# Can you have a solitary sheep?



## gabbyraja (Feb 27, 2012)

I'm not up on sheep, but I know it's not a good idea with goats. I'd imagine sheep (flock animals) would be the same. 

We're buying a house on an acre. About 1/2 acre will be for the sheep. We're keeping a sheep for the milk for our family. We need her grass-fed, with "pasture" more than hay as much as possible. So, we really only have the room for the one. When originally planning this I was hoping we'd have enough land for 2 ewes and their lambs through the summer, but that's not going to happen here. I haven't met the neighbor yet that owns a few acres behind us that is never used, so I may be able to lease it in the future. But, for now, just the one sheep.

So, my questions are:
1. Can you keep just one? The neighbors have at least 1 horse, maybe 2, but I don't think they'd be closer than an acre apart. Not exactly company. There will be chickens, but again, not so much company.
2. Maybe a nigerian dwarf goat? Would she keep the sheep company, and would she eat any less than a finn milking sheep? The kids desperately want a ND again, so if she'd keep good company and eat less she's a possibility.
3. Any tips you've got on keeping a milk sheep, please send them my way!

TIA


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

You want a milking sheep, but she is only going to get pasture with limited hay (I assume no grain)? I fear that this cannot end well. 

But what I have heard is that sheep really need at least three to feel secure and to think, which is why three are used in sheepdog trials.


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## gabbyraja (Feb 27, 2012)

No, no, not limited hay, just as little as I can get away with and keep her healthy and in milk. Grass-fed animals give healthier milk and meat. I understand that WHILE milking she will need supplementation. I do have a milk sheep mentor, and he'll help me with those things. I just don't know anything about the dynamics of the smallest possible flock, and didn't really think to ask him, since he has about 100 sheep, so he wouldn't know how well they do alone/in small groups.


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## gabbyraja (Feb 27, 2012)

Shoot, I know 3 sheep would rip up that grass so quickly it'd be a muddy pit in a week. Maybe I'd better start with 2 mini goats, then move to sheep after I've got the neighbors on my side. Goats are just such a pain, and the milk tastes goaty to me, no matter what goat people say. Once you've had a buck on your farm in the Fall, you never EVER forget that taste. It permeates the very cells of your body. BLECH!


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## gabbyraja (Feb 27, 2012)

Although, I (meaning my kids) could probably take the sheep out to the unused land behind us to graze them there for a few hours in the morning (tie-out under supervision) and maybe again in the evening... As long as we didn't put up permanent fencing on their property. I wanted to do that on occasion in the front yard, as well, anyway. Something to think about.


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## sheepish (Dec 9, 2006)

gabbyraja said:


> We're keeping a sheep for the milk for our family.


You are aware that sheep's milk has twice the fat content of cow's milk (about 7%) and doesn't naturally separate out? It is good for cheese, but with that amount of fat, it isn't a source of table milk.

Solitary sheep aren't happy sheep. They really like their own species.

Sheep are gentle grazers, in that they don't rip up grass like horses, and they fertilize while they graze. The key is regrowth of your pasture. Is growth even through your growing season, or does it go dormant when it gets hot. If you can't cross fence, sheep will eat just the tender new stuff and leave the older taller stemmy grass.

Most sheep are easier on fencing than most goats, but that doesn't mean you won't get sheep that are escapers.


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## DamnearaFarm (Sep 27, 2007)

I honestly wouldn't plan on being able to use the acreage behind you AT ALL. It belongs to someone else and basing your animal acquisition on someone else's property is wrong. 

In all honesty, I would wait until I actually OWN the house and acre and THEN work on a plan for animals. 
I've seen your posts on various forums regarding this issue. You will not be able to do the bare minimum for ANY animal and recieve it's maximum output- no matter what the animal or the output is.
If you're truely committed to raising your own (be it meat, milk, eggs, etc) then educate yourself on the PROPER way to care for the animals in question and THEN ask yourself if that's possible in your situation. Trying to force the animal to conform to your situation is unfair to all involved. 
I'm not trying to be mean, but I hate to see children's expectations and animal's health suffer when a little forethought would keep it from happening.


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## gabbyraja (Feb 27, 2012)

We have been drinking the milk for a year, as have cultures around the world for thousands of years.

That is really exactly what I am trying to do. I am not even considering getting sheep until the fall at the earliest. We need time to figure out the area. I am trying to learn as much as I can, which includes asking questions here.


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## gabbyraja (Feb 27, 2012)

Funny story, our katadihns used to escape regularly, and we never found the spot, but they would stay in the yard. They used to love to just hang out by the house, and when we came out they would just head back into the pasture without any trouble. It aw astonishing because they were skittish enough to run literally gany time we actually needed to do anything with them like hoof trimming or worming.


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## Dreamgoat Annie (Nov 28, 2011)

You cannot tie out (tether) sheep. Please. Tethering any animal is dangerous but sheep are wired to flee when frightened. You'd be courting (huge) disaster. I know it's done some places in Europe but it's still a really bad idea.

I have known adult former bottle babies that are content without other sheep as long as they have the companionship of some other type of animal roughly their own size (one of our bottle babies bonded with our dogs and hung out with them instead of the rest of the flock) but for the most part you need two and preferably three or four sheep for natural herd dynamics to occur.

Sue


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

You know that hay is pasture/grass, right? Grass-fed includes hay...since it's grass. That or I hope you don't have winter where you are.

I have six sheep on 2 acres - expanded to three when the grass gives out in late summer. It kind of depends on what that 1/2 acre is growing. If you supplement with hay, keeping them penned up part of the day so they will eat the hay, you can do it. I'd worry about the smell of the holding space on a 1 acre lot. 

No to one sheep. Just not a good idea. Goats and sheep together can work, but goats need copper, sheep can't have it. You'd need to copper bolus the goat from time to time (I know nothing about goats so ask someone how much and when) and to feed sheep minerals to both.


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## Patrick (Sep 13, 2011)

RamblinRoseRanc said:


> I honestly wouldn't plan on being able to use the acreage behind you AT ALL. It belongs to someone else and basing your animal acquisition on someone else's property is wrong.
> 
> In all honesty, I would wait until I actually OWN the house and acre and THEN work on a plan for animals.
> I've seen your posts on various forums regarding this issue. You will not be able to do the bare minimum for ANY animal and recieve it's maximum output- no matter what the animal or the output is.
> ...


 I agree. You might want to start being a little bit more realistic. If your previous sheep were getting out, your facilities were not adequate, period. I'm confused as to why you think that one sheep and one goat will fit, but two sheep will not. Three is nice for a minimum flock size, but two will do if you have to. Even with a half acre and two sheep you'll probably have to suppliment with hay, but look into intensive rotational grazing. You might be surprised at how many animals you can fit in a certain area if you practice it properly. Excluding the pasture issues, 1/2 acre is more than enough room for 2 sheep, and even if you had to feed 100% hay on a dry lot situation, if you can't afford to do that for only two sheep, you should be worried about other priorities than keeping sheep.


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