# Introductions



## Ross (May 9, 2002)

We have some new posters here on the sheep board and of coarse they are most welcome to contribute thier experiences and thoughts. Our original intros are buried deep and rather than dig it out I thought we could all just resign in or post a few lines about ourselves, as a renewed/new get to know each other. 

Me first: We have a family run farm in E Ontario, where we raise lambs for Halal and farmers' market sales from 200 cross bred and or PB ewes. Our flock is comprised of North County Cheviot, Suffolk, Hampshire, Dorset, Canadian and Rideau Arcott and Polypay. That's being narrowed down!! We also hope to get wool processign up and running for both our own wool and as a custom service for others. Milking ewes for cheese production is a very slow to grow side of our farm and perhaps one day we'll tie it all together!


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## Thumper/inOkla. (May 10, 2002)

I am located in centeral Okla, right now I just have one lamb of unknown breed, and we are learning with him.

So far, we are likeing him very much and look forward to getting some purebred sheep in a year or so. Right now I am likeing Red sheep.

edited to update info on 4/13/05:

Hi, since this thread was on the top page, I thought an update was in order.

I now have 3 navajo-churro sheep, [one black, one brown and one oatmeal in color] 2 ewe's and a ram and the coopworth ram [white], that I started with.
I free range and so far all are doing well.


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## Shahbazin (Dec 10, 2002)

I am in southern CA, & have a flock of 26 Shetlands, and an Angora goat. I've had the sheep for a little over 7 years now. I do my own shearing, spin, & crochet; obviously, my focus is on the wool. My current project is raising some dye plants in my garden  I also raise fancy poultry, & run a couple of Anatolian Shepherd dogs with my flocks.


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## Hank - Narita (Aug 12, 2002)

At present we don't have sheep but hope to get some bummers to raise on our goats' milk. Our county has a expert on Dorper sheep and his relatives formed the Dorper society or organization. We hope to get cross breds of Dorper/Suffolk or Dorset. We used to have a Dorset ewe and several head of Suffolks in Central CA. Where in SoCal are you located?


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## Shahbazin (Dec 10, 2002)

I'm in San Diego county - are you thinking of coming down to the San Diego County (used to be Del Mar fair, same place, different name) fair this next week? The wool sheep & Angora goats are on exhibit Tues. the 15th - Sun. the 20th. I'm hauling some sheep down on Monday - this will be my 4th year showing.


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## shepmom (May 29, 2003)

We started out with 3 Blackbelly hair sheep(lambs) last October and purchased 2 more ewe lambs. (they are addictive) One of the ewe lambs is a cross. She's blackbelly/katahdin. I always like having an oddball in the mix. :haha: 

The eldest lambs will be a year old mid-July. No signs that they are with lambs.
They didn't turn out, being as prolific as I thought they would. The ewes seem to be quite good at avoiding the ram, but then he isn't very persistent, either.
We'll give it some more time before we get another ram. (he's grown on our hearts--he's quite a character, but if need be we'll put him in the freezer locker)

We're already wanting more, if we could afford it. For now they keep the pastures(field) mowed and provide us with entertainment and manure for garden, trees and plants. Very curious and observant (though Jumpy) breed.

Central NC...hot and Humid


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## Gunner (Jun 20, 2002)

Hello,
My wife (Kat) and I raise purebred Katahdin sheep here in south central MO. Our base flock started out with 3 ewes and 3 ewe lambs a short time back. We are up to 23 in our flock and are still growing.

We (or should I say I), retired from the U.S. Coast Guard 3 years ago. We own a 43 acre farm that we raise sheep, background a few head of calves and have a small flock of chickens.

We currently have 5 papered ram lambs that are available for anyone interested.


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## Guest (Jun 14, 2004)

We have a small flock of Corriedale/Icelandic ewes in central Wisconsin. This year's lambs are out of a Dorset ram that carries the Booroola gene. The traits that we select for are low-maintenance, mothering ability, and prolificacy. We sell lambs to individuals, and also some naturally-colored roving and quilt batts.

Enrique, Janet, Susan, and Leo
Wintersong Farm
Coloma, Wisconsin
[email protected]


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## renee7 (Mar 15, 2003)

I'm in East/Central Indiana. I have 2 goats. I milk one. about 25 chickens, banty's and guenia's. 
A little over a week ago, I bought 10 half Katahdin weathers. they are really small about 20 lb. I have never raised sheep before. But if I can get them over this hump, I know that I will love raiseing them.
I lost one.

I see one of the problems. They have no tail at all. they've been docked right up to the tail bone. 

Anyway, i'm doctoring them, and hopefully they will come thru.

I bought this 3 acres 2 yrs ago. And I love it.


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## Taylor (May 11, 2002)

We are in west central Indiana, and raise Shetlands. Along with a Jersey cow, chickens (darn rooster ate my blueberries off the lower bush today) and a Nubian goat for fun. We select for hardiness, wool quality, and mothering ability. Just sheared Saturday, and the shearer complimented us on our docile, easy-going flock, so I was glad to hear the opinion of someone who's seen lots of area flocks.
Good luck to all the new shepherds, and a couple of good resources:
Fleece Fair at Greencastle, IN is always the second Saturday in April at the Putnam County fairgrounds. Lots of fiber-related booths and demonstrations, shearing school, workshops, and sheep people to talk with.
Indiana State Fair - early August, Indianapolis, various breed classes which are great for finding out about the different breeds and who raises them, plus the Sheep-to-Shawl contest is quite interesting.


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## Sarah J (Jun 28, 2003)

I suppose it's my turn.

Northwest Iowa. We've been working for five years to get our homestead up to snuff, so to speak. We have six sheep - all Suffolk and SuffolkX. One adult (four years, I think?) and her two 6 month old lambs (one of whom is hitting the freezer as soon as I can get around to it!), and three more bottle lambs. We have two adult goats (Nubian and Saanen) for milking and their two doelings who are getting weaned as we speak. I have a Holstein calf for beef next year (he's only 6 months), a variety of chickens for eggs and meat, two rabbits (pets only), and a large fuzzy predator dog, who has a high respect for the electric fence he's in...we need a LGD ASAP, too, for keeping with the sheep. Hoping to get a Grt. Pyr but can't really travel...makes getting one in my area very difficult! Everyone seems to have labradors here...great for hunting, not so great for guarding. *sigh*

Four acres, big garden, pasture area. Happy as can be!

Sarah


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## sistertwo (Jul 11, 2004)

As of Aug 03 I am located in NE Kansas having moved from Birmingham, Alabama. I'm single mom with a teenage son. We bought an old school house with plans on remodeling. Currently in the kitchen and out of money. My dream is to build a miniture farm to add to my "one room school house" with hopes of offering fieldtrips to Topeka area school kids. I am a teacher in one of Topeka's poorest schools and couldn't believe these kids didn't even know what a ranch was!
I purchased a black lamb this spring he went to school with me one day and was a huge hit! He is a loyal companion and very much a mama's boy! I don't know what breed.

Because I desire a miniture farm I am interested in babydoll sheep and hope to aquire a couple next spring (if I can get the kitchen back together). 
Thanks for the helpful info!


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## Carol K (May 10, 2002)

I'm Carol, and have just become interested in hair sheep. I raised a couple of lambs for the freezer a couple of years ago and the wool put me off doing them full time!! Then I kept reading about hair sheep and so I'm doing my research. I've been on the forum since the old countryside board, but new to the sheep forum. I'm reding through the older pages here to learn all I can, but I'm sure I'll have loads of those newbie questions for you all!!

Carol K


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## mawalla (Oct 28, 2002)

I live in Northwest Arkansas with my husband and two young daughters. We have 7 acres where I raise market lambs out of my small flock of cross bred ewes. We also have a small flock of chickens that we have as ornaments and egg layers. Of course there are also 3 dogs, 4 cats, 2 parakettes a fish and a lizard that share our space.

I was a Licensed nursing home administrator for 20 years. I retired to stay home with kids,(I had my children at an older age than most folks.) I now do the books for my husband's land surveying business as well as work part time for a mixed practice veterinarian clinic as an assistant and receptionist,(my "fun" job!) I'm a co-leader for a girl scout troop and do some volunteer work at the girls' school. 

Homesteading Today has always been a real fun place for me to cruise. I was very happy that they set up a Sheep" forum as the little buggers are one of my passions!

MAWALLA


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## Cat (Jun 19, 2004)

Hello, I am a newbie to the forum (in a manner of speaking) as I hadn't frequented it often but have started doing so for the sheep and goat forums. I run 10 mixed breed ewes, from Columbia X to Romanov X. I was up to 20 at one point but the winter feed bill got to be too much, but boy oh boy do I wish I had that many now as we have weeds 5' high from all the rain we've gotten this summer!  I'm interested in starting a PB flock, I really like the cheviots but have just recently began looking at other breeds. Icelandic has been suggested, as has Dorper. I don't have any goats at the moment but I hope to find a few in the near future, preferably Alpine, or a swiss breed if at all possible. I'm now trying to deal with health issues in one of my ewes, a lady I raised on a bottle in the house! I'm hoping it's physical injury rather than illness, if that's anything to hope for!  At any rate, I look forward to participating in the forum!


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## Jen H (Jun 16, 2004)

I guess its my turn to drop out of lurk!

Hubby and I have 30 acres east of Bellingham, WA where we grow cider apples and make hard cider. We have 2 cashmere goats, 3 dogs (husky, kelpie, and german shorthair), 2 cats, and now 2 sheep (cheviot, black welsh mtn x). 

We just sheared one of the sheep, and really did a lousy job. The goats I just brush the underhair out, so this was our first time shearing. I weave and spin, so this really helps cut down on my yarn addiction.


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## Reynard Ridge (Aug 11, 2004)

Husband and I have farm in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Bought it about 2 years ago and it is a fixer, fixer upper! The family we bought it from had been here for about 50 years and did everything themselves. Just not all that well. 

Ah, well, nothing lots of time and money won't solve!!

Right now, I have 100 mostly Rhode Island Red layers. I sell the eggs locally. We have about 60 acres in hay, so will get a horse in the spring (I have ridden all of my life) and we are considering all of the following: feeder cattle, feeder sheep and feeder goats. We're not ready to start breeding, we want to see how we do with livestock before we get in too deep. We are also going to do small scale maple syrup next winter and have planted a few Christmas trees, looking to expand as we have time and energy. 

I knit and am learning to spin, but am leary of getting sheep 'just' for the fiber (basically, all of our farming projects have to have a reasonable payout and I haven't figured out how to make that one work). There are enough people around here with sheep who discard the fleece every year that I don't need to have sheep of my own to happily spin and knit all year long. 

I found this site yesteday - and will spend the next week reading all of the back history! But expect to see me around!

Ellen


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## MichaelK (May 6, 2004)

We live in upstate NY on the VT border where we raise registered Katahdins.
We have three blood lines going and one is from the original Piel farm in Maine.

We are a grass fed operation on 143 acres currently supporting 32 breeding ewes and one breeding age ram and three ram lambs. (Two of which are for sale).

We have three border collies, one a trial dropout who is the hardest and most important worker we have; the other two are still training, (one thinks he's a Labrador!).

We use two female llamas as guardians. They are sisters, and so far so good.

We sell registered breeding stock, freezer lambs and lamb for farmer's markets in upstate NY and Vermont.


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## LeahN (Oct 18, 2003)

I'm Leah from Henry County, Kentucky. We raise dorsets and Lincoln longwools and at the moment we have about 55 sheep, 11 of which are wethers and lambs that will be butchered or sold (if someone wants a ram or wether) in the near future. We also raise Icelandic horses and Gotland ponies, chickens, ducks, guineas, and a few peafowl. We have a few nubian goats, a boer cross doe, 2 alpacas, a mini donkey, 3 mustangs (including a Kiger) various dogs and cats, a cockatiel, a few fish tanks, and the newest addition, a sugar glider. 
We're raising the sheep for the lamb meat, which we're selling live and we'll have the lambs butchered for the buyers. We'd also like eventually to sell wool from the Lincolns, but we have a burr problem in an area of one of our pastures and this coming year will be the first attempt at making decent fleeces. There is some good wool from the past 2 years, but its all been bagged together so we have about 600 lbs of wool in the barn that hasn't been used.
I'm actually moving to Iowa on Sunday for school...I'm going to vet school at Iowa State, but I'll be coming home on breaks to work the sheep. I'm sure I'll get to worm, trim hooves, and vaccinate when I'm home! I have a detailed database of sheep records that I'll still keep up so I can help manage the flock from Iowa. 
Leah


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## woolfool (Jul 25, 2004)

Hi

Victoria here, I work at a living history museum in Dallas where we have a flock of Rambouillets. We also have Mammoth Jackstock donkeys, a Milking Shorthorn and a flock of Dominiques. Among my many jobs and I am mom to the sheep. 


