keeping sheep

[smileygirl75]

Hello all,
I am intending to keep sheep primarily for milking and as lawn mowers. i would like to keep Jacobs as have read they have a good milk yeild and area good hardy breed re weather etc. but having never kept sheep before although have worked with them lambing, rousing for shearers on a farm when i was younger i am a little at a loss as to where to start i gues i must be registered with defra but would love someone to give me an idiots guide if they have the time
ps i live in Scotland on the East coast so if anyone knows of any Jacob sheep in the Aberdeenshire area please let me know
Thanks for reading and i hope to hear from u all soon

[oldjerry]

Starting with ANY livestock,register your holding,get all the defra crap sorted etc.Then ,for methe best advice is to join the local breed society of whatever you want to keep.I know little of Scotland and I hate sheep(spend all their lives trying to escape,then die trying to get back in)but Jacobs are good animals(great fleeces),and they are sure to have a local(ish) breed society group.They will jump for joy at the sight of a new enthusiast,and be a great source of advice,animals,and encouragement.BWs.

edit: I'm not sure you'd milk a Jacob.

[red]

you might want to consider the Zwartbles as a breed - they are bred for milking and are very milky and fairly easy lambers and tend to be really docile too - I actually lambed our ZwartblesX ewe whilst she was standing in the middle of a field (other sheep would bolt!)

I would suggest looking to see if there is a smallholders association near you - my local one runs courses etc and puts you in touch with people that may be willing to help.

otherwise get a vet that does large animals, and go for it - 6 years ago we didn't keep sheep, now we have a flock, built a trailer, learned sheep husbandry, learned how to wash dye card spin needlefelt crochet and wetfelt wool, and I wouldn't be without them :)