The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Fraggle422 on December 29, 2008, 11:32:15 am
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Hi
I am new to TAS and joined because I am thinking about getting a couple of sheep to keep the grass down instead of using machinery.
We are down in the Isles of Scilly and have a couple of acres of rough pasture, I was looking at various breeds and came across the Easy Care name, but have not found any mention of it on the site. Does anyone have experience of this breed and just how 'easy' are they to care for?
Thanks
Chris
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Hi, I hope you don't mind me posting . I have tried in the past to find out about sheep on the isles of scilly without much success. I keep ouessant sheep or ushant sheep if you prefer; The island on the opposite side of the chanel to you was reknowned for its hardy breed of sheep and I always wondered if there was a connection via the scillies as its more than likely this breed came to ouessant via the south of england and cornish trading links with the bretons? If you could get some of these on the island they would be well suited to the situation and ideal as ecofriendly grasscutters;
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Thats interesting thanks, these islands are not really noted for sheep at all as far as I am aware, I will certainly take a look at the ushants, but it looks to me as though they would need shearing which would be a tad difficult here I think.
Cheers! :sheep:
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shearing can be done by hand with hand shears or a standard pair of dog clippers a lot less sheep to shear than most! ;D
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Its a good point, I will look closer, (whispers!!) Are they good eating? :-[
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whispers back very nice take a little time to mature i did a search on the blog for guiness the first one who went for meat; this is what it turned up.
http://ouessants.blogspot.com/search?q=guiness
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The more I read the more I like the idea :o though housing them in bad weather could create a problem as could actually purchasing and transporting them, I think this could need some research, but if I can pick your brain occasionally that would help!! :sheep:
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Housing is relatively easy if you think Island style traditionally they sheltered behind a triangular formation of granite stones being able to chose which way to get out of the wind; or the islanders of today use wooden pallettes and cover the mound in turf to provide a low ground shelter;(There was no wood on the island;)
http://ouessant-mouton.over-blog.com/article-24555481.html its in french but I can provide a translation.
transport is easy they fit inside modern plastic dog travel crates as for getting hold of them that may prove your most difficult problem; there are a few on the island of ouessant but not many most on the mainland of france are relatively easy to come by but having just imported into the Uk there is a fair amount of regulation or there are a number of breeders in the Uk but they may be on the pricey side;
happy to h elp where I can they may not prove to be what you want but the idea of ouessants on the scillies seem like the ideal place to keep this breed;
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I personally would not go down the easy care sheep route on an exposed island situation! They are very similar to Wiltshire Horn in type but it is actually fairly easy to shear sheep if taught correctly and the sheep are not too big to handle!
In your situation I too would reccommend Ouessants..........graze well, taste good and the wool can be made into valuable items.....it is not the waste product many seem to think!
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Thats interesting thanks, these islands are not really noted for sheep at all as far as I am aware, I will certainly take a look at the ushants, but it looks to me as though they would need shearing which would be a tad difficult here I think.
Cheers! :sheep:
Hi I'm new here. I just butted in because I'm pretty sure the whole point of Easy Care Sheep is that they DONT need shearing ... or housing. Or help with lambing.
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I thought Easy Care Sheep were only easy care because they don't need shearing, but after that they were like other sheep. Mind you I know nothing about sheep!
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the problem with easy-care.. is that they are designed for normal conditions. They don't like lots of cold. They don't like lots of rain. they don't like lots of wind. an island will probably have plenty of these
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I thought Easy Care Sheep were only easy care because they don't need shearing, but after that they were like other sheep. Mind you I know nothing about sheep!
they are bred to carry twins rather than troublesome triplets or oversized single lambs, due to their wool-shedding you dont need to shear them (but they do leave wool everywhere when shedding) they are resistant to footrot and blowfly but not immune! they only need dipping once a year (if you only had a couple you could spray them with sheepdip!) they are bred with part-time farmers in mind for lowland situations!
gem x
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Wow isn't careful breeding clever!
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Hmmmm - GM? ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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I thought Easy Care Sheep were only easy care because they don't need shearing, but after that they were like other sheep. Mind you I know nothing about sheep!
they are bred to carry twins rather than troublesome triplets or oversized single lambs, due to their wool-shedding you dont need to shear them (but they do leave wool everywhere when shedding) they are resistant to footrot and blowfly but not immune! they only need dipping once a year (if you only had a couple you could spray them with sheepdip!) they are bred with part-time farmers in mind for lowland situations!
gem x
There is no such thing really as an easy care sheep.....and very few people dip....it is unnecessary with modern safe pour ons and spraying sheep dip is not a good idea.....read the sheep dip disposal regs!
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the easy care sheep society might just disagree with you!
it took them a long while to develop this breed
you can find them at www.easycaresheep.com
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There is no such thing really as an easy care sheep.....and very few people dip....it is unnecessary with modern safe pour ons and spraying sheep dip is not a good idea.....read the sheep dip disposal regs!
pour ons are not safe which is the reason why i do not use them! they can be fatal if ingested for example by another animal!
as regards spraying sheep dip, if that was the case why were sheep showers invented?
check out www.richie-d.co.uk/content/sheep-shower-0-
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If they're easy care, doesn't that just mean they won't crease in the wash, and hence require less ironing? :sheep:
:dunce: I'll get my coat :dunce:
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Right....I hate to disagree but.....
