ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS > FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE
Fiber Animals
The15thMember:
--- Quote from: The15thMember on March 24, 2023, 11:50:21 am ---
--- Quote from: Occam on March 24, 2023, 09:40:13 am ---
--- Quote from: The15thMember on March 23, 2023, 10:33:39 pm ---
--- Quote from: Occam on March 23, 2023, 10:18:00 pm ---Redbud trees are happily blooming and dandelions are starting to pop. Not in my yard of course, the sheep are eating the down, but in neighbors yards haha.
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Off-topic, but what kind of sheep do you have, Occam?
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I have shetlands, 3 for now. Should be lambing in a few weeks
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My sister is interested in perhaps getting a fiber animal, would you be willing to answer some questions about your sheep? I have a thread on fiber animals going in the farming section, if you don't mind moving down there to discuss them further.
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Occam and I had this conversation on Follow the Bloom, so I figured we'd continue it on this thread. How often you shear them? What do you do with the wool? Are they easy to care for? How is their temperament?
Occam:
Let me preface this by song in definitely no expert having just recently added sheep to our property in November. They've been very East to care for up to this point though I'm sure there will be some challenges as with all animal husbandry. In doing my research on sheep I wanted to find a breed that would do well with my philosophy on life which is generally to let nature be our guide. This is how I approach beekeeping (which I'm also new at) and most things in life. Nature is wiser than I, I'm just here to try ronwork with nature.
All that to say... I determined an "unimproved" breed was likely better suited to this philosophy. They haven't been continually bred for show or certain looks, traits, etc and are largely the same as they were a few hundred to a thousand years ago. There were a few options such as Icelandic and Shetland to name a couple and I found a shepherdess with shetlands nearby so I settled on them. Both are nice looking breeds and smaller in size, which fits with my smaller homestead. Both were multi purpose useful for fiber and meat, the Icelandic is also considered useful for milk if desired.
In answer to your specific questions though. So far I have not sheared them though I will soon, likely after lambingnhas taken place although I'll probably dag the ewes before lambing to make it easier for the lambs to access the milk bags. I plan on using the better parts of the wool for making roving. Spinning, etc. The rough parts that aren't useful for that illnlikely add to my garden beds. They only need shearing once a year. As a point of interest you can roo Icelandic sheep, or gently pull tye fiber from them in the spring. They have a three part coat and partner it sheds.
So far they've been easy to care for, just providing clean water, hay, minerals, and shelter. They're pretty Hardy and don't care about snow or rain really spending time out in both.
Their temperament has been good, the ram is still young at less than a year and that may change as he gets older and shows dominance more. Another reason I picked shetlands is their smaller size. It hurts less getting rammed by a 100-110lb ram than a 200lb ram. Probably just bruises not broken bones. The ewes are a little standoffs but alhave been warming up to me, especially when I have grain. Aggression will be one thing I keep out of my gene pool as much as possible. If I have a ram that's being too cranky or aggressive I'll use him for dinner instead
Hopefullythat helps.
The15thMember:
--- Quote from: Occam on March 24, 2023, 12:43:50 pm ---Let me preface this by song in definitely no expert having just recently added sheep to our property in November. They've been very East to care for up to this point though I'm sure there will be some challenges as with all animal husbandry. In doing my research on sheep I wanted to find a breed that would do well with my philosophy on life which is generally to let nature be our guide. This is how I approach beekeeping (which I'm also new at) and most things in life. Nature is wiser than I, I'm just here to try ronwork with nature.
All that to say... I determined an "unimproved" breed was likely better suited to this philosophy. They haven't been continually bred for show or certain looks, traits, etc and are largely the same as they were a few hundred to a thousand years ago. There were a few options such as Icelandic and Shetland to name a couple and I found a shepherdess with shetlands nearby so I settled on them. Both are nice looking breeds and smaller in size, which fits with my smaller homestead. Both were multi purpose useful for fiber and meat, the Icelandic is also considered useful for milk if desired.
In answer to your specific questions though. So far I have not sheared them though I will soon, likely after lambingnhas taken place although I'll probably dag the ewes before lambing to make it easier for the lambs to access the milk bags. I plan on using the better parts of the wool for making roving. Spinning, etc. The rough parts that aren't useful for that illnlikely add to my garden beds. They only need shearing once a year. As a point of interest you can roo Icelandic sheep, or gently pull tye fiber from them in the spring. They have a three part coat and partner it sheds.
So far they've been easy to care for, just providing clean water, hay, minerals, and shelter. They're pretty Hardy and don't care about snow or rain really spending time out in both.
Their temperament has been good, the ram is still young at less than a year and that may change as he gets older and shows dominance more. Another reason I picked shetlands is their smaller size. It hurts less getting rammed by a 100-110lb ram than a 200lb ram. Probably just bruises not broken bones. The ewes are a little standoffs but alhave been warming up to me, especially when I have grain. Aggression will be one thing I keep out of my gene pool as much as possible. If I have a ram that's being too cranky or aggressive I'll use him for dinner instead
Hopefullythat helps.
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Thanks so much, that's great info. We don't have the space for sheep right now, but were are looking at purchasing the property next to us, and they could be in the cards then.
BeeMaster2:
Occam,
Quote It hurts less getting rammed by a 100-110lb ram than a 200lb ram.
I think one of these days you are going to be very surprised how much a 100 pound animal in peak condition can hurt you. Bee careful.
Jim Altmiller
Occam:
--- Quote from: BeeMaster2 on March 24, 2023, 05:39:21 pm ---Occam,
Quote It hurts less getting rammed by a 100-110lb ram than a 200lb ram.
I think one of these days you are going to be very surprised how much a 100 pound animal in peak condition can hurt you. Bee careful.
Jim Altmiller
--- End quote ---
Oh I have no pretense it won't hurt. I never turn my back to him and have told the kids to always be vigilant. Less was the key word, I'm sure it will still hurt a fair bit, hopefully we can dodge the ram lol
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