Beginner sheep farming question

[Starjumper7]

Hi, I have around 70 acres of steep mountain land near the crest of the Andes mountain range in Southern Ecuador. My wife now tells me that she thinks it would be great to raise sheep here. I'm not so sure myself, and I don't like the idea of fences, so the question here is about fences.

I have a friend near here who has some goats, and he says the goats are always as close to the house as possible and eat everrything around the house, he has to put up moveable electric fences to keep them away from the house but give them fresh pasture. Previously this land was used for raising cattle, and the trees and shrubs were always burned off, since then I have planed over 9000 trees, and allowed millions of bushes to spring up. We do have some horses, and the grass here has a very high oil content.

My thought are, that if I live in the middle of a rather large and steep, rugged, wilderness area and the sheep like to stay near the house then maybe no fencing is required? I would prefer if they were just free ranging and could go all over the place during the day and come home to a sheep shed during the nights. There are no predators here to be concerned about.

 

[Longlowdog]

I don't know about native sheep in your part of the world but even my friendly well petted sheep would be miles away if given 2 hours of freedom without fences. The problem with loose sheep is that they are jealous creatures and leap frog each other for fear that the lead one is eating something better than they are. Sheep 'heft' themselves to our moors and hills but this is not a trait all sheep share.
If you wife believes sheep will only graze and not browse your lovely recreated woodland she is mistaken.

 

[Agrivator]

There will be many sheep farmers in Norway who have experience of such a system. I think the starting point is: sheep that receive feed and shelter at the farmstead will always try to stay nearby.
Ideally, you should try to acquire a tame or domesticated breed, and not a wild unbid-able breed.

 

[gwi1890]

I don't know about native sheep in your part of the world but even my friendly well petted sheep would be miles away if given 2 hours of freedom without fences. The problem with loose sheep is that they are jealous creatures and leap frog each other for fear that the lead one is eating something better than they are. Sheep 'heft' themselves to our moors and hills but this is not a trait all sheep share.
If you wife believes sheep will only graze and not browse your lovely recreated woodland she is mistaken.

If you gathered them to their “spot” every day could you not teach them to heft?

 

[Longlowdog]

I guess if you can find them in a forest you might begin to habituate them with food but jeez I bet you'd eat them before you finally hefted them.
A lot of sheep in the middle east follow shepherds rather than being driven but in that case again it is a hereditary rather than a trained behaviour.

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

What predators do you have and what about Blowfly?

 

[Al R]

If you gathered them to their “spot” every day could you not teach them to heft?

The only way of getting a sheep to stay still is when it’s dead....

 

[egbert]

The only way of getting a sheep to stay still is when it’s dead....

oh I find they move quite a bit even then.....

 

[John Chance]

Finally a job for Hebrideans.

 

[primmiemoo]

I guess if you can find them in a forest you might begin to habituate them with food but jeez I bet you'd eat them before you finally hefted them.
A lot of sheep in the middle east follow shepherds rather than being driven but in that case again it is a hereditary rather than a trained behaviour.

My lot follow through training. They know my smell, and what I sound like ... and that I know where the next field of grass is ready ... and that there's a water trough ...


It would take time to train a flock, @Starjumper7 , but you could. It would need work in small enclosures, with a bribe of supplementary feed, gradually widening the distance they're expected to follow. A good sheepdog would be extremely useful to bring them to you, and remind them to follow.

I'm not sure how far they would range in woodland, though. More a creature of open grassland.

 

[Longlowdog]

My Beltex do that as well within the confines of observed movements but should a gate be left open I have no doubt they would range far and wide. If there was a fresh bite where they were some of my more petted sheep may respond to my voice for a fuss but the majority would not choose to give up a good thing in order to be penned that evening.