The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: crimson on July 10, 2014, 06:35:38 pm
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Which breeds are the least hassle basically?
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Welsh, Easycare... no sheep is no hastle!
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Hebrideans with the bonus that they taste fantastic :P
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It depends on what you mean by hassle. The all need drenches, injections, feet checks, dagging, fly strike prevention etc.
Some are just probably easy to handle when you do those chores than others.
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Some need less drenching/footcare/wool care/mothering up/feed/mineral inputs than others and it is often as much down to where/who you source sheep from than the breed you get
If you source from a dedicated breeder who records all the traits and culls heavily on failure for desirable traits then you will get low maintenance sheep
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When someone creates a "no hassle sheep" they will make some serious money!!!! I will put my name down for a starter flock!!
No sheep is no hassle!!! Believe me!!!
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If you source from a dedicated breeder who records all the traits and culls heavily on failure for desirable traits then you will get low maintenance sheep
That would be quite hard, i guess you need good contacts
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Other than what Tim says I beleive stocking density has a lot to do with it.
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Yep zero per acre = no hassle
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If you source from a dedicated breeder who records all the traits and culls heavily on failure for desirable traits then you will get low maintenance sheep
That would be quite hard, i guess you need good contacts
So what are the problem traits?
Lambing problems? I cull anything that needs assistance and it's offspring
Mis mothering? As above
Feet problems? Anything ever needs treating/trimming gets culled
Worms? HIgh FEC BEV animals get culled too
Etc etc---there are people who do it.
It is hard the first few years but after that most problems have dissapeared
But minimal does not = no maintenance
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If you source from a dedicated breeder who records all the traits and culls heavily on failure for desirable traits then you will get low maintenance sheep
That would be quite hard, i guess you need good contacts
So what are the problem traits?
Lambing problems? I cull anything that needs assistance and it's offspring
Mis mothering? As above
Feet problems? Anything ever needs treating/trimming gets culled
Worms? HIgh FEC BEV animals get culled too
Etc etc---there are people who do it.
It is hard the first few years but after that most problems have dissapeared
But minimal does not = no maintenance
Excellent theory in a commercial flock, It would perhaps need to be a little less ruthless and gradual in a rare breeds flock where breeding stock are a little thinner on the ground.
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Your original question was asking whether there were any breeds that were "least hassle" and whilst many have said quite rightly that there is no such thing as a no hassle sheep I'm not sure you were asking for that. When we started as complete novices about 5 years ago we were after something that would enable us to continue with our full time jobs and anything that lessened the amount of maintenance needed was a blessing. We opted for Wiltshire Horn initially, drawn to the fact that they did not require shearing. That's one less thing to worry about we thought. In the years we have had them we have never had to shear or dag and whilst all the other tasks like drenching, foot care etc. still take up much of our time in our busy lives even one or two less tasks is a real bonus. Over time as Tim has said we can reduce the amount of labour still further by keeping those that require less hassle and ditching the remainder but when we first started we only had 3 and did not have the luxury to ditch anything less than perfect. having bred from them and offspring several times this was the first year we could start being more selective and move forward with those who thrive easily. Ease of handling comes with smaller flocks I believe and ours are so easy to handle due largely to a bit of the personal touch coupled with the greatest invention known to the small (or big) shepherd- sheep hurdles
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All animals are 'hassle' unless you love them .......... you have to choose what you like ............. my collie is dancing around me chasing flies knocking things over and is much hassle ........but she is lovely and I wouldn't change the breed for a lazy (much less hassle) Lab if you paid me! Go to shows look at breeds choose 3 you like then ask what their individual 'problems' are.
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Stock density, they're feet, they're attitude to being handled, mothering traits, hardiness and suitability to the land.
Talk to local farmers, see what they say xx
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Go to shows look at breeds choose 3 you like then ask what their individual 'problems' are.
Good advice.
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I think if you think sheep are a hassle then sheep are not for you. And as an answer to the question pick whatever breed you like the look of as in my experience that's what the majority do despite other people's advice. I went for Shetland and have never had any regrets despite all the negative comments you hear. The very best of luck.
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We were advised to try Ryelands as a low- hassle beginners sheep. The plus is that they are cute and loveble.
So far no hassles other than follwing me everywhere and getting under my feet!
One thing you don't need to worry about is them escaping. Unless they are following me, they will be exactly where I left them. Lazy sheep!
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We were advised to try Ryelands as a low- hassle beginners sheep. The plus is that they are cute and loveble.
So far no hassles other than follwing me everywhere and getting under my feet!
One thing you don't need to worry about is them escaping. Unless they are following me, they will be exactly where I left them. Lazy sheep!
Agree with everything you have said about Ryelands. Don't you just love'em :love:
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Excellent theory in a commercial flock, It would perhaps need to be a little less ruthless and gradual in a rare breeds flock where breeding stock are a little thinner on the ground.
I have done this with what was a rare breed at the time---Wiltshire Horns----and it is one of the things that can ensure the survival of a rare breed.
We have managed to lift the lambing %age by 14% and 8 week wts by 2kg . we have vastly reduced the wiltshires propensity to abandon lambs and have added some valuable muscle . They also had pretty bad feet when we started 20 years ago but now rarely get a problem.
