We have had dairy sheep on our farm for three years now. We have enjoyed our fluffy white sheep! Today, I would like to share a few things we have learned along the way and a few resources that we have been enjoying. I will also give an update on how our flock is doing and how well they are paying for themselves. Part 1 of our
Dairy Sheep Diary is here and it explains why we initially got into dairy sheep. Lets jump in!
It is fun to look out on a field dotted with white fluffy clouds with legs! Our dairy sheep are high percentage East Friesians with a bit of Lacaune in the mix. East Friesians are often called the Holstein of the sheep breeds, due to their milking ability. But we also use their wool for various projects. Last year, we began using their milk in soap. That has been a fun project....a project that we are continuing to develop! We have also been selling the ram lambs at the local stock pen as meat and they have graded as Prime and Choice, which are the two best grades for meat. All in all, they have paid for themselves and a little more. As we have been retaining all our ewe lambs, it has helped to have some income to support their feed and fencing costs.
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| Our first black lamb in a flock of white sheep! |
Our
cheese facility is up and running now, but our sheep only produce about a gallon of milk per day in their prime. With only 7 lactating ewes, we do not have a holding tank that will keep such a small amount of milk cold. Growing our flock has been very slow due to a couple of different factors. We will continue to grow our flock until we reach a size that will make buying a tank practical. At that point we will begin making cheese in this dandy commercial soup kettle!
LESSONS LEARNED
The biggest lesson overall is that East Friesian lambs, ours at least, are not very hardy creatures. Our goats and calves do fine in cold weather, so long as they are dry and have access to their mother's warm milk. Our lambs tend to need intervention if more than one is born on a cold, wet day. If a mother has more than one and it gets very cold, I bring those lambs in the house! With a price tag of $300 per ewe sheep, they are worth too much to chance! (Actually, I am a sucker for babies and I bring them all in when it gets cold or I am worried about them.....my pillow is much softer because I am not up all night worrying about them.) So in conclusion, my lambs don't hold heat well enough to stay outside, and jackets might work well, but I have been too nervous to try them yet.
Once these sheep are a month old, they are easy keepers. They are parasite hardy, have few foot problems, and require very little in the way of maintenance. Compared to boer goats, sheep are easy as pie. A shearing in the spring with a little foot clipping, is about all the attention they need.
The other major lesson we have learned so far is that bottle fed rams can be a pretty bad idea. Our ram has absolutely no fear of people what so ever and is actually quite crazy. He once got angry at the tractor and really bashed his own head up because he would not stop ramming into it. Actually, he might just be crazy. I will not be sad the day we eat him. And I do say we will eat him because he is not safe to send off the farm to a market or as breeding stock.....he is just that crazy. Our other ram was dam raised and is quite docile and enjoyable to be around. But he doesn't have quite as good breeding traits....so we keep them both.
Dairy Sheep Resources
For medication dosing and general vet questions I use the website
"Ask-A-Vet Sheep". This vet gives good advice in emergency situations when my vet is not available. I love the variety of posts on here and find them very informative.
So that is the latest on the sheep! I hand raised 3 ewes this spring and I think there are three more with the flock. With the Lord's blessing, we might just about double the ewe number this year! Here is to hoping! :-)
