I grew up with goats due to lactose intolerance to store bought cows milk. My husband and I just bought a handful of Katahdin sheep last year and I plan on milking them this year! They are so calm and 4 out of the 5 ewes are getting really good about going on the milk stand so I should have a selection on which ones I decide to milk! So far I like sheep so much better than goats! They are so much easier to feed, fence and take care of!
We were told goats are naturally escape artists, which was advice that heavily influenced our decision to go the sheep route. Hair sheep have been one of the best things we’ve done on our farm! Good luck with your milking - keep us posted on how it goes!
Thank you so much for this information. I want to have a hobby farm when I retire and one of the things I was interested in was cheese making. Knowing that St Croix sheep are so parasite resistant, I was wondering if they could produce enough milk to make cheese with. It sounds like I'd be better with another breed or look to cross breed with St. Croix (for parasite resistance) and a milking breed for production. Either way, I'm grateful for this information.
I’m so glad this helped someone! I’ve always wondered about a St Croix dairy cross and if that would increase milk yields while upping parasite resistance. Keep us informed if you go this route! Thank you for commenting!🤠
I have no personal experience but saw somewhere khatadin can produce 2qt a day. They're still pretty parasite resistant and produce a bigger carcass. Friesian will give up to Gallon a day but they're a tender wool breed, so more worming, more hoof trimming have to shear. And very suspectable to parasites
I’m trying to decide between sheep and goat for milk but I also want to raise the lambs for market. I hear this breed is lighter so I’m trying to decide.
I have a friend who used to raise Alpine goats (I think that’s right). Going off what he was saying, the goats produced way more milk than my sheep. If you’re leaning toward dairy, I’d say goats.
Thanks for discussing this topic. My neighbor is downsizing her sheep dairy, and so I am picking up her sheep stanchion. I have St. Croix and Dorper ewes. We don't drink a lot of milk - I primarily use it to make yogurt, so 1-12 oz per ewe will be just about perfect for us. Did you separate the lambs at night, or did you wait to milk them until the lambs were weaned?
We separated at night. Everyone always made enough for us and lambs, which amazed me. Mamma’s we’re only a few years old as well, so maybe some additional quantities as they get a little older. Hey, best of luck with your sheep dairy, very exciting! St. Croix and Dorper cross is a Royal White, right?
@@birchfieldfarming The Royal White is a cross between St. Croix and White Dorpers. We have black headed Dorpers, so they aren't technically a Royal White, which is a breed. I think it's because the white dorper crossed with a white St. Croix nearly always produces a completely white sheep, and the black head genetics create all different patterns of black and white sheep. I call our crosses Royal Black. 🤷♀ They do produce a little heavier carcass faster, with more muscling, so we like them.
@@smallacrehomestead That’s awesome you’ve found a breed that works for you. Royal Black, makes sense. Sorry to keep asking questions, but I’m quite curious - How are they in regards to parasite resistance in your experience?
@@birchfieldfarming we have a very small flock, so I am not sure I have any "scientific" feedback for you. So far, we have only had to treat one of our 100% Dorper ewes for parasites. This may be an interesting topic to address in an upcoming video. I have recently started making videos, and if you are curious to see what our crosses look like, you can see the one in my ram field right now. He is the one with more white on his head. The ram that is smaller is a 100% Dorper (he's about 6 weeks younger than the other three), and the two all white rams are 100% St. Croix. Check this video out (the rams appear at about the one minute mark): th-cam.com/video/T_JfWWCmpGw/w-d-xo.html
Tangent is appreciated. We’re thinking the same things. Just started our 5 kids on raw milk. Voila - no more digestive issues. It’s not difficult to figure out. And we live next to a massive dairy farm. When you see how those animals are processed it just makes sense.
Yes, you certainly could. Old breast pumps work great (I’m serious🤣), but definitely professional machines you can buy as well. We weren’t that serious about it, just the kids and me messing around.
I don’t think I did. Usually 60 to 90 days to feed lambs, and we’re certainly not milking anywhere near that long. More of a novelty with the kiddos, very good milk tho!
