sheep for weed control?

[itsasmallfarm]

hello everyone.
where at the moment considering getting sheep for weed control (and they will become pets).
so i guess i will explain the situation.

okay as far as i know its about 6-7 acres of pasture we have at the moment that is fenced off for two horses (with 3 lines of barbed wire) its pretty much just weeds, do to the horses (not much for the horses to eat have to feed them bales in the summer now)

so where looking at getting an animal for weed control don't plan on breeding or butchering them

now i know goats are the better option for weed control its just that i have heard and seen that they are very hard to contain in there pen/pasture. as we have about 6-7 acres that would need to be re-fenced for them, and sheep seem to be easier to contain in a pasture, we would have to leave them for up to 2 days in the summer with no one checking on them once in a while. and don't really want to have person who is looking after are animals having to chase them back into there pen/pasture.

so i guess am asking how would sheep be for weed control (we have friends who raise them for meat but they have a really nice grass pasture and not full of weeds like ours lol)

thanks itsasmallfarm out

 

[Athena2344]

I have to say yes, my friend has a fine wool cross/ southdown wether, his name is Dodge, and he is the sweetest fluffiest thing ever! My friend lets him out in the morning to graze all day, then pens him up with a scoop of food, and thats it!

 

[The Moonshiner]

We have a couple babydoll sheep and yes they are easier to contain then goats but three strands of barbwire will not hold them in.
But ours never eat weeds, leaves, brush etc. like our goats. All ours eat is grass.
Curious what others say about different breeds.

 

[Duckztailz1]

Goats are selective eaters sheep graze all day long sheep is what you need but keep in mind sheep have 0 defense.. I'm looking for Sheep myself for the exact same thing

 

[The Moonshiner]

Goats are selective eaters sheep graze all day long sheep is what you need but keep in mind sheep have 0 defense.. I'm looking for Sheep myself for the exact same thing

But will sheep graze all day long on weeds? Ours pick a spot in the yard and graze grass from one side to the other.
Our goats are the complete opposite of selective eaters. They eat grass, hay, weeds, brush, leaves, bark off the trees, of course every flower or bush, the garden and on and on.

 

[Duckztailz1]

Weeds is just a term that companies like bayer (aka monsanto) utilize to make you think that that plant shouldnt be there.

In reality "weeds" have much better medical properties then grass.

Yes goats eat a lot of things they would even eat my shirt.

But like I said sheep graze all day long that's what they do there's no such thing as grass or weeds to a sheep it's just this type of food or that type of food.

It seems like you probably provide your sheep a decent amount of alternative food such as hay or feed. At which point why not be lazy. What kind of sheep do you have?

 

[The Moonshiner]

We have southdown (babydoll).
We don't feed them anything right now. They get hay in winter.
To me there is a difference in grass and weeds or whatever you want to call it.
Sheep and goats forage the same areas. The sheep only walk around the yard eating grass. The goats eat grass sometimes but mostly work the fence lines eating everything that isn't grass.
I was curious if maybe different breeds of sheep ate different then mine. Or if anyones sheep actually ate what is considered weeds.
Guess that can't be answered if there is no definition for weeds or different ideas about what is considered weeds.
I can see you must be passionate about legalized marijuana and those ideas have alter your views on "weed" then mine.
That's all well and good but not on topic and bringing in confusion or complications.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

We have southdown (babydoll).
We don't feed them anything right now. They get hay in winter.
To me there is a difference in grass and weeds or whatever you want to call it.
Sheep and goats forage the same areas. The sheep only walk around the yard eating grass. The goats eat grass sometimes but mostly work the fence lines eating everything that isn't grass.
I was curious if maybe different breeds of sheep ate different then mine. Or if anyones sheep actually ate what is considered weeds.
Guess that can't be answered if there is no definition for weeds or different ideas about what is considered weeds.
I can see you must be passionate about legalized marijuana and those ideas have alter your views on "weed" then mine.
That's all well and good but not on topic and bringing in confusion or complications.

talked to a friend of mine who is a sheep breeder and she raises katadhins, and told me there great at weeding/ eating the plants that horses do not eat.

now what am really talking about for weed control is sheep eating the plants that horses will not eat.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

We have a couple babydoll sheep and yes they are easier to contain then goats but three strands of barbwire will not hold them in.
But ours never eat weeds, leaves, brush etc. like our goats. All ours eat is grass.
Curious what others say about different breeds.

right now we have 3 i think we are planing at least 5-6 strands would that hold them in?