# Dairy Sheep



## Tex- (May 18, 2014)

I have some questions about dairy sheep.

My doctor moved to this area fairly recently and he and his wife are trying to get a small 60 acre homestead up and running along with some other businesses. He is originally from the midwest and his wife was raised on a ranch here. For the most part, I think they are doing a great job with their little homestead. Every time I see him he is asking questions and wanting some advice.

One thing he is interested in getting into is making artisan cheeses from sheep milk. He has the room and resources to make this happen, so I feel like he will eventually be successful at it. He asks me about different aspects of this venture, but dairy sheep are something I know nothing about.

What breeds are the best choices for this venture?

What pitfalls should one look out for?

How much production could one expect from a sheep?

What differences are there between sheep and goats?

What other questions should I be asking about this?

I know about cattle and goats, but when it comes to dairy sheep, I don't even know what I don't know. LOL. Doc asks for my opinions and advice when it comes to getting his homestead going and I want to make sure that I am giving him the most accurate information I possibly can. On this stuff though, I am out of my element.

Are there any people here who have dairy sheep? What do you do with the milk?

I have tried to steer him toward goats or a dairy cow or two, but he has his mind set on sheep. Any help and advice you guys could pass onto me would be a huge help.


Thank you

Tex






T


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## KindFellow (Jan 15, 2011)

I would go with the Finnish Landrace. 
Research them. Their high lambing rate should boost the milk production and they are quie revered for their meat, wool and milk.


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## goto10 (Oct 5, 2009)

I can try to answer your questions on dairy sheep as I've done a lot of research on the subject. 

What breeds are the best choices for this venture?

The best choices are a dairy breed. These can be hard to come by depending on what part of the country you are located in. The most common and best producers are East Freisians or crosses of East Friesian, you will also find Lacaune and Awassi, although the last one has only just been brought into the country so it will be a while before they are readily available. 

What pitfalls should one look out for?

Ask about the sheep's genetic background, almost all dairy sheep in the US are not pure. They are mixed with other breeds because very few were imported before the government shut the borders down due to hoof and mouth disease. So some dairy sheep can look like dairy sheep but not produce like one. The production of most dairy sheep in the US pales in comparison to dairy sheep overseas. 

So it's recommended that if you are buying a lamb, you ask how much the ewe produced but I think that can be difficult especially if the breeder pulls the lambs from the moms, raises them all together and they don't even know which ewe they came from. 

How much production could one expect from a sheep?

From a dairy sheep you should expect to get at least 1 quart per day. It only goes up from there. 1/2 to 3/4 gallon per day with twice a day milking is common with good genetics. 

What differences are there between sheep and goats?

Sheep are easier to keep than goats. They are less mischievous and aren't constantly testing fencing although some will do that.

Sheep are grazers and goats are browsers. Which means sheep like to keep their head down while they eat, eating grass and things that are close to the ground while goats focus on things that are eye level and higher. This means sheep are less likely to eat your fruit trees but they also won&#8217;t clear brush like goats will. 

Nutrition requirements are almost identical except goats need copper and copper is toxic to sheep.

Most dairy sheep are short day breeders and will only breed in fall, some northern goat breeds are also seasonal breeders. Breeds of sheep and goats from warm climates can breed year round. 

Those are just a few things but they are actually very similar. 

What other questions should I be asking about this?

The more you ask, the more questions you'll probably come up with. 

Are there any people here who have dairy sheep? What do you do with the milk?

I have one dairy sheep. She is an East Friesian/Lacaune cross. I was milking katahdin sheep before I found her. She makes much more milk than they do. I plan on getting more in the future. I primarily use the milk for making cheese. You need less sheep's milk to make the same amount of cheese as you would cow's milk. 

Sheep milk products are up and coming in the US. We don't have enough sheep milk in this country to meet demand. We import more sheep milk than we produce. So there is definitely a market for it here. Every year more dairy sheep are available to people to start their own dairy sheep herds and start making artisan cheeses. The rest of the world has been wise to sheep as a dairy animal for thousands of years. In the US, we've only just discovered them in the past few decades and that has been hindered by limits on importation. I think your doc is smart to look into dairy sheep but I am definitely partial. 

I started with goats and moved to sheep because they are easier to work with and a little bit more chill than goats and you can't get sheep milk out of a goat.