I am deciding to buy some sheep. I am looking at Kathadin and american black belly. Are they pretty much same ? would you recommend to go for st.cross instaed ?
You know it all just depends on your goals. St. Croix are going to generally have a smaller carcass size, but the draw for us is I didn’t want to worm. Dewormers can really do damage to your dung beetle population, plus I just didn’t want to hassle with it. Larger size with Kathadin, but you may need a dewormer program with that breed depending on how good your starting stock are. My goals for sheep were thriving on 100% grass alone with very little to no maintenance or inputs (other than a bit of mineral of course). Hope this helps, other sheep folks here feel free to chime in! Best of luck to ya!
My sheep stay out all year. During the weather back in December where we had minus 33°F With windchill, I did provide them with a windbreak. They are very hardy, 100% grass-fed animals.
@@edwinmoore4560 The sheep won’t eat the very woody stuff or thistle like the goats will, but I bet they would run fine together. Obviously, you’re not talking about cross-breeding them, right??
@@birchfieldfarming I had a herd of milking goats many years ago. I had one small-teated Saanen who was a pain to milk by hand. When I got a milking machine, it became easy to milk her and all the others. So I'm guessing that it would make milking small-teated sheep really easy to milk.
@@quailjailss Yes, one more thing to do. It used to take me less than five minutes to do it, though. If you're sharing with a lamb or kid, and only milking in the morning, that's once a day only. I guess it depends on how often you want sheep milk. Or how good a milker you are.
@@elizabethblane201 I haven’t ever been able to clean all the parts in 5 minutes. I just have too much on my plate as it is. I will continue to hand milk until the arthritis sets in and hand milking becomes no longer possible. But with any animal with teats as small as the majority of hair ewes, machine milking would make it 20x easier, for sure.
Dairy sheep have wool. It’s a pain in the butt. High percentage lacaune dairy sheep sometimes will shed their belly wool (which is easier shearing wise) but good luck finding high percentage lacaune sheep in the US 😂 I have dairy sheep but I’m praying to the old gods and the new that someone starts breeding a shedding dairy sheep.
Interesting - I’ve always been curious how a dairy sheep St. Croix cross would perform on shedding, dairy yield, and parasite resistance. Seems like those would be the 3 biggies. Maybe we need to try it. Then I think about the backbreaking work of shearing and I get stuck! I admire those who do it tho!
@@birchfieldfarming oh also! Sheep that are wool/hair crosses ruin your shearing blades lol. I was told hair/wool crosses are a shearers worst nightmare. So there’s that.
@@birchfieldfarming looks like YT deleted my long comment bc I mentioned another social platform lol. But the most important thing I typed that I wanted to post again is that wool genetics seem to be dominant to shedding genetics. When you start crossing hair to wool, to get an animal that will shed its wool again it would have pretty diluted wool genetics. So that’s the struggle people are having with trying to create a dairy sheep that sheds
I am in the process of writing something on dairy sheep and would love your input since you milk non-dairy sheep!! I sent you a message on Instagram as I cannot find an email to contact you on…
I grew up with goats due to lactose intolerance to store bought cows milk. My husband and I just bought a handful of Katahdin sheep last year and I plan on milking them this year! They are so calm and 4 out of the 5 ewes are getting really good about going on the milk stand so I should have a selection on which ones I decide to milk!
So far I like sheep so much better than goats! They are so much easier to feed, fence and take care of!
We were told goats are naturally escape artists, which was advice that heavily influenced our decision to go the sheep route. Hair sheep have been one of the best things we’ve done on our farm! Good luck with your milking - keep us posted on how it goes!
Thank you so much for this information. I want to have a hobby farm when I retire and one of the things I was interested in was cheese making. Knowing that St Croix sheep are so parasite resistant, I was wondering if they could produce enough milk to make cheese with. It sounds like I'd be better with another breed or look to cross breed with St. Croix (for parasite resistance) and a milking breed for production. Either way, I'm grateful for this information.
