irocpractice

I live in a semi-rural area.Behind my house is some dirt with weeds.Every year the local FD come by and checks to make sure the weeds are kept down because of fire.My question is..about what should it cost to buy a sheep,are they quiet or noisy,any special requirements besides furnishing water?Looking on my local Craigs List I see sheep appearing units for $80.00.Is this good,bad or,fairly priced?Per the photos they are sorta white,although some have black faces and legs.Remember it is only going to be used as a weed eater then dinner after mowing about a half acre.

Jeff in TD

If you don't know anything about caring for sheep, maybe there's a neighbor who'd be glad to let his animals graze on your property...

A goat might be better, if you have thistles or other weeds that sheep won't eat.

DU.DP.

i would suggest a goat. but not sure if i would want to eat it in the end haha! sheep are fairly easy especially if you just want it for yourself. i dont think a half acre will get it fat enough though.

DmaxEter

Goat for sure! I have heard of guys that will rent goats out for this purpose. They come out, set up a portable pin of sorts and let them loose for about a week or so. They will clear ditch banks or anything you put them on!

annabelle

Goat......rent it.

stinkindiesel

Yeah, goats are the thing. I had a buddy drop off 2 goats for me to watch while he went on vacation. They ate everything that stuck out of the dirt on an entire 1/3 acre patch in two weeks. They also picked up everything that the dogs dropped, if ya get what I'm saying. Nasty animals.

BTW, the dogs did NOT want anything to do with the goats after the first 2 or3 days. Wherever the goats went, the dogs stayed on the exact opposite side of the yard, and they'd beg to get in when I'd get home for work.

dodgeguy71

I've had up to 28 goats on 1 acre, they all seemed pretty fat, at least that's what they said at the auction barn everytime I took them in.

Goats are easy, I think better than sheep. My friend had sheep and he said they ruined his parents field, they ate down to the dirt, pulled up the roots and so on and left a big muddy mess when it rained. My goats keep the grass down that it looks like you ran a mower over it. I'm not sure how much land you've got for them to graze, if you have 1/2 acre you could probably do two. I would'nt do just one, they need companionship or they get lonely is what I've read. You just have to watch how fast they eat through it, whats out in your field and so on. I had 7-8 last summer and they kept up but the field was overrun with purple mint and they would'nt touch that stuff. I actually had to bring in some hay to supplement around late August.

They need some shelter, they don't like the rain at all. You can build a small oversized dog house type of thing or shed, but unlike our canine companions goats don't care where they poop. They'll poop then lay down in the same area to rest for the night. So you need something that you can get into to clean out. They are pretty hardy when it comes to cold. I've read they can withstand -20 or something like that, but if it's windy cold, they need shelter cause the wind, well you know about wind chill and all that.

I feed mine during the winter months, 10-12% sweet feed, hay. More hay cause it's cheaper. I also put out some goat minerals, free choice so they can pick at that when they want it. In the spring/summer hay and feed are gone but keep the minerals and always fresh clean water.

The one thing you have to do is make sure you deworm them. You can buy feed with dewormer in it or go to the local tsc or vet and ask for a goat dewormer. I do mine every 30 days when the spring gets on and the wet season arrives. In the summer I'll keep a real close eye on them. You can tell when one get worms, they get the runny poops, not the little *****.

As far as choice of goat, for your purpose just find ya a brush goat. I've had some boer goats and they tend to be more disease prone. Straight pure bread goats will cost more, but the market seems to be down around here from what I got at the last auction.

Excellent animals, friendly, my kids enjoy the heck out of them. We've gotten rid of all the "large" goats and just kept our pygmy's. They eat less! All we have are nanny's right now. We'll get a billie now and again, keep him around for a few months to let him take care of business and then sell him off. The billy's are stinking nasty, peeing on their beards....and other things, just way to much to get into, that's why their not here long!

To keep my yard cut I'd need a $6000+ mower and not sure if that would cut this hillside I live on, alternative, my goats. In the long run probably spend more on the goats over 10 years...20 years but sittin on the front porch in the spring and watching them, just relaxing. Then when the nanny's have kids and watching them bounce around then watch my pyrenees checkin out all the kids and then she'll even chase the older goats sometimes playing around.

If you got any questions shoot me a message, had goats going on 5-6 years now.

Shawn

dodgeguy71

Oh yeah, fence. I've got a hot fence with 5 strands running around my place and a 20 mile box. Puts out enough voltage that if they touch it they know they don't want to do it again. Only time I have problems is when there are newborns, they want to investigate everything, but one touch of the fence and they take off running for mama. Don't ever touch it again.

tool

I'd get two sheep, feed them a creep feed ration or similar when the grass is done butcher them or send them to your local auction market.

You will need a reasonable fence, elctric will work fine and be relatively inexpensive.