In my spare time I spin, knit and weave. This spring I started my own little business and have been shearing for the local petting zoos and other small flocks. 


Victoria

http://www.woolfool.com
http://www.oldcitypark.org


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## kit (Apr 15, 2004)

Hello all....

We have been raising purebred registered Katahdin ewes for about 7 years now. We have built up a good quality flock and find our Katahdin ewes make excellent mothers raising twins & triplets easily. We do help out with the quads though. Found this site about 3 months ago and think it is just great!!! I look forward to reading the always interesting posts and Ross you do a wonderful job posting good information.

One question though - how do I go about attaching a picture to this post. Would like to show off some of my sheep!!!


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

To post a picture, it has to be uploaded to the internet. There are a number of sites that will host your picture free of charge and I'm sure the computer forum will have more suggestions. I use Photo Island as its relatively straight forward nd gives you a "link for auction" which is the web address of the photo for posting! You simply get that link and use the Insert Image button (the yellow one under the size drop down box for the font) in the new post window or the advanced reply window. (not quick reply) 

If its too much for you just email me the picture and I'll get it up ASAP. 
sheepfarmer{AT}sympatico.ca {AT}--->@


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## MorrisonCorner (Jul 27, 2004)

The Farm At Morrison Corner here. We've been here for over 200 years, and you can see the farm history through the eyes of the women at http://www.gatewaytovermont.com/thefarm/MorrisonCorner.htm . 

We decided a few years ago to start reworking the farm after about a half century of it not being worked. 50 years grows a lot of trees, so our largest crop, by far, is wood. We got into sheep rather by accident. I was bored one winter and decided to experiment with organic search engine placement. I picked a common breed of sheep and built a website designed to power up the search engines. Which it did. Nicely. So nicely our "farm" was featured in a national magazine. We spent many months living in dire fear of having them field a photographer, whereupon it would have become patently obvious that the website was built out of clip art and pixie dust.

But we ended up with so many requests for visits that we decided what the heck... and added Icelandic sheep to the chicken, dog, and cat, pony show. What we farm is primarily tourists. They arrive in the spring, grow through the summer, and are really harvested in the fall :haha:  Everything else is just incidental. Fun, rewarding, and all that... but unlike many posters, I look upon wool as a waste by product. What I really value is the waste from the sheep sheds, which is used over my inch of pulverized rock which is trying to pretend it is topsoil. :no: 

:dance: Next year... currant bushes! T


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## Shahbazin (Dec 10, 2002)

What a darling spotty lamb!
Ok, here's another for the Shetland cuteness file!
This is Ivy, one of the ewe lambs I'm keeping this year:


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## ShortSheep (Aug 8, 2004)

What a beautiful little girl! I love lamb photos.


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## lessard (Sep 21, 2004)

hello,
i have a 30 hectares land in south-west of Quebec, Canada. I will have two sheeps of LEICESTER breed next month. I look at the archives of this forum to inform myself about sheeps.
I have two horses, 1 goat, plymouth rock chicks and rooster, Embden geese, Rouen ducks. Dog and cats too.
Now I raise poultry for meat and egg, horse for riding and skidding (eventually for driving) Goat and sheep are as pet, wool producer and grass eater, but I plan to raise them for meat if everything is right for them here. 
I do leatherwork and bridlework for horses, repair saddles...

I'm here since two years now and I cannot imagine return to the city in a small appartment...Animals are so good for me. 

Marie


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Welcome Marie! I hope you find this board useful and will have time to share some of your experiences with us too! 
(PS thanks for going through all the pages and finding this thread, I'll add it to the "Directory")


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

Hi everyone,
I live in the city, less than three miles from the big downtown office buildings, so I guess I'm really a homesteader-wannabe. We managed to buy an used field next to our little lot, so now we have about two acres of land. We fenced it all in, put up a coop and got some chickens. This year, I decided to try sheep as well. I just got two beautiful Shetland ewes and am trying to learn about keeping sheep. If all goes well, come spring I'll try to learn about shearing, and then the following spring about lambing.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Well,, just until last month I had sheep,, I found good homes for the last two sheep,, these ones sold do to having to move to another state.

Have been around sheep a long time. Father raises Sufflocks... I desided I wanted something smaller.
Raised Jacobs, Babydolls & Black Welsh Mountains for awhile,, and for one reason or another decided I did not like the breeds for various reasons.
Ended up with Brecknock Hill Cheviots (small Cheviots), I raised them for a number of years. The best sheep breed I have ever raised.
I love handspinning yarn.

This is Sadie,, one of my prized ewes.. (Her picture is being used without my permission on another site, which has me miffed) There are others below.


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## landlord (Sep 9, 2004)

I live in northern Iowa and currently have Suffolk-X sheep. We have had sheep around for over 25 years. I love the docile creatures except when the ram gets aggresive when it is breeding time. I have 
encountered several diseases associated with the critters: sore mouth, foot rot, tetanus, worming problems, enterotoxemia, pneumonia, and dog attacks. The worst being is the dog attacks. Especially when the sheriff does not do anything but slap the wrist of the dog owners. I am thankful :worship: not to have had all the nasties that do come with raising sheep. 

The most splendid of all is taking the sheep to an Ag Fair for Ag In The Classroom for a Farm Bureau Ag Week. Especially when the twin lambs were but a couple of days old. Mama Ewe went as well. Thanks to the kids, # 15 became known as FifTina... to this day... 
Kids love the little creatures and every now and then you get kids that are so afraid of animals they will not touch a live one, that is when you have a stuffed animal around and sure enough they will touch the live one. Kids and animals, sure makes life interesting...


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## hoggfan (Sep 19, 2004)

My name is Kendall and I live in western Arkansas . I've just bought a place with 25 acres and started my flock with 21 barbados, 3 goats, 2 doves and 2 dogs. We are new to this farming thing but we try hard.


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## Mouse (Aug 29, 2002)

Hi, I'm Marion and my husband, Jon, and I have had sheep for almost 2 years now. We started with a white faced Shropshire ewe and her 2 lambs. We now have about 5 American Blackbellies (new name for the horned Barbados Blackbellies) and 8 wooly sheep of various breeds (most unknown). We also have 2 wethers, one a boerX the other a LaMancha. We have 2 young horses who we hope to someday ride and help with sheep roundup. I have a little egg business so we have lots of brown egg layers and too many roosters (I sell denim apron/saddles for the hens). I also raise turkeys, guineas, and ducks (Pekins and Muscovies). We have 7 house rescue dogs of whom 4 are great with the birds and animals.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Well I'm new to the boards...am the stay at home mother of 3....we recently got our little place in the country after it had been a dream for some time. We are on 3 little acres with a plethora of animals... 3 sheep (hmm, is mutt a breed? ) a lamancha milk goat..few geese...ducks...chickens...dogs..cats...and a host of other small "pets"


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## Lisa M. (Apr 30, 2003)

I live in upstate NY near the VT border. I have two dorset ewes. I have a small farm. 5 acres to be exact. I am mostly interested in the fiber. I have been studying sheep farming but realize its more learn as you go. I recently received a wonderful gift from the man in my life. A ashford traditional. I am now ready to go. ( well I will be ready in the spring when I can shear my sheep, anyway. Untill then its to market to market to by me some wool.) 
I am looking forward to learning as much as possible on the processing and raising sheep.


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## JoAnn in SD (May 10, 2002)

Out of lurkdom again, I am JoAnn and live in NE South Dakota on 56 acres of land. My husband and I both work fulltime off the farm. On the farm, we currently have 45 ewes, half which are mixed breed of lincoln finn and/or suffolk, quarter are corriedale mix and the rest are corriedale purebred. We have cut down our flock in the past two years because it was getting to be too much work come lambing, especially if we wanted to stay awake at our jobs in town. :haha: We are also moving towards purebred corriedale and corriedale/suffolk mix as we seem to get a better price at the sale barn. PLus, since I spin, the corriedale wool is wonderful!
We also have two llamas, laying hens, two icelandic sheep, one pygmy goat and one LaMancha goat. 
I have been viewing posts on the forum since days of the old forum, about 4 or 5 years? Not keeping track. 
We have learned a lot about lambing and sheep care so if anyone needs advice please feel free to email me. [email protected]
JoAnn in SD


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## Craftyshepherdess (Sep 12, 2002)

Whew, I'd been away from HT so long I was surprised (and very pleased!) to see a separate sheep board when I happened back 

I presently run about 60 ewes of a variety of breeds & crosses including Finn, Corriedale, Lincoln, Romney, Border Leicester and Cormo (canya tell I'm into wool?) on a 70 acre farm in central NY. I also shear my own flock (with handblades) and use some of my wool for felting and handspinning/knitting/crocheting my own products, the rest is marketed to handspinners. Also keep some dairy goats, an assortment of poultry, and have several dogs including a wonderful English Shepherd that helps keep all the critters and my kids in line, lol!

-Tish


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## CountryFried (Dec 22, 2003)

Hello !
East Tn. is our location. I began with Jacob sheep , because of their looks. I have 14 now , from 3. 
We have sheared them , and I am learning to spin. The clippers tore up and we did them with hand shears. Whew, that taught us alot !
Sherry


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## Lana (Jan 15, 2005)

We live is Sandy Oregon at the base of beautiful MT Hood.We raise Border Cheviot sheep and Katahdins.We train and compete in sheep and cow trials and use our Border Collies every day on the farm.We market out lambs as freezer lambs,grass feed.no steriods or antibiotics.Lana


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## SilverVista (Jan 12, 2005)

Hello!
This must be "Oregon day" -- we live an hour southwest of Lana, between Mount Angel and Silverton. We have a small herd of Angus cattle, a handful of different goats with a PB Boer buck, a handful of horses and PB Oxford sheep. The sheep were DD's 4-H and FFA project, and I always thought she would sell out to help finance college. HA! She dearly loves her sheep, and enjoys participating in a couple of county fairs, and the state fair. College is only an hour down the road, so I oversee things during the week, and she comes home to work in the barn every single weekend. We had 9 lambs last Saturday, out of a total expected crop of about 20! Amazing grace -- how would I have managed if it had been a weekday?

Another DD who is grown and gone, had PB Border Leicester sheep for her project. I miss them! They were definitely deeper thinkers than the Oxfords, more like goats in their ability to play mind games with you and to always know where the weak spot in the fence was. Great handspinning wool too. I dream of someday having enough spare time to spin like I did when the girls were little.

Susan


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## Lana (Jan 15, 2005)

Susan,we had 10 lambs sunday out of 100 or so due must have been in the air!Lana


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## jacobs (Jan 11, 2005)

Hi all!
I've been raising jacobs and jacobs X sheep for about 8yrs in Brussels, Wisconsin. The jacobs are extremely hardy and easy to raise. I changed from spring lambing to late fall and winter lambing 3yrs ago and have only lost one lamb since doing so. I sold half of my flock last fall and am currently at 38. I also have about 200 freerange chickens, a small flock of turkeys, some muscovy ducks, and 10 horses of my own and two boarders horses here on the farm, plus 3 horses and a pony out on loan.
DW and I have 80acres, grow our own hay and sell a little. We both have "city jobs" to support our animal habit. We have a few apple and cherry trees. DW is heavy into 4-H (officer) with the horse and pony project and give riding lessons, and trucks the horses to horse shows for the lesson kids. I like to ride, am into digital photography, am a musician, but my favorite thing is working with the tractor plowing, planting and harvesting. When I get a little ambition I like to make things (invent), usually out of necessity.

Here are a couple of my babes from this year, one a jacobs and one a jacobs/barbados X. Nothing cuter than a jacobs lamb!


