Hi my hubby and I are thinking of getting some sheep,I heard that cheviot sheep are very hardy and good dispositioned. Any one with sheep with any advice please respond we have about 3 and 1/2 acres of pasture thanks! Oh yes we are in Ohio!

-- Julie (nelson3@bright.net), May 04, 2000

Answers

Julie, so many things to think about! I live in W. Washington state where it is wet a lot of the year. I raise Romneys, both colored and white. Their wool is nice for handspinning. They also have fleeces which don't part down the back, so pretty rain resistant. They are descendents of Romney Marsh, the name which should indicate their hardiness to wet weather. They are not prone to foot problems. Also they are very good mothers and easy keepers. Rams are nicely dispositioned, with a few notable exceptions. Fleece can be very soft to something less than that, but not real kempy.

I dont know your climate so can't advise specifics. But, if you want meat sheep, don't want to shear, etc., etc., you will have much other criteria to check out..

Good luck. I love sheep.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), May 04, 2000.

Julie, I have only a little experience with Cheviots, but they seem to be a little on the nervous side, very alert. That could be good or bad, depending on your situation. Given quiet handling, and lots of handfeeding, they should be all right to handle. We did know a man once who kept a small flock of Montadales, which have a lot of Cheviot ancestry, his ewes were okay, but the ram was inclined to pin him to the fence, or knock him down. You might check into Clun Forests, too -- they are good meat sheep, similar temperaments to the Cheviots I think, and usually lamb without help. We had a Clun ram lamb shipped to us in Alaska, and were going to start a flock there, but then my husband got a job elsewhere and I gave the lamb to a friend. The other breeds I have first-hand experience with are Merinos and Shetlands -- and their crosses. I don't recommend Shetlands -- they are really bad escape artists, too small to be good for selling meat, and the fleeces, though lovely colors and very soft, are extremely light and often kempy up onto the hip and shoulder. The Merinos are good sheep, some people think the fleeces are too hard to spin by hand, but others like them -- it's the only kind I've tried to spin, so have no basis for comparison. Again, they aren't a really good meat sheep, some still have excessive wrinkles, which make shearing difficult, and the shearers I've known who worked on them preferred other breeds for ease of shearing. Some people seem to disagree with that, so I may be wrong, just reporting my experience. They do have lovely wool, though, can't beat it for softness. We did have two Romneys, and I can't disagree with Sheepish about their good qualities, but I had already started handling merino wool, and there is just no comparison. Good luck, and let us know what you decide!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 04, 2000.

Why! The Romanovs, of course! No way would we raise sheep without the Romanov genetics. Same time, same facilities, same feed, same work, -but, triple the output. Biggest litters we have had have been littlers of six, but some of our breeders have had some sevens, and the record for the breed is nine.

Tough, hardy, adaptable and we get lots of quadruplets and quintuplets. We make our living with sheep and the Romanov genetics give us the edge. If you water them down to 1/2 Romanov, you will get more manageable and realistic numbers (triplets), but the purebreds are exciting with the bigger litters.

We are in Monroe County, here in Ohio. Happy to show you what we are doing with our flocks.

The Romanovs help us "wring" a little more production out of our limited acreage.

-- homestead2 (homestead@monroecty.net), May 04, 2000.

i started with romneys because of where we lived in mass was very wet land. my ram was the sweetest guy ever. still have my 2 old girls. got a lincoln ewe last year and find her temperment the same as the romney. just got a romney baby ram for breeding next year. had a coltswold ram for a while. at first all was well and then when he got older, he really hurt me one day. got me good, broke my finger and strained my arm bad, now i have tendinitis. he just got mean, and now he's dogfood somewhere. absolutely love the romney wool. laura cavallari

-- laura cavallari (ladygoat13@aol.com), May 04, 2000.

My wife likes Jacob Sheep. Traditionally they are suppose to be descendants of Jacob's sheep that he got from his father-in-law Laban. But I think they really came from British stock. They are white and brownish black. They can have from 2 to 6 horns but most have 4. My wife is dreaming of the day when she can start a small flock. She is mostly interested in maintaining the breed, as it is rare, but may also learn to spin and sell the wool. They are hardy, supposedly smarter than most breeds and lamb easily.

Swallow Lane Farm and Fiberworks has an excellent site that explains about Jacobs. www.jacobsheep.com/start1.htm You can also do a search with Jacob+sheep.

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), May 04, 2000.

