What should I get?

[popsicle]

What animal can be contained in 4' fence (sheep fence below, with 3 strands of barbed wire above) with out escaping? We have about 1.5 acres of pasture with plenty of weeds.

We tried goats, they always managed to find ways to escape to eat the lilacs and cherries.

 

[nzpouter]

just a stab in the dark... sheep?

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

If your fence can't hold water, then it can't hold a goat. A handful of sheep would very much enjoy your weedy pasture. The best thing about sheep is that they will actually improve the quality of forage in your pasture over time by eliminating most "undesirable" plants that may be out-competing your grass. Plus, their little poop pebbles do not inhibit grass growth like horse or cattle manure can, because it doesn't block out the sun and the grass can grow up in between the pebbles easily rather than trying to fight its way through an enormous cow plop or horse pile.

 

[popsicle]

Thanks for the info.

We've been considering llamas or sheep. I have some experience with sheep but very little with llamas.

Are there any breeds of sheep that you can recommend over others? We're in a dry, mountainy area of Montana. There is a farm south of us that has Navajo-churro that I've been considering, but I'm not certain if they're more wild (ie. likely to escape) than the suffolk and other more common breeds I'm used to.

 

[PotterWatch]

I would say sheep also. We have Dorpers and St. Croix and I prefer the Dorpers. They are quiet, mild tempered, and pleasant to have around. The St. Croix are fine as well, but they are more wild than the Dorpers.

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

We have owned a lot of different breeds of sheep over the years and while different breeds handle differently from one another, no sheep has ever been nearly as irritating as cattle and goats. Some breeds can be quite flighty, while others are not so much. What you want to get out of your flock will determine what breed or type of sheep you need to buy. I just have one thing to mention about Churro sheep, and that is they do not do very well in the sale barn. I have heard from several sheep buyers that the Churro sheep are the cheapest things in the sale and the order buyers do not want them. If you are set on Churro sheep and you plan to market your lambs to the public out of the pasture and do not plan to take them to the sale then that shouldn't be a problem for you.

Here is a good resource for sheep information: http://www.sheep101.info/

It has a lot about the ins and outs of the sheep business, breed information, health and care, etc.