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## Snomama (Jul 27, 2004)

Hello  

My dh and I purchased a small 5 acre farm last spring. We are so THRILLED  

We started out with two Jacob/Cheviot crossed ewes that were bred and three goats of assorted origins. I had been around sheep all my life. My Dad raised Corriedales. I was *SURE* I would hate goats, but dh said we needed them to eat down this uncared for land. You know what, I *may* like goats better than sheep   

So, on our small farm we now have 4 pb Jacob ewes and our two original crosses, one pb Jacob ram. We have 8 goats of assorted origins, one pygmy and her new baby. We also have a wonderful Great Pyrenees that does a fantastic job protecting our animals who is being very spoiled right now b/c she managed to get sick during the cie storms :no: She is inside the house eating ice cream and popsicles! :haha: 

We also have several barn cats, a house cat, a basset hound, and a ferret.....and did I forget to mention the six children under the age of 12?  :haha: 

We love our little piece of the Ozarks here in SW MO. We plan on adding chickens to the mix this spring and hopefully a lama and horse too  AND if I can just persuade my dh, a milk cow too  

Melissa


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## rileyjo (Feb 14, 2005)

Hi I'm Jo and I'm in Central Ontario. I used to keep Dorsets and I am currently sheep shopping. I have dairy goats, hogs, horses and poultry. I have border collies who help move the goats around. Alot of my questions are finding answers here.


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## Shazza (Nov 20, 2004)

I have been all over this forum and haven't intoduced myself anywhere...so here goes...we have 40 acres in central Victoria Australia...fortunately in a bit of a rain belt so still have green grass in the middle of summer, although hasnt been a very hot summer here. We have Dexters and a few Red polls, 23 sheep, 5 Toggenburgs, 1 Saanen, 4 Pigs, 4 Pugs, and a cat. We started with just a few sheep and then a couple more with a young ram and when I wasn't sure if they were pregnant I had the opportunity to buy some English Leicester ewes. So we bought them, 2 ewes with 3 ewe lambs, plus a black English Leicester/Corriedale Ram. All our sheep are colored, some spotty, and a few white Merino crosses and now the eng Lec which are white but carry the black gene. Anyway all the original sheep lambed, one had triplets, which blew the herd to 23. The plan is to put the new ram over everything to help improve the fleeces. I love spinning and knitting and could do it all day. Last year I handraised one of the triplets and a lamb a mummy rejected, they are now running and grazing the house yard...they dont know they are sheep and wont stay with them. We shear once a year in around September....I have enough sheep now to have enough fleeces to be able to spin all year. :haha:


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## doodles (Sep 27, 2002)

Hi my name is Angie and I live in north Ga. with my family of 7. We have primarily Icelandics but also have a few Lincoln Wensleydale crosses. We have around 75 right now but that will soon be at least 200 after we lamb. I am in the process of trying to relocate to S.W. Virginia. We have all the usual farm friends-ducks,chickens,cows,pea fowl,cows,dogs,cats,kids etc.


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## Kim Martin (Jan 17, 2005)

Hellow! I'm Kim in N.E. Okla, Me and DH have 10 acres and just got moved over here! (I'm disabled and its tooke awhile to remodel!) I have 5 Hamp and Hamp/suffox (sp?) mix ewes, and got got given 3 alpine molking does. Hubby has 9 reg. angus cattle. (8 cows, 1 bull calf) Not everybody is here! We're still working on some of the fencing and pens and stuff. I do have my 3 pregnant moms finally here, and not to soon! I think I might have babies starting the first week of March. I also have 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 7 exotic parrots (I also do rescue/rehad on exotics!) I just need an extra 990 acres, and I'm all set! :haha: have a great day, and I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's! Kim


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## FairviewFarm (Sep 16, 2003)

Hi all,

My husband and I live on a beautiful farm in central Wisconsin near Neillsville. We have tended our flock of ~50 purebred Hampshires for over 20 years. Our lambs are sold as fresh frozen freezer lamb and through a nearby stockyard. While I've not pursued developing a market for the wool, I have been marketing pelts that are as soft as suede. My goal for the coming growing season is to improve my pasture management skills through better grazing practices. A future goal will be downsizing, not the flock numbers, but the size of the animals. As we approach the half century mark, 200 pound Hamps are taking their toll.  With that in mind I've been researching other breeds that will fit our needs.

Karen


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## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

after looking through this thread i noticed i had neglected to post an intro.my wife, kids and i are part of an ontario sheep farm with my brother and his wife and kids. my wife is a licensed water treatment/waste water treatment operator. i have farmed since i was 13 first keeping heifers for a neighbour and later beef cows with my brother. as well i milked cows and did custom work in a hundred mile area around home. my closest neighbour is my partner/brother ross and as he has described our setup well so iwill not rehash that area!


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## carly (Mar 20, 2003)

Hi, I'm Carly and my partner is Bill. We live in the center of the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia in a small town. We have an 1830 chestnut log house, restored. We do not have sheep but have had them in the past and have had Nubian and Toggenburg goats. 
We DO have 2 Border Collies, Owd Jake and Cree'yuh, a young female. Jake is a sheeper and very well trained, and is "training" Cree'yuh, much to his distress sometimes....  

I wanted to get a forum going here to discuss HERDING AND WORKING DOGS and am hoping there are enough of you interested in having a forum like that. I am sure there are many homesteaders out there that need/want herding dogs, but also need advice on them, from getting a puppy to rescue dogs and on and on.....> there are several very knowledgeable folks I have chatted with on the thread I put up , "adopted Border Collie" that are interested in a forum for HERDING/WORKING DOGS. People like this are invaluable in helping others with their dogs and with training.

I am sure Ross will see all of us and make a decision, and it might take some time. Thanks for all the intos, I love sheep!!! :haha:


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## Reynard Ridge (Aug 11, 2004)

I started reading this thread and though, GREAT, I'll introduce myself. Turns out, I already did, way back on page 1! It was from some months ago, so it's interesting to see where things have gone in the meantime!

Still no sheep - still looking into them. LOVE the lamb pictures!


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## animal_kingdom (Mar 31, 2005)

Hola!
My name is Lisa and I have a serious animal addiction...

Started out with chickens. Have many many breeds. I like the interesting Naked Necks, top hats, and beautiful Japanese Bantams. Then we enjoy the hardy RIR, Barred Rocks, the colorful eggs of the aracaunas....and so forth.

Have a half dozen children so this started our farm. Not the children but the children wanting chickens!

Then we moved on to ducks. They've been long since gone due to a hungry fox.

We added Guineas. We've enjoyed hatching them, watching them and waking up to their *lovely* songs...

Then came the goats: Boer angora crosses, Nubian boer crosses, Sannen Boer crosses and pure blood boers, purebred Nubian. 

Of course then we needed a guard dog...which ended up to be two because my husband couldn't have the heart to separate them. They're great Pyrs.

Added Katahdin sheep about a year ago and we were blessed with our first ram lamb on Tuesday. He is just beautiful! Can't wait until the others lamb out. Babies are alot of work but so much fun!

Of course we recently went to a rabbit show and one of the half dozen children has been wanting a rabbit. She wanted to breed it and earn some of her own money. She bought one and only had enough money for the doe. So...I bought the buck and a doe of my very own....those are mini rex.

I guess the way this first sheep lambed, I was so totally impressed. The lamb was 10 pounds, perky, healthy and up and running completely and leaping within an hour. First time mom was so totally protective and capable of lambing unassisted...It just made my day after the difficulties we had this year with the goat kidding.

What's next? Lord only knows.  

Glad to get to know everyone and already have been enjoying myself reading all this interesting stuff!

Mama


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## HunterTed (Mar 21, 2005)

Hello all I live about an hour north of Dallas, Texas. My wife and I have a small farm in Anna, Texas. I got started with 2 crossbred wool ewes about this time last year. I have raised cattle all my life but I sold mine not too long after I got my first sheep. Then came the Barbados and the wool sheep had to go. I absolutely love my Barbados. Next month I am headed to south Texas to buy some Dorper ewes. WE are looking to move further west so I wanted to get a small start right now. Along with the sheep I have chickens, guineas, Great Pyrenees, Labs, 1 goat, 1 rabbit ( but I am looking for more). As soon as we buy a place further west Kathadins, minature donkeys, Longhorns, and much more of what I already have will be added.


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## thelowefarm (Mar 30, 2005)

I've been reading this forum for a long time, but just recently joined to get some help with our sheep. We farm in Tidewater VA and have Hog Island Sheep, egg chickens and broilers, pigs, and beef. The sheep are our newest addition even though they are the main reason we started all this. We also have two dogs, two cats and a new baby girl (7 months old). We have a garden and a small orchard that's just starting to grow into something. We use rotational grazing and all our animals are raised on pasture.

We both work full time off the farm but hope that will change over the next 5 years. 

Looking forward to getting practical help here because we are having trouble getting good help from our vet and our local extension agents. They are just not familiar with our type of system. This a row crop or hog CAFO area.


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## CCSheep (Feb 28, 2005)

Guess I should have introduced myself instead of jumping in with both feet, the same way I started in sheep! No turning back now.
My husband and I raise Texel and TexelX sheep in Central Washington, purebred breeding stock and the crosses for meat focusing on selling locker lambs, some commercially and now trying to do some direct marketing of natural, grass-fed lamb. I belong to a couple of lists for sheep and find this one really well organized, friendly, helpful and supportive. I always enjoy talking sheep and hope to join-in when I can or when have something useful to say. I especially enjoy hearing the different management tools folks use as there's always another way to do something, maybe it's easier, more cost-effective or whatever, but keep the ideas coming.
Jami B.
Ellensburg, WA
www.cookecreeksheep.com


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## betty modin (May 15, 2002)

Hello, I'm a single 'homesteader' in Oregon's western cascade range. I recently moved here and purchased about 2 acres to make up my little homestead dream. I'm a spinner and knitter, a writer and a teacher...and a poultry lover. Currently I'm waiting for my little 'flock' to be ready to bring home. The fences are nearly ready, the barn is nice and tight against all the known predators (bear, coyote, cougar...) and I'm waiting for the lambs to be old enough to leave their mothers. I'm getting shetlands-two ewe lambs and a yearling ewe. These will be my first sheep-I've been doing my research and preparing for two years. When my children were in 4H we raised (and exhibited) Nubian goats...now I don't know what I'd do with all the milk, but my daughter has called from a visit in AZ and wants to bring me back a little doeling....help! I'm still up in the air about guardian animals, but know that I don't want (or need) another dog-got four now and they're all spoiled rotten! Think I'll go with a donkey....may have a neighbor who needs to find a home for his due to health issues (his, not the donkeys). betty


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## livestockmom (Apr 2, 2005)

Hello. I am new to this site. I'm so glad to have bumped into this introduction area, It's nice to be able to indroduce myself and meet you.
We are in Northern California. We have just under 100 Registered Suffolk, and Hampshire, and NCWGA Registered Natural Colored Corriedale, Columbia and Rambioullet. We raise sheep, goats, and have 5 guardian llamas. I am looking for 3 Registered Nubians for milk for all my bummers, (our 3 children looove feeding the bummers.)
I look forward to learning about your experiences...


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## mathis (Feb 27, 2005)

Hello...I am fairly new to this sight...asked a few questions about a month ago. We live in Central Illinois on a small farm. I am into hand spinning, and have had English Angora rabbits for about a year. I just bought a small flock (5 ewes, 2 unrelated rams) of English Leicester Longwools, and am VERY excited about beginning this new adventure!


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## ONThorsegirl (Apr 2, 2005)

Hello Everyone,

Well I'm new to the group as of this week. But I would have to say that so far it is a great place to find lots of useful information.

Ok so all about us. 
Well I'm 16 years old. We live in Eastern Ontario, Near Ottawa. We run a heard of Purbred North Country Cheviots, we als have other breeds of Hampshires, Suffolks and all kinds of Commercial. We have 30 mature sheep, we also have a herd of 40 cattle of Purebred Limousins, Hefords and Crosses of each including some Angus crosses. I also got into Hens last year. so we have 32 Red-Sex Link Hens, I also have one crossbred rooster and 18 chicks so far. We also have 2 horses and 2 ponies. We also have the extra's The Potbelly Pig, the Pari of Geese as well as the cats and dogs.

Melissa


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## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

welcome! we are 25 minutes south east of carleton place . these boards can be an invaluable resource! with ncc's and suffolks must have your hands full!


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## BamaSuzy (May 10, 2002)

Hi, I have been on the board a long time but been basically just reading your entries because I don't have any sheep YET....

I would love to have miniature Babydolls...

I do have 21 rabbits, mostly English Angoras, and have been learning to spin on an Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for about the past three years.

