sheep?

[wombatclay]

We were just offered a flock of up to 7 sheep... at this point I have no info on type, breed, history, etc. And dh and I have not planned on sheep so this wasn't something we'd researched. I'm looking for some really basic info while waiting to hear more info from the "friend of a friend".

We have a wooded, 2 acre, lot. Our closest neighbor has a wood mill and we have planned on clearing some of the lot, just not right now (we're building our home from the ground up, on our own, with three young kiddos... we don't really have time for "landscaping" at this point "lol). Our plan had been milk goats since they'd be able to handle the woods and they'd provide milk/cheese/yogurt. However, I spin/weave and fiber sheep have always been a very long range goal (once children were older). That said, with three small children I don't know that I can justify the time/effort to care for even a small flock if the only "payoff" is fiber. And since I don't think these sheep have been kept for milk that isn't a viable "extra" at this point.

I also don't know if sheep could handle the wooded nature of out lot. There is some forage, but not fields of grass or clover... more "rural upstate ny secondary growth forest" with saplings, poison ivy, may apple, random creepers and vines, etc.

Soooooo.... mamas with sheep.
My dd1 attends a waldorf school that keeps sheep but they have a 1/4 acre of pasture fopr their two sheep... we'd go for no more than two/three sheep but given the wooded lot? Is this sort of habitat even remotely "sheep-able"? What would we need to spiffy it up for sheep? We have planned on clearing some of the lot but it isn't at the top of the list. How has your sheep experience been?

I know I'm rambling a bit... I'm usually planning a few or more before we move on something but this is a sort of one time offer...

[1jooj]

So...you're saying no grass? No lawn at all?

My sheep are all multiple crosses of a few different sorts, but mostly polypay and Dorset in there. They eat grass through the whole grass season. They spend every afternoon on the backyard and we have different areas fenced off to rotate them over pastures.

They do eat other stuff, including browsing on maple and poplar and even some evergreens. Dandelions are a favorite. Mine won't eat nettle. They love white clover and I think they also eat creeping charlie. They also like Lilies of the Valley, and when I weed, they stand on the other side of the garden fence and I throw weeds over for them to fight over.

You could keep them on hay and browse and see how long it takes them to go through a bale of hay. You'd need hay all through winter, too, of course. In winter (they are pg) I alternate between alfalfa-grass mix (2nd or 3rd crop) and marsh grass bales, plus a little oats when it's cold. They always have mineral.

I love my sheep. They are generally super-easy to care for, and easier to keep inside a fence than goats. They need less in the way of winter housing, with their wool. But mine are sort of pushy and brutish. With me. They seem to think of me as one of them, and so they are pretty fearless and wouldn't hesitate to knock me over or take out a knee for a fistful of corn. They are wary of dh and strangers, and my kids aren't quite as attuned to their ways, so they don't "speak sheep" yet.

All that said, I only keep a ewe flock and I borrow a ram for a month each year. That is a nerve-wracking month for me. I have owned two adult bucks and have never been threatened by them. But all the rams we've had have scared the crap out of me. I carry a bat into the sheep pen during breeding and always keep a large object (feeder, barrel) between any ram and me. Even the sweetest rams (and I have met sweet rams) cannot be trusted during breeding season. (The same is true for bucks, but I have been very lucky so far.)

I've met other sheep that are not raised as hands-on as ours, and they are completely afraid of people. Like shaking with fear. My queen is just the opposite, and my sheep actually follow behind me when I call them. They answer to "Sheep!"

[wombatclay]

Thanks! I think we'll probably pass on the "sheep offer" for now (our plan has been goats since there is an active "goats in the woods" program here) but it's gotten us thinking about sheep. Maybe in a few years.

And yes... there is no grass at all. Our home is forested and the only clearing is filled by the house and the septic field. We do plan on clearing some of the trees, but at the moment you walk 15 feet from the back door and you're in the forest. This is an older picture (we're almost done building on that slab you see in the pic) and this was a few days ago outside our front door...

The forest covers hundreds of acres, broken here and there by farms, homesteads, and parks.

But thanks again for the btdt perspective!

[Koalamom]

subbing as we are looking to raise sheep someday...

[JamieCatheryn]

If you can graze the sheep, how often does one need to rotate pastures? How many sections do you need to split off? I've been reading a cattle farmer's blog and she moves the cows daily between little sections with temporary fence but there has to be a lazier way that works right?

[1jooj]

I think so much depends...on where you are, what's in the pasture, weather, etc. I think some people do a couple weeks at a time on a pasture, but we still have to mow behind them. They like to eat their favorites and leave the rest.