Organophosphate sheep dips are a huge risk to human health not to mention environmental damage if not used properly. Synthetic pyrethroid dips are banned in the uk at the moment....that says it all really :o
Pour ons for flystrike prevention such as Clik and lice and tick treatment such as Spot on and cattle ivermectin based worm pour ons are very safe and controllable if used properly. The likelihood of ingestion by other animals is negligable if used properly.
Big flocks of thousands may indeed dip.....but most flocks are not in the thousands and many not in the hundreds either.....pour ons are perfect for this sector and safer for the animal and the operator!
Easy care sheep are similar to the Wiltshire horn and are developed to be easier than the average sheep to look after.....However I still rest my case on the fact that there is no substitute for good stockmanship and whilst I suspect you will not agree I think the term 'easy care' is most misleading!
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Right....I hate to disagree but.....
Organophosphate sheep dips are a huge risk to human health not to mention environmental damage if not used properly. Synthetic pyrethroid dips are banned in the uk at the moment....that says it all really :o
Pour ons for flystrike prevention such as Clik and lice and tick treatment such as Spot on and cattle ivermectin based worm pour ons are very safe and controllable if used properly. The likelihood of ingestion by other animals is negligable if used properly.
as i dont have the relevant literature regarding the smallprint i will get back to this later in a more relevant thread!
Big flocks of thousands may indeed dip.....but most flocks are not in the thousands and many not in the hundreds either.....pour ons are perfect for this sector and safer for the animal and the operator!
i know of many farmers in my area (most with less than 50 sheep)who dip
Easy care sheep are similar to the Wiltshire horn and are developed to be easier than the average sheep to look after.....However I still rest my case on the fact that there is no substitute for good stockmanship i have to agree with that, i also do not think anyone should have so much as a goldfish without studying/researching it thoroughly first!and whilst I suspect you will not agreenever ever presume you know what another person is thinking! not only are you wrong, it is also extremely rude. i think the term 'easy care' is most misleading!that is where breeders and farmers come in to correct the people who think they are the easy/lazy option.
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To get back to your original question on sheep breeds, we're up on the windy moors in West Cornwall and keep both Wiltshires and recently Shetlands. Although I love the Wilties the smaller Shetlands may suit you better. Most of my flock I "roo'd", which meant just pulling off the fleeces as it naturally lifts. Their feet are pretty sound, but anyway they are easy to handle and bucket train. They are also reasonable to buy and come in lots of colours. If you're coming to the mainland, you can come and see ours.
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I put my ryelands to an easy care tup this year as I wanted easy lambing and a fairly fast maturing breed, which has worked extremely well. My friend breeds easycares in lowland Lincolnshire, they seem footrot resistant and all lamb fast maturing twins but some have still got flystrike and needed treatment, they need some attention and not for fells or anywhere exposed. On a purely looks basis, they are not very pretty Sorry to any big fans of the breed).
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There is no such thing really as an easy care sheep.....and very few people dip....it is unnecessary with modern safe pour ons and spraying sheep dip is not a good idea.....read the sheep dip disposal regs!
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I have 9,000 of the things and run them all by myself they are extremely easy and have only had about 50 cases of footrot and 100 of flystrike for the 1 years ive had them! This just proves that people don't know much about the breed but just assume that they are useless.
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9,000 sheep? I feel a nightmare coming on ;D
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To get back to your original question on sheep breeds, we're up on the windy moors in West Cornwall and keep both Wiltshires and recently Shetlands. Although I love the Wilties the smaller Shetlands may suit you better. Most of my flock I "roo'd", which meant just pulling off the fleeces as it naturally lifts. Their feet are pretty sound, but anyway they are easy to handle and bucket train. They are also reasonable to buy and come in lots of colours. If you're coming to the mainland, you can come and see ours.
there ment to be roo able but for some reason ours are firmly attached. quite good mums to but expect more single lambs. the are better for rough pasture/moors.
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I have Easy Care Sheep and am surprised to see some of the comments that's been said, obviously by people that have no experience of the breed. Even though the Easy Care sheep has a very thin coat of hair and wool they can handle extremes of cold and rain as good or even better than other breeds. A sheep only needs 10mm of coat to keep warm and the rest is surplus to requirement. Easy Care sheep have an average breeding ratio of 1.75, are very good mothers and if left to get on with the job with no interupting will lamb and look after triplets and twins. Easy Care sheep have been bred for easy lambing traits ie. small head, narrow shoulders and will lamb large singles with ease. Easy care sheep need no dipping whatsoever and very rarely get fly strike. If you have good quality easy care sheep you will notice no wool on your field. The easy care breed is an excellent choice for the smallholder or commercial farmer, the society's open day was recently held at a 1000 acre farm and had over a 1000 easy care sheep and was attended by both the commercial and smallholder farmers.
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Good to have a reply from someone with first hand experience of the breed. I would feel disloyal to my Ryelands if I changed, tempting though it is!!
What are the origins of the Easy Care?
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Wiltshire Horn X Welsh mountain
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I have just "googled" these Easy Care Sheep and they look brilliant, I am interested.
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Hi.
I went to a small zoo type place recently and saw these Ushant sheep. I never realised you could get sheep so small.
Any ideas on how much area they need to graze, can they live on thier own, no. of years they live etc.
I am wondering if I could have 1 for mowing the grass at my house as I like eco friendly alternatives where possible, and I dont enjoy mowing the lawn much!
Also, how much do they cost to buy and is it easy to buy them? Wool that falls out sounds brilliant too. Would they eat all my plants?
Cheers James
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I think the spelling is Ouessant - there's a few folk on here have them if you look back sheep posts.
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Muddyjames, where are you located?
I know a couple of people with Ouessants for sale who would be happy to discuss things with you. Will PM you details if you are interested.
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I am near Banbury as in Ride a crock horse to Banbury Cross!
I am just looking at the moment and doing research. I dont want to buy one and then find out I dont have enough lawn for it to munch through before it re grows! lol
If you have an email address or something that could be handy. Where are the people you know based?
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I think the spelling is Ouessant - there's a few folk on here have them if you look back sheep posts.
Sorry. I took the spelling from the board at the zoo I was at. This is the board.
(http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs182.snc1/6055_243296565500_519895500_8118804_2931746_n.jpg)
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The Ouessant is often also known as the Ushant in GB.....dunno why exactly other than Ushant is another name for the Isle d'Ouessant which is situated off the coast of Brittany. I have some, not for sale, but can put you in touch with other breeders and give help and advice.
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Yes please.
Main thing I am after is if 1 sheep is ok in his / her own and how much grass area it will need. Thats the no1 thing I have on my mind at the moment.
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Muddyjames, I have PMed you.
Hope the info is some use.
Diane
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Replied already. thanks very much. :)
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Hi.
I went to a small zoo type place recently and saw these Ushant sheep. I never realised you could get sheep so small.
Wool that falls out sounds brilliant too.
Cheers James
Does their wool fall out like soay,wiltshire horn,easycare ?
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easycare and Ouessant are the same breed or have I got mistaken?
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Any idea where I could buy 2 in the Fife area, just required as pets?
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Mistaken I'm afraid.
Ouessants still need shearing. Finding a shearer who can tackle them can be a tough job too, my brother has done quite a few lately.
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ah. Where do I find info on easy care sheep then? Are they the same size as Ouessants?
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Yes please.
Main thing I am after is if 1 sheep is ok in his / her own and how much grass area it will need. Thats the no1 thing I have on my mind at the moment.
nope you need at least two. the more the better they are flock animal and get nervous alone.
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Muddyjames (love the name)
Why don't you get two little pygmy goats instead.
Another alternative is Geese - they eat grass, don't bother the plants, dont need fencing in and Grey Lag Geese are lovely. You could get a flock of six - how big is the lawn?
One animal on its own just aint gonna work - they all need companions
Good luck
Julie
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I have thought about goats and geese.
Goats: I only have memories of them head butting me onto the floor as a child.
Geese: They REALLY dont like me! I had 2 try and attack me when I was a postie. I never ran so fast in my life over gates too! lol
Muddyjames (love the name)
Cheers. ;D
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I have 13 goats of various breeds and I can honestly say that none of them have ever head butted me, they are far too sooky for that carry on. They do do this to eachother however as they play and see who is the boss.
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really. thats interesting.
How much square footage would 2 goats need? What is the smallest variety of goat? is it a pygmy?
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Pygmy's are the ideal size and pet. However, goats must be kept in pairs and the Pygmy Goat is not a lawn mower. Yes thet do eat grass but they graze and need food supplement so are possibly not the answer to your problem. Geese on the other hand do eat grass and as I said earlier they make great pets too. Can be noisy if you have neighbours, as can female goats when they are in season.
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what kind of food supplements would they need and cost and how big does a shelter need to be for them ect? If they graze that could be good if my lawn isnt big enough for sheep etc. I would like to say geese are a good idea but after my experiance with them am I very nervous around geese and ducks etc close to me. Sounds silly I know!
Sorry to the person who originaly started this thread. I seem to have hijacked it. sorry!
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A smallish shed would be suffice for 2 Pygmy goats. They need straw for their bed and must have access to quality hay and fresh water 24/7. They are fed twice a day, a small amount of Pygmy goat mix but they also like certain fruits and vegetables. Remember all goats like to climb and are experts at escaping. If you have trees they love to eat the bark and leaves and will also sample any plants or vegetables you have growing in your garden. As they love to climb I have benches in their shed which they love to lie on and remember that every 6 weeks you will have to trim their feet. This however is easy once you have been shown. I have 7 Pygmy's and they are the cutest and loving wee monsters you could hope for. Always bare in mind that they do climb and can escape from the smallest of places.