep/

'Katahdin are hardy, adaptable, low maintenance sheep that produce superior lamb crops and lean, meaty carcasses. They do not produce a fleece and therefore do not require shearing. They are medium-sized and efficient, bred for utility and for production in a variety of management systems. Ewes have exceptional mothering ability and lamb easily; lambs are born vigorous and alert. The breed is ideal for pasture lambing and grass/foragebased management systems.

They have demonstrated wide adaptability. They were derived from breeds that originated in the Caribbean and British Islands and the state of Maine was their original home. In cold weather, they grow a very thick winter coat, which then sheds during warm seasons. Their smooth hair coat and other adaptive characteristics allow them to tolerate heat and humidity well. Katahdins are also significantly tolerant of internal and external parasites and if managed carefully require only minimal parasite treatment.

Katahdins are docile so are easily handled. They exhibit moderate flocking instinct.'

Hope that helps a bit
 
Wow - that's all great advice although does make me wonder if I'm sane to even consider it. Thanks all. In terms of shearing, if you're only doing it as sheep welfare rather than wanting to sell the fleece, is it easy enough to shear yourself?
 
I just have 2 oldies left now but I do shear them myself just with some dagging shears - I find the proper long ones are far harder to see where your going and don't want to fork out a heap for the electric ones!! Once the fleece starts to lift when the weather warms up it's not too hard - they do get the odd nick and cut when they fidget though, and I do mine standing up rather than on their backs just to save my back really - mine are used to it now though so are pretty easy to do and actually like being clipped!!
It takes me about 45mins, depending on how much wriggling and how creaky my back is!, to do one fat 17 stone suffolk!!! The year we had foot and mouth here in Cumbria I had to do all 60 of mine by hand as we couldn't have anyone on the farm and I didn't have any clippers - nightmare!!!!
 
Glad I'm not the only one, I shear mine standing up too. They are all halter broken and stand reasonably well, I do have electric shears and sometimes use them on the larger sheep but I tend to do the Shetlands with the dagging shears, just seems easier really. As I live in a very agricultural area of West Wales, I'm sure that the local farmers would laugh their socks off if they saw me in action.
 
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