New To Sheep?
What do I need to know?
You need to know (or more importantly, be willing to learn!) is how to take care of your sheep. This is definitely not hard, if you choose the right breed.
A mentor for your sheep breed is essential, and you can usually find a good mentor in the person(s) you are buying your sheep from.
If you don't already have good fencing, you need to put some up. We provide a page on fencing for your benefit, with a link below. It must be mentioned early on that many farmers' ideas of good fencing change over the first few years, so be sure to check with breeders who have been doing this for a while.
You need to know that if you have ANY
intention of selling sheep in the future, you
must buy your initial breeding stock with
care. It costs just as much to feed a cheap
sheep as it does to feed a quality sheep, so
be sure to invest in your future and buy from
reputable breeders.
How easy or difficult is it to keep sheep?
It depends on the breed you choose. Northern
Short Tailed breeds are the hardiest, and
within that group we have tried 3 breeds before
creating a breed that meets our specifications.
Having said that, the easiest method of
management is to sheep in a Wild Flock manner
just as Soay sheep have been for thousands
of years on the islands of St Kilda, off of the
coasts of Scotland.
Other breeding programs are not difficult, but do require some mentoring from a
knowledgeable breeder. Of course you can put just any ol' ram to any ol' ewe for your
own meat producing purposes, but if you expect to be able to sell any progeny (lambs), then you need to ask for some good advice before buying one or more rams for your ewes.
What equipment do I need?
You need some pasture space, decent
fencing, some form of shelter, and a water
tank short enough for these small sheep to
reach. My husband came home with a
standard sized galvanized water tank when
we first started out on this little farm (bear
in mind that we both grew up on large farms
with large livestock), and we had a good
laugh when we considered how these tiny
sheep were going to be able to reach the
water in the tank! We located shorter tanks
at the feed store, and the big tank still
hasn't found a use these many years later.
Shelter can be a barn your already have, or
are planning to build, or it can be some-
thing simple like a 3-sided shelter facing
away from prevailing winds, or you can use a combination of various types depending on how much acreage you have and how many sheep you plan to keep. Below is a photo of a simple 3-sided shelter that we built in 2 days. The first day was setting the posts and letting them cure in concrete, and a week later we put up the roof and siding. No matter if your farm is big or small, having a 2 wheeled cart such as the one in the background of this photo is handy for hauling stuff around; it takes less effort than a wheelbarrow, and there is much less likelihood of tipping over a sturdy cart such as this than a wheelbarrow!
Sheep salt will be necessary for keeping sheep, and the brand you choose is particularly important if you keep Soay sheep, and less so with other breeds. (See our Feeds page for more information on this subject; Soay sheep are very sensitive to copper and can die from too much.) You can see the blue salt feeder inside the shelter above, which is a simple plastic bowl purchased at the feed store and enclosed by wood boards for attaching to the wall of a shed or barn. There are a variety of salt feeders to make or buy.
How do I find more information?
We provide numerous pages of information
about keeping sheep, from the best books for your
money to the various types of fencing to choose
from, when you can expect lambs, questions to ask
when you are buying sheep and much more. Each
page has about a dozen related links at the bottom,
but there are many more on our Site Map, so if you
ever get lost or can't find the page you need, click on
the Site Map link at the bottom of each page.
Another page that you may find useful is our
Our entire website continues to be a work-in-
progress, with more information added all the time
(380 pages and counting), so keep checking
back with us!
The photo below shows 4 fully grown Soay rams
at left (3 British and 1 American) and 4 young
Cascade rams at right; a mere 10 months of age.
Rams don't reach their full size until about 3 years
of age, so this photo doesn't compare apples to
apples.
© 2000 - 2009. Website design, text and photos are copyright by Ronda Jemtegaard unless otherwise noted.
Reproduction by any means, electronic or mechanical, is forbidden unless written request
is submitted to and approved by Ronda Jemtegaard of Greener Pastures Farm.
Cascade Farmstead ram lambs at 3 months of age. Cascades shed their fleece, come in many colors and patterns, and can be butchered in autumn for a tasty and manageable sized carcass that can be processed quickly and easily, and cut up on your own kitchen counter.
