You have decided to raise sheep. Regardless if you choose to have three or four sheep or a thousand sheep, where do you learn about the care of sheep, in particular their illness.
There were two books that helped me when I started raising sheep. The first book, “Raising Sheep the Modern Way” by Raula Simmons, I purchased when my oldest daughter wanted to show sheep in 4-H. The book has good pictures of sheep of different breeds and a short history of the breed. There are several illustrations of how to build feeders, shelters and fences. There are two chapters on parasites of sheep, one chapter for internal parasites and one for external parasite. For those who are wanting to raise sheep for wool, this book has step by step illustrations and directions on how to shear a sheep, and care for the fleece. I think it is definitely a good book to have on your shelf, especially for a beginning sheep farmer or the person wanting a few sheep as pets.
The second sheep information book in my library is “Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep” by Paula Simmons & Carol Ekarius. This book has good information. The book also discusses herding dogs and guard dogs with some detail. One thing I liked about this book was excerpts that talked about experience from different shepherds. The experiences written were about the information in the chapter. There is detailed illustrations or instructions on shearing. There is illustrations for record keeping and information on calculating feed costs as well as a profit raising sheep as well as flock management information forms.
There are more books on how to raise sheep by many good authors. I did not realize that both of these books were had a common author until writing this blog.
A good place to look at books is the local library. If you see a book you are interested in, borrow it from the library before purchasing. If the library in your town does not have the book on their shelves, they and lend it from another library. Having a reference sitting on your shelf is nice when you have a question about the sheep. I like the books as I can review or reread a section if I need to. With the technology age, instead of having a book on the shelf there are e-books for the computer.
You are never too old to learn.
Granny
Granny's Homestead 