6 Reasons to Add Sheep to Your Homestead [especially for first-timers]

I love homesteading with sheep. We raise Dorper sheep and we raise the lambs for meat. Sheep are an incredibly rewarding and productive animal. On the homestead you'll find that you're always busy, but grass-fed sheep can be one of the most productive systems with the least amount of input in them.
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Timestamps:
00:00 I Love Sheep
00:35 #1: Manure That Helps Soil Health
02:19 #2: Natural Diet
03:51 #3: Great For Small-Scale
06:10 #4: Great for First-Timers
06:55 My Crazy Ram Always Trying To Kill Me
07:07 Sheep Can Be Loud (Dorper Sheep)
07:34 #5 Delicious Meat
09:40 #6: Easy Care
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A bit about us:
My wife and I grew up in sunny southern California, 15 minutes away from the beach. As amazing as that was, we both dreamed of a life closer to land and animals. After getting married and moving to Utah, our family slowly grew. We had become a family of 4 living in a townhome with a small backyard filled with potted plants and a swing. In October of 2019 we decided it was time to make the dream a reality and move to a homesteading property. We came here with a 6 month old and a 3 year old and a fish. We now have a 18 month old and 5 year old, 4 pregnant sheep, 30 chickens, 20 (or so) rabbits and a garden that has the potential to sustain us and our animals, and a fish. There's lots of learning to do! And we've been happy to do it as we pursue a more enjoyable and sustainable life here on "the farm."
Music: www.bensound.com
Instagram: / highmountain_homestead

[@davefletch3063]

And…they help you sleep

[@MikeCheckBiloxi]

Ha! I see what you did there

[@connorhart7597]

Wonder if you gotta train em to jump over the bed or if they'll do that instinctively....

[@jjohnsengraciesmom]

They are loud. They could be singers in a heavy metal band.

[@Milehighsheppard]

I have Dorper sheep too on 5 acres in CA at 6000 ft. Very easy to raise and they are great land clearers. Love the clip with the Ram, mine sent me to hospital once.

[@brewsterly2927]

Very overstocked with 4 sheep on 1/2 acre. No rotation, high worm load.

[@Cat-oj2th]

We are zoned for residential ag and we just got sheep in may. They’ve been a joy!!!!

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

It's the best life!!!

[@g.attable1983]

Last year I used cow manure...this year sheep manure....a huge difference on how cedars, grass grew so much better then last year.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Wow, good to know!

[@chessman483]

A Herd “ sheep are a flock” sheared “ is said Shorn. I’m from New Zealand where we have 10 sheep for every human, so these terms are used daily. Also I’m an x shearer. I also raise Dorpers and love them. Mine lamb every 8 months, that suits my climate because our grass grows all year as long as we don’t get a prolonged drought. Being originally from NZ I wasn’t use to Dorpers, all the sheep I fattened there were Romney’s or Texels. I certainly prefer the Dorpers.

[@gretchengodwin]

Do you eat your sheep?

[@chessman483]

@@gretchengodwin yes, but only the males. But our numbers are growing so fast. So we will have to start selling some of the Ewes in about a year.

[@Josiahagrohub]

Thanks for sharing this Educative content 👍

[@elijahsanders3547]

Thank you for this great video :) Chickens are foragers, and they can help keep your pasture clean. Deep layer of wood mulch can give feed, as well as a compost/manure pile. In the winter, also heard of old timers killing a small animal, cutting it open, and throwing it to the chickens.

[@garypiatt4666]

What a fantastic video!!!! Thank you so very much!

[@fairviewhomestead]

Just bought our first Katadin/dorp mix two weeks ago! Miriam is such a sweet girl. Working on getting her a mate but she has been keepin it real with the goats. Haha! Thanks for the info and help from your videos!

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

That's such a great cross! Congrats! Good luck finding a ram.

[@gyrene94]

Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. You came up in my feed and have opened my eyes to things I didn't know and wouldn't have considered. You have been a gateway to push us to diversify. Thank you for sharing and being an inspiration! Keep up the good work...and THANKS AGAIN!

