Sheep or Goats?

[Menmyrc]

OMG how cute! Most of the hair sheep I have seen are brown and resemble goats. Yours are beautiful! Thanks for the craigslist ad. I'm not ready for them yet - no shelter or pen built. I am keeping this ad though, so maybe down the road soon I can contact them and see their animals!

 

[pardygwyn]

I've owned two La Mancha does with varying results... one had delicious milk but was a bear to milk - short teats with tiny holes that I swear she deliberately tightened when she saw me coming. Did I mention she had an attitude? And I've had one goat we called the Cadillac Goat - mellow, long teats, easy milker who never made my hands tired despite producing two gallons per day. Unfortunately, she also leaked milk out of her udder (!) and got occult mastitis every time you looked at her funny, which made her milk taste bad enough to swear my family off goat milk altogether. We now have two wethers for lawn mowing purposes, and someday I'd love to try sheep.

I personally found the dairy goats produced too much milk for our needs. If I could convince my family to try again, I'd get a Boer/Alpine doe from the lady down the road. They're sweet, mellow, pretty goats who don't produce as much milk, yet get beefy for meat. Just watch teats on Boer mixes - I first learned to milk on a Boer who had an extra teat coming off at an angle from each of her teats. We called her "Antler T*ts" and she was fuuunnn to milk.

Boers with that defect aren't supposed to be bred to my knowledge, but it doesn't stop everyone when meat's the focus. I know people who cut the extra teats off when the goat's a kid so no one's the wiser.

 

[seramagirl]

I am interested in a certain breed and that is ouessant sheep very small does anyone out there know where I might find some .
I seen this breed once like that they are small can anyone help?

 

[Beekissed]

Pics of my hair sheep: Easiest livestock I've ever kept...naturally healthy, fun personalities, eat near about anything in the way of pasture and browse.

 

[pardygwyn]

You have some beautiful sheep! I've moved from goats to Katahdins and a Katahdin/Blackbelly cross since my last post, I love em! Just as you wrote, they're low maintenance and fun to keep. Mine spend the day ghosting in and out of the forested patches of our property. I'm hoping they can keep the non-forested portions mowed down next spring, unlike the mess the goats left (which is still existing in patches, as you can see) from this year! They were great for brush removal, not so good for maintaining the pasture they created when there were still forested places to browse.

Here's the starter flock browsing just before the snow fell on Sunday... and some ducks in the background, if you can spot them:

Left to right: twins Kaiya and Ember, our ram Bogey, and the mixed ewe, Gracie.

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

Quote:
I do not believe this breed is available in the US, if so they are extremely rare and probably not for sale. I found several articles about them online and most stated they were not available to import from the UK, but some people do import the semen for breeding into their flock to breed 4-5 generations to produce close to the same size as the Ouessant.

 

[protodon]

pardygwyn is that triangular shelter for your sheep? And do they use it? I've been trying to come up with something simple yet attractive for my two ewes to hide in during bad weather when they are in the main yard rather than they're pen which has a big shelter.

as for the goat vs sheep milk issue. I think sheep milk would be harder on your digestive system than goats milk because it's just plain fattier. I am raising sheep that I hope to milk this spring for cheese. I really like my goats for milk though and that is the reason I have them but sheep are much easier keepers than goats, much less mischievous and since they are grazers they won't go after your trees and bushes as much as goats, although mine sheep do do that occasionally.

 

[eenie114]

I keep goats for milk (Cow's milk allergies in our family as well) and the milk isn't bad unless you let the does who are in milk hang around with the bucks. Other than that, I can't taste the difference.
I like the Nubians and LaManchas best. The Saanans produce more, but the milk is less creamy. My favorite doe is half LaMancha, half Nubian. I do have a half LaMancha, half Saanan doe, but hers isn't as good, although she's a wondderful producer.

 

[secuono]

Cows milk, fresh and unpasteurized[raw] is usually drinkable by people who are lactose intolerant. The milk contains bacteria or enzymes that break down the lactose, which is lacking in people who are lactose intolerant.

Read this!

http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/Raw_Milk_FAQ.html

 

[Beekissed]

Protodon, here is a pic of a lounging shed I made for my sheep. It is comprised of cattle panels, T Posts, zip ties and tarps. I used an old cargo net I had lying around on the top and this thing doesn't even move in the severe winds we have been having. The sheep anc chickens love it!