I’m so glad this helped someone! I’ve always wondered about a St Croix dairy cross and if that would increase milk yields while upping parasite resistance. Keep us informed if you go this route! Thank you for commenting!🤠
I have no personal experience but saw somewhere khatadin can produce 2qt a day. They're still pretty parasite resistant and produce a bigger carcass.
Friesian will give up to Gallon a day but they're a tender wool breed, so more worming, more hoof trimming have to shear. And very suspectable to parasites
Great video--really useful. Thanks for making it and for taking he time to edit in the shots of the stanchion and the ewe being milked
You got it, Marc…thanks for following along!
I bet it tastes so rich and delicious!
We were milking when the grass comes on thick and green in Spring, so I’m sure that helped! It was very tasty.
The cranes sound like dinosaurs at times.
They have a regular flight pattern over our place, northeast to southwest. Interesting to watch, as sometimes they take a break in our pond.
I’m trying to decide between sheep and goat for milk but I also want to raise the lambs for market. I hear this breed is lighter so I’m trying to decide.
I have a friend who used to raise Alpine goats (I think that’s right). Going off what he was saying, the goats produced way more milk than my sheep. If you’re leaning toward dairy, I’d say goats.
Thanks for discussing this topic. My neighbor is downsizing her sheep dairy, and so I am picking up her sheep stanchion. I have St. Croix and Dorper ewes. We don't drink a lot of milk - I primarily use it to make yogurt, so 1-12 oz per ewe will be just about perfect for us. Did you separate the lambs at night, or did you wait to milk them until the lambs were weaned?
We separated at night. Everyone always made enough for us and lambs, which amazed me. Mamma’s we’re only a few years old as well, so maybe some additional quantities as they get a little older. Hey, best of luck with your sheep dairy, very exciting! St. Croix and Dorper cross is a Royal White, right?
@@birchfieldfarming The Royal White is a cross between St. Croix and White Dorpers. We have black headed Dorpers, so they aren't technically a Royal White, which is a breed. I think it's because the white dorper crossed with a white St. Croix nearly always produces a completely white sheep, and the black head genetics create all different patterns of black and white sheep. I call our crosses Royal Black. 🤷♀
They do produce a little heavier carcass faster, with more muscling, so we like them.
@@smallacrehomestead That’s awesome you’ve found a breed that works for you. Royal Black, makes sense. Sorry to keep asking questions, but I’m quite curious - How are they in regards to parasite resistance in your experience?
@@birchfieldfarming we have a very small flock, so I am not sure I have any "scientific" feedback for you. So far, we have only had to treat one of our 100% Dorper ewes for parasites.
This may be an interesting topic to address in an upcoming video. I have recently started making videos, and if you are curious to see what our crosses look like, you can see the one in my ram field right now. He is the one with more white on his head. The ram that is smaller is a 100% Dorper (he's about 6 weeks younger than the other three), and the two all white rams are 100% St. Croix. Check this video out (the rams appear at about the one minute mark):
th-cam.com/video/T_JfWWCmpGw/w-d-xo.html
Tangent is appreciated. We’re thinking the same things. Just started our 5 kids on raw milk. Voila - no more digestive issues. It’s not difficult to figure out. And we live next to a massive dairy farm. When you see how those animals are processed it just makes sense.
Just found you...great vudeo!❤
Thanks Martha!🤠
Hello, can a person get a copy of your excel spreadsheet on sheep Thanks Darrel
@@darrel1954 Hi Darrel - Can you jog my memory and define what info you are looking for on the sheep?
Can’t you use a milking machine set up to milk them
Yes, you certainly could. Old breast pumps work great (I’m serious🤣), but definitely professional machines you can buy as well. We weren’t that serious about it, just the kids and me messing around.
Im not sure if you mentioned in the video how long they were in lactation before drying up?
I don’t think I did. Usually 60 to 90 days to feed lambs, and we’re certainly not milking anywhere near that long. More of a novelty with the kiddos, very good milk tho!
I am deciding to buy some sheep. I am looking at Kathadin and american black belly. Are they pretty much same ? would you recommend to go for st.cross instaed ?
