The most suitable breed will depend on the type of land, how large and how quiet you want your sheep and what pleases your eye. Sorry if that sounds unhelpful but the reality is that you will get as many answers as there are different sheep breeds.
You should be able to buy in lamb ewes either later in the year or early next year but I would be careful about running them in the same field as the ponies at lambing time. I am currently running a couple of young Jacob rams in with an elderly pony and that works well. I would be less happy with them in with younger ponies though.
If you can get to a show or two then you will see lots of different sheep and get an idea about what you like. Edenbridge & Oxted is coming up at the end of August for example.
Also visit the web sites of the various breed societies to gain some insight into the different breeds. There is a huge variation between the various breeds. Other things to think about are the possible difficulties in handling the larger breeds. Many people struggle to handle Suffolks for example because of their size and weight (I know I would) and quite how you turn a Dorper onto its bum to tend to its feet I have no idea. On the other hand keeping some of the Welsh Mountain breeds where you put them if the grass appears greener on the other side of the fence is another issue.
Another thing to think about is feet. I can remember how we struggled to keep the feet of a flock of Dorset Downs in good condition on the Ashdown Forest where the ground can be much wetter than their native habitat. Depending on where you are and how wet your ground is you may need to limit yourself to breeds with naturally good feet. Another source of information would be your vet who will be able to tell which breeds are likely to do well on your ground.
Topic: first time sheep farmer (Read 3263 times)
