Sheeeeps - tasty mini mowers

[dazzler]

Hi all

I have an acre and know nothing about sheeps except they taste good and are fluffy.

If I was to get some to mow my grass, get jiggy now and then and have little sheepies for me to eat, what type would I get?

They need to be low maintenance, tasty and some sort of self butchering gene would be good. :2tsup:

Seriously, I am a bit goatish to ask but are there good ones that dont need much maintenance?

cheers

dazzler

[wheelinround]

so your buying a ride on Dazzler :D

you also have to shear them now and again.

[bsrlee]

Yep, sheep need a regular haircut, plus a pedicure if the weather is wet (had relatives in sheep farming).

Goats are low maintenance but they will eat anything that takes their fancy, preferably on someone else's property. If you live on the property a single goat will 'fix' on you & follow you around like a dog (sometimes - every time if you have a feed bucket :U). They can be kept on a chain & collar with a very sturdy ground peg - just provide them with elevated shelter within reach & move them around so they get fresh browsing - only way to keep them out of the roses etc.

[terry arnold]

Gooday Dazzler
I run a couple of sheep on my place and have found Romny Marsh cross Textal to be good as the ewes usually have twins that is 2 for the price of 1.
We only get them sheared once a year and there pretty docile, they cook up good to.

Cheers Terry

[Old farmer]

dazzzler, I'm not sure about a breeding pair on one acre!!
We ran Merinos. The eldest on the farm now has gone to beef cattle, and I am old so, probably, there is much new that I do not know but, if you wanted a couple of grass-cutters only, I would suggest you look at the Wiltshire Horn breed of sheep which does not need mulesing, crutching or shearing, so the advertising tells us. I suppose you still need to innoculate, and drench annually but am only guessing.
The breed gives prime lamb, friends have told us, but I do not see how you could run a breeding pair economically on one acre.
Then there is the messiness of the kill, the hanging, the butchering, and the refrigerating.
As bsrlee writes, a goat certainly is deserving of consideration but I worry about stray dogs in a pack when a goat is tied up!
Sorry not to be of help.

[chambezio]

Dazzler,
Just to add 2c worth of point of view.
We have an acre 18 miles from town and bought 2 sheep that were still on a bottle ( even though they didn't need to be). They were 6 month old lambs of Dorset liniage. As lawn mowers they were great. we tethered them on 10mm steel cable until I got to subdividing a paddock for them. The wether "untwisted the cable and rendered it next to useless for a snig rope. He also got a little mean and had great delight in bunting you when you weren't looking. He eventually ended up going to the middle east after an ocean voyage. The ewe visited the black ram next door and so began our venture into sheep raising mainly for the kid's sake. We at one time had 8 but confinemewnt to a small paddock soon reduced the numbers by internal parasites ( even though we did drench them properly).
Through winter and the cold months they weren't much of a problem except when the grass did not grow and we had to shell out for hay and nuts for them to keep them alive. The warmer and rainier months were a different story.....one had to be right on to them to check for fly strike. This we had to do every couple of days and if you noticed a dark spot on them or they would stamp their foot or rub themselves on a post you had to catch the buggars and have a good look all over them and if struck, hand shears, powder or dose of liquid to get rid of the rigglers, them go over them for the next few days to be sure that the rigglers had all gone and you had not missed any.
Then you have to find someone to sheer them. That in itself is a job. Most blokes who set themselves up to do mobile sheering to cater for the hobby farmers are reluctant to set up for a few only ( I don't blame them, they would lose money instead of making anything)
Pets.... they definitely not!!!!!! They are cute when they are lambs but they grow into cunning, mischievious beastys that will get out of an enclosure you would reckon was Fort Knox, and they would do it when you are not home to make sure they can wreak enough havoc before you arrive.
I think in our case they were good for the kids to see them have lambs of their own and also to witness them die as well. I have 2 girls and they are quite realists when it comes to animals ( although their 2 white cats are a special case)
Goats on the other hand...on an acre 2 would be plenty. Yes they do do a good job of eating all kinds of stuff other animals would not eat but...you can bet your bottom dollar that they will not eat what you wish they would. Your fences HAVE to be in really top conditon as they will really try them out. They also like to climb on things (for amusement) so you should have some logs or big rocks in with them to keep them happy. Fly strike is not nearly as problematic as with sheep but you still would have to dose them for internal parasites
Like any stock, dogs that roam around could be a problem. As when unattended dogs like to chase, and a confined animal is a whole lot more fun than one in a big paddock
One good thing about raising your own stock is being able to kill it at a size that will taste good. A little bit of age is better than what the butcher shop will sell you.
I hope that this long story answers some of your concerns
Regards Rod

