# What breed did you choose and why?



## TriWinkle (Oct 2, 2011)

Comments in a prior thread of mine prompted this one...I was curios as to what everyone is working with and why they chose the breeds that they did.


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## sheepish (Dec 9, 2006)

When we first moved to our small farm, over 30 years ago we began with a flock of coloured Corriedale sheep. They are a dual purpose breed that gave us fleeces to process into sweaters and also to sell (processed and unprocessed). We also sold Easter lamb and freezer lamb. The ewes were wonderful mothers and the flock had a great instinct to stay together and not roam through our less than perfect fences. The flock barely paid for itself. 

A few years later we were offered a small flock of Hampshires, which we added to the the Corriedales. They are a large meaty breed, which gave us faster growing lambs.

About 15 years ago we began the switch to Rideaus. They are a breed which have multiple lambs (usually 3-5) and big udders to raise those lambs. We figured that on our small acreage we would be adding value in that from each ewe kept we would be selling many more lambs. We have developed the flock into one with excellent characteristics and a good reputation and we make money from 70 sheep on 10 acres of pasture plus hay land at in the neighbourhood.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I picked Finnsheep. I wanted a smaller sheep that I can handle by myself when needed. I have four ewes that produced 11 lambs and eventually expect triplets from each of them. They can easily raise their lambs without supplement. They can be bred at an early age and I could breed them 3x in 2 years but probably won't. They are smart and alert. Their meat is lean and never muttony-flavored. The fleeces are very fine and soft and can be spun to wear against your skin. They don't need grain except for the last months of gestation. I bought a corriedale cross ewe because she was from a flock raised totally on grass and culled if they still couldn't feed their lambs. She is a quint. She lambs without help and the lambs are meaty in all the right places. 

I want to add cotswold and blue-faced leister ewes eventually. We have never butchered a lamb for ourselves. There haven't been any lambs left over so far.


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## LibertyWool (Oct 23, 2008)

When I started I knew almost nothing. I had raised a pair of lambs in 4H as a kid, but just decided to raise some lambs for the freezer. There was a breeder that raised Romney, Cotswold, Border Leicester, Columbia, and Corriedale sheep 10 miles from my house. She did very well in the show system in Maine and was a very nice person. She sold me two Romney crosses and a Border Leicester the first year, all ewes. I kept one of the crosses and had to scramble to get a ram to keep her company. The only thing I could find was a Cotswold Merino cross. So to keep her happy, I got him. I didn't really care for how the Border Leicester tasted, but the cross was much better. 

The next year, I purchased 5 lambs, 4 from her and one from another breeder about 2 hours away (I wanted a black lamb). I still almost knew nothing at that point, but was learning as each problem came up. That black ewe, called Black Sheep, is still here and has given me 17 lambs. She ended up being a Romney. The other ewe I kept that year was a very nice Cotswold ewe. I also still have her, and she has grown into my favourite sheep of all time. 

That was the foundation of my flock, a Romney Cross, a Cotswold, another Romney, and a Cotswold Merino cross. That is when I found an article on conservation breeding, which I've been following for the last 9 years to create my replacement rams. 

So there was no real forethought, it was just what was available and what I ended up liking. I've also added a couple of Suffolk/Ham's to the mix for some meater lambs, but I still like the Romney and Costwolds the best. The Romney for the easy keepers and Costwolds for the looks/temperament.


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

We started out with a dorsett/suffolk cross (brockle-face) and raised them for a few years. The value of wool is waaaaay down here. It cost us more to shear the sheep than the fiber was worth. We started doing our own shearing, but that is back breaking work when you have a lot of sheep. We had a few losses from barber pole worms as well. One year, we attended the Ohio Sheep Day, and it happened to be focusing on parasite control that year. It was very informative, with special emphasis on "having the courage to re-evaluate and change your farm plan" and "hair sheep-the next generation!". It was fantastic! At the end of the day, we talked about our own farm plan for the entire 2 hour ride home. We decided to do our homework into hair sheep and find what would work best for us. We sold our flock of wool sheep and bought our first Katahdins and some dorpers. We now have a flock of about 30 Katahdins, a flock of 12 dorpers and a mixed flock of about 20 animals. We really like the mixed flock as they seem to have the best attributes from both breeds. We sell meat lambs off the farm and never have any lambs left over to sell at the sale barn. We use the FAMACHA method to worm, don't have to shear, and get mild flavored meat. We'd never go back to wool sheep.