I also have 34 laying hens and 27 new chicks in a box under a heat lamp in the pantry (sell eggs like crazy); two doe goats and one buck (making goat milk soap to sell as well); and the usual two dogs and six cats (one cat lives in the house with us and the other five in a back porch room we built especially for them)....

We live in north Central Alabama on our homestead of 15 acres outside a town of 5000 people. When I'm not at my REAL job as a homesteader I am a newspaper editor/reporter who gets to work primarily from my home office (been doing it 26 years)...

Have really really enjoyed reading about all of YOU!!!!!!


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

I've had a few sheep in the past (mostly Shetland/Merino crosses -- oopses from our neighbors who raised purebreds of both breeds), but don't have any now. Unfortunately, with only one acre of land, and six dairy goats already, I don't anticipate being able to get sheep again any time soon. But I'm still interested in them, have been working on my minimal spinning skills, and hope someday I'll be able to get sheep again. I'm not sure what kind I'll choose, though I'm working with a bit of Icelandic fleece that I really like, and Shetland fleece is also lovely.

I live with my Grandmother and mentally handicapped adult daughter in Southern Oregon. Grandma has three elderly cats, one of whom is usually sitting on my lap whenever I'm on the computer. I have an old-fashioned farm collie, the goats (five Kinder goats -- until the pregnant doe kids -- and one Ober/Boer cross doe who is a surprisingly good milker), some chickens, and a few ducklings and goslings coming soon. 

Kathleen


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Just bumping a few posts so they hopefully won't get pruned


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## eieiomom (Jun 22, 2005)

We are located in Wisconsin and have a flock of about 70 ewes + lambs + several mature rams.
Our flock consists of naturally colored and white purebred/registered Lincoln Longwools and crosses, and colored/white East Friesian dairy type crosses(one purebred ram).
We have many different varieties of free range chickens for show and egg production.
Our 35 year old mare should also be mentioned as a member of our farm+ dogs and cats....

Deb Bender
Deerfield, Wisconsin


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I guess since I have started posting here, it would be nice to introduce myself. I live in NE Indiana on 4 beautiful acres with my DH (who is in college and working FT) and 3 teenage sons (15, 17 and 19)- at least for now---middle son is in the army nat guard so not sure if he will be home after next year. I raise rough and smooth collies for show, herding, therapy, obedience and of course companions. I occasionally do collie rescue when I have space and time available. We have about 60 something chickens if you count the chicks- RIR, Australorps, EE's, Cochin, light and dk Brahmas, Jersey giants, Barred rocks and SL wyandottes and some Pekin ducks. We also have 2 cats- my himi who only likes me and a barn cat. I am a pre-vet major who never continued due to family commitments. I now work full time in management but hoping that will soon change so I can stay home again. I am interested in getting into sheep for several reason including to have something other than the neighbors cows and my chickens for my dogs to herd, would like to have something that will keep the grass cut as my boys will be moving out one by one in short order. Another source of meat would also be wonderful as we feed our dogs a raw diet. I haven't decided on the breed of sheep I want yet, but everyone here is being very helpful in helping me narrow that down- currently looking at Hampshire, Clun forest and Katahdin sheep.


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## punksheepshower (May 26, 2005)

hi im stephanie! i live in kingwood texas. i currently have one lamb. his names apatche. he's a suffolk/hamp cross. has barely any suffolk though. hes..5 months old and 117lbs. im 15. he's my second lamb. im getting a ewe in september. i want to ge ta breeding ewe and show and breed her and sell the lambs..but that might jus have to wait a little while. this place is so helpful! thank you!!


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## SmokedCow (Sep 25, 2004)

Hola Mi Amigos y Amigas! (Spanish class...i lerned SOMTHING! )
Well i live in SD, thats South of North Dakota, but North of Nebraska lol...Well..we have 20 suffolk craoss ewes, 30 lambs, a suffolk ram. lets see...I'm involved in 4-H and FFA, we also rainse, rabbits, cattle, hogs, peafowl, chickens, ducks, geese, doves, quail, and pheasents....Noaks Ark..haha...
AJ


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## jimahall (Sep 18, 2005)

We are a fourth generation farm. But new to sheep. We currently have ten acres near Checotah, Oklahoma (A place now world famous for Carrie Underwood, American Idol). We raise working ABCA Border Collies and CLRC Registered Icelandic sheep. We acquired our flock in January 2005 and joned the USDA-SFCP and currently the first and only Icelandic breeder in Oklahoma in the SFCP. This last month our new ram arrived, a Rektor son. Rektor is concidered one of the top rams at SouthRam facility in Iceland. Having these genetics will greatly improve our flock, though they are great lines as well. We have had working Border Collies since 1965. The Icelandic sheep are lots simplier than the registered angus cattle we raised for years. The ten acres are also much easier than the nearly 800 acres we once farmed. Visit our website to learn more about our farm.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Thought I'd bump this as we have some new members.


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## elgordo (Apr 9, 2005)

Hello!
My husband and I live here on 80 acres. We've raised chickens (meat), pigs, sheep, tried Barabadous then moved onto Katahdin, goats, Nubian and La Mancha. We've run our neighbors cattle on our land and I'd love to get some Dexter's in the future. We work full-time and my husband also clears brush. Someday we'll stay home more and I want to have a milk animal and some woolies so I can spin wool again!
If anyone wants to contact me for any reason, please PM me.
I'd love to get the regional folks in my area (Oregon) together sometime!


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## rainbowshades (Sep 26, 2005)

Hi

New here and to sheep.

We are in SouthCentral Wisconsin and just started with sheep. We were lucky to find someone getting out of the business and were able to purchase their flock of suffolkX plus the lama.  it has been a learning curve for this city gal. Good thing my partner comes from the country.

This site has helped alot. Hopefully someday I might be able to contribute.

jane
Portage, WI


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## dahliaqueen (Nov 9, 2005)

I am divorced and trying hard to hang on to my place- why is it that all the buildings seem to require emergency repair all at once? I have a farmette- 3.5 acres- and grow organic field-grown cutflowers and veggies and also have orchards of mostly antique apples with a smattering of pear, plum, cherry, apricot, and bush fruit. The apple trees are my true love, at least at the moment- i have been known to be fickle in this regard, but i feel this is a lasting relationship.  
Right now , there are only cats ( who earn their keep by doing vole patrol in the orchards!) and a lunatic hound/terrier dog on the place- when i get stabilized, i would like to raise some heritage turkeys and meat chickens.
I spin, knit, crochet and make felted wool and have been a League of NH Craftsman for 15 years- my ornaments are listed on e-bay under the seller name 'easystreetgallery' and would love to have a few sheep sometime in the future when i feel confident that i really can make this work......

All of your bios give me hope that folks, who love the land and appreciate a lifestyle that is not dependent on the latest trend, are hanging in and doing well- my section of southern nh has become a McMansion haven for city commuters and the big farms are being lost to outrageous property taxes .

I look forward to learning alot from all of you.

This website feels like home to me.


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## mountainman_bc (Nov 7, 2005)

I'm in BC, Canada. I own about 10 acres all of which is bottomland pasture. Surrounded by snow peaked mountains. Lots of wildlife, and surrounding is farms and then completely surrounded by forested mountains.
I keep ducks, geese, chickens, bees and have the token 2 dogs and a cat.
I'm enjoying reading these posts, next spring I will be getting some sheep and possiby a goat or two. I'm intersested in milk production for myself only. No use for wool at this time.
I'm camping for now, hoping to build a log cabin over the next two years. Hopefully we have another mild winter.


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## kesoaps (Dec 18, 2004)

Hey, Mountainman, BC is a big place...where abouts are you? I consider my neck of the woods 'Little Canada' because we're so close to the border. Heck, sometimes I even spell Canadian, let alone speak it! (And for those of you who think the language is the same, you've obviously not watched the Canadian version of Sesame Street  )

Dahliaqueen, good luck with your goal! When you get those sheep, you'll love them!


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## mountainman_bc (Nov 7, 2005)

Kesoaps, I'm located in a secret region not too far from little USA! (Whistler resort) Every second car in Whistler is from the states. Hey they pay the bills, no complaints!


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## kesoaps (Dec 18, 2004)

Oh, so you've learned to speak and spell our language, then?  I'm in Bellingham, not too far away.


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## redroving (Sep 28, 2005)

Hi my husband and I live in Merced, California and have raised California Red Sheep for about 20 years. Currently we have about 30 breeding ewes and two rams, plus two guardian alpacas. Our sheep are self maintaining, meaning they do everything on their own with no supplementation or much assistance. Our sheep are pretty hardy and healthy and sometimes live to 18 years old. Our ewes usually lamb every year for about 12 years, then are retired (since we have so much pasture).
We have 30+ acres of irrigated pasture. We just started dabbling in hay production due to our sheep not keeping up with the pasture growth. 
My husband and I do own two businesses so the farm is not our only income.


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## stoneymom (Nov 11, 2005)

Greetings from North Dakota!! My hubby and I live on a small 40 acre homestead in southwest ND where we raise sheep, goats, chickens and the occasional bottle calf. I also breed and train Pem. Welsh Corgi dogs to use for herding dogs. We have 4 childern ages 11 to 2. The older kids are involved in 4-H - showing the animals they love to raise.
I really enjoy this site. It is great to be able to access this wealth of knowledge right from my home!


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## canadianmandy (Nov 11, 2005)

:cowboy: Hi Im mandy Im 16 I just moved to MO from Pa I have 3 dogs (Love, Buddie, and taber) I have a hamster named Nibbles ... 3 fish and I am getting a ewe named Precious. I named her myself lol well ttyl
~`*Mandy*`~


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## MichelleB (Jan 18, 2005)

I'm Michelle--currently an "urban homesteader" but I hope to seal the deal on some property an hour from town this week. 

At present, I've got a flock of 6 pullets--2 golden sex-links, 2 Ameraucanas, 1 silver-pencilled wyandotte and a PBR. And a Hahn's Macaw (mini macaw), and one loveable mutt. Three more birds than is legally allowed within city limits, but the neighbors love them (noisy as that barred rock is!) since I've always got extra eggs to share. 

Hoping to run a small herd of Boers, a couple dairy does, and a few primitive sheep on my intended property, and self-build a small home with raised-bed gardens and a small orchard. Also looking into having some meat rabbits and to raise a few feeder pigs each year--likely Tamworths. Will give pastured poultry a shot on an experimental scale, and am definitely a lurker on the bee forum, too!


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## jacobs (Jan 11, 2005)

Dw and I live in northeastern Wisconsin near Lake Michigan. We have been raising jacobs sheep for about 10 years. I have been breeding for temperment and probably have the most docile herd of 45 sheep that you could ever have. I sell the wool and the ram lambs for breeding stock(large horns). We also raise horses (dw gives riding lessons), have about 150 free range chickens, muscovy ducks and a few turkeys. Dw and I both work full-time jobs to support our farming habit!!


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## ONThorsegirl (Apr 2, 2005)

Welcome everyone for the boards, we learn lots and it is a great place to be if you are just starting out, or if you have lots of questions. Make yourself at home.
Melissa


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

I've been on HT so long, I didn't even think of introducing myself on a new board. Sorry for being rude.

We don't have sheep. Yet. I'm working on it. Currently, we have assorted poultry, French angora rabbits, and dairy goats. I'm planning on purchasing a few Icelandic sheep soon, from a flock that is already aclimatized to the Southeastern US. I'll have to manage the goats and sheep for the first year by making sure the goats get their copper requirements in their feed on the milking stand. A pain, but do-able if I'm diligent. By the end of the first year, I expect to be making a decision on which species stays. The income from the dairy goats is kids and soap. The potential income from the Icelandics is soap, wool products or fleece, meat, and breeding lambs. Quite a difference...potentially.

Since I'm in an area that doesn't have much sheep, I'm going to have to learn to shear for myself. That's going to be fun, but I'm tough, and stubborn, and capable of learning new tricks, even if I'm an old dog.  It will make me keep the flock to a reasonable size, that's for sure! 

I've already gleaned a lot if information from reading this board, and hope to get a lot more, as I have you guys talk me through my first year with sheep. I'm really looking forward to this!

