Sheep Farming: 14 Things You Need To Start Your Own Sheep Farm

Today at Ewetopia Farms, we suggest 14 things you need to consider or need to have in order to start your own sheep farm. This is a long one so grab a drink and a snack before you start! We discuss some of the more obvious things such as having a farm and land to things you may not have considered such as having a plan or goals to set you on your path to becoming a sheep farmer - be it as a sheep hobbiest to becoming a fully self-sufficient sheep farmer. I think some may think this is easy to do but it can be difficult and there are a lot of things to reflect upon before you start. We hope this can give you some insights or things to think about before you do.

Sheep and sheep farming is our passion and we hope that the love we have for what we do is obvious to you the viewers. Our operation is a large scale, purebred seed stock sheep farm combining the best of pasture and confinement to manage the flock for maximum comfort, minimal stress, and producing a consistent, very high quality product.

I hope you enjoy this video. If you would like to follow along with us and experience life on a real live sheep farm on a daily basis, please subscribe do that you don't miss a single episode! It doesn't cost anything to do so and you can cancel at any time. I think some people think that subscribing costs or locks you into something. All it does is notify you when I post a new video. I felt it may be helpful to clarify that because from talking with people in person, I don't think a lot of people realize that about pushing the subscribe button. Thank you for taking the time to watch! We love to hear from you so be sure to leave a comment as well.

Thank you!

Contact Information:

Lynn McKay and Arnie Droogh
3606 6th Concession Road
Kingston, Ontario
Canada
K0H 1Y0

Follow us on:

[eltonshamblen]

Gives a good wide angle run down. Appreciate the difficulty Lynne faced, keeping it hi level. Veterinary care could run an hour on its own, as well as lambing season. Lynne and Arnie are my favorite channel, because their operation is the most practical.
Variation in pricing, weather, pasture can make cash flow difficult and variable. Creating a precarious and stressful situation with elevated Capex and financing. IOW, it's a lot of work, why increase stress with it.

[susanmarsh]

That was great Lynne. Something tough to talk about but very important in terms of welfare and stewardship. Accidents do happen. Vets are understanding very caring but maybe caught up with a client or a long way away. People need to plan ahead and have a method available to quickly dispatch an animal if the sheep is severely injured or heavily stressed due to illness.

[patriciaruppert]

Good morning Arnie and Lynn. That was very interesting to learn what the considerations are for starting a sheep farm. So many things to think about. The process of farming and raising animals has functions to make it a success. Your farm is quite picturesque and it enjoyable to watch the video every day. The sheep are so appealing and amazing. Watching them go to the fields is so cute. The rams were quite perky today and jumping completely in the air. You guys allow them to enjoy their lives. Thank you for all of the information and have a great day. Big hugs. 🥰🥰

[spoolsandbobbins]

I love, love, love your channel guys. Thanks so much for sharing all your expertise with us. We’re in Nova Scotia and started our flock 2 1/2 years ago with 3 ewes. We now have 20 sheep and have learned so much. We rotate on 6 acres of pasture with very little grain. Have Dorper, blackbelly and Katahdin. Coyotes took our first ram lamb at 5 months old so now we bring all sheep into the barn at night. Boys get the mornings and girls the rest of the day. We were hit with Orf our first lambing season 🙄 (btw, honey works great to nip it in the bud!) and parasites took one of our ewes last year. Shepherding is NOT for the faint of heart but the benefits outweigh the challenges!

[conniesingh]

Great video! Some of the sheep seem to be listening to you🐑 Ewetopia’s lambs look much thicker than other YouTubers sheep that I watch and I love their fluffy faces and legs🐑🐑Thank you !

[michaelwalsh]

Great job, Lynn! The amount of time and effort you put into this presentation is evident. It is a very thorough analysis of what one needs to do to start a sheep farm. I have to chuckle. My partner and I started with getting the sheep, for real!! We had no property, buildings, etc but hey, why not! Seriously, we did order 17 white Dorpers in July of 2021 for delivery in July of 2023. Let's just say it was motivation to find land, which we now have😉😁!!
Anyway, great information and very thorough. I'm looking forward to future videos discussing each element in greater detail.

[MariaCarbajal-zsob]

Thank you 😊 it’s amazing run down on what you do for your 🐑 sheep’s it gave me a lot to think about. You explained everything in such simple terms thank you again bye the way you have a beautiful farm 😊

[subhashnaidu]

Good morning beautiful family happy Friday. Thank you for beautiful video from Fiji lsland god bless

[cindyboard]

Very interesting information and extremely beneficial to anyone starting out no matter the size of farm!!!! Thanks for sharing and stay safe!!

[abuskeleke]

Wow, it really involves a lot, never thought of it that way, it does put things into perspective, thanks

[Yuhmuthasaho]

Y’all have a wonderful flock! Xmas lights in the barn definitely gives me anxiety though. I wouldn’t trust Chinese made electrical devices in a barn. Keep up the great content. It’s your fault I now have sheep

[justinanovak]

Neat lessons. I love your raised beds that the lambs can seek protection from moms or the heat, but I do have a question about the thought behind the vertical bars that separate the sheep (you mentioned how the rams like Sherif have a hard time getting their heads in). Why are there so many? Or could the space be bigger?
We bought a cargo container to hold most the hay, in the barn we keep only about a months supply. That way the hay in cargo container stays dry, I only go in it occasionally on a non-raining/snowing day to resupply the barn. Well and plus reduce the worry of fire.
Fairs are a great place to see different breeds and talk to people.
Loved closing ram cuddles at the end of today’s video! Thanks Lynn!

[fentazifarms]

This was such a great video, super helpful!!

[fajazinhastarling]

Running through some very important aspects!

[pathowes]

Great video Lynn. Did you have any other breed of sheep beside the Suffolk and Dorset? I know you have Sally, the Shetland.

[danielcollins]

I love the way you raised the feeder. It keeps moisture off it and lambs can sleep under it and not get stepped on! Fantastic idea and NO mechanical feeder to break down plus no noise and carbon monoxide in barn. Just roll out the bale. Sheep cant get in it and pooh and pee on it. Try and sleep on it. Feed is to expensive to let it get ruined. Feed that falls lambs use it for bed.

[samx]

Thank you so much, great job. All the best for you.

[abuskeleke]

Well thank you for this episode, very helpful

[funkeodelola]

Thank you so much for sharing this information.

[salmanandwarda]

Thanks.I love sheeps farm i will start very soon. watching from Saudi Arabia