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

So glad to hear it! Stay tuned for more!

[@shawndickinson120]

Will sheep eat old pine needles

[@collisjohnson4576]

Nice video. Hoping to get some sheep for myself soon.

[@jjohnsengraciesmom]

Your video is great.

[@jeannemoore9792]

So happy to find another sheep lover.😊 We are doing about the same as you and I love the sheep. They often ignore the hay I throw to them and prefer to browse our field. I find that our field raised lamb tastes way better than the butcher lamb I purchased a few years back. Watching sheep in the field is one of the most peaceful things in my life.😊

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

There's no better sound than when sheep tear up grass. I love it!

[@Hotmessfamily]

Thank you! Great information!

[@hornitorrincoperezoso2189]

Also important for small scale homesteads: your leach field may cover a substantial part of the property; if you want to let your animals use that area, cows are too heavy and will seriously damage the septic lines. Sheep are small enough to walk on the leach field, just like a person. Even if you have an aerobic system and no leach field, the weight of a cow standing on the tank could collapse it.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Yes! I've been a fan of keeping sheep on a septic field. It's a win for the sheep, and that way you're making use of otherwise dead space. AND you don't have to mow it!

[@iam_zeus875]

This content was so wholesome 🤣🤣🤣

[@ruefulquail5071]

I just got my first sheep. It is fantastic to see the fence line getting cleaned up and I didn't have to grab a tool. I did go with a ram though since the nearest breeder is 2.5 hours one way. I just didn't want a large breed since they will be on top of my mound septic system.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

I think getting a ram was a good call.

[@homesteadingpastor]

Thank you for this very informative video! We just added sheep to our homestead, and we have already been wondering why we haven’t added sheep before now, we love em. Btw, New Subscriber Here From South Carolina!

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Glad to have you around! Sheep are lovely. I filmed this video when I lived in Utah, but now I'm in North Carolina. Howdy neighbor!

[@homesteadingpastor]

@@homesteadingwithPJ howdy! Wow, didn’t realize we were neighbors. Yes we love raising sheep now that we’ve got them.

[@peterpepper2983]

Freezer camp... lol. You're vids are awesome

[@robertmartin2394]

I’m glad I found EweTube

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

😂 You win the pun of the day award! That would have been a good channel name.

[@loosenatural8171]

Greetings from the LooseNatural farm in Andalusia Spain where we currently look into buying sheep

[@pabloescoba713]

The best animal ever

[@jaebrunetti2268]

