dairy sheep

[onetrumpeter]

anyone have experience with them? It seems that sheep graze grass and goats forage "higher" (so I've read). So if you only have mostly pasture but not brush/shrubs, maybe sheep are a good dairy option.

[limette]

What do you want the milk for? I read that dairy sheep do not make milk for drinking just cheese making.

[Chicky2]

Yes, you are correct about the grazing patterns.

My mother happens to live next to the only certified sheep dairy in her state. My mom actually rents out some of her pasture and her LGDs to protect their lambs. We got to butcher some for free. Anywhoo, they make award winning bleu cheese, and if you have specific questions maybe I can help you get them answered thru my mom.

[JamieCatheryn]

Sheep's milk has a *lot* of fat, I'll bet it makes a great cheese but weird drink or yogurt. DH is allergic though to their milk so our sheep will be for meat and wool. If we get less open land and we'll get them after a few years of goats clearing the brush and helping me enrich the pasture. If you want all-purpose milk then a cow would be best for a grassy pasture (although there's the whole cow milk protein sensitivity that's a problem for many people). If a large animal isn't your thing there are mini cows.

[onetrumpeter]

thanks for the input, ladies. We're still pretty far from being in a place where we could consider sheep/goats/cow, but I'd never heard of dairy sheep, so was interested to explore and wondered if anyone had them.

I guess I like the grazing aspect and smaller size, but JamieCatheryn, I'll have to research more of the mini cow! Somewhere on one of the pages I read someone posted a quote of a supposed "Spanish proverb," and this might not be verbatim, but I recall: "Sheep for cheese, goats for milk, cows for butter." Interesting. Definitely fits with what you said about sheep milk being good for cheese.

Chicky2, what are the LGDs your mom lets the sheep dairy borrow? Sounds like a neat place to live

JamieCatheryn, would you mind sharing more about the goats clearing the brush and "enriching the pasture"? How do they do that? Moreso than other animals?

[Chicky2]

Originally Posted by onetrumpeter

Chicky2, what are the LGDs your mom lets the sheep dairy borrow? Sounds like a neat place to live

JamieCatheryn, would you mind sharing more about the goats clearing the brush and "enriching the pasture"? How do they do that? Moreso than other animals?

LGDs are Livestock Guardian Dogs (Anatolian Shepherds and Great Pyrennes are what they have). Otherwise, the sheep dairy owners lose too many lambs to predators. They have lots of cougars and bobcats and wild pigs and coyotes there.

And I'll give my .02 about the clearing of the brush and enriching the pasture even though ya didn't ask me. Goats are AWESOME for going in and clearing out thick undergrowth. They LOVE poison ivy and briars. My kids regularly take ours out to clear out around their swingset 'cause otherwise the poison ivy would take over, lol. My moms place use to be AWFUL until the goats they raise (Kikos for meat) came in and munched it all away in no time flat, lol. One goat owner they know rents out his herd to clear brush. Makes a pretty decent living at it, too. And the natural bonus is all those lovely goat berries, which are like little time release capsules of fertilizer. Goat poo is a cold manure so it breaks down slowly and can even be added directly to the garden w/out burning up the plants. Good stuff! Almost as good as my rabbits' poo.

[mtn.mama]

I milk my Icelandic sheep. I have a goat dairy too, but some of my customers prefer the sheep milk. I value it at $24 a gallon. Then I use whatever isn't ordered for cheese unless my daughter drinks it first. Sweet, and thick and yummy. Twice the nutrient density of goat milk. Sheep are harder to milk because their teats are smaller and generally point forward. They also produce much less. But wow... Oh, and the Spanish proverb is right on!

[JamieCatheryn]

Originally Posted by onetrumpeter

JamieCatheryn, would you mind sharing more about the goats clearing the brush and "enriching the pasture"? How do they do that? Moreso than other animals?

Oh, just that ideal for clearing brush because that's what they prefer to eat, and they'll convert it to fertilizer for the soil of course. Between careful timber harvesting, goat grazing, goat manure, and some added treatments like fish emulsion or some such I figure we can get a really good sheep/horse/or cow pasture in a few years out of raw land if the place we buy. Also I expect we'll prepare a garden area with a pig or three our first year there.