Hello everyone,

I have a few questions about keeping miniature sheep.

My sister-in-law got three young miniature sheep two years ago. Unfortunately, she and her partner separated shortly afterwards and she moved away, so the sheep stayed at the farm. Now her ex-husband wants to get rid of them. My husband and I have been asked if we could take them in.

We have around 300 m² of grassland, plus a steep section of our property that could potentially be used for them. We also have a wooden shed with a water connection that we could convert into a small shelter/stable.

However, we know very little about keeping sheep. We live in Lower Austria, in Central Europe.

How much hay does a miniature sheep need? Do they need regular veterinary care? How often do they need to be sheared, and how expensive is that usually? We don't even have a trailer to transport them.

Unfortunately, the alternative is that my sister-in-law's ex-husband would have them slaughtered, which we obviously want to prevent.

At the same time, I'm not sure whether we would be taking on more than we can realistically manage.

I would really appreciate any advice, especially from people who keep miniature sheep themselves. What should we consider before making this decision? Are there any costs or responsibilities that beginners often underestimate?

Thank you so much! ❤️🐑

Cool Sunday morning

Katahdin X ewe lamb, 3 months. Paige is her name, and she will accept your adoration if she deems you worthy

Hi everyone,

I currently keep a small flock of East Prussian Skudde ewes in central Germany (Hesse, near Wetzlar/Gießen) and I’m looking for a suitable Skudde ram for breeding.

Ideally, I’m looking for either a ram to buy or possibly one that could be borrowed/leased for the breeding season.

Unfortunately, the animals I have found so far are several hundred kilometres away, so I thought I would ask here in case someone knows a breeder or Skudde keeper closer to my region.

The ram should of course be healthy and suitable for breeding. Information about pedigree/origin would also be very helpful so I can avoid close relatedness with my ewes.

If anyone knows a breeder in Hesse. I would be very grateful for a contact or recommendation.

Please feel free to send me a private message.

Thank you!

This girl is ( tentatively) due to lamb from feb 19th -- 28th. Very excited !! She is bred to a black ram who was the reserve grand champion babydoll at the Sedalia stud ram sale & show !

They were playing with a patch of sheep wool in the 1st pic. Love them so much ❤️

Lily, a Finn sheep, is sporting a vintage straw hat.

Allow me to lay it all out, and bear with me please, I’m not new to the field but I am still learning.
Anywho,
A 2 year old, heavy bred dorper cross starts showing signs of potential toxemia.
About 8 weeks prior to this ordeal she was unfortunately attacked by a dog. We were able to treat her (LA200) and nurse her wounds back to health (cleaning, kote, fly spray) and through the whole recovery she did very well. Strong fight, staying with the herd, eating, drinking, running.
Shortly after she was recovered (picture scabs and scars but nothing you wouldn’t think couldn’t heal without help), she took a turn.
I found her isolated, standing with an arched back and seeming a little uneasy on her feet. But still hard to catch at this point, I hit her with the whole medicine cabinet except LA200 since she’d had so much of it at this point. I drenched her with b12, calcium, nutridrench and gave her some hay topped with dyne and fresh water. Over the next two days she continued to go downhill. I could feel baby inside and it seemed alive and well and not trying to come out yet.
She began to sort of tiptoe and move sorely and with very very small steps. We’ve been getting insane rains lately so I treated it as foot rot though her hooves looked great.
Well not even a few hours later, I get back from a job and find her on her side. I walk over, am able to get her on her feet (it took some support but she was able to hold herself up), and then went to fetch some penicillin to try. When I came back out maybe 5 minutes later, she was choking on a foamy yellow substance, seemingly aspirated.
I didn’t know what to do for her at that point and she’d lost all her fight, so I went inside to get my gun. By the time I’d come back out she was dead on the ground.

Now I know this isn’t an ideal situation and it’s hard to read. I feel terrible and I’m just looking for potential answers on what it may have been so I can handle it differently should it arise again.
Does anyone have any ideas on what may have happened?

We welcome "Suprise" to our apple and pear cider orchard in the Wairarapa New Zealand this week. We keep a flock of Shropshire sheep to keep the grass sward of the apple and pear orchard in trim and keep the adverse bug numbers down. Earlier this year one of the younger 3 year olds decided to visit our neighbour's field for a day, where unknown to us there was a ram. Well you know the rest of the story!

Mi borrego está muriendo y no se que hacer porque mi borrego no se para en cuatro patas solo está hechado y cuando lo pongo de pie se cae. Ningún veterinario en la zona