Ekarius Carol - Storeys Guide to Raising Sheep: Breeding, Care, Facilities

4TH EDITION

Breeding Care Facilities

PAULA SIMMONS & CAROL EKARIUS

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Sarah Guare and Deborah Burns
Art direction and book design by Cynthia McFarland
Cover design by Kent Lew
Text production by Jennifer Jepson Smith

Front cover photograph by Jason Houston

Author photographs by Sunrise Printing, Inc. (Paula Simmons) and Ken Woodard Photography (Carol Ekarius)

Interior photography credits appear on page 438

Illustrations by Elayne Sears, except for Brigita Fuhrmann 25, 279, 320; Chuck Galey 110, 113, 114, 122; Carol Jessop 2, Carl Kirkpatrick 117, 119; and Storey Publishing, LLC 121, 159, 216, 220, 221

Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications

2009, 2001 by Storey Publishing, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information.

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Storey Publishing
210 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA 01247
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Printed in the United States by Versa Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Simmons, Paula.

Storeys guide to raising sheep / Paula Simmons and Carol Ekarius.

[Updated ed.]

p. cm.

Previous ed. published 2001.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-60342-459-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-60342-484-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)

1. Sheep. I. Ekarius, Carol. II. Title. III. Title: Guide to raising sheep.

IV. Title: Raising sheep.

SF375.S56 2009
636.3dc22

2009023860

To Paula Simmons
for writing the original Raising Sheep the Modern Way;

Sherry ODonnell
for helping get me into sheep in the first place;

Ann Wells and Susan Schoenian
for all they do to help maintain the small-scale sheep industry in the United States; and to the staff and volunteers of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy for their tireless efforts in protecting heritage breeds.

Carol Ekarius

The following poem was prepared by Paulas good friend Darrell Salsbury, DVM, for an earlier edition, but its wisdom hasnt changed at all.

The Shepherds Lament

Now I lay me down to sleep

Exhausted by those doggone sheep;

My only wish is that I might

Cause them not to lamb at night.

I wouldnt mind the occasional ewe,

But lately its more than just a few:

Back into bed, then up again,

At two oclock and four A.M.

They grunt and groan with noses high,

And in between a mournful sigh,

We stand there watching nature work,

Hoping there wont be a quirk:

A leg turned back, or even worse,

A lamb thats coming in reverse.

But once theyve lambed were glad to see

That their efforts didnt end in tragedy.

Theres no emotion so sublime

As a ewe and lamb thats doing fine.

Im often asked why I raise sheep,

With all the work and loss of sleep;

The gratification gained at three A.M.,

From the birth of another baby lamb

How can you explain, or even show?

Cause only a shepherd will ever know!

D. L. Salsbury, DVM

IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE that almost 10 years have passed since I first began working on the last update of Storeys Guide to Raising Sheep. The times have changed: the landscape has looked rather bleak for shepherds in recent years, yet there are many things happening now that signal better times ahead for the North American sheep industry and shepherds everywhere.

One important change took place over the last decade that has affected all levels of society: the Internet has gone from a limited resource to which few individuals had ready access to a household fixture with a wealth of information. It has helped revolutionize marketing options for producers. In the Resources section, you will see lists of organizations and Web sites where you can learn more about specific issues and network with other shepherds.

As ever, I owe thanks to dozens of people but especially to Paula Simmons. Her vision and knowledge provided the foundation that has made this the finest sheep book on the market for more than three decades! I am proud of the opportunity to continue in her footsteps. Thanks to all the other folks who have participated in the process over all these years!

Carol Ekarius

Raising Sheep the Modern Way has been used by more than 100,000 sheep lovers since its publication in 1976, but times have changed, laws have changed, technology has advanced, and the resources (which change so rapidly) all required updating.

Carol Ekarius, author of Small-Scale Livestock Farming (also published by Storey Publishing), undertook the update for this new edition, Storeys Guide to Raising Sheep. She is particularly knowledgeable about genetics, sheep dogs, guardian dogs, sheep showing, and ecological concerns, and she has addressed these subjects to a greater degree than they were discussed in my original book. Much appreciation to Carol for her good work in updating and adding to a book that has been relied upon by so many sheep owners, to the benefit of their animals.

A book is never the work of just one or two people. From the outset many have contributed to my initially meager knowledge. The Lunds, original publishers of The Shepherd magazine, were most helpful. And sheep! Magazine has been a constant source of useful articles and veterinary columns; in my opinion this magazine is a must-have in any shepherds household, for success with sheep is more certain with a regular supply of current information. And the more you know, the more you will enjoy your sheep.

Paula Simmons

SHEEP ARE THE DUMBEST ANIMALS on Gods green earth, our neighbor avowed, with a vigorous shake of his head when he saw the newest additions to our farmstead. His belief is not uncommon. In fact, sheep are lovehate animals: People either really love them or really hate them. And the people who really hate them love nothing more than to malign them.

But sheep dont deserve the bad rap theyve received. They fill a niche that needs filling: they provide economically efficient food and fiber, they eat many kinds of weeds that other livestock species wont touch, theyre relatively inexpensive to begin raising, and they reproduce quickly so that a minimal capital outlay can yield a respectable flock in short order.