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## equinecpa (Mar 21, 2011)

I started last year with Painted Desert Sheep. I wanted a hair sheep as I didn't want fleece and basically wanted sheep to train my dogs on. They are hardy disease resistant sheep. 

I'm going to be changing though. I love my PD's but have decided to move towards a registered Katahdin herd as I they seem to have a better market for registered stock and I'd prefer no horns on my sheep!


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## lambs.are.cute (Aug 15, 2010)

Started out in suffolks showing in 4H. Got into cross bred suffolks, then romney and romeny cross, and finially east fresian. I've decided to go into romneys and east fresians. They are so much calmer and easier to handle than the suffolks. Also the ewes don' t weight as much as a small pony which really counts when you are female, 5'6 and weight less than half what they do.


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

I've always loved sheep, but hated the butchering. Son and daughter showed them in 4-H, columbian and suffolks. When I decided to raise sheep again, I choose babydoll southdowns, there cute, short, easy to care for, cost a fortune, and I am learning to clean their wool, and maybe spin it someday. And I dont have to butcher them if I dont want to. I sell their lambs for vineyards, breeding, 4-Hers, and people that like to have small animals, they cost too much to eat. And their soooooo cute!!!
I have a small managable herd.


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## TenBusyBees (Jun 15, 2011)

American blackbelly.

Hair vs. wool was really the deciding factor. The thought of shearing was a bit daunting for first-timers.

I like that they are fairly parasite and disease resistant. Handle the heat here well. I also appreciate their respect for the fence.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

My Dad raised Suffolk...and having dealt with them, I wanted nothing to do with a commercial breed.

I started out with Jacobs, which turned out to be too noisy. 
Then got some Black Welsh Mountains (well before Oogie and a couple of others, brought new blood lines via semen into the US). Before that... I found out they were at the time, a genetically dead breed.

Had a few Babydoll's but the lines I had were not that hardy and labor intensive.. I did not like the temperament of the Rams.

I finally settled on a hardy rare breed, the Brecknock Hill Cheviots. Sold breeding stock. Loved those sheep, small, hardy, easy going.... Always won at the Fairs with their fleece, had more buyers than I had sheep.
The Rams had excellent... mellow temperaments. And no horns was a plus.

Brecknock Hills also crossed well with the BWM and Babydoll's,, the fleece was more soft and wonderful to handspin.

Then we moved across the country with Apollo, and wanted more sheep again, so I added a Katahdin and a Dorper/st Croix/Katahdin mix. 
Not breeding any more, but there are times I am temped to find some Brecknock Hill's... or maybe get into Hog Island sheep.

I like hardy smaller sheep, good easy going temperaments, and nice mellow Rams. 

Really depends on what you want sheep for? Fleece, meat or both?


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

There was a long time in which the only sheep I was aware of was what you see at the fair. I wanted nothing to do with sheep. I hated the feel of wool. Then I learned to spin and started learning about other breeds.

I bought an icelandic fleece from someone off this forum and that was that. I now have two icelandic ewes, and they both just had a baby each. 
Later I tried finn wool and loved it, so this weekend I am picking up two pairs of finns. 

I have tried alot of different wools since and I am in the market for corriedales, but have yet to find any suitable. I really liked the romney and the leicester longwool also. Hated shetland.


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## bricned (Jul 3, 2006)

I ' am have pure Katahdin ewes and some pure St Croix ewes that I put a
white Dorper ram on. I like the results of my crosses. These sheep are about
as carefree as it can be. They do very well at the auction barn.