Meg


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## jimahall (Sep 18, 2005)

Hall Farms is in Oklahoma's "Green Country". Checotah is the home town of world champion steer wrestlers and the 2005 Fox American Idol, Carrie Underwood. We are a 5th generation farm. A lot smaller today than in the 1920's. We have about 10 acres and raise Icelandic sheep. Our website is located at http://hallfarms.bravehost.com/ We are the first Oklahoma Icelandic sheep farm to join the USDA SFCP. We are also most thrilled to have Oklahoma's first AI-F1 Icelandic ram. Rektorson is out of Iceland's Southram Rektor and Jagar Farms (MA) Solee's daughter. Rektorson is an excellent example of what an Icelandic should look like. I am also the creator of the Yahoo regional Icelandic sheep farm groups. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/icelandicsheepfarmsCentralUSA/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/icelandicsheepfarmsNWUSA/ and several more. If I can assist any newbies with Icelandic sheep just email me at [email protected]


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## dazza (Dec 20, 2005)

Hiya everyone!!

My name is Michaela and as you may have guessed I am from Australia. Central West New South Wales to be more specific.
My partner and I grew up on sheep farms although we live in town now we will be getting back onto the farm within the next 10 yrs.
My partner was a shearer for 8 years and is now a truck mechanic. I am a wool classer by 'trade' and a rouseabout (shearing shed hand) and I also shear, left handed (VERY unusual over here) but I don't do much shearing, 1 on the hour is enough for me and the odd competition.
Being in oz we mostly have merinos for wool and crossbreds for meat. Most of the breeds mentioned on this board I have never heard of!! So much variety!! I do love the California Red Sheep, I want some!! I want to breed South Suffolks for meat to. We also have 2 children, a 3yo girl and a 1yo boy.
Hope to learn more about these unusual American breeds here!!

Michaela


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## MommaSasquatch (Dec 5, 2005)

Hello! I have lurked here for a few months and this is my first post. We are new to sheep and have two lovely Icelandic ewes whom we hope are expecting babies this spring. Our plans for them were to milk them after they lamb and of course to enjoy their lovely fiber which I am learning to spin. We got started with the idea of sheep partly because of our son who has a cows' milk allergy and were really taken with the varied usefulness of sheep. Settling on a breed was easy after doing a little research, and we really love our Icelandics!

~MommaSasquatch


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## Hank - Narita (Aug 12, 2002)

Rather than look for my previous post though we could start over. We now have 6 cross bred St. Croix ewes and their 5 lambs. We also have 2 painted desert ewe lambs who are not bred and one St. Croix/Painted Desert ewe lamb. We also have a bummer ram lamb of Dorper/Katahdin cross. We raise Alpine dairy goats, have a few chickens and sell eggs; and raise Australian Shepherds. We are expecting puppies soon. Narita in AZ
www.naritafarmaussies.com


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## sheeplady (Oct 31, 2003)

I can't believe I have never put my bio on here. We have had sheep about 25 years now, started out with two as 4H projects for the kids and it ballooned from there.
We are located in the foothills of the Catskills Mountains in New York State. 
At present we have Pure Horned Dorsets and Icelandic/Romney crosses. 32 ewes, 2 wethers and two rams. I did have Tunis's for a long time and really loved them but needed to downsize to two breeds. We lamb in March/ April and shear late march/early April, just before lambing. 
I market most meat lambs through a local sheepfarmer who deals exclusively with Muslims who come from Boston and NYC areas and slaughter there on his farm. 
I send some of our wool to be made into yarn, spin some myself, and market fleeces as well to handspinners. 
We have developed a really good internet business, www.sheepyvalley.com which is ending up to be a strong part of my upcoming retirement. 
I rotate graze and have a guard donkey for predator control. 
Shearing Day here (April 8 this year) is becoming a local tradition. Its like an open house, with coffee, donuts in milkhouse, assembly line of shearing, foot trimming, vaccinating, worming, sorting and grading fleeces. After I have a lunch for all who have helped and just come to watch. 
You can see what a sedentary life we lead when shearing day is one of the social highlights of our countrylife!
I helped to form a local 4H sheep club and introduced sheep and wool to many new families. One of our fun 4H projects is making wool filled quilts for babies on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
So hello to all from an old newcomer.


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## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

I am new here but didn't notice the bio. I live in Illinois with my two children and animals, own a dog grooming business and raise sheep. I have about 85 ewes plus some lambs They are mostly purebred katahdin but the last couple years I have started to cross in some border cheviot. This fall I plan on crossing the katahdin cheviots with dorper. Hopefully I can get back to hair but keep some of the traits of cheviot. So far the results have been good. This is the first year for the crossbreeds to lamb and so far they are all very good moms with vigorous lambs.It has been a mild winter. I have 4 border collies that I use on the farm as well as compete in sheepdog trials, Two guard dogs keep the coyotes at bay. 
This year I hope to expand my garden and start using the tractor to do some of the work instead of by hand and have more of a harvest to can and freeze.


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## zameluzza (Mar 21, 2006)

Hello Hello 
wow finnaly I can post, I was thinking all the time that I was doing something wrong.

I'm Carmen and I'm in Eastern Ontario. We have a Dairy farm and I have a few sheep as a hobby.

it all started a few years ago when I had to separate one of my Llamas from the parents. I never wanted sheeps, I always said I don't like them *LOL* well I needed a compagnion for Joy so I looked in to a goat, we found one and we took her home to try, man was that a meean goat  
so we took her back and we looked in to getting a sheep, did I mention that I did not like sheeps.
One of our neighbour has sheeps so we went to look at them and to get one. there was this cute little black sheep, I told DH that this one or none. 
so there it begunn, we had one sheep for the first summer.
them the Llamas had more ciras and one of my friend borrowd Joy the Llama, but the sheep had to go with them to they where big buddys.

well later on I traded one big Llama for 3 kathadin sheeps and they to went to my friend for the summer,
Now I love my sheeps  I still prefer the hair sheep but the babies (friend has a dorset horn ram) are to cute 

I want to expand *LOL* I got a kathadin ram for later on, but I'm looking in to getting some Dorpers.

I have learnd so much from this board and from another one, 
some of my lambs are bottle lambs, I had to deal with boat, scour, and just the other day we fixed my friends lamb that had the inverted eye.

so from my 4 ewes I got 7 lambs, two from them are bottle lambs, then there are 2 bottle goats and 2 bottle kathadin rams (one belongs to my friend)and another bottle lamb that also belongs to my friend, since he is working full time I took them to my place.

Hope to learn and meet others here on the board.
Carmen


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## manfred (Dec 21, 2005)

Hi folks!!
We are in E. Oklahoma. We have had goats and chickens for quite awhile but just aquired a bottle fed barbadoe buckling a few weeks ago. I plan to band him today. He is about 10 weeks old.. He is much different from goats!
Hello everyone!!!


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## Ana Bluebird (Dec 8, 2002)

OH, I love the sheep pictures. I just started spinning this December and will HAVE to have a couple of sheep. I'm looking locally for some babies that I can tame and care for to obtain fleece. I have goats, a couple of angora for the mohair---got to love that fiber! And five pygmies for brush control---ok, pets! Of course we love our rescue dogs, cats, and chickens! Love this website too!


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## steve hanson (Mar 18, 2006)

Hi all

I am very much a newbie to sheep and hope to gain from the experience off all the members here.

My wife Fiona and I are self-supporters in central France with a mixed smallholding/homestead with Normande cows, Hybrid pigs, Dorset Down sheep, Sussex chickens, Toulouse geese, and Hybrid rabbits, we are hoping to make a living from the pigs and supplement our income from all the other animals, we have been here for less than 2 years and we are already self sufficient in food and will be working on power this year.

Best wishes to you all and hope to get to know some of you in the future.

Steve


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## kirsten (Aug 29, 2005)

hey guys, I finally got some sheep so I can finally introduce myself!

We have 14 acres in south eastern SD. We have been here for about 6 months now. We have 11 bottle lambs, 3 weaned at this point. They are all crosses d/s/f/col, all ewes except one wether and they are the beginning of my flock for terminal lambs. Later this year, we will be purchasing purebred registered dorsets and run a purebred flock alongside. I really love sheep even though they are stressful and we have quickly faced almost everything that can possibly go wrong with a lamb and shot one to put it out of its misery already, our very first one who was deficient in colostrum we believe. We are becoming super vets really fast! But this is to be expected when they come from slaughter flocks. I am interested in finnsheep too- they are my favorite sheep but california reds sound good too. I wanted to go into sheep with a purebred breed, a more unusual breed but I need a paycheck every year from iowa lamb so decided to raise a large terminal flock and work on the purebred at my leisure or as my pocket book allows.

And of course, I raise and breed chickens and blue turkeys and a few pekin ducks (to my great displeasure and my husband's happiness). We have 3 pet bunnies, 3 cats, two dogs, one a herding dog. 

And of course, we only have windbreak trees so all the rest of the land is profit! I raise about a third of an acre in corn and we will be planting alfalfa this year too. Having a whole lot of fun here! kirsten :bouncy:


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## Hank - Narita (Aug 12, 2002)

Kristen, which herding dog do you have? We raise Aussies.


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## kirsten (Aug 29, 2005)

Hi. LOL. I have not been on here in so long. Sorry. Hope you see this, HN!
I have a 3/4 aussie shepherd/ 1/4 blue heeler. My next working puppy that I am going to get is a BC crossed aussie. I really like the aussies for their guts, a little tougher than bc's in my opinion who tend to be turned off very quickly by cattle but a cross would be really nice I think. I started training maggie on sheep on another farm and recently got our own sheep. As they were all bottle lambs, my dog was not allowed to work them. She hangs out with them all the time though. She shows little inclination to work them so far but I think that is because I have not reemployed the working cues for her. I will as soon as it stops raining. And if the cues work to tune her back in (she has been practicing on the ducks lately) than I will have one perfect dog who won't work the sheep without the ceremony beforehand. That is my hope! I never wanted to keep her chained up. kirsten


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

I thought it would be nice to bump this thread up.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Hey there,

My wife and I are located on 40 acres in Eastern North Carolina. A couple of years ago we got 7 Dorper/Katahdin crossbreeds because I got tired of mowing so much. 
We are now up to 24 , and with any luck 22 of them will be lambing in about 8 more weeks. My webpage is in my signature with more info and LOTS of pics of the sheep and the Maremma Sheepdogs. Here are a few lambs from last Spring:


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## kesoaps (Dec 18, 2004)

Those are so cute! DD was walking by and made me show her 'the ones with the black heads'. Of course, she's also whining about a pig again after seeing Steve's photo...


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## arcticow (Oct 8, 2006)

HI. I'm farming near Fairbanks (North Pole area), Highland cattle, Shetland sheep & crosses,little of everything.Really interested in a cross for these sheep to increase meat, milk w/o wrecking my wool. Everything that can be triple purpose needs to be with our feed prices.


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

arcticow said:


> HI. I'm farming near Fairbanks (North Pole area), Highland cattle, Shetland sheep & crosses,little of everything.Really interested in a cross for these sheep to increase meat, milk w/o wrecking my wool. Everything that can be triple purpose needs to be with our feed prices.


Riding The Polar Express, Eh Mate? I kinda figured "ewe" were a baaad influence, LOL. I better change our handle, as you're the farthest "UpNorth"


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## chicamarun (Dec 26, 2006)

Hi everyone! I am new to posting - reading a lot (site bookmarked about a year now I think)....

We have 32 acres in Purcellville, VA (about 45 minutes west of DC)

I currently have 17 sheep - 4 suffolk ewes, 10 dorset ewes, 2 suffolk twin rams (the only 2 sheep that were born on our farm last year), and 1 suffolk wether pet (the trouble maker who started me wanting sheep)

I think everyone is bred - or 2 may not be.... so I'll be putting them back in with the ram soon enough. We start lambing this week (I keep watching outside).

Our sheep are all pasture raised from start to finish. They get a little bit of grain only if I need to bring them in (sheering, feet check, etc). My Suffolk girls are friendly but my Dorsets haven't decided about me yet.

We have 2 guard llamas as the llamas came with the farm when we bought it. They work out really well.

Our main goal is to have good meat lambs to sell at the farmers market and also for my son to show at 4-H. He's very new to 4-H (1st year last summer) so is still learning and will probably pick his sheep out because he likes them which is fine with me - I just want him to have fun.

We take the wool and sell it on eBay. We put it all in boxes and weigh it. We don't make money from it - but we do break even on the sheering cost which is our goal!


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## sheepish (Dec 9, 2006)

Hi everyone, I guess I should introduce myself. My husband and I raise purebred Rideau Arcotts (about 60 ewes) on 11 acres in Ontario. We also grow hay on about 70-80 acres of neighbouring land. We have been farming this property for over 25 years. We started with 6 coloured Corriedale ewes and a ram. Later we added a small flock of Hampshires. 

