BingBumpier
BingBumpier
Sheep have a reputation as the easiest large livestock to start with, and for once the reputation is roughly deserved. They are small enough to handle without special equipment, they eat grass you already have, and a beginner can keep a handful of ewes successfully with ordinary diligence. But "easier than cattle" is not the same as "easy," and most first-year problems come from a few predictable gaps: bad fencing, wrong breed, and not learning to spot a sick sheep early. This guide covers what actually matters.
Sheep are flock animals and genuinely suffer alone, so the minimum is three — that way if you lose one, the survivors still have company. For a first flock, three to five ewes is plenty. Skip the ram in year one; you can borrow one or use a neighbor's, and rams add a layer of management (and occasional danger) beginners do not need.
Breed choice should follow your goal, not the other way around:
Whatever you choose, buy from a local breeder rather than an auction. Auction animals are anonymous; a breeder will show you the flock the animal came from, and local stock is already adapted to your climate and parasites.
An old shepherd's line says a fence that will not hold water will not hold a sheep. That is an exaggeration, but only just. Sheep are not clever escape artists like goats; they are persistent leaners and, more importantly, they are what predators eat. Your fence works two shifts: keeping sheep in and keeping dogs and coyotes out.
Woven wire ("field fence") about 100 cm high with a strand of electric on the outside is the standard answer. Electric netting is excellent for rotational grazing and surprisingly predator-resistant, but it must stay hot — a grounded-out net is just a suggestion. Budget honestly here: fencing will likely cost more than your first sheep, and it is the one purchase you cannot cheap out on.
A rough rule of thumb in decent pasture country is four to six ewes per acre, but this varies enormously with rainfall and soil. Sheep are ruminants built to live on pasture and hay alone. Grain is a supplement for late pregnancy and lactation, not a daily food — and sudden grain access can kill a sheep through bloat or acidosis, so store feed behind a latch a sheep cannot work open.
Two non-negotiables: clean water every day, and a sheep-specific mineral supplement. That last word matters — sheep are poisoned by the copper levels in goat and cattle minerals. Buy the bag that says sheep on it.
Plan on hay for whatever months your grass stops growing. A ewe eats roughly 2 to 2.5 kg of hay per day in winter; multiply out and buy before winter prices arrive.
Sheep in fleece are weatherproof to a degree that surprises people; what they need is shade in summer, a windbreak in winter, and a dry place at lambing. A three-sided shed is genuinely enough in most climates.
Wool breeds must be shorn once a year, no exceptions — an unshorn sheep overheats and gets fly-strike. Shearing is a skill; hire a professional shearer for a small flock and book early, because shearers schedule small flocks around big ones. Hooves need trimming every couple of months, more in wet climates. This is also your chance to put hands on each animal, because a fleece hides weight loss until it is severe.
The number one killer of small-flock sheep is not disease or predators — it is internal parasites, especially the barber pole worm in warm, wet regions. Modern practice is not to deworm on a calendar but to monitor and treat only the animals that need it, using the FAMACHA eyelid-color check, so the worms do not develop resistance to the few drugs that work. Ask your vet or extension office to teach you the check; it takes ten minutes to learn.
Beyond that: an annual CDT vaccination, a plan for lambing before you breed anyone, and a relationship with a vet who sees sheep before you have an emergency at 2 a.m. When you talk to experienced shepherds about the first year, such conversations almost always circle back to the same advice: watch your animals every single day, because a sheep that is standing apart, not chewing, or slow to come to feed is telling you something, and sheep hide illness until late.
Rough numbers, varying by region: ewes at $150–$400 each, fencing anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand depending on what exists, hay for winter, minerals, shearing at $5–$10 a head plus a farm call fee, and a vet fund you hope not to touch. Nobody makes money on five sheep. What you get instead is grazed land, lambs in spring, possibly fleece, and animals that are quietly good company. Most people who start with three ewes have eight within two years — consider that a warning or an endorsement, depending on your fencing.
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