The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Marketplace => Topic started by: peartreewoodlandsmallholding on June 13, 2012, 10:33:00 pm
-
hi, were looking to buy a small starter flock of sheep maybe 1 ram and 4-5 ewes to use as lawn mowers for our 4 acre field, were new to sheep keeping so would like one of the easier breeds to look after, we like all the primitive breeds, soays, shetlands, hebrideans etc not sure if any of these breeds would be suitable for beginners so any advice would be gratefully recieved. :thumbsup: . Price must be reasonable and be able to deliver to stoke on trent, staffordshire, If anyone thinks they may be able to help please get in touch and let us know what you have for sale. many thanks..
-
Most ewes have lambs at foot about now - so it can be a tough time of year to buy sheep. You'll get a better selection in the autumn.
-
Although i'm not new to sheep i keep a few shetlands and despite the reputation many native breeds seem to have they are fine in my opinion. Get them bucket trained and your sorted. As with all sheep good fencing is a must.
-
We have Zwartbles ewe and ram lambs for sale, although not a native breed they are a more docile breed and become very tame which makes them good smallholder sheep, just a bit bigger to handle than the smaller native breeds though.
-
We have 6 ewes and a ram and a ram to go which would be an ideal starter flock the lambs are weaned off. Llanwenogs :thumbsup:
Please feel free to pm if of any interest
-
You say you want to use the sheep as lawnmowers but presumably you are planning to use the ram to breed from them aswell.
Do you have a well fenced paddock or two to keep the ram separate fom the ewes...... And he'll need some company too. And - of course - you won't be able to use the same ram on any of his get.........
What are the local breeds in your area? Has anybody got sheep nearby that you like the look of? Having started off as a complete newbie with sheep we found it very useful and reassuring to have a few sheepie neighbours who could give us practical help..... and a local breeder who we send our ewes to when the time came....
Sorry to sound rather negative but starting with any livestock is a steep learning curve and the last thing I would want is you and them getting distressed through unforeseen issues.
Best of luck
-
Hi thanks for all the replys we just thought of getting a ram aswell as a few ewes as i thought i would need maybe 10-12 sheep to keep the grass down on 4 acres and having a ram would be better economics as i could increase the flock over time rather than buying in more stock later on but after talking to people im beginning to believe that i would probably be better off just starting with a few ewes and fencing the field off into four paddocks and rotate them and go from there...
-
With no feeding - just over 3 sheep/ac in summer (dont count lambs till after weaning), just over 1/ac in winter. Id say with 4 ac, Id want 8 or so sheep and feed em a bit in the winter.
-
I'll have some pure breed LLyen yearlings for sale later in the year.
Last years lambs and will be well grown and bucket trained.
I can sell them empty or full and with an unrealated 2 year old Ram if required.
The cost will be whatever the market price is that week.
It saves me taking them to market, less stress for the sheep and commision/buyers premium saved.
-
I have Hebs which will be ready in the autumn, we're in Fife. Pm if interested. :)
-
Dizzy! where have you been? good to see you. sorry, going off tangent. Hope you find your sheep abe
-
Too busy, Plums, far too busy....! x
-
When starting I would advise loaning the ram when you need him rather than keeping one....it works well for us!
-
We have pedigree Jacobs and unregistered Jacobs for sale plus an unrelated tup. Please PM me if interested.