All by being ruthless and culling all problems
Many rare breeds are rare because they have been mollycoddled----
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agree with the advice of talking to local farmers as what i can run down here in the south east will almost certainly not be able to live on welsh mountain faces and Scottish moors
apart from that my experience is that texels and sussex among others can be rather boisterous and flighty so not too much fun to handle and shear etc where as the other breed i have been working with, lleyn's, are a lot calmer and more friendly and almost a joy to handle! thus i am going for the lleyn which i will get off a local farmer i have been working for
Cheers Ed
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What are you wanting the sheep for and how much land do you have/how many sheep do you want? If you are wanting low maintenance then you may be better have someone else grazing sheep on your land in return for the occasional lamb for the freezer which will have been reared on your land, and additional payment depending on how many acres.
Alternatively you could have store lamb to graze the land so that you don't have to worry about lambing/shearing etc.
If you are wanting to get into pedigree breeding then as others have said you need to choose a breed you like and that is suitable for your land/system. Then be prepared to select the keepers/replacements that do best in your system and on your land.
We like our Zwartbles, fantastic tasting lamb, easy placid ewes to have about, easy lambers. Not for everyone though judging by an earlier post, but there is a lot of variation within the breed. We keep ours on a low input upland farm at 1100ft, and whilst they don't all do well up here most do seem to do fine, and it does mean lambs we sell generally go on to thrive in their new homes.
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www.easycaresheep.com (http://www.easycaresheep.com) they do what it says on the tin. but as has been said before they are easycare not zero care . and there are poor examples out there .
an old guy told me years ago when i found the breed i like it would take about 8 years to get them the way i wanted them . he was pretty near right but you are always improving ,whether it be lambing percentage , improve carcass etc, theres always something to do .
but as has also been said if you are viewing them as a hassle from the start it would be less hassle not to have any
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Hassle free sheep leans towards neglected animals.
If your keeping sheep you have to put the work in and that means good animal husbandry.
You can cull out the problems, but most of the problems come from not understanding what the sheep require to keep them on their feet and healthy.
Land management and stockmanship keeps a flock healthy.
Whoever came up with the name easycare was putting the breed/sheep at risk from numbskulls without a clue about livestock management.
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Whoever came up with the name easycare was putting the breed/sheep at risk from numbskulls without a clue about livestock management.
the guys name is lolo owen , he won an m.b.e for services to agriculture , for creating (and naming) easycare sheep .
they are not called zerocare .
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Hassle free sheep leans towards neglected animals.
Land management and stockmanship keeps a flock healthy.
Whoever came up with the name easycare was putting the breed/sheep at risk from numbskulls without a clue about livestock management.
anyone who happy to mistreat or neglect livestock will do so regardless of what they're called. my neighbouring farmer keeps the most neglected flock of texels you can imagine- what's his excuse- the name ?? prob because he's an a**ehole.
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Hassle free sheep leans towards neglected animals.
Whoever came up with the name easycare was putting the breed/sheep at risk from numbskulls without a clue about livestock management.
If you want really easycare sheep I suggest you rent out your land to a neighbouring farmer as grass keep. Watch what he does and offer to help. That way you'll find out what's involved in sheep care and can then get your own sheep ..... if you still want to.
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We let a neighbour graze our fields while we decided if we really wanted to go ahead and get sheep and also to learn what was involved in day to day care.
We told him that he could graze for no rent and he offered in return to teach us and be on hand in the future to give advice. We kept an eye on the flock and rang him if we thought there was a problem ... eg lame sheep. He would treat while we watched. He also rang us to watch work on the rest of his flock eg. injections, shearing.
Farmer is now a good friend and a great help to us.
So good advice there from MF.
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Carefully managing sheep with an "easycare" type philosophy and marking out and culling any with problems will do more for sheep welfare over time than catering to every need and "fixing" every problem in the short term be it with concentrate feeding, antibiotics or surgery etc etc.
I think easycare is a well chosen name, everyone remembers it and it has recently really entered the collective shepherding concious and many people have been persuaded to breed problems out rather than manage them to cover them up. (Neglect, miss-management, poor attention to detail is a separate issue to selection with easy care traits in mind)
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Its all hard work... But at the moment I must say its such a massive relief to have them all sheared wormed lambs resprayed, on new grazing, it's like a little holiday, bar of course checking they're still upright n got water, n licks :)
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Its all hard work... But at the moment I must say its such a massive relief to have them all sheared wormed lambs resprayed, on new grazing, it's like a little holiday, bar of course checking they're still upright n got water, n licks :)
Now I know I've got low maintenance sheep ---no shearing/ not wormed yet this year/no lambs sprayed/no licks etc etc ;D
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I reckon all of the sheep I currently own are low maintenance..... maybe because the high maintenance ones were killed off :thinking:
Basically the owner chooses whether the sheep are high or low maintenance, either every time you see a foot problem bring all the sheep in, separate the animal off, cut/spray/inject, set free and repeat or cull her out of the flock
Or the same, bring your sheep indoors to lamb, spend every day filling up water buckets, feeding hay, bedding up, shoveling in cake and then pull out the lambs after the ewe gives 5 pushes, then creep lambs every day etc etc or just lambs outside, watch with binoculars, don the running boots and tag at 1 day old before you cant catch them and sit back and watch them grow on just grass.... I think I can tell which is less hassle
I think breeds with wooly legs, bellies and faces are higher maintenance than cleaner sheep, I dont like them and they get dirtier in the winter, more prone to strike, get wool over eyes which can be a welfare issue with wool-blindness, and take me much longer to shear!!!
So I think breed does not matter so much, its how you keep/breed/select/cull them which produces either hassle filled or hassle free sheep :thumbsup:
Goodluck! :fc: