Why Do I Raise Sheep?
Sheep Management WisLine Program
University of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative Extension
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Animal Sciences
January 3, 2008
Barb Bishop
MB Genetics
W4628 Hall Rd.
Rio, WI 53960
920-992-6183
southdowns@mbgenetics.com
www.mbgenetics.com
Purebred Southdown Flock
The MB Genetics flock currently consists of 115 registered Southdown brood ewes plus replacement
ewe lambs, fall born lambs and stud rams. Our 22 acre farm is high tensile fenced for grazing with an
additional 10 acres of rented pasture. All feeds are purchased.
Marketing focuses on sales of breeding stock privately at the farm and through regional and national
events. Show quality wethers for state fair competition are sold privately.
The purpose of starting the flock 13 years ago was to allow our daughter to experience a 4-H
livestock project and related activities. Our rented location at that time did not have enough space for
cattle, our original background. We quickly found that our experience in genetics and nutrition applied
well to a sheep enterprise which didn’t take as much capital outlay, feed expense, or land as breeding
cattle; and the generations turned more quickly to gain the advantages of genetic progress.
Mark and Karen Vornholt
Fairview Farm
W7152 Tree Rd.
Neillsville, WI 54456
715-743-8697
fairviewfarm@tds.net
Purebred Hampshire Flock
On our farm, we raise cash crops, pastured meat chickens, and Hampshire sheep. The cash crops are
corn, soybeans, small grains (usually winter wheat, oats, or barley) and mixed legume grass hay. We
keep enough corn and hay to feed the animals from one harvest to the next. The excess grains and hay
are sold.
The chickens were a new venture last summer. They were a joint effort with another family. They
provided the chicks and feed while we provided the pasture, water, and daily labor. They did the
butchering. The birds were pastured with the lambs in areas the lambs found unpalatable. We raised
two groups of 50 between May 1st and August 4th. The chickens grew well and sold quickly.
We started our flock of purebred Hampshires in July 1983. The original flock of three ewes grew to
about 50 mature ewes but now numbers 35 mature ewes, 10 replacement ewe lambs, and three rams.
We do not actively market breeding stock or show our sheep. The ewe flock is closed, but we do buy
rams for new genetics. Our primary goal is to produce high quality lamb as quickly and inexpensively
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as possible and then to market them direct to consumers as 140 pound prime choice lambs in halves or
wholes or through Equity’s lamb pool.
Truth be told, the Hampshire breed was not our first choice, but the starter flock was a gift, and they
grew on us. They have helped us reach part of our goal by producing a quality carcass quickly. Our
flock is bred to lamb in February and early March so lambs are ready to market in late May and June
when the prices are typically at their highest for the year. We’ve accomplished this by selecting
replacement ewe lambs in part for size and rate of gain at 60 and 120 days as well as preference given to
those that are twin born and raised as a twin.
Our feeding program is also a factor. Hopefully, our selection for the heaviest adjusted weaning
weights in the twin ewe lambs means increased milk production during their future lactations. The
lambs are fed free-choice a grain mix, hay and mineral until market weight. The lambs start with a 20%
crude protein mix of rolled shelled corn and protein concentrate along with 2nd crop hay. By weaning
their grain mix is 16% crude protein using whole shelled corn with the protein concentrate. They
receive this until all but the replacement ewe lambs have been marketed. The replacement ewe lambs
then receive just a pound/head/day of whole shelled corn. Usually by mid-May the lambs are out on
pasture so they no longer receive hay.
Following weaning in late April, the ewes are fed first crop hay in drylot until the pastures are ready
in early May. The added benefit of this is that we can watch for mastitis problems as the ewes’ udders
dry up. The ewes are on pasture until mid-October in most years.
The rams receive a pound/head/day of whole shelled corn and free choice mineral year round. This
helps them maintain good condition while on pasture from May through October and during the winter
as they are housed outdoors. During the winter they receive hay.
Other management practices we implement are flushing ewes with whole shelled corn from late
August until the end of September; deworming in July, November and February, shearing in late
December and vaccinating for CD+T in January. The lambs receive two doses of CD+T prior to
weaning. The ewes’ hooves are trimmed in February as they lamb or at the end of lambing season if
they didn’t. The rams are shorn, vaccinated, and hoof trimmed in June.
We do not utilize NSIP or the Badger Sheep Program. With Professor Thomas’ help, we’ve
developed spread sheets that rank our lambs based on adjusted weights and the mature ewes on lifetime
production. We then make our keep, sell, and cull decisions based on the records first and then further
selecting for conformation and breed character.
Mark says our three reasons for raising sheep are 1) the exercise; 2) habit, and 3) we’re not smart
enough to raise something else. Seriously our reasons are 1) we want to be as self-sufficient in food
production as possible; 2) they fit our off-farm employment schedules, and 3) we didn’t need to make a
large monetary outlay for fencing and equipment.
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Ray and Alice Antoniewicz
A-Z Farm LLC
1820 Schuster Rd.
Oregon, WI 53575
608-835-5553
rayatoz@merr.com
www.a-zfarm.com
Commercial Lamb and Wool Production and Ag Tourism
Why Do We Raise Sheep?
- Fits the farm
- Size of sheep, easy to handle
- Can make money
Description of the Operation
Commercial Producer
- about 100 ewes (Targhee/Texel crosses), 37 acres
Goal
- produce lamb (meat and feeder lambs)
- commercial breeding stock for sale
- good quality/clean wool
Direct Marketing
- whole, half and individual cuts of lamb
- wool to hand spinners and area wool mill
- pelts and a few blankets
- eggs and chickens
Ag Tourism
- Sheep Shearing for Spectators, Feb. 16, 2008
- Lamb Birthing Barn, March 16, 23 and 30, 2008
- Educational Farm Tours
Werner and Diane Haas
Springfield Meadows
W15518 W. Jackson Rd.
