The Black Sheep

Baa Baa black sheep have you any wool? It’s more like… baa baa black faced sheep, as in the almighty Suffolk.

Why would I want to own sheep when I’m doing so well with goats? Because my wife and daughter asked me to. They want to spin wool. I was a little reluctant at first but after a little  research and learning that sheep are worth as much as goats, I dove in head first. I have a little bit of a leg up, you see, my wife was a blue ribbon winner for showing sheep in 4-H and knows everything there is to know about them. She is willing to teach me and I am willing to share it with you.

To my wife’s distain, Suffolk are not the best for wool. They will work, but there are better breeds. Since we are acquiring the other breeds also, you will get to take this journey with us. If it strikes your interest you could begin your own flock and wool production. I’m planning on going through this step by step and breed by breed as I get them. We’ll be covering wool production and meat production. As I learn, you will too. Our first sheep however were not Suffolks, they were Shetlands. As I said, my wife and daughter wanted to s=pin wool so I prayed about it and was blessed.

I am always looking to buy more goats. My wife had found a flyer that had goats and sheep for sale. I placed a call and made a deal to buy both the sheep and goats they had for sale. Low and behold, Ms. Lorrie spins wool and was willing to teach my girls.

Shetland sheep originated in Scotland and are very hearty, doing well in poor conditions and absolutely thriving in good conditions. They’re also extremely self sufficient and are very easy lambers which means they have very little trouble giving birth. They are easy to maintain and require  very little care. Their wool is long and fine and great for spinning, which is what they were bred for. Since they are self sufficient, they’re not overly friendly. When they are in a flock they prefer to be left alone. Given they were bred for wool, they are not very big when fully grown. Rams (males) only weighing 90-125 lbs and ewes (females) 75-100 lbs, I don’t recommend them if you’re strictly looking for a meat sheep. The rams can carry an impressive set of horns or if bred correctly, can be naturally polled meaning they don’t have horns at all. Ewes are normally polled.

Next time we talk about sheep, we’ll learn about Suffolks and Jacobs. As always, God bless you and yours.