[AlexInLincs]

Hi

Does anyone know of anyone near North Lincolnshire who has milk sheep?  We are considering getting some as my wife doesn't like the goat milk but obviously would like to try the milk first.

Also how much milk do they tend to produce per day. 

Any advice welcome.

Thanks

[woollyval]

Can I ask why your wife does not like the goats milk?.....I assume from your own goats?
I had a good herd of milking goats from 1982- 2002 and can honestly say that if it is the fact that it tastes goaty you are doing something wrong!
Goats milk should not taste goaty or similar in taste to strong goats cheese ( I actually hate strong smelling goats cheese) If so the problem could be sub clinical mastitis in the goat...get a sample sent to a lab for a cell count....or your dairy hygiene!
Use stainless steel milking buckets and utensils washed in proper dairy disenfectant and strain trough proper filters and cool rapidly...there should then be no 'taste'
Sheep will want to be in a flock and you will need to think what you are going to do with the lambs...? Some milk quite well but the length of lactation is not as good as a goat.

[Anke]

Goats milk from home/farm goats is undistuingishable from cows milk, and we have not had any problems with taste in our first year of keeping/milking goats. Even not managed to make a "goaty" cheese yet, sometimes the yoghurt started to taste goaty if left for too long. We don't pasteurise (no TB issues in Scotland).

if you have a goatkeeper nearby - try some fresh goats milk, not the shop bought stuff - thats horrible!

[Rosemary]

We don't pasteurise (no TB issues in Scotland).

Off topic, but it's kind of ironic that it's illegal to sell unpasteurised milk in Scotland but not in England.

[AlexInLincs]

Hi

We have our own goats and I drink the milk quite happily (as do other members of the family) and there is no real goatiness to the milk.  My wife simply doesn't like it.  We would love to have our own house cow but simply don't have the room.  Hence why we are considering milk sheep to see if she gets on any better with that.

[bazzais]

Its interesting to hear everyones comments.

I would have never considered sheeps milk as something to consume, it never entered my mind.  As for goats milk, I only remember tasting some goats cheese once and hating it. 

Upon reading this I may have to try goats milk again!

Baz

[jacob and Georgina]

sheeps cheese is without a doubt the best tasting!! in my opinion anyway!!

[Fleecewife]

Most sheep can be milked but the specialist milking sheep have been bred to have large teats at the right angle for dairy machinery.  So if you would be milking by hand the breed wouldn't matter.  Some breeds are milkier than others but it would seem a good idea to try your hand at milking sheep and see if your wife likes it before committing to a milking flock.  You will not get milk all year round because sheep are seasonal breeders and usually only lactate for up to six months (apart from a very few breeds).  On a small scale you don't need to take the lambs fully off the dam - just put the lamb through a barrier from the ewe so it can't drink overnight, then milk the ewe first thing. Leave the rest of the milk for the lamb.  Otherwise, if you want to try this on a large scale, choose the lambs' sire to give a good meat carcass in his progeny and the milking dam for her milkiness.

Hi

We have our own goats and I drink the milk quite happily (as do other members of the family) and there is no real goatiness to the milk.  My wife simply doesn't like it.  We would love to have our own house cow but simply don't have the room.  Hence why we are considering milk sheep to see if she gets on any better with that.

[plumseverywhere]

That is interesting. When we used to buy goats milk from the supermarkets it used to make me Barf (yuk yuk) but when avocet was here and we had her milk it tasted like cows milk to me BUT as I tend to me a bit curvy (!) I am used to skimmed red milk so found the full fat milk a bit much sadly.
Would be interested in learning about sheep milk too, will do some research and see if I can use that in soap...

[SingingShearer]

Back to the original post, you could try www.britishmilksheep.apt-sites.com or I remember a couple of years ago shearing in North Yorkshire one of my customers had a flock of milk sheep grazing her field I could try to get in touch with her and see if she is still in touch with the owner.

Hope this helps,
Philip

[Freddiesfarm]

My other half claims to hate goats milk but last year I fed it to him for a month without him noticing and then announced it at a dinner party as I present goats milk ice-cream which everyone loved!  He claims he had noticed because it was creamier than the normal milk but I think he was fibbing and trying to save face! :-)

However on a more serious note I think there is something breed specific about goatiness of milk.  My english goats have lovely milk, whereas one of the ANs I had produced really goaty milk even on the same food and routine etc.

[Anke]

We don't pasteurise (no TB issues in Scotland).

Off topic, but it's kind of ironic that it's illegal to sell unpasteurised milk in Scotland but not in England.

Yes, I have asked myself this question too, but didn't dare to go to AH/TS with it.... but I think pasteurisation and storage (all those lipase molecules reacting) really make the shop bought goats milk soooo awful!

I have recently picked up a bargain in Asda (I don't normally go there,  but was next to it for a mtg and too late for Coop to be open) - they had all the goats butter reduced to 75 pence or similar, no idea why. Definitely still in date, but not sure it is a great hit in Galashiels somehow..., got funny looks from the girl a the checkout with my 20 packs of butter (in the freezer now)....

But I think sheeps milk is even creamier than full fat goatsmilk? But it makes fantastic yoghurt. Could you not get it in healthfood shops or similar?

[janeislay]

We have two milk sheep (Lacaunes) and a cross bred hog (Lleyn x Lacaune).  We first bought some ewe's milk from Goodness Direct (www.goodnessdirect.co.uk) to make sure we liked it and absolutely adored it.  It has the best vitamin content of all, and I very much dislike goat's milk.

Then I found the maker of ewes' cheeses and asked if I could buy a couple of cull ewes in milk.  My partner had never hand milked before and it was bit difficult to start off with, but by the second year he'd got really good.

We do also breed Icelandic sheep - and they were well known for being excellent milk sheep, but their teats really aren't big enough.  Next year we shall put our Lacaune x tup lamb to the best of the Icelandics and see how we get on.

Sorry - I forgot the original question    Oh yes.........first locate ewes milk or cheese made in Lincolnshire, then find out if where they get their ewes milk supplies from.    In any case, you can buy ewes milk online.

Jane 

[spikey_fridge]

i just bought some sheep cheese from the local market today. tried a bit first. its very creamy with a touch of tang. not had a lot, just a nibble but so far, so good. quite expensive but worth it for a treat

[janeislay]

i just bought some sheep cheese from the local market today. tried a bit first. its very creamy with a touch of tang. not had a lot, just a nibble but so far, so good. quite expensive but worth it for a treat

The sheep cheeses vary enormously; some like Roquefort are quite strong and others really mild.  The milk tastes really creamy.

AlexinLinks - the amount you'd get from a ewe would depend a lot on whether you've left the lambs on her by day, or were milking twice a day, as they do commercially.  We left twins on a ewe last year and were hand-milking her just in the morning - getting about two pints.