You know it all just depends on your goals. St. Croix are going to generally have a smaller carcass size, but the draw for us is I didn’t want to worm. Dewormers can really do damage to your dung beetle population, plus I just didn’t want to hassle with it. Larger size with Kathadin, but you may need a dewormer program with that breed depending on how good your starting stock are. My goals for sheep were thriving on 100% grass alone with very little to no maintenance or inputs (other than a bit of mineral of course). Hope this helps, other sheep folks here feel free to chime in! Best of luck to ya!
When raising your sheep do they stay in a shelter during cold and wet times or what
My sheep stay out all year. During the weather back in December where we had minus 33°F With windchill, I did provide them with a windbreak. They are very hardy, 100% grass-fed animals.
Sounds like what I want. I just hope they will mix well with goats as livestock
The reason I ask is I am fixing to be raising 16 real young ewes but when they are mulled I want to use a machine not by hand
@@edwinmoore4560 The sheep won’t eat the very woody stuff or thistle like the goats will, but I bet they would run fine together. Obviously, you’re not talking about cross-breeding them, right??
Hand milking a small-teated animal is a pain. I wonder if a milking machine would make it less tedious?
Absolutely! We just never went this route. I wonder if anyone who sees this and uses one could tell us if it’s worth it here!
Cleaning the tubing and machine twice a day is extremely tedious
@@birchfieldfarming I had a herd of milking goats many years ago. I had one small-teated Saanen who was a pain to milk by hand. When I got a milking machine, it became easy to milk her and all the others. So I'm guessing that it would make milking small-teated sheep really easy to milk.
@@quailjailss Yes, one more thing to do. It used to take me less than five minutes to do it, though. If you're sharing with a lamb or kid, and only milking in the morning, that's once a day only. I guess it depends on how often you want sheep milk. Or how good a milker you are.
@@elizabethblane201 I haven’t ever been able to clean all the parts in 5 minutes. I just have too much on my plate as it is. I will continue to hand milk until the arthritis sets in and hand milking becomes no longer possible.
But with any animal with teats as small as the majority of hair ewes, machine milking would make it 20x easier, for sure.
The what, the dairy, the this, the that, the eggs.
It's the spraying and chemicals.
…I don’t disagree…but to actually solve the problem requires a bit more context.
Sheep's milk is naturally homogenized, that is interesting.
…has to be what gives the incredible flavor, just a little bit sweet!
✌️✌️🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩😍😍🙋♂️
Feeding your ewes more than grass will probably increase their milk production. 🥛
Yes, I’m sure it could. 100% grass-fed cattle and sheep here on our farm produce high quality breeding stock and meat very high in omega-3’s.
Dairy sheep have wool. It’s a pain in the butt. High percentage lacaune dairy sheep sometimes will shed their belly wool (which is easier shearing wise) but good luck finding high percentage lacaune sheep in the US 😂
I have dairy sheep but I’m praying to the old gods and the new that someone starts breeding a shedding dairy sheep.
Interesting - I’ve always been curious how a dairy sheep St. Croix cross would perform on shedding, dairy yield, and parasite resistance. Seems like those would be the 3 biggies. Maybe we need to try it. Then I think about the backbreaking work of shearing and I get stuck! I admire those who do it tho!
@@birchfieldfarming oh also! Sheep that are wool/hair crosses ruin your shearing blades lol. I was told hair/wool crosses are a shearers worst nightmare. So there’s that.
@@quailjailss That’s interesting
@@birchfieldfarming looks like YT deleted my long comment bc I mentioned another social platform lol.
But the most important thing I typed that I wanted to post again is that wool genetics seem to be dominant to shedding genetics.
When you start crossing hair to wool, to get an animal that will shed its wool again it would have pretty diluted wool genetics.
So that’s the struggle people are having with trying to create a dairy sheep that sheds
@@quailjailss pretty fascinating stuff!
I am in the process of writing something on dairy sheep and would love your input since you milk non-dairy sheep!! I sent you a message on Instagram as I cannot find an email to contact you on…
birchfieldfarming@gmail