About 10 years ago, we switched to raising Rideaus because they give us an opportunity to maximize the income of our small property. Our mature ewes wean about 2.5 lambs each, so we get a large lamb crop for a relatively small number of sheep.

Our primary income is from selling purebred breeding stock. We have optimised the income there by maintaining a high health status flock which is certified free from specific diseases. We have only brought in one animal in the last 10 years, and that is a ram from a similar status flock. Other than that, we have introduced new genetics through artificial insemination.

We also have an arrangement where a farmer with large acreage buys the 50 smallest lambs in the early summer and grass raises them for meat.

We sell about 10 lambs a year for to freezer customers and ship a small number of cull ewes and low quality lambs to the stockyards.

About 3 years ago, we switched from January & February lambing to lambing the last 2 weeks of March. What a great decision! No midnights in a freezing barn, lower lamb losses, and the ewes are all settled in one cycle., This means a shorter time to intensely supervise lambing and all the resulting lambs are at the same stage for feeding, weaning, selling, etc. 

We do extensive record keeping using the EweByte sheep software, on which I was the chief designer programmer for many years. This enables us to select top quality replacement animals and to keep the genetics of our 3 ram lines separate.


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## mathis (Feb 27, 2005)

Hello all...We live in central Illinois and raise English Leicesters. We also have two alpacas and a few angora rabbits for fiber. We have only had sheep for a couple of years, and are still learning!


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## Linebacker (Sep 11, 2007)

Hey y'all,
My family and I recently purchased a new home and thrity acres in Northwest Tennessee. I spent 11 years active duty Air Force until Feb 98, then we returned home and Im currently a teacher and in the Army National Gaurd. We have two horses and two goats now; but hopefully that will change soon. By next fall we plan to have grass fed beef and pork ready for the freezer. I do have experience with cattle and swine, and would love to learn as much as I can about sheep to possibly add a small flock of hair sheep. Im sure I will learn so much from everyone here. 
Thanks for being willing to share your knowledge!
Brad


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

hi there!
as of this friday (fingers crossed) we will become the owners of a 16 acre farm just west of Madison, WI and the owners of a small group of 5 registered shetland sheep the week after that. Originally thought we'd start with tunis but the shetland sheep rather claimed us and we said yes. Moving to our farm from city life in southern california and bringing a city-bound maremma rescue dog with us. Looking forward to learning and sharing here.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Welcome and hope you find the board helpful. Thanks for the intro's


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Linebacker said:


> Hey y'all,
> My family and I recently purchased a new home and thrity acres in Northwest Tennessee. I spent 11 years active duty Air Force until Feb 98, then we returned home and Im currently a teacher and in the Army National Gaurd. We have two horses and two goats now; but hopefully that will change soon. By next fall we plan to have grass fed beef and pork ready for the freezer. I do have experience with cattle and swine, and* would love to learn as much as I can about sheep to possibly add a small flock of hair sheep.* Im sure I will learn so much from everyone here.
> Thanks for being willing to share your knowledge!
> Brad



http://www.sheepbooks.com/

http://www.barkingrock.com/sheep101.htm

http://www.dorperamerica.org/

These are a few good places to start

Good luck


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## kesoaps (Dec 18, 2004)

Congrats on the new property, Cathleen!

Welcome to both of you.


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## eieiomom (Jun 22, 2005)

Cathleen,

Good luck on your adventure and welcome to Wisconsin !
Hope to meet you someday soon 

Deb


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## Blossomgapfarm (Jan 23, 2007)

Hello to both of you. This is a wonderful resource for learning! 

Brad, I hope you enjoy learning about hair sheep. We have had our St. Croix for about a year and a half and have gone from 5 lambs to 14 in our flock with 3 ewes pregnant now. Have not had a single problem with them. Our sheep have been a wonderful move for our farm.


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## hintonlady (Apr 22, 2007)

Live in southwest Illinois just outside of Saint Louis. We have a 1.7 acre homestead lot and rent 50 acres from my husbands Grandfather who owns a total of 320 acres. We have a few extended family members spread in homes on edges of the property, which I love. I home school my son and do the farmwife work. My husband is an ag. machinery tech. and grows grain crops part time.

We have a large flock of chickens, have surplus eggs.......

A barn cat and her 4 kittens who we found we couldnât re home and 
fell in love with. :shrug: 

2 Great Pyrenees both adopted. One is mature and although his 
barking annoys me is the guardian angel of my flock. one pup who
seems like she is mellowing out and narrowly escaped her own 
demise after killing one of my ducks. she may be a blessing after 
all. Just have to hide the poultry. :nono: 

1 registered Dorset ram, biggest dang puppy dog I ever met! Even 
in breeding season at feeding time (bad combo) he still wants
to come over for scratches and attention. Gets out of line once in 
awhile but not a mean bone in his body. I suspect he was a bummer
lamb. Loves to be petted?!?! 

1 registered Montadale ram lamb, just ready for the breeding season.

1 registered Dorset ewe (looks like a dang clydesdale, we call her 
heifer) and her darling 3 week old lamb. She is a sweetie pie and 
comes running for us to say hi. :angel: 

2 registered Montadale ewes. Sadly may already be bred for crosses.

2 registered Rambouillet (gave up trying to spell that right) 

12 commercial ewes, mixed mostly white faced

4 white face commercial ewe lambs

4 commercial wethers for the freezer

and a partridge in a pear tree! :doh: 

We will be expanding our flock by 40 more ewes and 2 more rams from production style Dorsets this fall. Our goal is to have 300 ewes in a handful of years and make a living off the land. My husbands bosses are horrible and abusive. :frypan: He wants to escape and this is our plan. Cross your fingers.....

Having an impossible time loading pictures, they are on the website.....


You can check us out at www.hintonacres.com


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## FreeRanger (Jul 20, 2005)

Our family farm, Revival Ranch is about 20 miles South of Madison Wisconsin. We have raised sheep, turkeys, chickens and pigs. Just took the this years three big pigs to the butcher Monday. I currently don't have any turkeys. DW is raising 10 hens and 4 roosters. I have two flocks of sheep plus an odd ball or two. Due to health reasons (and DW) I am trying to get out of the sheep business. I am the one selling five Shetlands to Cathleenc above. I am hoping to sell six more Shetlands to Ford8N. I am stilling looking for a buyer of my commercial flock. [six ewes and unrelated ram for $1100, if case anyone is interested] 

Since my heart inflamation problem appeared in 2005, I am no longer "allowed" to take care of poultry, hence the current flock is care for by DW. I no longer brood chickens or turkeys. I thought I could handle the sheep but am physically unable to (to a level acceptable by my DW). Honestly, I have become allergic to hay and straw with terrible hives for days after working with bales. None of my doctors will allow me to take any steriods anymore...so the rash last for weeks (and I am not sure how my heart is taking the allergy). So I am slowly getting rid of the sheep. With luck (which I never have in life), my DW will allow me to keep a couple sheep around to eat the steep hillsides that no one will make hay on. So far she has agreed to let me keep a few 2007 male lambs until Spring so they will weigh enough to be butchered for meat and sold. I also have this odd ball black blue-faced Leister yearling ewe, which I might breed to either the Shetland ram or the commercial ram. She has a great fleece.

While I am disappointed to be "giving up" on sheep for health reason but am happy to be helping two new families start raising Shetland sheep. Kind of reminds me of the past years when my friend and I had a competition on who could start the most new flock owners of chickens each Spring. We would raise a whole lot more chicks than we needed, and then sell them as "started" pullets to people new to poultry. Usually we could get five or six new families each Spring/Summer. 

Strange thing is my DW is now giving me the go ahead on raising Large Black Pigs! She agreed to help me with them but has no interest in helping me with the sheep all these years. Women are funny that way...Anyway, it doesn't really matter because we are starting to seriously talk of moving to the big city so my oldest DD can ride the public bus and have more opportunities in life as an adult with Down Syndrome.

So enough about me...if you live near New Glarus Wisconsin, I am actively seeking someone to make our hay for the next three years (and haul it away).


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Just keeping this thread current so its not pruned


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## njredneckgirl (Apr 11, 2007)

Hi everyone! My husband (35) and I (37) live in NW NJ on 30 acres we bought from my parents back in 2002. We have 3 commercial dorset ewes and a ram, two llamas, a donkey and 2 whippets. 

My parents had farm assessment since 1970 but not much of a farm, just had a farmer cut hay (and not much), they almost lost their farm assessment during an inspection back in 2001, so we decided we had to make better use of the land.

We raise and slaughter own own chickens and turkeys, grow as much fruit and veggies as we can, collect native nuts and raspberries and tap our maple trees. 

Once a year we finish some pigs and occasionally a cow when we need beef. All the larger animals for our freezer are brought to a custom butcher in PA once a year. 

Many people around here think we are crazy, they say: why do so much work when it's so easy to buy it?

Many of the farms have gone, it's so sad to see huge houses in former cornfields. No more dairy for fresh milk, it's illegal now, so glad I didn't die from all that milk as a kid.

I haven't bought meat or eggs from the store in over 3 years and proud of it.

Some day I hope to milk my sheep and maybe get some milk goats. Also maybe bees someday for my homemade honey beer and mead.

I love the fact we know where our food comes from and I love going food shopping in our basement.

We don't make much money on the farm so we have other jobs. I am hoping to someday make enough money on the farm to help support our retirement and pay for our property taxes, right now even with farm assessment it is 9,500 per year.


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## horsehelper (Sep 22, 2006)

I've been hanging out here for quite a while now. DH and I live in SE MO, having moved here from MI 10 yrs ago. We have 40 acres of beautiful, hilly, partially wooded land with a pond that is very secluded and peaceful. We love the winters here! Our critter family consists of 4 horses, 2 Jersey steers, 15 Katahdin and Dorper x sheep, and 18 goats. Plus the dogs, cats, and Macaw. Our goal is to raise our own meat, and sell enough lambs and kids to support all the animals and perhaps put a few $$ in our pocket. 
This site is the most informative I've found, and I love keeping up with everyone's experiences, especially the pictures of all the new babies. 
Gloria


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Hi,
I am new to this forum.
I live on 10 acres in North Texas.
And this forum was referred to me from one of my babydoll purchases.
I joined to learn more about my sheep and recieve helpful information.
My husband calls me a Mother Hen, and thinks I worry to much about my sheep, dogs, and cats.

I currently have 1 southdown ewe (Penelope), 1 suffolk (Miss Lucy) that recently had 2 rams (Bo and Luke) suffolk and baby doll mix, along with 3 registered baby dolls, Mary Jane, Brutis and Jack.

I am trying to build up my herd to raise babydolls. The southdown and suffock was given to me when I purchased my ram babydoll.
Unbenouced to us and the givers of the suffock that she was pregnant.
So now I have extra lawn mowers. The hard part is keeping them seperated in order to not have anymore unwanted pregnancyâs. But I love them all.
So hopefully I won't ask too many stupid questions. But I am sure there will be some. Have patients grasshopper. LOL


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## allison (Feb 25, 2008)

My name is Allison. I live in Shawnee OK. I don't post much but I do frequently read the posts. I live on 10 acres . I have just purchased the last of my sheep for now, or so I say. I have total of 15. 2 full katahdins, 10 dorper/katahdin crosses, and 4 what ever kind of sheep, which I aquired as bottle babies. I am looking to start a flock of purebred dorpers. All I need now is a dorper ram, so if there is someone in the area that has one or knows of a young ram let me know please!


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## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

I'm Andrea in WV - DC metro area - I run a Certified Naturally Grown farm - I raise Black Welsh Mountain Sheep, and have a new starter Bluefaced Leicester flock, will be also raising mules (hill sheep x bfl ram). I shear, process and spin my own wool which I sell at Farmer's Market along with other farm products. The Black Welsh lamb has been very popular in the Slow Food type market that I'm in. I have an agreement with a local restaurant and they are buying all my 2008 model feeders. But I have to admit, I can't wait to have larger carcasses available next year for farmer's market. I also do have a steady ethnic base that buys animals for halal or kosher uses.

I'm trying to keep my #'s of breeding ewe/does under 50, as it gets kind of crazy even with rotating (try to do Cornell's Star system with the goats) lambing/kidding times. This is why I like the Black Welsh the best as they just do their own thing, and I go and pick out a few feeders and take them in to 'freezer camp' - no fuss. Will see how the larger BFL do.

