Sheep are social animals that like to have some company and they can be kept in groups from only a few in a small flock, right through to full scale commercial sheep farming.

Animal Lovers Web.com is aimed more at the small scale sheep keeper although, of course, everyone is welcome. We have found that sheep make surprisingly good pets and feel that it is a pity that more people are not fortunate enough to discover the joys of sheep keeping for themselves. They are fairly docile animals but can be quite lively in their own way, they are friendly and inquisitive and sheep really are not too difficult to look after providing that you have the space and the facilities.

Why not visit our Sheep Discussion Forum where you can post your comments or questions about sheep.

Below are some of the basics of sheep keeping for people thinking about starting out with sheep. Our sheep articles section contains more detailed information about keeping sheep and our sheep discussion forum is where you can ask specific questions about sheep keeping or share information about your sheep with others.

Where do you get sheep?

You can buy sheep from local farmers markets, shows, local breeders or sometimes from "petting" or animal farms. Where you get your sheep from will influence to some extent the behaviour of the sheep.

We were lucky enough to get our sheep from a local animal farm as only 4 week old lambs. As these had been bred from generations of friendly sheep, used to a lot of human contact, our sheep have been very friendly from the beginning. It also helped that we hand reared them from this age until weaned from milk at about 4 months old.

How much land do you need to keep sheep?

The amount of land required to keep sheep is about 1 acre for 6 sheep. So you need about a sixth of an acre to keep a sheep!

It is much kinder though to keep a group of sheep, rather than individually, as they easily get bored and lonely and this can make them unsettled and misbehave.

Good quality grazing pasture is the most suitable land on which to keep sheep. You also need some secure fencing to stop them from wandering, causing damage, or getting into trouble or danger! Sheep also appreciate some form of housing for cold and wet weather and some shade from the sun in the summer.

What type of sheep and how many?

There are many different types and breeds of sheep and each have their own followers. They vary in size, colour, whether they have horns and what type of wool they have.

Most sheep fall into 1 of 3 main groups. Mountain or upland sheep, these are smaller and especially hardy and include the Swaledale and the Welsh Mountain sheep. Long wool sheep, which are larger and mostly kept for their wool, these include the Border and Blue faced Leicester sheep. Terminal Sire Breeds, are muscular and therefore particularly good for producing meat and include the Suffolk and Charollais sheep.

Special breed sheep keeping is a very popular activity another whole area in itself. Our own sheep are mixed breed.

Another factor to considering keeping sheep is their gender. Female sheep (ewes) will live happily in groups but uncastrated males (rams) will not get on and will fight for dominance, particularly when the females are in heat. Castrated males (wethers) though, can be kept with the ewes but should be separated when a ram is present for tupping, as the ram will not tolerate the wether and could harm him.

What do you feed sheep?

Well, obviously grass! Sheep will feed on mainly grass from spring through till autumn when the grass is good quality and can provide most most of their nutritional needs.

During the winter when the grass is poor quality and not growing, they need some additional feed. Hay is the main supplementary feed during the winter, but they can also be fed silage or root crops.

There are also a number of solid pellet foods that the sheep will enjoy either as a treat or when pregnant as they need a higher quality feed at this time.

Many people also recommend mineral and vitamin supplements which often come in the form of a "lick". These are usually in a plastic bucket or "tubby" and have a pleasant taste to encourage the sheep to lick occasionally (or constantly in the case of Fluffy) and make sure that they are not becoming deficient in certain nutritional substances.

I've heard that sheep are always getting ill, is that true?

Sheep are fairly hardy animals and if kept in good conditions with well ventilated housing and rotated between different areas of grass then diseases can be kept to a minimum.

The list of possible illnesses that they can get is long and includes sheep scab, diarrhoea (scour), ticks, lice, fleas, orf, fly strike and pasteurella. Lameness and foot problems is fairly common in sheep and it is imprtant to regularly inspect their feet and you do usually have to trim sheep's feet from time to time, depending on the terrain on which they are kept. In the information section you can find out more about these conditions and the measures that can be taken to control and prevent them.

We did unfortunately have a tragic illness in one of our sheep, Jemima, who had a severe joint condition and sadly we lost her at only 5 months. She was a very special sheep and you can read more about her on our special Jemima memorial page.

Shearing

Warm dry weather is best for shearing sheep and in the UK it is usually done around June. Shearing is painless for the sheep and is best done by a professional shearer. It is the equivalent to a sheep of having a haircut and the fleeces can be sold to local spinners and weavers or to the Wool Marketing Board. Although, they don't fetch much money these days.

Lambing

Lambing is at least half of the fun and joy in keeping sheep. There can be few more wonderful sights than a beautiful fluffy white lamb gambolling around in a meadow to welcome in the spring.

We plan to lamb with our sheep next year as they are only 8 months old at present and although many people do lamb in the "first year" there are several pros and cons to this. We have chosen to wait until next year as they still seem like babies to us.

We will cover the whole process here on Animal Lovers Web so be sure to stay around and come back as that will be a very exciting time.

To learn much more about lambs and lambing and for pictures and videos of our own sheep as lambs see the information and individual sheep pages.

Go to our sheep articles pages to learn more about sheep.