Sheep Milk River is deep , creamy and extremely nutritious . It ’s rich in calcium , phosphorus , atomic number 12 , conjugate linoleic battery-acid , and vitamins A , B and E than cow Milk River . Plus , its fatty globule are smaller , making it easier to support . Perhaps beneficial , its solids content far outshine all others , even goat milk , making it the perfect mass medium for crafting cheese .
If you love homemade cheese , creamy yogurt and incredibly tasty milk on your cereal , consider add a few dairy ewes to your hobby farm zoo . But be machinate . Consider the following before you purchase .
How Sheep Work
Sheep hunger the safe of a flock , so a lone sheep is a stressed sheep . Stress conduce to increased parasite oodles , depressed resistant system and unhappy sheep . Most researcher say a flock should contain at least three sheep , but a pair of stick crony generally suffices . You should n’t keep just one sheep .
If you do n’t need at least two Ewe for Milk River , keep a castrated male for a single milcher ’s associate . A friendly goat , camelid or pony might also lick , calculate on the mortal involve , but a second sheep is always best .
Also , sheep are powerfully wire to bide alert and flee from danger . This makes them more responsive than most other barnyard mintage . It ’s not a bad trait , but it ’s something to factor into daily handling , especially on the milking standpoint . A soft voice and lots of kindness go a long manner when handling sheep .
Commitment Concerns
If you ’ve milk cows orgoats , you already know how much time it take . If you have n’t , believe that a milking ewe does n’t allow for holidays , wan leave , nasty atmospheric condition or weekend sleep - ins .
You or a reliable helper must milk once or twice a day , every daylight , at roughly the same clip , throughout your ewe ’s lactation . You ’ll also postulate to have her breed , be with her for lamb and deal with care for her lamb . If that sounds like more than you ’re willing to take on , do n’t try dairy farming , sheep or otherwise .
The Breed Matters
Before buying or even choosing a breed , settle what you require from your sheep . Do you desire to leaven sheep for only Milk River ? How much milk ? Do you need milk and wool ? Are meaty lamb part of your visual sensation ? Are hardiness and flightiness important ?
There are two way of life to approach milking : with specialized dairy sheep or with nondairy breed ewe . dairy farm ewes offer considerably prospicient lactations . A dairy ewe ’s lactation can last as long as eight months , while a typical nondairy ewe ’s suckling normally lasts three to five months . And she ’ll get a whole lot less per milking .
The best bets for high output and long lactation are East Friesian and Lacaune dairy farm sheep , or crosses of these two breeds .
East Friesian sheep are fair pronto usable German sheep that typically produce about 1,000 pounds of Milk River during a 220- to 240 - 24-hour interval lactation . The East Friesian is also a wool breed that shear a 9- to 12 - Cypriot pound , 30- to 35 - micron , low - lustre sheepskin , with a staple length of or so 4 to 6 inches . Most East Friesians are clean , but a dark dark-brown strain is also uncommitted . East Friesian ewes average somewhat more than two lambs per lamb , and , bred to profound breed read/write memory , their lambs are quite meaty . East Friesians are typically docile and well-disposed , but they ’re not peculiarly stalwart .
Lacaune sheep are improved Gallic dairy sheep that give slightly less Milk River than East Friesians , but the milk contains more milk solid . Plus , Lacaunes are hardier sheep . Authentic French Roquefort cheese is crafted using certified Lacaune milk . These are technically wool sheep , but their head , leg and belly are woolen - free and they tend to spill much of the rest of their fleece , so raising them for wool is counterproductive .
Awassi sheep are fat - tailed dairy sheep that spring up in the Middle East and are still rarified in North America . They ’re fertile milker , 2d only to East Friesians in production . They ’re exceptionally stalwart carpet - wool sheep that come in many colors .
Assaf sheep are twist - offs created in Israel by crossing Awassi with East Friesians . The Assaf is a dual - aim woolen - and - dairy farm breed and , like Awassi , is unmanageable to incur and buy in North America .
Several nondairy breeds produce enough Milk River during a long enough suckling to warrant milking them , especially because sheep milk freeze beautifully , and it ’s easy to save up enough for making cheese . The best of these are Icelandics , a treble - purpose woollen - Milk River - and - nitty-gritty sheep , and Katahdins , a popular , parasite - resistant hair sheep strain .
Know Your Udders
Ewes ’ bag are placed back far than those of goats or cows , essentially put between their hind leg , so you milk sheep from the bum .
udder differ by person . The ewes you choose should have soft , pliable bag with two mammilla — no more , no less , not even nubs . Extras are considered spear carrier pap . spear carrier teats are often blind teats , meaning they have no opening to the outside , a condition that can run to serious udder disease such as mastitis . Each teat should have a single orifice on the end .
If you hand - milk , ensure the teats are bragging enough to savvy with at least your thumb and two fingers . finger the udder cautiously , suss out for chunky scar tissue paper that can indicate preceding troll of mastitis , which tends to fall back .
Grass Isn’t Enough
It takesgood feedto produce a decent supplying of milk . In add-on to high - lineament eatage , intend deep lea or legume hay , dairy farm ewes need a measure amount of concentrated provender such as a homemade commixture word by a nutritionist or a good commercial sheep feed .
They call for access to clean water supply and sheep - specific minerals at all time of the Clarence Day . Take care that they are n’t exposed to commercial provender or mineral formulated for other species such as goats , horses or Bos taurus . These take copper , which can slowly collect in a sheep ’s liver and contribute to copper toxicity . In metre , too much copper can kill a sheep .
Dairy Sheep Details
Source : Guide to raise Dairy Sheep , University of Wisconsin - Extension
If all this sounds good , you might be quick to give dairy farm sheep a attempt . Do some more research , and do n’t be sheepish .
This story originally appeared in the July / August 2018 issue ofHobby Farms .