I also raise TN Fainting Goats, NJ Buff Turkeys, American Buff Geese, and New Hampshire Red Chickens (run a flock of 240 birds for market eggs) and also do heritage broilers. My farm is also 'decorated' by 4 horses who work occasionally. I run feeder hogs - Large Blacks in the woods.

Other than the chicken grain and one outside employee we are pretty self sufficient (cut our own hay, animals are pasture fed, etc) Even the dogs (LGD and now thanks to 'wendle' a Border Collie) are usually fed cull roos, lamb, etc.

I also am the newsletter editor for the American Black Welsh Association and organized the redesign and implementation of one of the fainting goat association's websites (I do website work for primarily farms in my 'non farming' time - this provided a lot of my 'seed' money to buy stock).

Been doing this for almost 5 years now and just starting to think I have a clue ;-)

Andrea
www.arare-breed.net
www.faintinggoat.net


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

We have some new members so i thought I'd drag this one back up!! 
How about some re-intros too!!?? 

Me first. We're down to 120 ewes, mostly Rdieau Dorst X's some black suffolk/rideaus though. Milking sheep is on an indefinate hold, the processors couldn't get their .... stuff together. so to heck with them. We'd still like to milk, our holstein heifer is likely next if she calves! Goats aren't off the agenda either. We're definately moving towards the direct to consumer selling (we like it, and there's money in that avenue!) veggies and lamb, maybe beef (harking back to our roots as a cow calf operation..... 30 or so years ago.) Just a happy (ish) homestead. Hey no pain no gain! 

Tell us about yourself!


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## ONThorsegirl (Apr 2, 2005)

Well, we are small farm in Eastern Ontario. 

we are down to only 20 beef cows, and 30 ewes. Mainly North Country Cheviot Cross ewes, some Dorset, Oxford and Suffolk mixed in. We are currently running a Purebred Oxford Ram, and we bought a Suffolk Ram lamb in the summer. We only bred him to a couple ewes. So far so good...although we think our old Oxford ram might be counting his days, so far not many twins coming from him, but it might be more the ewes than the ram so far. We will wait and see how we finish out. 

I also have a few Nubian Goats, mainly just for the sh**s and Giggles, They are neat to have around. I didn't intend on milking but I had a First freshner, loose her kids, so I have been milking 2x per day in case we have a lamb needing the milk. (this gets pretty tight for time in the mornings...work for 7, so I'm in the barn at 5:30 to make sure I get to work on time!)

I also raise poultry, standard and a few bantam breeds, Runner Ducks, and White Muscovies, and a few Partridge in the mix. 

I also breed Meat Rabbits, mainly for the Pet food customers. I haven't killed one for ourselves yet...Mom wont let me cook it in the house....we will see about that!

Our family is still very 4-H oriented, we always show lambs for the fair each year, and Steers if we have a couple born the right time of year, its hard to compete with the winter calvers when ours are born normally 6 months later. 


Thats about all.... 

Nice to meet everyone!
Melissa


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## Shannonmcmom (Jul 18, 2005)

I have 27 sheep, 4 pigs, a cow and her calf, 9 horses, 2 donkeys, 1 goat, too many rabbits, chickens and ducks..... not to mention 6 children, 1 husband, 8 cats and 4 dogs.

Our sheep are mostly Katahdin or suffolk/katahdin crosses. We had 1 ewe lamb out so far this year and the rest should have babies in April/May. No more -40C babies here this year.... We do have 2 shetland sheep and I am looking forward to having a new shetland lamb.


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## Judy in IN (Nov 28, 2003)

Hi, 

I recently got back into sheep after 10 years. 

The last time I was up to 86 head of Dall sheep. I just raised them for the rams. 

This time, I'm trying Dorpers. When I mentioned getting sheep, my DD was horrified. (the Dalls are pretty skittish) These Dorpers are very calm. 

We have 10 ewes and one ram. I'm expecting lambs in late May. We have two Anatolian Sheperd pups in with the sheep. I have no intention of feeding the coyotes or neighbor dogs!

We bought a run-down 200 acre farm near Lafayette. We are working hard to clean/fix it up. I will be moving the sheep and dogs there in April. 

I'm grateful for all the info here on this site.


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## Maria (Apr 24, 2003)

We live on 26 acres in mid Missouri and have raised hay for sale for years. Last year we got 2 cows and a bull and now have 2 cows, 2 heifers and the bull, and 2 more calves due in a couple of months. Since we have lots of hay, I started looking for more animals that can live on grass and hay alone and settled on sheep. I then ordered several types of fleeces online, taught myself to spin, made some yarn and crocheted with it. I liked Shetland wool the best of the kinds I tried so we picked up 3 bred Shetland ewes and a ram at the end of January.

From what I'd read, I was hoping the sheep would live in the same pasture with the cattle and the cattle would drive off predators. Unfortunately, the heifers like to chase the sheep, so I opened up a creep gap in the fence into another paddock so the sheep could have some peace when they wanted it.

However, the sheep started spending all their time there and I got to worrying about predators. So we got a LGD puppy and in a couple of years he'll be able to defend them. Meanwhile, one of the ewes gave birth to preemie stillborn twins, and I moved all four sheep into a pen in the barn, where they will stay until the other two ewes give birth. I'm hoping the heifers won't chase the sheep so much when they are older and I can leave them in all the same pasture. However, if the ram keeps butting the pregnant ewes, he may get put out with the cattle again!


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## StockDogLovr (Apr 13, 2009)

I've been using the forum lots since I discovered it, so I better introduce myself!

I live in the Santa Cruz mountains in the San Francisco Bay Area. My husband and I rent, and keep our two mustangs at someone else's place, and we've been keeping sheep on some acreage we lease nearby for about 8 years now. I got into owning and raising Barbados (guess they're calling them American Blackbellies now) about 15 years ago when I became interested in working my Australian Shepherd. Many dogs later and many generations of Barbs later, I'm still doing it. My current Aussie Badger is my helper in chores; today he helped me vaccinate, and he has made it possible for me to drench and doctor without needing extra hands. I'll be starting him in herding trials this spring.

Right now I have 12 sheep, but I've had up to 35 at one time over the years. I keep Barbados ewes, two of which lambed adorable twins recently. I have a Katahdin ram and really like the cross. I have a couple of cross wethers to make sure I have some practice sheep when moms are busy with lambs.

I sell off older lambs and adults who wash out as herding subjects to help pay for hay and board, but this operation is a hobby that is always in the red. But I love it! I love watching sheep just doing sheep things. Watching them eat is so relaxing, and of course who can resist lambs playing?

I have the need to farm, and am green with envy of those of you who have your own homesteads. We would love to buy acreage where we can live, have the sheep right there, have our horses, etc, but it's still just too expensive here to enter the market....My husband and I are both in biotech, so we are where the jobs are, and it's hard to farm along with that! All the affordable places are too far away.

At any rate, I love this forum and have been using it a lot. I've lost sheep to mountain lions recently, so had used the forum to get information about what to do. I'd love to get a FGD, but since we don't live where the sheep are, I feel nervous about adding another dog to our responsibilities. If we had our own place, I would for sure get one. I love seeing dogs used for what they were bred to do, and I love dogs who are still bred for those purposes (as opposed to the ones who were bred away from being useful).

Thanks for providing this wonderful resource!

Betsy
La Honda, CA


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## goodshephrd (Feb 21, 2010)

I started raising sheep as a 4H project in 1975. Started out with six suffolk ewes and a buck. Tried several other breeds through the years and slowly built the flock. Until the fire in '07 we had 125 dorset cross ewes, 25 boer cross goats and usually 10-15 bucket calves on our 160 acre farm. The goats and most of the lambs were sold off farm to a local ethnic market. Tried to use rotational grazing as much as possible. I'm currently in the process of rebuilding and hope to be back on the farm before the fall of this year. I want to have goats and calves again but think this time I'll have hair sheep or just buy feeder lambs and run them in the spring and summer. I'm also planning to have a small flock of laying hens and maybe experiment with a few rabbits. I've tried to have bees but haven't had much luck with them yet. I live about 70 miles northeast of Wichita, Kansas in the Flint Hills.


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## Looking4ewes (Apr 30, 2006)

I probably need to reintroduce myself. When I first joined this forum in 2006, I was still in the dreaming stages of owning my own homestead. In 2008, we bought a 80 acre homestead and established a flock of sheep (dorper mixes) and managed them remotely while still living in the city. This year we are moving out to the farm full time. Since then, I have purchased some dorset ewes, and my flock has grown into nearly 50 head. I use a grass-based, pasture lambing, rotational grazing type of system, and so far the results have been very good. I plan to acquire some meat chickens and feeder pigs to raise for our own consumption this year as well. I appreciate this forum and all who contribute such a wealth of knowledge to us budding homesteaders. 

Cheers,

Wendy


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## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

Hi. I've been haunting this site for a while, and I finally joined. I live in Maine and have a small breeder flock of five icelandic sheep (four ewes and a ram), angora and meat rabbits, and a few chickens. I've had all the animals for the last three years. The sheep are probably my favorite livestock, but my family doesn't really like them. They think I am some sort of animal whisperer since I can move them from point A to point B without much hassle. I am a fiber junkie and I LOVE to spin, especially on my drop spindle. My sheep flock will hopefully be growing this year, since I want to add a couple more ewes (maybe white ones, since all my others are black or brown). I also want to try my hand at bee keeping and raising heritage breed turkeys. And I am looking for an excuse to own a llama, but I doubt that will be happening anytime soon. I dream of the day when I can own my own land and have an actual, honest to goodness farm that can provide me with a halfway decent living.


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## LibertyWool (Oct 23, 2008)

Hi Black Sheep Girl. I live in Central Maine near Lake St. George. I have a neighbor that raises Icelandic sheep and has some bred for spring lambs. If you want, I can get you in touch with her. I raise Cotswold X Romneys and am lambing right now... 7 lambed out and 7 to go... 13 lambs on the ground.....


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## PA Katahdins (Oct 8, 2008)

I live outside of State College, Pennsylvania on a 190 acre working farm. Currently am running 38 registered katahdin ewes and am slowly expanding to a target goal of about 100 registered ewes. Also have 4 feeder pigs. And i am about due for lambing any day now.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

Greetings!
We have 5+ acres in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, and raise pretty much everything we eat. We have Berkshire pigs (thinking of going to American Guinea Hogs), ducks, chickens, rabbits, emu and sheep. Most of the sheep were given to us for one reason or another, and we have 2 ancient St Croix ewes and 3 breeding-age Finns, plus 2 Finn wethers ready for the freezer. So far, we have 7 new lambs from one of the St Croix and 2 of the Finns. Multi-Mom, the Finn, is due shortly, and maybe the other St Croix will produce one, as she's bagged up. We'll see.

We had an Icelandic ram because we like the taste of Icelandic, which is good, because he's now in the freezer and I have half-a-dozen wooden fence posts to replace because he broke them off at ground level.

Free animals are always that way for a reason, so we're learning about pregnancy toxemia, prolapse and bottle feeding. Baby lambs are certainly cute, though!

We will keep the males for freezer lamb, but we haven't decided how many ewe lambs to keep yet. (Translation: I haven't convinced my adult kids that I really NEED more sheep!)
Kit
Lacomb, Oregon


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## joanne123 (Mar 10, 2010)

Hello from Hawaii! Newbie here, both to the forums & sheep!!! I have had sheep for about 18 months now. I have 4 mouflon hybrid adult ewes and 1 ewe that I don't know what she is, but here they're nicknamed "black hawaiian" sheep. I also have 2 mouflon hybrid ram lambs who are almost 3 months old and were bottle babies & 1 brand new 4 day old mouflon hybrid ewe lamb who is sooooo adorable!!! I love watching her play and jump!!!

We are still waiting on 2 of our ewe's to lamb...any day now...just waiting and waiting and waiting. This is our first year lambing and the wait is killing me!!! 

We recently lost 2 rams and 1 ewe (all mouflon hybrids) to fly strike!  It was most definitely a learning experience! 

Besides our sheep, we also have 3 goats (don't know the breed) and 1 steer.


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## Illini (Apr 13, 2009)

Hi, and happy Spring!

I'm Kathy. I live north of Galesburg, Illinois, and, as of yesterday afternoon, I am the proud owner of a spinner's flock of 6 babydoll southdown sheep: 1 white ram, 1 black ram, 2 white ewes, and 2 black wethers, all purchased from the HT Barter Board with Slev's help (thanks, Steve!)

