Dairy Sheep?

[Beccatrix]

We are considering a pair or trio of ewes for dairy sheep for two people (with the potential to add a ram later). We are in WI, so winters are always a consideration. Meat would be secondary, and wool isn't a necessity due to arthritis.

We are thinking Finnsheep or Katahdin. I love landrace animals for their hardiness. Obviously a hair breed could be a good option. We're thinking of heavily utilizing agroforestry, as much of our acreage is wooded. We'd like a longer milking season, but don't need a ton of volume.

We both work full time outside of homesteading.

Any thoughts or advice on breeds, or in general, would be greatly appreciated! I did also discover the BYH site!

 

[StinkyAcres]

Although I don't raise sheep for milk, I do have pet Katahdins and I can recommend them because they're so friendly, docile, and healthy. We did hand-milk one of them ONCE (for a weak lamb) and had no problem. Also, one had triplets and the other had twin lambs who grew very large and we were able to sell them for a decent amount.

My sheep are 14 years old. Talk about hardy.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm personal about targhee sheep, but they're a wool sheep and I'm not sure how they are for meat or milk.

But they're friendly

 

[RiverOtter]

My daughter really wants some dairy sheep, it's her favorite milk, she says the sheep dairies around us use Friesian dairy sheep (and, to my astonishment, there are actually 2 small sheep dairies around here that sell at farmers markets) They are big, wool not hair, and prolific, and the milk is, indeed, awesome.

And that is the total extent of my knowledge. But probably if you googled the name there's a breed association or something.