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## zephyrcreek (Mar 30, 2012)

Romeldale. We try to pick breeds from the ALBC list of endagered breeds. We wanted something with fine wool and dual purpose. They are extremely easy to work with. Rams are gentle, and not too big for me. They are in high demand, and the wool sells itself. They come in a wide range of colors and patterns. They do need more work on meat qualities, but we are bringing in a new ram this year that is exactly what we are looking for.

I love my sheep, but everyone has a different situation. I've been crocheting and knitting since a VERY young child, and have always wanted to sping my own wool, so this has been an excellent breed for us.


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## Nezill (May 25, 2010)

*Never wanted dumb sheep.* *Ha Ha Ha.!!!!!* We had goats. We got involved with our church Easter drama Watch The Lamb. At drama time we were always on the hunt for sheep, I didn't want to sheer and we wanted white sheep,so we decided to get White Dorper/1/4 St. Croix mix. Just a couple ewes for that purpose only, this was before we mob grazed. Got three lambs and had them in a 10 by 10 dog kennel that we moved 2 to 3 times a day to quarantine from our goats, no feed just grass. We were totally shocked how they preformed! We were worming, feeding, trimming hooves shots ect the goats before that and in no way could compete with the weight on those ewes. It was a no brainer to switch to the sheep. We had parasite resistant goats but to many in one 6 acre pasture with all he browse eaten down. We have 1 goat left. Sheep stayed in fence. Goats were problem on that.
Since Katahadin ewes were very easy for us to come bye for us, At that time our vet had anywhere from 1000 to 2000 ewes. We bought 20 ewes and a White Dorper ram. Bingo we were in the sheep business.The mob grazing( light bulb) came on a year later as we tried the same grazing practices that we were doing with the goats. So Dorper/Katahidan sheep plus High Density Grazing practices turned our hay fields into pasture and use neighbors small lots to graze free = our sheep.


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## TriWinkle (Oct 2, 2011)

Nezill said:


> *Never wanted dumb sheep.* *Ha Ha Ha.!!!!!* We had goats. We got involved with our church Easter drama Watch The Lamb. At drama time we were always on the hunt for sheep, I didn't want to sheer and we wanted white sheep,so we decided to get White Dorper/1/4 St. Croix mix. Just a couple ewes for that purpose only, this was before we mob grazed. Got three lambs and had them in a 10 by 10 dog kennel that we moved 2 to 3 times a day to quarantine from our goats, no feed just grass. We were totally shocked how they preformed! We were worming, feeding, trimming hooves shots ect the goats before that and in no way could compete with the weight on those ewes. It was a no brainer to switch to the sheep. We had parasite resistant goats but to many in one 6 acre pasture with all he browse eaten down. We have 1 goat left. Sheep stayed in fence. Goats were problem on that.
> Since Katahadin ewes were very easy for us to come bye for us, At that time our vet had anywhere from 1000 to 2000 ewes. We bought 20 ewes and a White Dorper ram. Bingo we were in the sheep business.The mob grazing( light bulb) came on a year later as we tried the same grazing practices that we were doing with the goats. So Dorper/Katahidan sheep plus High Density Grazing practices turned our hay fields into pasture and use neighbors small lots to graze free = our sheep.


What's "mob grazing"?


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## TriWinkle (Oct 2, 2011)

Thank you all for your help!! This is awesome!!!


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## Nezill (May 25, 2010)

What's "mob grazing"? Here is a link for mob grazing http://magissues.farmprogress.com/BeefProducer/BP08Aug09/bp07.pdf


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## Slev (Nov 29, 2003)

Yep, I have to go along with what Bergere said. It really does depend on what you want out of it. That's why there is over 200 breeds of sheep in the U.S. alone. What you really can't do is judge a whole breed besed on having just one or few of a specific breed. It really isn't fair. I can't tell you how many times someone would talk to me back when I was on the Illinois Green Pastures Fiber Co-op, and they would say; "Well I have wool sheep" ...yes, but if it's wool is not of high quality, or well liked by the hand-spinners or other wool interest crowd, or if you have a nice grade of wool sheep but allow the fleece to be treated like crap then you really would be better to get out of the wool business and get a hair breed. It's a lot like asking the question over on the cow board; "What's the better homesteading cow, a Dexter or a Jersey?" and everyone speaks out on either or, but seriously the only people who should be speaking up would be the few, the very few who have raised BOTH, and of enough of both breeds as to offer a fair judgement. 