It was quite an adventure getting them all home yesterday with our mini-blizzard, and the vehicle and trailer are stuck out by the barn, but they're all settled now and seem to be doing fine this morning. I know that I'll check in often on the forum to take advantage of your wisdom and experience.

Thanks!


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## jerryf (Apr 1, 2006)

I live in West Central Minnesota-- close to the South Dakota/North Dakota border. I have 5 acres of pasture and buy all m feed. I raised commercial Dorset cross for years,, sold the flock for a job move, Now retired I have a small flock of Shetland and Shetland crossbred ewes Ewes of color...2 "white" ewes carry spots,,,,,,,,Yesterday My best crossbred ewe had a ram lamb sired by a Border Leicester ram. "Shade" will be my ram this fall. My Shetland ewes are larger than average and will be bred to Shade. The resulting ewe lambs will give me intermediate sized ewes +120 pounds with a great fleece and lots of colors,

The chicken pens.....8 laying Ameraucana hens and a roo, eight 2 month old Ameraucana pullets AND 26 eggs from the flock to hatch in a week! 

Jerry
http://fletcherthreeoaks.blogspot.com/ 

one day old "Shade"









Shade's dam Shadow










Shasta










BlueBell










Snow Cloud










Autumn










Maybeline










Cher


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## jerryf (Apr 1, 2006)

Goldie and Silver as a babe









Silver today









Jerry


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Just bumping this to the top


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

I guess that I should introduce myself. I started raising market lambs for 4H. Did that for several years and got one of my ewe lambs turned back to me and managed to convince my dad that 1) I really needed that ewe and 2) that I couldn't just have one ewe. So my breeding flock started out with 2 cross bred ewes and now has expanded to 5 ewes (2 cross bred, 1 purebred romney, and 2 pure bred suffolks). I am due to lamb in 3 days!!! so my flock will hopefully expand again. I primarly raise the lambs out for meat but some go as fair lambs. I would like to get into milking sheep this year (one of my cross breds makes enough milk to feed an army) so if lambing goes alright I'll be having yogurt and cheese. 

I also have 2 horses, 1 dog, 32 laying hens, 1 rooster, 32 chicks, and a barn cat (that loves to eat everything).


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## spinandslide (Jun 6, 2008)

Ive asked plenty of questions here, but never formally introduced myself.

I am Sarah and own my own place in north texas. We started raising horses and now have cut back significantly on them..keeping just afew and now have a commercial Brangus herd of cows and most recently, my sheep. 

I got sheep to work my border collies on, but am now knee deep in sheep keeping, as I just bought my own ram, a fullblood dorper, last year. I own one Kat/Dorper ewe and I have 3 more dorper ewe lambs reserved for me from this year's crop. I hope to use them for my dogs some and also to sell. Lamb is not REALLY popular around here, but I have already had qnuiries...I have good folks, both on this board and in person, who have helped me get this far. 

our ranch's site
(is being updated this month.  )
www.coyotecreekranchtx.net
and my blogs..one for my border collies
www.ranchdogchronicles.wordpress.com
and my blog for my Chincoteague pony
www.slidebythesea.wordpress.com


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## VA Shepherd (Dec 26, 2010)

Yes, I suppose introducing myself would be good!

I was introduced to sheep in 2008, and I was instantly hooked! I did a three year apprenticeship on a farm in Colorado, and at the end of it my boss gave me a ram and five ewes. :clap: They are East Friesian crosses; she ran a dairy herd. 

I also bought a small herd of Black Cotswolds in my second year; they are classified as 'threatened' by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, which means there are estimated to be fewer than 5,000 left worldwide. I want to preserve the breed itself, so I keep a portion of my flock as pure BCs, but I am also experimenting with a BC/EF cross, which so far has been fantastic. 

I moved back home to VA in October of 2010; you may have seen the world's oldest, ugliest stock trailer cruising down I-70 with 23 sheep and a dozen chickens crammed inside. :shocked: I'm now trying to transition my great-grandfather's land back into active farming. The soil has been much abused over the last few decades; I have my work cut out for me. Fortunately, sheep are experts at leaving organic material behind.:happy0035: 

I'm not milking them this year; there aren't enough of them yet to justify the cost of a milking machine, and I have more than enough else to do in setting up a small farm business. Next year, though, I hope to have 20-25 ewes ready for milking. I will either sell it as pet milk, or develop a sheep shares program to stay legal.

I'm also working on raising poultry, pigs, and starting a small vegetable CSA, but all of that is really just to support my sheep addiction! 

I've already gotten some great advice on this site, and I really enjoy the opportunity to talk sheep. Glad to be here!

Carmen


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## nobrabbit (May 10, 2002)

I've been around since the Greenspun-Countryside days but rarely post. My husband is a true-blue country boy from a holler in extreme rural KY and I am a former suburbanite from southeastern NC. He is our full time farmer while I work outside the home as a manager at a large university. 

We have 8 chickens, 7 head of cattle (Charolais and mixed stock) and 11 sheep (Katahdin and Katahdin crosses). Like Spinandslide we got started on sheep (3) to work our Border Collie on. My husband traditionally has been a cattle/tobacco farmer but has gotten hooked on sheep. I have always been an animal lover and dreamed of living on a small farm. We raise a huge garden, can, hunt, cure and smoke meats, do our own building, mechanicing, etc. This is only our 2nd but largest lambing season and I am learning so much from this great forum! 

I have a blog Frugaltable.com to chronicles our daily life.


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## birchtreefarm (Jul 22, 2007)

We've been raising Icelandic sheep since 2006. Started in NY and moved to NH in 2008 to basically start over on 12 acres of mostly woods. It used to be farm though and we've logged and cleared and are finally ready to fence this spring.

We raise the sheep for breeding stock, meat and wool. We sold all our lambs last year as meat lambs and may do the same again this year. Our goal is to be "color-blind" in breeding and to focus on conformation, wool quality, mothering/milkiness in the ewes, and calm temperaments. We do admit though to liking the color moorit and grey pattern best. 

We also keep laying hens and muscovy and khaki campbell ducks. 

It's not a money-making venture by any means - someday we hope to break even. Both my husband and I spin, (hubby just started!) and I knit and crochet with the yarn. My husband wants to learn to weave. We just enjoy the lifestyle and couldn't imagine not having the farm to take care of.


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## cnsilver (Feb 20, 2008)

We arelooking into raising some sheep in western NC,partlly due to meadow contol. Also interested in selling as grass fed. What would be the best breed for our needs?


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## Amy S (Mar 10, 2011)

Amy here from NE Kansas. We have about 8 acres, our sheep are Barbados and Barbados crosses. Also chickens. This forum has been helpful and fun!


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## bsheep (Jul 28, 2011)

Aloha,

It feels like family in this sheep forum, and I deeply appreciate hearing your stories of joy and challenges. I'm a mainlander shepherdess getting a second chance at raising sheep, this time in Hawaii. The last flock of about 60 ewes were dispersed in 1992 so it has been a while. At that time my parents had crossbreds bred to Suffolks, and during my 4-H years I started buying registered Suffolks and showed at the Linn County Fair, Oregon State Fair, and PI in Portland.

My main regret from those years was not knowing how copper is toxic to sheep. In feeding out yearling rams for resale in the Roseburg ram sale, the general livestock blend they may have caused problems, but I'll never know. It wasn't until my expensive herd sire died that the copper problem came to light. The great information here in this forum is so helpful, helping me be a better caretaker than the previous 20 years of shepherding.

Now i'm a volunteer for Youth with a Mission in Kailua-Kona and about 2 years ago, unknown to me, another staff member brought 6 hair sheep to the campus and when the grass was gone, they fed them lawn clippings. At the time I wasn't interested. When the sheep started going hungry one too many times, I began letting them outside their pen to graze on the irrigated soccer field since we were in the middle of a drought and that is how it started again for me.

The first lamb was born dead, possible breach, but in the last year 37 lambs have been born here. Almost all are St. Croix. Most sheep on Hawaii's Craigslist are of that breeding or Barbados, with a touch of Katahdin and Dorper...very few. After 3 half Dorper ewes were donated and their progeny's rate of gain stood out from their St. Croix siblings, I borrowed the Dorper ram for one or two breedings. I'm excited about those lambs coming this fall. This year 21 ewes, males, and lambs were donated to our campus. 

Our grass easily grows to 8 feet tall. Where it has been mowed, then grazed, it looks like wheat stubble with hairy green sprouts. The higher levels of protein comes from the brush, similar to monkeypod trees. I feed grain only to tame or move them. One triplet-raising ewe is getting extra feed to keep her condition in good shape to breed back at 90 days. 


My dream is to bring at least one purebred Dorper (or Katahdin/Dorper cross) ram from the mainland since the few Dorpers I've seen have poor shedding qualities here in Hawaii. However the cheapest mode of transportation is $430 with one airline for 100 pounds. I can't find any ocean transport yet and hope someone on this forum can help me with that. There are Hawaiian sheep breeders wanting new bloodlines, but transportation costs is a big one.

This post is already long enough. I appreciate the help, as vet care is 45 minutes away and $80 for a farm call. I'll be in Oregon for a month-long visit and will check out the State Fair and some sheep farms too. I'm loving getting a second chance to raise sheep.







Born this month.








Spring grass








Rebuilt rock wall fence, ocean in background.


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## Williams farm (Dec 16, 2010)

Welcome to Ht and the Sheep board. We'll look forward to reading about your shepherding too!


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## ValleyVista (Jul 17, 2011)

Hi you can call me Doug. I'm a new wannabe homesteader who is living with a lady who has sheep and goats and cattle. I am learning lots every day. Nice to meet you


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Hi everyone!!
I 've been raising Old English Babydoll Southdown sheep for 4 years in Texas. Years ago I moved and lived in Minnesota and raised Columbian and Suffolk for 8 years. 
Difference is one being meat sheep the other not. I find myself trying to keep my breding stock alive and heathly for years. Which before it was the meatmarket.
I will never confess to know everything about sheep, that's why I am on HT. I learn something new everytime I come on.
There are many smart shepherds/shepherdess on this board and they have helped me tremendously, for that I Thank you all.

Here's some pics of my sheep some of you may already seen them...I must confess, I need new pics and I continue to forget to take the camera outside when I am out there, which is all the time. LOL

Zoey she produces the most adorable lambs, her babies are highly in demand










My newest member Calli. She is a doll!!!










Gizmo is one of my favorites


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## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

Stop posting those pictures of babydolls! I don't need another breed. They are so cute. CUTE. STOP THE MADNESS.


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## VA Shepherd (Dec 26, 2010)

Oh, Fowler, that is too much! Gizmo is the perfect name, I can't believe that face! Babydolls are irresistible!


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## lockhart76 (Jul 31, 2011)

Howdy everyone. It seems this website could use a few more Canucks! So happy to find a website with some discussion of sheep.
My wife Liesl and I ranch in northern saskatchewan with the help of our two incredible daughters Jessica and Lucy (2 and 3 yrs). We run 150 purebred Welsh black cattle, some commercial angus, 700 Dorper (with a touch of Katahdin =), and 300 North Country Cheviots with a bit of Clun Forest mixed in. We also have laying hens, miniature horses, quarter horses, and miniature goats! We are ranching and living our dream. A few dogs round out our crew: two Irish Wolfhounds for fun, a border collie for work, and guardian dogs for the sheep (1 anatolian shepherd, 1 kangal, 1 maremma, 2 great pyrenees, and 2 pups we are training that are 1/2 pyr/anatolian) We are all grass and feed no grain. Our animals are thrifty and unspoiled. The mommas do it on their own in the pasture or they go down the road! We try to stay away from chemicals/implants and love growing grass and sustainable, profitable livestock.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Time to bump this again!


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## emptycupranch (Jul 13, 2008)

I am located in the Kootenays (SE British Columbia). I currently have a mixed flock of 18 sheep including the lambs. 4 Katahdin ewes, 2 Kat/dorper ewes, 1 Icelandic ewe, 2 suffolk/Katahdin ewes, and 1 unk black woolly ewe....and the remaining 6 lambs from last season. I have two rams, they keep each other company. One kat/dorper and one pure katahdin.

I also have horses, pigs, rabbits, quail, guinea fowl, chickens, ducks, dexter cow/calf.... all tucked in on under 2 acres. 

The sheep are by far my favorite critters :grin:


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