Then again for 1/2 acre can't you just mow it? I cut a heck of a lot more lawn than that.

knc77

Have you been around livestock? If not, you may want to find a local contact you can ask questions and get some help from.

I also would recommend goats. After having a dozen clean up brush around my acreage and clear the cattle pasture, I'm sold on their usefulness to control undesirable growth. You do have to have good fence to keep them away from any plants you don't want them to eat. They really like brushy stuff and low trees branches.

If you have a local sale barn, buy a couple, let them eat and then take them back when they are done. A lot cheaper then diesel to run the 4020 was this past summer. And you may get lucky and make a buck or two if the price goes up.

If you really want something to take to the locker to butcher, talk to a local producer about what is needed either for sheep or goats so that you will be happy with the end product. It takes a bit of management to produce an end product that you will enjoy rather than something that you won't want to try again.

dieselcarpenter

Sheep and Goats are good choices. They have different grazing niches though, If you want (NON-poisonous) fleshy green weeds and grasses controlled sheep are a great option but if you have any woody brush to be controlled Goats are the choice, often they run together in a clearing operation because there are sometings one wont eat the others will. They tend to avoid thistles all together but things like night-shades, water hemlocks, nettles are poisonous and they often will try them and youll have dead or very sick animals on your hands.

Heres my crash course in Sheep and goats, keep good clean ample water for them, shelter is a must in heavy sun and cold winds, a three sided shade (square or traingle) works well, mineral blocks should be provided, *****Sheep cannot have the red multimineral blocks because they conatin copper and salenium wich are poisonous to sheep!!!! get the white ones!!!***** I have found that electric netting fence with intergrated poles is the best for an enclosure and can be moved (with help)while the sheep are inside, or I have taken welded wire stock panels and fromed them into movable pens and slowly moved 1 - 3 animals in a grid pattern. Sheep will require shearing in hotter climates especially, but all require at least trimming for health. if wet ground, foot rot is a problem. you can avoid shearing with a hair type sheep wich is a meat variety (they shed) goats are easier watch their feet as well but they are fairly forgiving.

80$ for an adult sheep is fair white faces are "ok" for meat but geared more toward wool, Black faces with white wool (suffolks, or a close cousin) are better for meat. Black all over are highly desired for the wool and a full crop of wool is taken every year (aka dont eat any all black ones)

If you plan on maintaing a heard of sheep a Ram and several ewes (girls) will be required, lambs require tail bobbing (for health and cosmetics, cut or elastrator) ram lambs need castrating or meat quality will suffer due to hormones and scent glands.

Goats can provide good milk, meat, I love Nubians for milk.

If I were you I would pick up weened lambs or kids and run them through summer weed season and slaughter in the fall, or contract with a local grower and trade grass for meat/milk etc.....


I have been around sheep and goats for most of my life, My Grandmother raised Champion ship Show goats (Nubians) and ran a goat stud program for many years. And I have maintained a flock of Columbia breed sheep as a breeding and working operation, by no means a Basque sheep hearder but I have sheared my share of fleeces.

If I missed something or you have more questions that I might help with let me know.

wyododge

Iroc, don't get goats they are a pain in the butt. they are loud, they get through fences and they stink like, well like goats. We use sheep to keep weeds down all the time. If you want to eat it, get a younger one, and about 30 days before ya string her up, get her off the weeds and give her some fresh grass and alfalfa and just a bit of COB daily. She'll taste great!!! sheep are pretty quiet, Blacks are better for eating, but are a bit more spunky. $100.00 +/- should get you a spring lamb that has been weened. You should have an auction nearby, that will give you an idea of what ranchers are paying for them. Don't bid first. If you don't want to go the young eatable route, then get an older white face and sell her at the end of the season. Whammo - free weed eating!!!! they are easy. They only need three things, food water and good fences. just remember, any animal separated from a heard will call to their buddies for a while, and they will be very skittish. Keep it quiet, keep her full and she'll settle down in no time.

Just my .02, HTH

irocpractice

Ok you guys,the answers to my question have answered my questions.I think I have just been given a free 4 year degree in animalculture.The closest auction to me is probably in the Modesto Cal.area,and I will check it out. I did find a shop that will kill and butcher for about $35.00 and for me a city slicker, the price seems reasonable.Thank you all,I do appreciate all the input.

Field_boss_cb

One more thing about goats, they will craw on top of any car, truck , tractor or lawnmower or anything you park in the area that they are in. And poop on or in it. The high dollar Bora goats don't smell as bad as the bush goats. And dogs will try to kill them if you don't have a good fence to keep them out.

BlackSunShyne

For 1/2 an acre? Seems like a lot of trouble. Do you have a friend/neighbor with a bush hog and a tractor?

If you want a goat on your land...put him about two farms over.