This is a true story about a remarkable lady This was the newspaper story when she died. We all knew and loved her. Willoughby, Ohio Willoughby - The 'sheep lady' died as she lived, tenderly tending her suburban flock. Police found the body of Dorothea Davis, 90, Tuesday afternoon at the bottom of a ravine at the west end of her 13.5-acre sheep farm on Euclid Avenue. She had not been seen for nearly a week, and the Lake County coroner ruled that she had died of a heart attack. On Wednesday afternoon, some six dozen sheep huddled against a lean-to behind her farmhouse. Meanwhile, members of a Lake County community heralded their enigmatic shepherdess.Davis, a wispy and weathered loner, was sort of a city symbol. For decades, the retired librarian from one of Willoughby's oldest families remained a rustic holdout on the west end of the burgeoning city, declining to sell her valuable land to developers or the city. "She was born on that property, lived the way she wanted all these years and she always said she wanted to die there," Willoughby Mayor Dave Anderson said. "I'm sad that she's gone, but glad for that, at least." A close friend, Bob Engert, 71, of Willowick, reported Davis missing to police on Tuesday morning. He had fed Davis' sheep for several years but hadn't seen Davis since Dec. 31. Her life on the Willoughby sheep farm was lived amidst both splendor and squalor. Her run-down, thrice-burned, two-century-old home sits on a narrow strip of land squeezed between a mobile home park and condominiums and across Euclid Avenue from a General Electric plant. The city received complaints each year about the smell or sight of the farm and often had officers rounding up the sheep off a busy Euclid Avenue, Anderson said. But her bucolic barnyard was also a respite for generations of families who found Davis cooing to her sheep by their pet names: lambies, babies and baa-baas. "I think she was a lovely, sweet lady who loved her sheep," said Mary Leiderbach, a Willoughby library worker. Dorothea Davis was born June 10, 1913, the second of four daughters, and grew up on the family farm.She took over the farm in the early 1950s after her father died, and lived alone on the land since 1971, when her mother died, according to reports. Twice, after disasters on the farm, the community cared for the lady who cared for the sheep. In 1968, when Davis was charged by police with having nearly two dozen sheep carcasses strewn about the property, friends responded by repairing her fence and digging a burial trench for the carcasses. And when the city condemned her house after a 1999 fire, an army of volunteers and city officials alike rebuilt the farmhouse according to code -- this time without a fireplace. Anderson said he played both enforcer and friend that year. "We probably weren't as tough on her as we would have been with others," he admitted. "But most of the community wanted her to stay. We helped with that, but we also wanted to protect her from herself." Anderson said Davis' farm now could easily be sold for more than $1 million. Willoughby officials had tried to buy the Davis farm in 1982 to turn it into a park or children's petting zoo, according to reports. Davis wasn't interested and often had said she would fight development of her land as long as she lived. In 1990, she claimed she had set up a trust so the land will go to her sisters when she died. Her sister Marjorie could not be reached at her Breckenridge Village residence. Engert said he expected that Marjorie Davis would take ownership of the property, but he said he plans to keep caring for the sheep. "I'm going to miss [Dorothea], but I'm glad she died on the farm," he said. "She got her blessing anyhow."

[@karenchavez9996]

They also do well keeping the weeds down. We raise sheep rather than a steer as they are smaller and we are able to process them ourselves and don’t have to pay for a butcher to process them. We also raise rabbits as they are easier then chickens for meat.

[@sarahbroussard7489]

Yo, that treehouse at 4:11 is lit.

[@ivyg3477]

Well I'm sold lol

[@justinsellers9402]

That's a cool tree house.

[@carlyleporter5388]

I don't have any city raised cousins with as little understanding of living on a farm as this guy.

[@Highlander1911]

Really great video! Would it be possible to have wool sheep on a small scale like this?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Absolutely. I can't think of any reason not to.

[@jaimewolfe185]

We are starting out with no pasture. Fence in a small area... clear trees. Add more fence, clear more trees...

[@lhatfield0786]

PJ you explain things so clearly (and it helps you come from a non-ag background). Can you help me find keywords so I can more research? I'm not homesteading, just living on 5 acres with lots of pines and rocks, very steep can not use a mower at all, want to get 3 hair-sheep wethers to forage and keep down grass and weeds. All the videos seem to aim toward bigger operations and meat production. I think I want to keep the sheep longer as working pets? Or should I get new wethers every spring and sell them in fall? I just found out there is not much lamb processing in Colorado. Thank you!

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

I only have 6 acres in production now, so you're not far off with 5 acres. I would get some weathers or rams in the spring and process in the late winter. Thanks for the kind words!

[@BornFreeFilms]

Your videos have finally inspired me to get into sheep instead of cattle. The round bales of hay here in the Dallas, Tx area start at $95 and go up to $160. Just can't afford a bale a week for a herd of 6 on my 12 acres. Do you know a good, safe place to get soME Dorpers near Dallas? I tend to trust you. How much should some weaned ewes and a non-related ram cost each?

[@navarrohillsranch]

You are spot on with the cow vs sheep land carrying capacity. In our area 1 cow unit is equal to 6 sheep units which means I can have 6 sheep in the same space as 1 cow. A cow will produce 1 calf every 285 days while the sheep will usually have twins in 5 months which will give you 12 lambs. 1 lamb in our area will sell for a minimum of $200 ($3 per pound) at weaning equaling $2400. The cow with its 1 calf will go to market at 500lbs and bring on average $1.20 per pound equaling $600. Also, cows eat a lot of grain!

