[Fraggle422]

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

[kanisha]

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;

[Fraggle422]

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!

[kanisha]

shearing can be done by hand with hand shears or a standard pair of dog clippers  a lot less sheep to shear than most!

[Fraggle422]

Its a good point, I will look closer, (whispers!!) Are they good eating?

[kanisha]

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

[Fraggle422]

The more I read the more I like the idea  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!!

[kanisha]

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;

[woollyval]

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!

[Larry]

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!

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.

[MiriMaran]

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!

[hexhammeasure]

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

[CarraghsBorderCollies]

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

[MiriMaran]

Wow isn't careful breeding clever!

[doganjo]

Hmmmm - GM?