I like lots of breeds for various reasons, but I can't have any MONSTER Cormo's who would beat up on my med-large sized Border Leicesters and Tunis breeds. Likewise I wouldn't think it fair to pick up any Finn or BabyDoll Southdowns due to their smaller size.

Our primary interest is the grade of wool my wife always went and purchased when she went to wool/fiber shows (heck, why buy it when you can grow it?) So we ended up with Border Leicesters. Sure there is several breeds out there with a finer fleece, but we like our Borders. (For the most part they are healthy and good mothers)


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## lsarah (Jun 4, 2011)

We have several sheep, most all of them longwool breeds. The bulk of our herd is Border Leicesters and Shetlands, but we also have a few Wensleydale, Cotswold, Gotland crosses, and several longwool crosses. Each was chosen because I liked their fleece. My very favorite sheep are my Border Leicesters, mostly because of their personalities. They are very easy going and friendly. We also have several Shetland/BL cross ladies. Crossbred fleece is always a gamble, and some of them don't sport the softest fleeces, but all of them wound up with the BL personality, so I dearly love each one. If I was starting my fiber herd again, I would probably leave out the Shetlands, or at least be more picky about the disposition of the ones I did get. Mine are VERY flighty and spook easily. They can also jump like jackrabbits. Makes them downright impossible to catch.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Slev, you are very correct in what you say about judging breeds without a fair representation. That said, I have to mention, a friend of mine has MONSTER cormos and shetlands together. They get along just fine.


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## LibertyWool (Oct 23, 2008)

All my sheep friends are always talking about how big and tall my sheep are (except the one full Romney, she is super low). I guess I just like sheep with good clearance. That is important for me, when I'm trying to get a lamb to latch at 2 am and it is 10 below... I'm also always glad that tall sheep have tall lambs so that they can reach the equipment.... If I had one thing to change about my sheep, it would be that too many of them have woolie faces.


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## tailwagging (Jan 6, 2005)

I have soay.
I like their history, their size,their looks, ease of care and best of all no shearing yet still some wool.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

How could I forget the two Soay wethers.... took a bit to tame down but they made wonderful Ram buddies and pets.
Really like the Soay's.
Beautiful Soay's you have there TW.

Slev, your sheep are very nice looking.
My top favorite fleece to spin, is Blue face Leicesters, Border Leicesters and Gotland.


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## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

I tried a variety of different breeds over the years. My personal preference is a not too big sheep as I shear myself. I also don't want something too small as they don't do as well at the market. They need to grow well, once again for market. Some lambs just don't grow fast enough and are lacking in muscle. Whenever I take lambs to market I make a point to stay and watch how other lambs go too, just so I can have an idea on what does well. 
Even if the lamb has potential for good muscle, I have to question how he gets there. Does he need heavy graining? Can he do it on pasture? Parasite resistance is huge. 
Mothering and lamb vigor is important too. Not all my sheep are going to fit in stalls before they lamb, and I generally lamb around January to February. I like a lamb that hits the ground running. They need to be able to breed out of season, and that narrows it down considerably. There are so many breeds that I still haven't tried , but of the ones I have tried, I like the cheviot(vigor)/texel(muscle)/katahdin(little to no shearing and usually good milk) the most. This year I have decided to try a little dorper to see if I can get good muscling and growth without the wool. Many of my 50% cheviots shed, but they aren't generally out of season breeders. I know the hair sheep vary quite a bit on vigor and size, so if I can find some good lines I might just stick with the katahdin/dorper cross. Left to right cheviot/texel/katahdin(50%), Dorper/Katahdin(75%), Dorper(93%), Dorper(93%).


