Dairy Sheep Startup Costs: How Much Does It Really Cost?

[@MythicalNachos]

How does this channel not have 100k subscribers? Your videos are so so so informative! Thank you!

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Aww thank you, that means a lot! :) Glad they're helpful!

[@briarpatchcreamery]

I've been milking dairy sheep for about 5 years. My first 4 ewes cost $950 for all of them. They were all bred and lambed in the spring doubling my herd. I kept a ram lamb from my favorite ewe, and bought a ram lamb for $65. I already had fencing, a milking stand and a milker because we had milked cows but it was $200 -$300 to adapt the milker to milk sheep. We still don't have a barn or shelter for our sheep. We have a big dog house where our Great Pyrenees raised her puppies. We fill it with clean straw for the sheep to use when lambing time comes. I would like a better milking setup. I have a pen the ewes stay in over night next to an old camper that holds grain and our milker. The milking stand is outside. Hopefully I will be able to figure out a better place to milk this summer.

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Yay thank you so much for sharing your startup costs and also that you were able to re-use some of the things you had from milking cows. I love that you got your ewes bred and that they lambed at your place, that's super smart!

[@martinstube45]

I am a farmer from the UK and thought your video was very informative for some one starting out where ever you are

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and let me know :)

[@FulbrightFarmstead]

A very well put together video. I am new to dairy sheep on our homestead this year and I set a budget for myself at $5,000 usd. That includes my starter flock, fencing, shears, hay, grain, mineral, potential vet costs, meds / supplies, and an ear tagger. I wanted to include feed in that budget because it is such a large portion. Just speaking to startup costs however fencing is definitely the biggest chunk of our budget. Thank you for the video and I look forward to watching more!

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Thanks so much! We found fencing to be a big investment for sure. The ongoing costs of feed/hay add up too, and I didn't touch on that in this video but the upfront stuff is usually the bigger expense that we should plan for :)

[@kevelthaus3197]

We are doing our research on getting dairy sheep for our homestead- 30 acres in Va. This was VERY informative.

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Glad to hear it was helpful!

[@LeoTheYuty]

Useful information! I subscribed.

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Thanks so much Leo - happy to be connected :)

[@JoyoftheGardenandHome]

Where did you find your Fresians? I'm looking now and see very few and far away options. Do they become available seasonally? They are definitely pricey! But I want to get the best milker (or second best) if we're going to go through the trouble...

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Unfortunately, dairy sheep aren't as popular here in North America so finding them can be a challenge. The ones I found were 4 hours away from us. I would recommend looking for sheep dairies because they often sell stock even if it's not listed on their websites. This website also has a directory: www.dsana.org/ Good luck and I hope you find some close by!

[@JoyoftheGardenandHome]

@@waykeeperfarmandnerdery thank you so much

[@DumisaniBaloy-ns9ij]

Where is the sheep found in Zimbabwe

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

I'm sorry I don't have any recommendations for you!

[@yusufmohd192]

Here in somalia we don't milk the sheep we only keep it for meat and its very cheap I don't the reson ..and we have the best sheep for meat productions which is somali blackhead sheep..do you have market for sheep..... even for 200$😁🤙

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Way to go!

[@umairrana3634]

I want dairy sheep in pakistan

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

I wish I could help you find some!

[@catherinelindelof6630]

Do you have an Instagram?

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

Hi Catherine! I don't sorry - I used to have an Instagram account but I decided to delete it to spend more time off my phone. :)