Jan. 1, 2008
"No Thanks, I'll Never Have Sheep."
Posted in Homestead Barnyard
That was my response to an old family friend when she offered to send her dairy goat and sheep books to me back in 1999. Fast forward to 2007, I have every dairy goat book ever published along with a small flock of sheep, a couple cows, and no goats. Go figure.
My family took a liking to lamb chops a few years ago. After purchasing a grass fed lamb for our freezer in 2006, we decided it would be much cheaper to raise our own. With a bit of research and the help of a local breeder, we found Hair Sheep to have many advantages:
- No shearing. They shed!
- No tail docking. Without wool, fly strike and lambing problems are eliminated.
- Minimal worming. Hair Sheep are very parasite resistant.
With all these advantages, we spend minimal time managing and much more time enjoying our small flock. And our 8 year old does most of the care and feeding.
Hair Sheep will graze on pasture and browse weeds, shrubs, and small trees while growing meat for your family’s table. They eat plants that cows will not eat, and make good rotation stock with cattle for pasture management. Our flock grazes the lawn (keeping mowing to a minimum!) and clears the brushy areas of our property with the help of electrified net fencing and a movable hoop house. If pasture is not available, they do well with 5-6 lbs. of grass hay and a bit of grain each day.
Our original ewes are Katahdin/Barbados Blackbelly crosses. They are hearty and active. Their coloring varies from pure white to the typical Barbados black, tan, and white. My family enjoyed them so much that we rapidly expanded our flock with a couple of Katahdin X Dorper ewes to add size to our lambs.
Each ewe typically produces 2 lambs per year which yield an average of 40 lbs. of meat per lamb at 6 months of age. With our small flock of 4, we are able to put up as much as 300 lbs. per year!
You can learn more about Hair Sheep here.
There are many more varieties of Hair Sheep available for your homestead. You can learn about the many Hair Sheep varieties here.
If you are interested in starting a flock of Hair Sheep for your homestead, locate a Hair Sheep breeder in your area through one of these breeder listings:
http://www.nebraskasheep.com/directory/Breeds/
http://www.dorper.net/hairsheep/index.htm
Hair Sheep are a fun, low maintenance way to add variety and increased self-sufficiency to your homestead.
Kristin Hoffman homesteads with her family in the hills of East Tennessee and blogs about alternative energy, family farming, and home schooling with her husband at www.solarfamilyfarm.com. She can also be found lurking through blogs at HomesteadBlogger.com.
Comments
Jan. 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by clstevens
Great information! As someone just learning about homesteading your information on sheep that are easy to maintain is one to file away for when we do finally get our farm.
It's also a lesson in never say never!
Craig
• Permanent Link
Jan. 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Kristin Hoffman
That's right, Craig. Never say "never"! After starting with the hair sheep, I have one wooly little ewe that came from my 2nd set of hair sheep (her daddy was a wool sheep). Now I'm thinking about how nice it would be to learn to spin. It never ends!
• Permanent Link
Jan. 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by southernbelle
We have had the same experience but with chickens. I wanted some for years for the eggs and the hobby but my hubby wanted nothing of the sorts. He decided last spring that he might enjoy it after all and then the book ordering and internet searches began! Soon after that we had the chicken pen and house built and a specialty breed called Mille Fleurs living down in the pasture. We are planning to get more chickens. Probably Rhode Island Reds for their large brown eggs. : )
• Permanent Link
Jan. 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by HSBFrontPorch
Loved this post! I have a friend who raises Barbado. I really hadn't thought of it for us, maybe I should. How much acerage is required for each animal?
• Permanent Link
Jan. 2, 2008 - How much acreage per sheep
Posted by Kristin Hoffman
Or rather, how many sheep per acre? The number, in general is about 10 per acre. But this will depend on how good your pasture is and how well it is managed. 10 sheep on the same acre all the time will not do as well as the same 10 rotated through 4 one quarter acre paddocks.
Whether you cut your own hay for them or not will affect the required acreage as well. Generally, you will need another acre for cutting winter hay. Again, this will vary depending on pasture quality, the length of your grass growing season, etc.
I'll be writing a bit about pasture management and hay in the coming weeks so stay tuned!
And YES! Consider raising some of those Barbados sheep! I'll be posting some great recipe resources for lamb soon so check my blog now and then for updates.
• Permanent Link
Jan. 2, 2008 - Great Post!!!
Posted by April
I absolutely loved the post, Kristin! So much food for thought . . . you have inspired more research!! Can't wait for more! Thanks!
• Permanent Link