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## meridianwoman (Nov 4, 2014)

Hawaii
Hi,
I would like to put ideas out about the possibility of starting a sheep dairy farm on the Big Island of Hawaii. I am not a farmer, but thought others might be interested in knowing that land in some parts of the island is not too expensive.
Presently, there are no sheep diary.
There are 2 cow dairies here, and they do well selling to local resorts and grocery stores. 
http://hdoa.hawaii.gov/blog/main/bidairyopenhouse/ 

Like many other residents of Hawaii, we are concerned about local food-sustainability, since most all food and dairy products are now imported from the mainland.

This website gives a little info about the need for more diary farms: http://www.hawaiidairyfarms.com/

Though my job is school teacher, I think about ways to improve local food sustainability and thought that this post might be helpful to a farmer that has dreams of starting a farm in Hawaii.
Below is a list of a few farms for sell (that I researched on a real estate site,) so that others can get an idea of the price of house/land. 

http://www.alohaliving.com/search/d...ortdir=desc&resultview=list&linkmlsnum=273829

http://www.alohaliving.com/search/d...ortdir=desc&resultview=list&linkmlsnum=272908

http://www.alohaliving.com/search/d...ortdir=desc&resultview=list&linkmlsnum=267772

http://www.alohaliving.com/search/d...ortdir=desc&resultview=list&linkmlsnum=267452

Though there are a variety of sheep raised on the Big Island for meat, it is possible to crossbred the resident ewe sheep (via air transport frozen fertility ) with diary sheep.

Though I don't know anything about farming, I might be able to some answer questions about moving the Hawaii's Big Island. I have lived here for 10 years

Sincerely,
Donna Grabow


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

Tex- said:


> Are there any people here who have dairy sheep? What do you do with the milk?
> 
> I have tried to steer him toward goats or a dairy cow or two, but he has his mind set on sheep.


Tex, we don't milk our sheep but do live in America's Dairyland, home of dairy sheep, goats, and of course cows. For example, there are thousands of dairy goats within a few miles of our farm.

Most sheep milk goes into cheese production (aside from raising lambs). They don't yield as much as goats and their lactation isn't as long, but the milk can be frozen and saved up to make cheese batches if necessary.

Starting with dairy sheep breeds really helps, rather than meat or wool breeds even if the ewes are prolific. Length of lactation is really important, as well as letdown ability.

If they can't find dairy-breed ewe lambs and good dairy rams, they can start with good ewe lambs and bring in dairy rams for each generation. I would stay away from show-type sheep and concentrate on production lines like Dorset or Polypay for example.

The Awassi and Assaf (Awassi-East Friesian cross) are coming from North Carolina and I would think that high-percentage rams should become available. They may or may not be suited for Wyoming weather.

Breeders in northwestern Wisconsin have big sheep dairies and should have lambs available for people willing to pay good money and be on their waiting lists. See http://www.sheepmilk.biz/

There is at least one active Yahoo group at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/dairysheep/info

The University of Wisconsin Extension is a leader in dairy sheep research, see http://fyi.uwex.edu/wisheepandgoat/dairy-sheep/

Peg


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

meridianwoman said:


> Though there are a variety of sheep raised on the Big Island for meat, it is possible to crossbred the resident ewe sheep (via air transport frozen fertility) with dairy sheep.


Donna, see my comments to Tex above. If they can import dairy sheep semen from other states, that would be the way to go for Hawaiian dairy sheep. It would take several generations more than starting with both dairy ewes and rams.

Peg


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## goto10 (Oct 5, 2009)

I believe it is legal to also transport live sheep into Hawai'i from the mainland. See links below. They needs to be vet checked and dipped and maybe some other details. It would also likely costs thousands of dollars but once there, it would not be difficult to propagate them. 

Someone starting a sheep dairy in Hawai'i should also probably consider the climate and which breed is best suited. Awassi or Assaf may be ideal as they originate from hot climates. I believe the East Friesian are not as suited to hot climates and can overheat or will not produce as well. 

As PNP Katahdins mentions, you could also import dairy sheep semen and cross with your local meat breeds to create a breed that is more suited to your conditions but the tradeoff is they will not be as productive as pure dairy sheep and it would take a lot of time to breed for more production. 

http://www.hawaiian-transport.com/pricing.php

http://hdoa.hawaii.gov/ai/ldc/importing-livestock/sheep-and-goats/


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