Do Sheep Make Good Companion Animals?

Sheep are beautiful animals. Who doesn’t love to see wee spring lambs frolicking about in the fields? But I suspect relatively few people have considered their potential as pets or companion animals. Here’s a little bit about my experience.

Are All Sheep Created Equal?

There are many different breeds of sheep, each with different characteristics. Some are bred for meat, others for long or fine fleece, and others still are considered dual purpose sheep.

Most sheep breeds are hardy and well adapted to harsh outdoor environments. Some shed their fleece during the warmer months of the year. Some have horns, which may make interacting closely with them more of a challenge!

So, if you’re thinking about getting pet sheep, it is worth doing some research about breed characteristics and trying to find a good match for you.

Are you particularly interested in wool crafts? I would recommend spending some time researching a breed with a fleece that suits your crafty endeavours. Some sheep grow fleeces better suited to felting rather than spinning and knitting, whereas other breeds have very coarse fleeces that tend to get used in carpet making.

But that’s all academic if you’re not interested in working with the fleece at all. If that is the case, then a sheep that sheds might be ideal!

Do you want to breed your sheep? If not, rescuing ewes who are unable to lamb or wethers (castrated males) may be a worthwhile endeavour. They are often a bit cheaper than breeding stock, and this gives a sheep otherwise destined for the meat market a new lease of life.

Considerations for Keeping Pet Sheep

As with any pet, there are a number of things to consider before committing to getting pet sheep. First and foremost, sheep are herd animals and need to be kept in groups, so you couldn’t have just one pet sheep. How many sheep could your plot of land realistically support?

Before your sheep arrive at your smallholding, farm or other plot of land, in the UK you will need to register your land for keeping livestock and obtain a county parish holding (CPH) number for your animals to be registered against.

Once you have your sheep, you will need to spend some time each day observing and/or interacting with them, to ensure they are healthy and happy. Any issues such as a wound or limp need to be dealt with promptly.

They need a reasonable area of land to graze, roughly one acre per sheep unless you intend to supplement their diet with hay or additional feed.

And, although they are pretty low maintenance most of the time, they do need an annual hair cut (unless they shed) and to have their feet and teeth checked regularly.

They also need to be vaccinated once a year to protect against common diseases. Vaccines typically come in bottles of 25+ doses and can be expensive. Once they are opened, they are only viable for use within a short window of time. So if you’re only planning on getting only a few sheep, it can be useful to make friends with a nearby farmer and ask if they can spare the end of a bottle when they are dosing their own flock.

Qualities Which Allow Sheep to be Good Companion Animals

Sheep are generally gentle, docile animals. With regular handling, they respond well to human interaction and can become very tame. They are also highly intelligent; they have been shown to recognise the humans involved in their care, they respond to their name and can be trained.

Sheep are also highly inquisitive, which is very endearing but can get them into mischief! A secure boundary is needed to prevent them from attempting to escape. This needs to be checked regularly as they can get themselves stuck or injure themselves if they spot an opening.

My Experience of Keeping Pet Sheep

I have three beautiful woolly girls. Peggy, Barbara and Felicity are Dorset Polls. Peggy sadly had a very difficult time lambing, and was going to be sent away to the meat market if the farmer couldn’t find a retirement home for her.

I had been thinking about getting some pet sheep already. As a keen knitter, I wanted to learn how to spin with some home-grown fleeces! Also, I thought a few sheep would help us keep on top of the grass in the field.

So at the time of hearing Peggy’s story, I had already done a lot of research about keeping sheep. I set about securing the perimeter of our field and finding Peggy some new friends.

The girls moved in a few weeks later. They were all quite timid initially, but with a bucket of treats and regular interaction, I soon had them eating out of my hand!

Now, they recognise us and come to me when I call them. Felicity love cuddles, and they all enjoy a head rub and a good scratch behind the ears. I don’t need to employ any kind of restraint to trim the wool round their eyes when it gets a bit too long. And they grow their abundant, soft, curly fleece faster than I can process it! I have truly loved having them.

They are quite large sheep, though, which made learning how to flip them over to check their feet a little challenging as a beginner (and it still takes two of us sometimes, if they are being particularly stubborn!)

In summary, I would highly recommend sheep as pets for anyone with the space and the time. They are highly empathetic, loving, gorgeous animals. And their fleeces make for gloriously cosy cuddles!

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VioVet Ltd offers a variety of pet and horse supplies, including prescription and non-prescription medications, food, toys and equipment. We stock many of the leading market brands, as well as our own-branded products and supplements. This is all offered at considerable savings to the customer who can expect to receive excellent value for money and an efficient, professional service whenever they contact us.

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