Sheep questions...?

[Penpal]

Sheep are easier to contain than goats. My sheep were a pair of Corriedale x Rambouillet, 3 Black Welsh Mountain. The pair were gregarious, that is they stick together and are easy to herd, The BWM are from the mountains of Wales and don't stick together, you would need a dog if they weren't contained. BWM rams are notoriously aggressive, don't get one.

BWM wool is used for carpeting. Not good for much else, but the sheep that were BWM x Corriedale & Rambouillet had beautiful, soft, deeply black wool. I trained them to a whistle, I did not chase them all over the pasture.

If you do not want lambs then do not have a ram. If you do not have reason to breed your sheep, do not have a ram. Wool sheep must be shorn once a year, some twice a year. You can sell the wool a wool processor if you don't want to wash and spin it yourself.

 

[500Chickens]

So... I was curious to ask... what happens when you breed hair sheep with wool sheep? And doing this, is it possible to produce the lambs to be wool sheep?

The reason I ask this is because all the breeds people say have high parasite resistance are mostly all hair sheep. That's kind of an issue where we're having economic problems, where we might not always be able to have parasite medicine, or such medicine might not be affordable later. So... if someone could transfer the parasite resistance of hair sheep to some wool sheep breeds this could be something amazing. (Plus right now there's not a market for wool, but this might not always be the case, especially given that society doesn't seem to have much self sufficiency right now. People want more self sufficiency and want more ability to produce without participating in a predator economy.)

Are there any sheep breeds that are wool sheep that still have parasite resistance?

Mostly when people talk parasite resistance they talk about St. Croix and a few others. (Shed their coats in summer = hair sheep.)

Its also interesting that many breeds in demand and that have the big prices right now have very poor parasite resistance. People say dorpers are known for LOW parasite resistance. Suffolks seem to have their own issues also.

...

i breed icelandic sheep and they have good parasite resistance. i only "deworm" with garlic

 

[cassie]

i breed icelandic sheep and they have good parasite resistance. i only "deworm" with garlic

The sheep might like garlic, I don't think the garlic has any effect on worms or other parasites. Keep this in mind and not just about wormers. Just because a so-called remedy is natural, it does not mean that it is either safe of effective. You could prove me wrong on the garlic though. Have a fecal on the sheep run, then treat with garlic, have another fecal test run and then compare the two tests. I would be interested in the results.