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## spinandslide (Jun 6, 2008)

We have dorpers..and one lone dorper/Kat ewe..from my website..why we chose dorpers

Our initial introduction to the dorper was thru the acquisition of some percentage ewes to work our border collies on. As we researched more into this breed of sheep, we saw alot we liked, and so we started to build our flock, focusing on key traits that make the dorper such a unique animal to own and produce.

The traits that drew us to Dorpers were:

*No Shearing! Dorpers shed their âcoatâ..which cuts down on labor and makes it easier on them during our hot Texas summers. It is acceptable for the dorper to keep some of their heavier cover over their back. This unique attribute protects the animal from sun and insects. Birds love the hair and you will find nests lined with it as the sheep shed in the spring and summer.

*Reproduction! Dorpers breed year round, there is no set season. They also have a high percentage of twins and are excellent mothers.

*Meat! Dorper lambs grow quickly and wean at a high rate. They also have less fat then traditional lamb, which keeps the meat moist, but doesnât result in an overly fatty cut of meat. The taste of their meat is also quite mild compared to traditional wool breeds.

*Hardiness! Dorpers are non selective grazers, are extremely heat and parasite resistant..and are generally just easy animals to keep and handle. 

Our dorpers were truly tested during the epic drought of 2011 and came out on top, fairing extremly well in the intense, persistent heat! These animals are pleasant to have around and to care for, they are very docile and quite smart as well!

If you told me 4 years ago Id have "ranch magots", Id laugh at you..now I cant imagine the ranch without them..theyve become a focal point of our place..even outshining the horses and the cattle. They are such a pleasure to have around and so easy to care for..and you cant have a border collie without sheep..


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## tailwagging (Jan 6, 2005)

bergere said:


> Beautiful Soay's you have there TW.


THank you =)


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## TriWinkle (Oct 2, 2011)

Very good information from all of you...I appreciate it!

I've kinda been considering Dorpers..but don't know enough about the other breeds to make sure my decision was definitive...I like many of the wool breeds, but no one in the house really spins/knits/etc and I'm also thinking long-term...if I develop a herd, I'd prefer one that I didn't have to shear, I ain't getting any younger, so not having to manhandle them to shear'em is a plus and while I understand I could probably hire someone to shear'em (I think), I'd prefer to be as self-reliant as possible...and also it would cut into any profit...

Otherwise them babydolls would be in my yard by now!!:rock:


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

I've had several breeds and each one has been my favorite at the time.  I started raising Hamps in 4-H and liked them a lot. I'm not crazy about the trend in hamps for tube shaped giraffe necked sheep though, so I've moved away from them.  Then I worked on a farm with Montadales and Suffolks. Suffolks are so similar to Hamps. The Montadales were ok, but not great enough to make me really like them. They were just average, IMO. I've raised Southdowns (currently do) and really love them a ton. I like big sheep, and the 'downs are not huge but still a good sized sheep, super easy keepers, attractive to look at, and grow well. These arent' the babydoll southdowns, just Southdowns. I also like Romneys, and I used to raise them. Good fleeces, hardy sheep, no foot problems, and just an all-around great sheep. Now in addition to my 'downs, I have 2 Romney/Southdown cross ewes and I'm very happy with them. They've got decent fleeces and better growth than just Romneys. I think I'll breed them back to a Southdown this fall and I can't wait to see what I get!


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

Started with Icelandics, and love them- added a BFLxshetland (lovely fleece), and now Jacob. Hardy is what we needed here in our climate- and easy keepers. Agree on the flightyness of Shetlands, I have one Shetland ewe left, with a flighty Jacobx lamb- beautiful looking black fleece- hope to catch him someday to really see it up close! I switched to Jacobs as they shear 1x per year, and I found I was getting way too many fleeces- every nook and cranny is full of wool. We butcher our own sheep, so wanted to keep the size down- Icelandic is as large as we like to go. I am looking at a IcelandicxWensleydale ram for this years breeding... Dual purpose here- I sell spun yarn to markets and some fleece as well.


