You will want to separate your sheep from your
personal use areas, as well as from shrubs, trees and yard plants that you
don't want consumed. You will also need to check to make sure you aren't
growing anything that is toxic to sheep. The manure will be dropped here
and there, and is usually dry and pellet like, such as what deer leave.
It has a very low odor and is easy to clean up, but can be profuse. A
small fence around children's play areas and your house might be nice, so
that you can avoid the mess and clean up of the manure in these areas.
Most areas of lawn are not an issue, but you will want to keep your
entrances to your house, walkways and high use areas off limits to the
sheep, unless the frequent piles of pellets are not bothersome to you. It
should not be a problem except in areas for barbecuing, swing-sets and
other places where people will be walking, sitting and enjoying the grassy
area regularly. It is a very good idea to fence these areas off, so that
manure is not a problem to clean up, and you can avoid constantly tracking
it into your home.
In
other areas, the manure will wash down into the ground nicely with each
rain and is perfectly suited to be applied directly to gardens and beds.
The area where the sheep bed down and chew their cud will accumulate a
large amount of manure, so be sure to make this place somewhere that this
will not be a problem. They will provide your lawn with excellent
fertilizer year round, and your grass will look green, very healthy and
lush if you ensure that it is not overgrazed and gets plenty of water.
Any manure that needs to be removed is easily raked up and applied on the
garden, flower beds or around trees. If you place a bit of straw or
mulch on top of it, it will make a wonderfully rich and nutrient rich
place for optimum growing for almost all plants. It need not be
aged, or composted before application as it is a very neutral type of
manure, perfectly suited to this sort of application.
Your
sheep will have some basic needs that must be provided, besides food and
health care. They need plenty of fresh water and shady areas during the
warmer times of year. They also require shelter from wind and rain
throughout the year. These are the minimum environment requirements for
most breeds of sheep. You can make small shelters for them, out of
unusual and often free materials. We have very successfully made shelters
from old camper shells people have given us. The cost of these structures
is minimal, a platform to raise them high enough for the sheep to enter,
and often we needed to board up a missing window. These are wonderful
because you can open the working windows in summer for good ventilation.
Hoop houses can also work well, and some shepherds even use old
trampolines with tarps and other odd things to make inexpensive and useful
shelters for their sheep. Depending on what you have around, and how
inventive you can be, shelters can be very inexpensive. Existing
sheds, lean-tos and equipment
buildings or barns also work very well for sheep. The basic need is
for shade outside in the warm seasons, and shelter from wind and rain all
year around. The basic shelter needs of sheep are easy to provide,
and can often be made with little or no expense.
Your sheep will also need some basic mineral
supplements, none of which need to cost much. It is very good to provide
sodium bi-carbonate (baking soda) for them all year, but especially when
the grass is growing fast as this will help prevent bloat, which can be
deadly. They should also be given a mineral mix, or mineral block
formulated just for sheep, as well as salt. It is necessary to always
give sheep foods that are formulated just for sheep, as they have a low
copper tolerance, and can die from too much in their diet. Goat feeds,
dairy and many other feeds have much more copper than sheep can safely
tolerate.
Sheep do not require intense preventive care that
requires special equipment or Veterinarian assistance. Most shepherds can
administer one or two types of shots, along with regular worming for
optimum flock health. Some areas may require more medical and preventive
care than others, but it can all be done by the shepherd. Good pasture
rotation and avoiding overgrazing will eliminate many
worm
problems. Regular worming and vaccinations are not expensive, and are
well worth doing to prevent problems with health in your flock. When
worming and vaccinating, it is a perfect time to trim hooves, which should
be done twice a year or more often as needed. This is all easily done by
the shepherd, and supplies are usually readily available. Heavy pruning
scissors can be used for trimming hooves. The process of giving shots,
worming and hoof trimming is about a 5 minute job for each sheep. Shots
are usually given once or twice a year to adult sheep, and lambs receive
several doses at a young age. The routine medical needs of sheep are few
and not expensive to provide, and anyone can easily learn how to do these
things themselves.