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Love all this info. The numbers on sheep are so fun!

[@tylertollow5210]

Hey nice hat dog. I got the same one!

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Ha, thanks! 🙌

[@villagesheepkm1276]

Good

[@Kevlarel84]

I've found that friends and family that say they don't like lamb had a bad experience with it at some point. It might have been the wrong breed but it also could have been age. Older sheep that are butchered also have a real gamey taste that really smells up the house when cooked. Mutton(older sheep) was a staple with our European ancestors but it has never been popular in North America. I grew up in farm country in the midwest and my family didn't eat lamb nor did most of my friends families. It's a shame it isn't more popular. It's a good meat source with health benefits and would likely be more economically priced if it wasn't such a specialty in my area. I love lamb and would like to have it more often than just once in a great while as I currently do. I can't stand mutton though. To me the older sheep tastes and smells like burnt hair! lol

[@navarrohillsranch]

Wool sheep meat (which is what is found in a lot of grocery stores) have a "gamey" taste due to the oil from the wool. Hair sheep produce meat that does not have that oil and thus is a great tasting product. To me it is a sweeter tender meat and is also low in cholesterol. Older hair sheep rams can be butchered and still have the same great taste as the younger rams.

[@djja8844]

Im glad to hear you're finding it easy. It seems like people often have problems with sheep dying from parasites

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

I've lost sheep to parasites since filming this video. It does happen. But I haven't had any losses in almost two years now.

[@lorinash4772]

Looking @ trying milking next lambing season to be totally self efficient

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

That would be rad! Maybe one day I'll do that too!

[@mohamedjehama]

7:28 that lamb was like dafuq did you just say?

[@TheToddFather1969]

How do you have a homestead next to a subdivision? Suburbanites are usually very uptight and don’t like farms next to them.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Good question. The short answer: My zoning protected me. I was literally zoned as residential agriculture. They may have a problem with noise (roosters, sheep), but as far as being "allowed to do it" there's nothing they could do to stop me. I was 100% legal in my zoning. Plus when you give everyone a pound of grass-fed lamb or a dozen eggs every so often, you make good neighbors. I never had complaints.

[@TheToddFather1969]

@@homesteadingwithPJ Thays awesome. I’m happy for you. Where I live suburbanites move in and demand everything around them that they don’t like be shut down. Usually the local government complies.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

@@TheToddFather1969 Good luck!

[@OurFreeSociety]

@@TheToddFather1969 - where do you live?

[@TheToddFather1969]

@@OurFreeSociety North Carolina, the land of subdivisions and regulations.

[@HomesteadAlabama]

Thank you but looking in the sheep I have chickens as well

[@HansWick]

I have 2.5 acres, I'm going to fence off about 1 acre for sheep. Do you try to section the area off to rotate them around or just let them go where they please?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

I do that now, the land and the animals do better with rotational grazing.

[@gumboot65]

How are Dorper sheep for a cold climate like Interior Alaska ? Do they do well if the have to be on hay for 8 months a year ?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

I believe they would. Despite being from South Africa, they put on a lot of wool when it's cold. Mine in Utah did fine, they don't mind dry cold. However Utah and Alaska are two different kinds of cold, the coldest I saw was in the teens, Alaska I'm sure would be much colder. So I can't say for sure. But as far as hay goes, they do well on it. Mine would thrive on alfalfa, especially while pregnant.

[@johanrunfeldt7174]

Sheep puts the ram in RAM-bunctious.

[@jessicawagley03]

Do you keep your ram by itself or do you have two rams? Being that they are social, I didn’t know what is the best practice.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

I usually keep the ram with the ram lambs most of the year, so he's only alone for a few weeks out of the year.

[@OurFreeSociety]

I didn't understand how they help the chickens. Can you clarify please. Thanks for the video.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Poop bring bugs, chickens eat bugs.

