Rearing Sheep: A Few Sheep for the Small Farm

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Sheep thrive when given ample access to pasture. PHOTO: Flickr/MShades

City people who take up country living are generally amazed at the bounty of the land and are always giving something to friends. I guess that's why Carolyn's aunt, who'd recently bought a farm in Alabama, sent us one of her home-grown lambs. And that's how we learned a little about rearing sheep as a practical addition to our small farm. The invaluable experience has been matched with an exponential gain in knowledge on proper sheep housing and the necessary sheep equipment to raise healthy, productive animals.

A single lamb, like a single goat, is a lonesome creature. We tried using him as a "lawn-mower" on the front lawn but he bleated half the time. Finally, although we knew it wasn't the best sheep farming practice, we turned him out to pasture with our goats.    

The goats had never before seen a lamb — and I guess the lamb had never seen goats. Goats and lamb eyed each other suspiciously. The ridges of the goats' backs bristled. Then the lonesome lamb, in a friendly fashion, ran toward the goats. Frightened, the goats scampered away and it was a couple of hours before they would let the lamb get near them. Finally, they sniffed him over and philosophically accepted this "ugly duckling." Our lamb was no longer lonesome.    

This lamb proved so little trouble that the following year we bought two, fattened them and had them butchered just as with our first. In many parts of the country, I'm told the sheep's skin pays the cost of the butchering, but our butcher didn't seem to want the skin. We had it made into a rug — an economical choice considering the high price of such handcrafted products. Buying one or two lambs, fattening them for 30 to 60 days, and then having them slaughtered is not the most economical way to produce your own lamb, however.    

Often times, a weaned lamb, when moved, will lose weight for awhile and consequently require more grass and grain before they reach 90 to 100 pounds, the customary weight at which they are slaughtered. Then again, a feeder lamb is apt to cost $60 to $90, depending on weight and current market values. Check with local farmers who raise sheep in the spring, during lambing season, to see if you can get a recently-weaned lamb at a lower price. The one point in favor of buying and fattening a lamb is that this is an easy way to gain experience.