Taylor, WI 54659
715-662-4851
Commercial Lamb and Wool Producer and Grazer
We run a commercial flock, having around 280 ewes, dependent on a grass-based system. We have
105 acres of open pasture for the sheep and 25 acres of wet low ground for the beef herd. The winter
feed is hay that we produce on 50 acres of hay ground.
Our lambs are sold when the grass season comes to the end. We try to sell our lambs in different
ways. We sell all orphan lambs right away. We sell some lambs as commercial replacement ewe lambs,
a few as breeding ram lambs, some as slaughter lambs to the ethnic trade, and a few to the local butcher
as locker lambs. The largest share get sold as feeder lambs.
Reasons for raising sheep:
1. We are grass farmers, and sheep fit this system the best.
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2. Dairy cows convert grass to milk more efficiently than sheep convert grass to meat, but sheep
convert grass to meat better than other types of livestock.
3. With two meat species of livestock, sheep are a good complement to beef cattle.
Feel free to call us anytime or come and visit our operation.
Doug and Roy Wilson
Corner View Club Lambs
W5729 County Highway B
Shawano, WI 54166
608-215-4490 (cell)
cvclublambs@hotmail.com
www.clublambpage.com/cornerview
Club Lamb Producer
Corner View Club Lambs is located in Shawano, Wisconsin. We will lamb 70 crossbred and 25
purebred Hampshire wether-type ewes. The enterprise is a partnership and annually sells 60 plus show
lambs and 20 plus seedstock sheep. We market via an open house and our Web site.
Obviously, we manage to create revenue. My son and I both have genetic careers and enjoy creating
a breeding index and the challenge of genetic improvement. Thirdly, we enjoy working with youth and
helping mold careers, hopefully in agriculture.
Brenda and Dean Jensen
Hidden Spring Farm
S 1597 Hanson road
Westby, WI 54667
608-634-2521
brendachangeagent@yahoo.com
www.hiddenspringscreamery.com
Dairy Sheep Producers and Farmstead Cheese Makers
Brenda and Dean Jensen are a Grade A sheep dairy and farmstead creamery. They are currently
miking 115+ Lacaune and East Friesian dairy sheep and making cheese. The Jensen’s farm the old
fashioned way, with draft power and no tractors, only Percheron draft horses. The Jensen's vision is to
become a sustainable family farm.
The 3 reasons the Jensen's choose sheep are:
* Grazing opportunities - land to sheep ratio
* Small dairy animal- Brenda can handle alone (most of the time)
* Nutritional and health benefits of sheep milk
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Mary Wallace
White Dove Farm
173 Hwy A
Cambridge, WI 53523
608-884-4301
whitedove@jvlnet.com
Specialty Fleece Producer
My husband and I and our two daughters have lived here 23 years. I have raised sheep for 21 years.
It is a small farm with only 5.5 acres. We keep about 20 natural color and white Corriedale sheep over
winter; more during spring, summer and fall. We have used MIG (Managed intensive grazing) practices
for our 4 acres for the past 18 years. We keep management practices fairly simple: We lamb in
March/April, ewes and lambs are on pasture all summer and into fall, we rotate pastures every 3 - 4 days
using temporary fence within the woven wire boundary fences, hay racks provide shade, we use hoses
for water, and the animals are kept outside all the time and are only given access to the barns after
shearing, during lambing and in the worst of winter weather.
We market the lambs for breeding stock and locker lambs, and we raise our own replacement ewes.
I market the wool through various places in all its forms: raw wool, roving, yarn, and finished goods.
Why I raise sheep.
The reasons I raise sheep have changed over the course of these 20 years or so.
1. I like to work with animals and always wanted to be on a farm. I picked sheep as animals I could
handle because I knew I'd be doing a lot of the work by myself. Now, as I'm getting older, I
need help handling the animals more and more. I still like working with the animals, but I may
have to change our sheep management to help make it easier for me.
2. I like the heavy, physical, outside work. I still like the outside work, but because I'm getting a bit
older it is harder to do some of the heavier stuff. This is the first year we purchased hay instead
of putting it up ourselves. That has been a huge relief. And nothing beats being able to go
outside to work. The air is always fresher (some times more than others) and often times much
colder than inside, but the views are always changing and working in the weather keeps one
humble. It is never boring.
3. I enjoy working with wool, and it is especially rewarding to work with fiber that I help produce.
This has evolved over the years from selling the wool to the shearer as I did when I first started
with sheep to now marketing the raw wool by the end of March and making wool items to then
sell during various shows throughout the year. The wool part of raising sheep has opened many
doors for me throughout these 20 years; judging wool, teaching classes on wool and felt, and
speaking to many different groups. It has been a wonderfully enriching enterprise for my
personal growth.
4. There are other reasons I raise sheep as well, from reducing property tax obligations to providing
wonderful meat for ourselves and great manure to the neighborhood gardens. Raising sheep
gives me a connection to the natural world, my farming grandparents, and a way of life that is no
longer easily accessible or attainable. As small an operation as we are, our farm is the only
agriculture contact for all my and my husband's relatives. And sometimes, despite the hard
work, the anxiety about marketing and all the headaches, it is simply that I just enjoy looking at
the sheep in the pasture as they graze.
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