[alexpb22]

Hi folks,

You’ll have to forgive me as I’m a complete newbie with having any land so I may be asking what seem like stupid questions.

I recently moved from somewhere small to a house which has an L shaped paddock (in two bits) total about 2.5 acres.

At the moment I’m just mowing the paddock and fighting a losing battle with the thistles and brambles that want to dominate.

Anyway as I have this space it seems a shame not to use it so I have been thinking for a long time about getting a few sheep. They would only be ‘pet sheep’, all female which I hope would enjoy the space.

Having not had sheep before whilst I’ve been researching I can’t work out whether they are a noisy animal to keep or not. I’ve read stuff on forums where people say that they’re really quiet and others say that they’re mega loud and can be really loud at night.  Despite my rural position and having farm land on one side, on the other side I have neighbours and I wouldn’t want to inflict them with noise as the area is so quiet.

So to those of you that have sheep, are a few really quiet or is noise something I may have to deal with? I’m looking at Wiltshire Horn or possibly Easycare.

If noise could be a factor then maybe I’m better trying to have a meadow there instead.

Thanks for any advice you can give

[SallyintNorth]

Sheep are only noisy when they have something to shout about.

Examples are :

- it’s feeding time
- they’re hungry (not always the same as above! )
- there’s a threat and they’re worried
- they’ve just been speaned (separated and weaned) - both ewes and lambs shout for a couple of days
- ewes with lambs can be noisy, mothers calling lambs, lambs shouting for mum
- it’s the tupping season and a ram can smell ewes
- it’s the tupping season and ewes don’t have a ram with them

That last could be an issue for you if you keep non-breeding females.  If they’re just for pets, have you considered wethers?  (Castrated males.)

The shouting for food is best managed by not overstocking and not feeding additional feed (because it’s not necessary.)  Just grass year round plus hay in winter - ad lib, in a heck.

[in the hills]

And they don't really keep thistles and brambles down.


These would still need controlling by regular topping or chemicals.

[Melmarsh]

I agree with what has been said so far especially  why they may be noisy. They won't keep your whistles and brambles at bay, they may eat brambles leaves but then get caught up in them  , then shout if their mates disappear to the other end of the paddock. Make sure that your fencing is tip top or you will have a different problem with your neighbours. Sheep are lovely creatures Ive kept them for 30+ years but find out ALLabout them before dipping your toe in ie local coursss etc so that you have NO illusion as to what to expect.

[Dans]

I was just commenting the other day that our sheep are so good with baa-ing. The only times we get baa-ing outside of a problem is if we have been feeding them concentrates or if we are weaning. Any other time if we hear baa-ing it means something is wrong, a gate has swung shut separating the flock, the grass is getting too low, someone has gotten themselves stuck in the polytunnel or, as we found the other morning, a sheep has gotten itself into the back garden and can't get back out again.

If I wake to the sound of baa-ing I get a sinking feeling before throwing on some clothes and heading out quickly.

Not sure they will do what you want them to though. My husband just cut down some 8ft thistle trees in one of our fields. You'll still need to do a lot of maintenance on the field and you'll need to do maintenance on the sheep (twice daily checks, BCS, worming and fly treatment when needed, investigating lame/ill sheep, potentially tupping and lambing, shearing). You may find a field of sheep is more work than your field is currently. That said I love our sheep, I love the meat we get from them. Just make sure you're going into it for the right reasons. A course would be really good idea.

Dans

[Badger Nadgers]

Rent it out, gets some money and gives you the opportunity to see whether it's right for you.

[alexpb22]

Thank you everyone, you’ve given me some food for thought. I’ll definitely be doing more research into it and yes a course would be a very good idea as are the wethers. I have someone local who keeps a small flock and he has said that I can go round and see his and chat to him about it so I think I will do that also.

[Nelson International]

As someone about 18 months into sheep keeping, I’ve found experienced people I can text/call/visit an amazing resource (& one that’s saved me a few unneeded vets bills) so I would definitely recommend cultivating that relationship.

[Bionic]

Maybe it depends on the breed of sheep but mine are very quiet. They are Ryelands and Coloured Ryelands. Another benefit of these are that they have short legs and don't jump and try's no to escape would just be too much effort for them.


FYI I have 2.5 acres and 6 sheep. The first couple of years I did lamb but the amount of land won't support many more so if you go down that route then you need to have an outlet for the lambs/meat

[Black Sheep]

As someone about 18 months into sheep keeping, I’ve found experienced people I can text/call/visit an amazing resource (& one that’s saved me a few unneeded vets bills) so I would definitely recommend cultivating that relationship.

+1

Our neighbouring farmer uses a couple of our fields as we have too much grazing for the size of flock (at the moment  ). It's been great to have someone to ask an occasional question of, someone who sees the sheep over the wall when he's driving past on his daily checks and so on.

I think it helped when I rang him one evening because one of his ewes was taking a long time to lamb and seemed to be struggling a bit. As it turned out she sorted herself by the time he came down from where he was. But getting in touch gave us a bit of credibility that we weren't completely clueless and naive but knew enough to spot things that may not be right and would do something even if they weren't our stock.

Have subsequently received what I consider a huge compliment when he had noticed some of our sheep had been clipped and when he found out we'd done it ourselves and by blade shearing commented that we'd made a good job of them