[@cloudcastle338]

Wtf lol I thought I was watching snake discovery for a second because they use that same sound for their intro too 😂

[@Mysfit_Oasis]

when my male sheep Bo gets head butty (He played with a cow as a baby) I just have to grab a stick I think he sees it and thinks its my horn and he will back off. he used to head butt very hard... would knock you down if you werent paying attention. but ive been working with him and he is starting to learn that humans are for pets and scratches and not for head butting :)

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Stay safe! Rams cause more damage than people know. Don't turn your back on a ram! Good luck.

[@jscritters5579]

I have been thinking about a sheep to live with my 3 goats. Are they proned to external parisites? I have my goats in a paddock with no grass and a little shed the winter months and switch them in and out of a of a paddock with LOTS of grass and weeds. Do you think that would be a good adviorment for a sheep? Thanks

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Goats and sheep can coexist. On a typical pasture, goats will probably get hit with parasites before sheep. But if the goats are eat weeds or shrubs (browsing over foraging) the sheep are more likely to get parasites.

[@jscritters5579]

@@homesteadingwithPJ Thank you! My goats have been dewormed and seem happy. Maybe I'll think about a sheep friend at some point Thanks again!!!! 😀 My biggest worry with getting sheep is if they were to get lice. Can't stand lice🤣 but I don't think they just show up out of nowhere

[@jack0903]

I like lamb that's why I'm getting them.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

That's what we did too!

[@aprilcharter9926]

Are ticks a problem in livestock animals? I don't know really much about farming, but I know around my area the deer tend to have a lot of them.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

They are always a concern, but sheep seem to be more resilient than deer. I think the wool helps. I've never had problems, but I know some people have tick problems. I'm not sure what parts of the US/world are better/worse for them though.

[@aprilcharter9926]

@@homesteadingwithPJ Interesting! Maybe some of the wool is too dense. Thanks for the reply :)

[@arjunchhantyal5061]

I want buy how to buy i am from Nepal

[@bluegrasstransport5266]

Are sheep loud at night, or do they sleep all night. And just loud during the day.

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

They are quiet... usually. If your sheep are spoiled, like mine were at this time, they see you and bleet!

[@johnschwartz6941]

What kind of hay is that you are feeding them?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

I really like alfalfa hay. Gets the ewes really big.

[@richardconcha7159]

HOW WELL DO THEY HANDLE THE HEAT

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Just fine, so long as they are shorn. But humidity and heat makes for lots of worms, which Dorper are not excellent at beating.

[@emilymcmakin8698]

So can these sheep, that you use for meat, also be milked to make dairy products?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Technically, yes. But these are not great for that. There are other varieties of sheep (Friesians for example) that are much more docile and good milkers. Both traits come from being bred for that for hundreds of years.

[@rollinwiththeflow2174]

I’m in west TN. New homesteader Where can I buy a 3 Dorpers?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

The website used to have pages by state, although I don't see that on their site right now. dorpersheep.org/ I would join a Dorper Facebook group and start asking.

[@cherylstewart9847]

If you have craigslist, that is a good place to look.

[@ddubsr5886]

I’m wondering if your making a mistake not rotational grazing them. The grass looks too over eaten and thus you increase parasite risk and why they are eating sticks and leaves instead of grass. Tip and dip as they say

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Agreed, we moved across the country to a much larger property. We rotationally graze when we can now.

[@country2thesoul277]

Is cattle panel fencing suitable for sheep?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Yes! Although it an be expensive if you're doing it for a long distance. But if it doesn't break the bank for you, it will work very well.

[@country2thesoul277]

@@homesteadingwithPJ Right on! I’ve been working towards enclosing my 5 acre pasture for a couple of years. I’m 31 cattle panels away from having it finished. Watching your channel has inspired me to want to try my luck with dorper sheep. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge and expertise!

[@AnimeDreamingEcchi]

Do they eat cud weed

[@ramamusah9524]

Pls how many weeks do sheep give birth

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

22 weeks

[@laniegonewild]

How much hay for the winter

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

That's a tough question. I plan for a bale a week, per sheep. And then add another 10-20 bales to that number!