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

We have a commercial meat flock with wool ewes and rams but are cutting way back on them. The breeds in the mix are Dorset, Polypay, Hamp, and a couple of Suffolk ewes. Our last wool ram was a very nice Ile de France/Dorset blend from Minnesota known as Tamarack Prolific. He had one Booroola gene for prolificay and was sold locally to a flock on the Star System.

The Katahdin hair sheep were added in 2003 for Border collie herding training on lighter sheep. We like them for their easy keeping on grass with little grain, smaller size for better handling and loading, no assistance lambing with twins and triplets normally, and of course the hair coats and color variety.

What really convinced Paul to concentrate on the Katahdins was the winter he would put out a big square grass hay bale and a good alfalfa bale in the same area. The Katahdins ate the grass and got fat, the wool ewes ate the alfalfa and didn't hold condition as well. So now we are selling feeder-size lambs for the ethnic market and registered breeding stock, instead of feeding the crossbred wool lambs out ourselves. Less work, especially in the winter, and more profit for the bottom line. I never tried to talk him into it, he had to make up his own mind. It worked. No shearing is only a small part of the hair sheep equation for us.

Peg


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## Plowpoint (May 2, 2012)

I started with Montadales, and would really like to continue with them, but being in the North East, they are really hard to get. They do match my farm well, grow robust quickly, and have those chiseled faces that make their lambs pop right out. They are good mothers too, but darn if they are not hard to get here!

I then got a charge of cheap Hampshire sheep from a local college and really did not like them. They had foot rot which probably is why I was glad to see them die off and be replaced by a charge of Coradales I have. That is what I have now, and I like their quiet demeanor, but they just are not big enough for the 4H lamb market, nor do they get very big.

I am selling off the majority of my sheep now and will decide where to head genetically from there.


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## Hairsheep (Aug 13, 2012)

I went with Katahdin rams and Dorper X Katahdin ewes, because i am a novice to sheep raising, and they appear to be the easiest sheep that one can raise.
It is reported that they have a high tolerance to parasites, require no docking and shearing, and their meat remains mild even in older age(which equals more meat for me that is kinda beef flavored).
Furthermore, these sheep can be milked, and it is said on the net that one can get quite alot of milk from them to drink or make cheese with(do not know about butter).
They grow alot faster than goats, thus are available to eat much quicker.
They sell quite well...I was going to get 3 ewes and 4 rams9I was planning on eating two of them), but they were gone before I could get there, in just a day!
Their pelts make great leather, according to my research.
All in all, they seem to be almost the perfect sheep for the beginner, like me.


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## bruce2288 (Jul 10, 2009)

I have had all of the following in various numbers. I sell finished lambs about 130-150 lb to the commercial market.
Suffolk- never happy with their feed no matter what it is. vocal, not as herd oriented like to get out, eat like a cow, big, rams can be mean. Grow fast.

mother excellent milkers, open face, open udders.

Hampshire= what a meat wagon( the old style), broad head can make lambing difficult
Dorsets= compact and muscled, good milkers, I really liked the old style dorsets
Finn= Litters, This I thought would be a plus it was not quad and quints were an unwelcome site when I was lambing 300 ewes in Feb. Lambs grow slow.
All of the above do not clip much wool and the wool does not bring good prices commercially.

Rambolliet-Rangy, excellent grazers, will eat anything, can be flighty, not the best milkers, droopy bags, Lambs get good size but a little slow, the best fine wool and a lot of it. Wooled faces, wool everywhere, neck folds(a pain to shear)
Targhee=good wool and quantity, excellent lambs, nice sheep
cheviots= man are they cute, lambs discounted at market because of small size
dorper= good muscling, excellent mothers I like these sheep. black fat lambs sometimes discounted at market
columbian- big rugged sheep, a lot of decent wool, lambs grow well

These are my impressions from what I had different genetics and different situations will vary. I have very few purebreds on the place now except rams. A few breeds hamps, dorset have changed quite a bit since I owned purebreds.


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