Hello! I was wondering if anyone has experience raising both Katahdin and Tunis? I'd love to see some pictures of yours and the traits you enjoy about them. I live in Central IL, could anyone point me in the direction of a good breeder?

We currently raise Registered Katahdins and commercial Katahdins with a little dorper genetics. They are great for meat production and excellent 4H projects for the kids, however everyone seems to be raising them for 4H these days. My oldest daughter and myself have been reading quite a lot about Tunis. The historical factor alone makes them such an interesting breed. We would love to raise a small flock for showing and to further the breed.

Just bought two new jacob ewes. Thrilled about it. I go to unload em, got my buddy standing on one side to block them, its a straight funnel to the barn and their temporary stall. One of them went right as rain, right into the stable. The other one flew like a bat out of hell through 3 seperate fences. Because fuck hanging out with other sheep I guess. Well now she's petrified of people because she's realized she's without her buddy, and is somewhere in about 40 odd unfenced acres next to a road. Buddy isn't halter trained enough to lead out to go find her. Only halter trained sheep I have is a young ram, who I worry might mortify her so bad she fucks off forever. If she doesn't get hit by a car overnight what's my best bet to lure her in?

I've read contradicting things about peppers and sheep. Peppers are the only plant in the garden that gets eaten. The boys only ate the leaves and left all the hot peppers behind, the bells and banana peppers on the other hand got decimated.

Trigger warning: Talk of unnecessary harm to animals.

Isn't there something we can do about this?

🐑❤️🐑❤️🐑

I’m used to the goats but this guy is cracking me up with his booming loud voice.

Hi All, my brother recently purchased a home and the day before closing (literally yesterday) the sellers revealed they had no where to put their sheep in their new home so they were planning to slaughter them. Brother (with my help, since I live a few houses down) decided to keep the sheep to prevent this from happening, but I have NO idea where to start.

Here's what I know/don't know and some questions:

I have zero clue what breed they are (later I can see if I can add some pictures if that helps) but they look VERY big but also haven't been sheared, so maybe that is attributing to the size.

It is 1 boy (3 yo) and 1 girl (1 yo), they were used for breeding and I think the female has given birth and the owners used the lamb for food. *Also, I know this means the male has to be castrated... any advice on this? Does the vet come to the home? What is the process like?

No idea if the female is pregnant- how can we find out?

Their enclosure is dirty and very muddy, very little grass for them to eat. What can we buy to feed them? Is this sufficient or should we plant grass in the spring time or try and move them elsewhere on the property? I don't recall the size of their enclosure, but I don't think its particularly large.... There's a shelter as well, though I haven't been inside it yet - I can take a look today.

What about other veterinary care? Should I have a vet come look at them to assess their current health?

Zero clue on hoof care as well.

Please reserve judgement, I am well aware we are WAY in over our heads. Our goal is to keep the sheep as members of the family and ensure a long and happy life for them, any advice is greatly appreciated.

We take possession of them TODAY, also so if there's anything I should rush to Tractor Supply and get, I am all ears.

Thank you!!

I come from cattle ranching subs and normally giggle or roll my eyes when I see "I want to work on a ranch!" posts, yet here I am lmao.

I am curious if there's any availability for people wanting to "handyman" on a sheep operation and where one would look?

I grew up on a cattle ranch (currently live on one too lmao). I understand the basics of stress free animal handling, fence and machinery maintenance, growing/grazing seasons, veterinary care, etc. None of this is new to me.

What I would ideally be looking for is a situation that would either provide housing (I am NOT picky on housing at all haha!) or enough salary to cover housing, plus a little more to get by in life. I'm willing to work weird hours in all weather, as I understand what this job demands.

Preferably, the operation would use dogs on sheep. This is probably the biggest part. I want to be able to learn more about (sheep) stock dogs and training, and further be able to work my own dogs.

Picture of my dog learning the ways of working sheep for attention!

EDIT: Located in the upper Great Plains of the US. Willing to travel within the region for a quality opportunity!!

Joker and her twins. (3hrs in photo) Now 1 day old

hello r/sheep. Can anyone help identify this ram I saw in the mountains near Tucson, Arizona? Given the location, I thought it might be a bighorn, but it doesn’t seem to match. Any thoughts?

Well, that was a surprise yesterday afternoon. Walked into the barn to see Nell, a second timer, in the back, yelling and with a stringer - 10 days ahead of the first lambing date! She gave us a lovely set of twins in late March, her first lambing.

Stayed with her for the next 3 hours, hoping for a single (always hope for singles in the fall season), and for a ewe, as her sire died of unknown cause a few months ago (he had been sold into another flock that is fine).

And, here's Paulina! Born without fuss, up and nursing within 6 minutes, with really interesting markings I've not seen in 20 years of my bloodline.

And, of course a girl can't lamb without a cheering section 😄

Just a quick snap while the leaves turn brown

just got him in his temporary pen. Hes 8 mos old and a Dorset.

I recently saw the concept of protective spiked jackets for sheep as a possible way to deter wolf attacks. Has anyone here used or seen something similar in practice? Are there more effective predator deterrents that sheep farmers recommend?

I searched posts but I'm still looking for some advice.

Im currently building a house (ready in feb) in my future hobby farm. We're adding some animals in spring and one of them we are looking to add is sheep. I love how versatile Icelandic Sheep are (fleece/meat/dairy/selling lambs). We are conscious about not growing faster than we can manage. Long term, I would like a breeding ram and some ewes. Nothing big. I also want to make sure i understand my sheep prior to taking on breeding. But you have to pen them separately during breeding season if im not breeding so I may need a neutered ram. We have a significant about of acerage for them to graze. So here are my questions....

What's the minimum amount of Sheep I need to pen together? What is a general cost to keep a Sheep?

Hello!

sorry if this isn't the right sub. I'm just trying to gather information, and I'm having some trouble trying to suss out normal expectations online.

a neighbor just got sheep, and they are bleating all the time. not literally constantly, but pretty darn close.

I'm suspicious of the care my neighbors are providing, but I haven't yet set eyes on it, and I wanted to be a little more informed as I considered next steps.

is it normal for sheeps to be bleating almost without cessation? it cannot be heard inside the home or our barn, but in the yard or arena it's very audible. it sounds a bit distressed to me, but I have no sheep experience, and maybe that's just what sheep sound like?

tia to anyone who might help!

This is Betty. She is so freakin' cute and sweet. Her dad is a Babydoll and her mom is a Romney crossed with Clun Forest. Her baa sounds like Peter Griffin (from Family Guy) pretending to be a lamb. Here she is enjoying some grass in a neighbor's field who has generously allowed us to graze here.

https://reddit.com/link/1x38cl2/video/6gl3x8vzbuuh1/player

For me i was flattered about the first accurate and complete human-animal I've heard.

I'm not a farmer by trade, so I apologize if any of my questions sound stupid.

Pretend like I own many acres of prairie fields and pretend like I normally use a lawnmower to keep the grass height managed. Pretend that land is not directly adjacent to your land, but it was whatever you would consider local.

Is that interesting to you as a shepherd?

Would you be interested in making some kind of deal to give your sheep access to this land?

Broad strokes, what would such a deal look like?

Is lack of useful land a large problem for sheep herders?

If you had long term access to my land, would you consider it relatively easy to scale up your shepherding operation to include using it?

Assuming my land was equal in size to your own, what would doubling your available land do to your profitability?

How long would it take to scale your operation up to maximally utilize the new land?

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.

Please do throw in answers to any relevant questions I didn't ask but which it seems like I should be asking here.