[@mrs.sparks3363]

How many sheep should I get?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Depends... If you're just starting out with sheep, I suggest actually getting a handful of wean rams and finishing them out your first year rather than jumping right into breeding sheep year round.

[@Dorperchannel31rus]

👍👍👍👍👍🐏🐑🐏🐑

[@ambercrombie789]

Can you compare people who raise sheep to those who raise cattle?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Check out this video. It's not from me, but it's a great one on the subject of sheep vs. cows. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3_ImJ-piLx_j6c

[@ambercrombie789]

@@homesteadingwithPJ Thank you so much.

[@makingawesome8730]

How do you handle parasite loads on a small field like that? The new fad seems to be moving every couple days at the longest. Trying to understand if it's really necessary

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

There's a lot of factors, bred, season, forage quality, and climate matter a lot. In Utah, when I filmed this, we didn't do any deworming, and were fine. Hard dry winters and hot dry summers do the trick just fine. However, I'm in North Carolina now and we have to move sheep often. Right now I'm doing 5-7 days in a single spot. But I know many people around me move even more frequently, daily sometimes.

[@johnfolk1448]

No milking for kefir milk?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

I don't do it, but I love hearing about other folks that do it!

[@bethuelkiprono6139]

Life ni life hata huku Kenya ni hivo

[@2potornot2pot]

Do you butcher your own sheep?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

No, maybe one day in the distant future. But it's hard enough for me to drop them off at the butcher as it is.

[@plonialmoni4232]

@@homesteadingwithPJ how much does an average sheep cost to butcher in total?

[@pretzeltwisttwist7740]

​@@homesteadingwithPJHow did you find your butcher? I'm in western NC, are you open to visitors coming and learning about your sheep raising techniques? We are new St. Croix sheep owners.

[@rassanzedkyakre]

They are my favorite too . Go to my channel our sheep are different from yours already subscribed your channel and would keep watching your videos hopefully we can exchange information about the sheep . What breed of sheep are those ?

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Dorper.

[@charlieboggs5210]

I want some just so I have some more things for my dog to protect than just my dumb crazy chickens lol I think dog has had it with them and so I can stop brush hogging and mowing 4 acres out of 40 for a yard so sick of wasting money and time mowing when I could have mowers I could eat vs mowers I have to feed 4 dollar a gallon diesel fuel and I could be making money instead of riding a depreciating tractor

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Hair sheep (like the Dorper) are great at bush control, because they will eat most any kind of vegetation. I'm told that wool sheep are pickier eaters, eating only grass if they can help it.

[@charlieboggs5210]

@@homesteadingwithPJ sound like what I need

[@squaresofpaper]

Do you milk your sheep? If not, I'm curious why... is this not a good breed for milking? You didn't mention anything about that. Sheep seem like a great option, over goats... but I would really love a dairy and meat animal.

[@familyfarmlivestock4949]

You'll want an East Fresian or a Lacaune sheep for milking. Try East Fresian first. Watch Way Out West, it's an Irish couple's channel, they milk a few sheep.

[@squaresofpaper]

@@familyfarmlivestock4949 Thank you, I'll definitely look into those breeds and that channel!

[@summerlove0426]

l’d like to know that as well, milking specific to the dorp breed. Than you!!

[@brandonderijk587]

sell that ram

[@homesteadingwithPJ]

Haha. We did. He wasn't great. Our ram is much more what you want in a stud ram. Really good champion genetics. You have a good eye!

[@stevelevesque3274]

pro-biotics - that the funniest thing i've heard today - thank you

[@giovanni545]

Look at this verse please Revelation 14:12 12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

[@PShabx2]

Frozen camp! Why don’t you say slaughter, that’s what that is, slaughter!

[@anthonycali-wrestling]

Your comment about chicken feed is way off. Just because a feed is organic doesn't make it nutritious and just because a feed is "non-organic" doesn't make it McDonalds.