Since loosing my horse a few years back my field had stood empty, so a friend suggested having a few lambs for the freezer? We would share the costs/produce.  Can anyone give me any tips or suggestions.
Thanks

Yes............keep them as pets!  Forget about the freezer! 

I love Southdowns. They're small enough to be easily manageable for when you need to clip their feet, drench them, dag them, clip them etc; have a quality fleece that's saleable to home-spinners, and make tasty eating too.

dont forget the paperwork....the days of buying a few orphan lambs at market are long gone and you need to have a registered holding number/DEFRA registered etc.

True. The laws have really taken all the incentive for being independent and self-sufficient now.

> dont forget the paperwork....the days of buying a few orphan lambs at market are long gone and you need to have a registered holding number/DEFRA registered etc.

Does that apply to pets too then?

Purely curious, I have often joked about getting a couple of sheep or pygmy goats to sort my lawn out (as neither me nor my mower can keep up with it!), and this thread has me interested now!  Wouldn't actually get any - can't afford the upkeep - but it is interesting.

get a pig instead! not for munching though, for entertainment and cuddles

The rules are even stricter for pigs!

it doesnt matter why you re keeping them you still need a flock number, holding number and need to be registered with defra. Much of this is post FMD as your livestock, regardless of whether its a pet or not, will still come under the same regulations as any farmers stock.

I keep a small flock of shetland sheep, as pets and for meat (strange combo I know!).

The paperwork was daunting at first but it's actually really straightforward, you need to be issued with a holding number and flock number, this costs nothing. You also have to keep records in a flock book provided by DEFRA for nothing, and when you move the animals (buying in, slaughter) you fill in a movement form (free from DEFRA) and send a copy to your local trading standards office.

Most of the time the sheep take up very little time and have also (touch wood!) been relatively problem free and a fun hobby. The busiest times are lambing and shearing which you would avoid altogether if you just reared lambs fro the freezer.

Our first year we did this and we just used a bag of ewe nuts food for treats, a bottle of panacur (£11) for worming and some animal citronella fly repellant spray (£6). We also bought some foot shears to trim their feet (£15). They had already been vaccinated for clostridial diseases when we got them.

We have done a course on sheep husbandry and lambing which was useful, but the first couple of years we relied on books. A good basic one is "Starting with sheep" by Mary Castell, or "Practical Sheep Keeping" by Kim Cardell, I bought both these off Amazon.

If you do get some sheep for meat it's well worth keeping the skins and having them cured and made into rugs.

If you have any questions, let me know. Good luck if you decide to go for it!

Cheers
Alex

P.S. Forgot one last thing - you need good fencing

Quite agree.  I'd have some livestock if it wasn't for all the legislation & paperwork required.  I know some of it is for the protection of the animals but it's the world gone mad again!

I'd love a few sheep (had someone elses for a while but it's not the same).  Always wanted a Jersey Cow as a child   but would settle for a few sheep.