[Vernonv]

We have small acreage (13 acres) and run lambs/sheep on that, but to keep the area around the house clear we use a tethered goat.

Any sort of production (breeding) on very small acreage is probably not feasible.

I reckon you should buy a couple of lambs (or even young sheep - just after first shearing would be good) at a time, grow them out a bit and then after about 6 months or so, butcher them. That way you don't have to worry about shearing, drenching, etc, etc, as they are only there for a relatively short time.

... or ... get a goat.

[WillBrook]

We run about 1000 Merinos on the family property but mainly for fine wool. But we run Merino cross Texcel for fat lambs (Mmmmmm tasty).
For low maintenance e.g. no shearing, just google "wool shedding sheep" although the cost of shearing one sheep will be fairly minimal. You will need to drench them once a year.
There are butchers around here that come to your property with a mobile coolroom and kill, skin and hang your sheep before returning a couple of weeks later to butcher the carcasses. Alternatively you can arrange to have them slaughtered at an abattoir and delivered to your butcher who then cuts them up. This method costs us about thirty dollars a sheep.
As some of the previous forumites have mentioned, 1 acre will not be enough room to breed sheep as you'll have to seperate the ram from the ewe when she's in lamb and feeding her new born. Plus if the new lamb lamb is a ewe then the ram will attempt to mate with it. The results could be quite ugly. :no:

My suggestion would be to buy a newly weaned lamb, fatten it up and then slaughter it. You'll save heaps on your meat but be aware that even a young lamb will be terrified of you and it will take some time to get it used to being tethered. Oh and make sure you have good fencing as crossbred lambs like to push through fences.

PM if you have any questions. SWMBO is a wool classer and will be able to help you out.

[Old farmer]

WillBrook, My word, mate, you married well!! Good thinking. How's the season?

[rrobor]

You got to watch out what kind of grass you got. If its spindly stuff under trees it aint good grazing and your acre is not big enough. If its good grazing tazzy should hold 2 lambs to the acre. Scotland average to good grazing was 2 sheep to the acre and that gave half an acre to produce winter feed. Was 1 cow or 2 sheep or 6 geese

[dazzler]

Thanks all. What about wiltshire poll sheep

Wiltipoll - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiltipoll)


The ones that drop their fleece each year?

And do they need a friend or are they ok on their own?

[rrobor]

Cripes no you got all that wool all over the place. If you leave your sheep till warm weather they all caste their fleece but its tied up in guard hairs, known as the rise. If you get the shears in there, clipping is easy. By machine I could do one in 10 minutes, shears probably twice that, though never tried. But its like everything, all panic before you start, then after you question what the fuss was about. Thinking about it now though at my age dont think Id do it again.

[WillBrook]

WillBrook, My word, mate, you married well!! Good thinking. How's the season?

Not bad really. Good grass cover and all our tanks and dams are full. The sheep are fat and wool looks good. It's a bit different a little further North but here, we're doing ok.

Thanks for asking Old Farmer.

[texx]

one word ........dorper ............or dorper x wiltshire horn ........no shearing , good eating .
but having said that its easier and a lot cheaper to buy them as killers than to try and breed and or raise them if you only have one acre , and i am thinking on a block that small there is going to be some dogs near by el problemo .
if you try to raise some you are going to need at least some drench that aint cheap and you have to buy enough to treat about 100 sheep cos they dont sell it in tiny amounts like you will need unless you can get a bit off a farmer nearby .