Hello,

I have raise Brecknock Hill Welsh Cheviots for many years. They are not as flighty as the Border (good friend raises those), they are under 24" tall, do not bother my fencing at all, easy to handle. Their wool is wonderful!!! Both beginers(like me) and experts love to handspin their wool. I also milk mine in season (tastes really good),, they lamb really easy, very good mothers, lambs are always up and nursing with in 8 minutes. ------ I just started breeding Olde English babydoll Southdowns,, They are not flighty at all, Very easy to handle,, don`t wonder anywhere, don`t seem to want to. They don`t bother fencing.they don`t chew on your trees or bushes.. They are stoic in the extreme,,they never make a sound when they are in labour lambing!! Though they are alot more laid back about mothering,,they don`t mind their lambs playing with other lambs,,they will even nurse other lambs,, The lambs take about 20 to 30 mintues to start nursing.But they still keep an eye on their lambs. Have not tried to milk them as of yet. Just sent a yearling Ram to the butchers,,, so will see how they taste.(Grandparents wanted some lamb this year so.......) Have not handspun their wool yet,,

I do not have anything left for sale this year,, but would try to find a breeder in your area if you are at all interested. Just let me know. But if you would like more information and pictures,,, check out my webpage.... http://hometown.aol.com/danishpb/myhomepage/index.html

Good luck in your search!!

-- Bergere (autumnhaus@aol.com), May 06, 2000.

Hey There...I would suggest that you check out your county for other sheep operations...ask questions (if someone tells you that their breed has no downside to it I'd find another honest person to ask)..decide if you want meat sheep or wool/meat sheep...a good web site to see all the breeds is http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/Breeds/Sheep/ if you can find a breed you like the looks of close to you...this is so much easier than finding one you really want and having them 4 states away. I raise Cotswold and Corriedale..but then I am sell their wool and breeding stock and am not interested at all in market lambs. Hope this helps.

-- Lynn N. Johnson (lynn@wauka.com), May 09, 2000.

Hello,

True,, true,,,, it is hard to find an honest breeder sometimes. All breeds do have down sides. *But the person that wants to buy sheep and never has had them before, should do as much research as they can first. *What size of sheep they want,how tall? Like mine are good both for meat and wool,, though the Brecknock Wool is much easier to spin than the Olde English. But mine are small sheep,, so the cuts of meat will not be as large as the commercial breeds of sheep. *Will you be the only one handling them? *Do you mind aggressive Rams or do you need a mellow gentle Ram? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the many reasons I went with the breeds I did,, is I need a small size, I am not a strong person, I must do ALL the work with them myself. I NEED a VERY gentle Ram,, I have to be able to trust him in the pastures,,at All times. It is possible!! Very rarely do I get an grumpy Ram,,only once in 4 years,, they are NEVER sold,, they are made into Lamb chops. They need to be very hardy in Wet weather,,, and the breeds I have are. Mine have always respected my fencing,, I have woven sheep fence and 3 lines of hot wire,, not just for the sheep but the Predators. When they are lambs I will push them onto the Hot wire so they learn the fence hurts really quick! The Olde English are so mellow and short legged, they are unable to run fast enough to get away from predators,, where as the Brecknock`s fair better,,they can get away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *What type of fencing do you have or will have? *What climate do you live in? *Do you need hardy sheep? *Do you want just white sheep or colored too?? *Do you want them just to eat grass,, or you don`t mind them nibbling on your trees? *Do you want to deal with horns or No horns,, there are pros and cons for both? * Just what ever you would like to try,,,not nessarlly what every one else has,, that may not be right for you. Hope I did not confuse everyone to much!! :O) Is fun just watching the lambs play,, and my small sheep ewes walk up to me to be petted,, without being pushy. I have them just because I like them. :O)

-- Bergere (autumnhaus@aol.com), May 09, 2000.

Thank you all for your encouragement and advice we(hubby and I) have just recently purchased 6 ewes,tunis breed,they are doing very well on the pasture and my kids love them as well. thanks again,Julie

-- David (nelson3@bright.net), June 27, 2000.

Hooray! Keep us posted on how you all are doing. I don't know much about Tunis and would like to know more.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), June 27, 2000.

Hi everyone we purchased six tunis lambs, we are so happy, they have the red heads and legs and oatmeal colored wool. they are very calm and easy to work with as they are not real big. will keep youall updated thanks for all your help!! Julie

-- David (nelson3@bright.net), July 27, 2000.

I looked on the internet for sheep breeds and then found the tunis breed. it seems they are a fat tail sheep very old breed that almost died out during the civil war. they are more popular in the east. Here in ohio there are a few breeders whom I got to meet with recently at a fair.this fair had its own tunis sheep class !! It was great. check out the tunis sheep registrys newsletter on the web its called the tunis shepherd,lol Julie

-- David (nelson3@bright.net), July 27, 2000.

go for a TEXEL. they are stout hardy sheep with excellent conformation. they cross well with other breeds, to create a well balanced animal. Texels have well muscled frames, especially in the hindquarters. they are not as long in the body as a suffolk, but do compete well. A suffolk texel cross is always nice, as it takes away the lanky tall appearence in some full blooded texels

holly

-- Holly Ginny (evo2ndthumb@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.