Showing or exhibiting sheep can be an enjoyable activity for people of all ages, but especially youth. Sheep and lambs make excellent 4-H and FFA projects. In fact, 4-H and FFA is the reason many people get started in the sheep business. Sheep are suitable projects for home schoolers. Many of life's lessons can be taught on the farm.
There are many science fair projects that can be done with sheep and wool. There is a certain satisfaction to growing your own food and fiber. Small flock owners contribute to the supply of local food and fiber. They support local businesses. Some people wish to support livestock conservation efforts by raising and helping to preserve a rare or heritage breed of sheep.
Many people raise sheep because of their desire to train and trial herding dogs, usually Border Collies. It is hard to train and work a herding dog without having access to a flock of sheep. Hair sheep are usually kept for this task, as they are more tolerant of the heat and rigorous workouts. Wethers are often preferred because they can be worked on a year-round basis.
Sheep-raising can be an enjoyable activity for retired or disabled persons. Sheep are easier to handle than larger livestock and the investment in breeding stock, equipment, and facilities is usually much less than for other enterprises. In some situations, the sheep enterprise can supplement the retirement income. Empty-nesters and single people may keep sheep, so they have something to care for.
Increasingly, people are keeping sheep and other farm animals as pets or companions. Wethers and ewes should be chosen for this purpose. Intact males and horned animals should not be kept as pets. Hair sheep are a good choice because they do not require shearing.
They are also more resistant to internal parasites worms. Bum lambs bottle babies make the best pets because they will naturally bond to whoever feeds them. Sheep are social animals. Not wanting to see the sheep go, I volunteered to be their caretaker. This meant hauling five-gallon buckets of water from our house to the shed every day in the winter, not to mention feeding them their corn and hay. Summer was easier, except for dealing with all of the barn spiders that would appear in the shed especially for a girl with major arachnophobia.
My dad eventually sold the sheep and gave me part of the profit, which was completely unexpected and very rewarding for me. Now that I am an adult with children of my own I would love nothing more than to raise some sheep.
Wool is used for clothing, bedding, furniture, even insulation for houses. According to Good Shepherd Wool, a provider and installer of wool insulation , wool is a superior fiber for insulating. It is naturally flame-resistant, non-carcinogenic, it helps absorb toxins from your home, it is recyclable, sustainable, is a natural sound blocker, and has many other benefits.
You can plan on shearing for sure, once in the spring. It is important to keep the wool very clean if you plan on selling it. You can also sell your raw wool for money on Etsy or to local customers that have a use for it. As much as I love sheep, you may be surprised that I have eaten their meat!
Their meat is delicious and definitely underrated. Some sheep raisers sell certified meat directly to local customers via local farmers markets, online, or to restaurants.
Sellers may also go to a slaughterhouse or retail market. Lamb sells for more than mutton. It was amazing in a homemade stew. Raising sheep for your own table is a smart way to have economic, organic, super local, meat. Sheep are ruminants. They mostly eat fresh grass and hay and can thrive if you feed them nothing except this with the occasional addition of a vitamin, salt, and mineral supplement.
Mostly, your fencing system will be for the purpose of keeping predators out. You can rotate sheep throughout multiple paddocks to keep them on fresh pasture at all times.
The only exception is if your ewes lamb during the winter , which will require you to provide them with a more enclosed shelter. Once you get the hang of it and understand the various personality quirks of your sheep, they are quite easy to handle.
Sheep have patterns in movement that they like to follow. They prefer to be in open areas and away from confinement. They startle easily, but training sheep with food like grain or fruit is the best way to get them to trust you. Luckily, wool is often still used in fabric construction, and for good reason. Depending on the breed of sheep you decide to raise, the wool can be worth a whole lot of money or a whole not a lot of money.
Keep in mind that you may need to clean the fleece in order to be able to sell it, but you can often sell raw wool on Etsy or to local customers for use in spinning, insulation, or other purposes. This was our main reason for purchasing sheep. Lamb and mutton, too was our solution. Aside from providing a great source of meat, milk, and wool for your family — as well as for your local market — raising sheep can be profitable in another way.
You can sell the sheep themselves. While you will want to keep an eye on your sheep to make sure they have good traits, like milk production, feed efficiency, positive demeanors, and fertility, raising sheep to be sold as pets or livestock is not difficult to do, particularly if you already have an established flock. Sheep are great natural lawn mowers, and in many cases, you may be able to rent your sheep out to companies that want their properties cleared quickly and efficiently — as well as in an environmentally-friendly way.
Many golf courses and solar farms have actually invested in sheep flocks to do their landscaping for them. Sheep are great because they will leave no stone unturned in their quest for things to munch on. Sheep manure is one of the best fertilizers you can use on your garden. You can either spread sheep manure directly on your lawn or allow it to break down a bit in your compost bin. Another option? By using rotational grazing you can rotate your sheep among pastures.
Use a former pasture to grow crops while they till up a new section of land for you. While sheep are some of the easiest livestock you can raise, there are some factors you will need to keep in mind.
Here are some tips for raising sheep that you may not have thought of:.
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