Lambs / Sheep - Needs & What To Know

For some time now DP & I have been looking at maybe getting the girls a pet lamb - we have a paddock at the bottom of the hill our house is on that we currently keep the chickens in.
On the actual hill there is quite a lot of grass that we can't actually mow (hill is too steep) and there is plenty of room for a lamb.

What would we need to know about keeping a lamb/s.

Will they be ok to share that paddock with the chooks?
Can they be by themselves or do we really need to have more than 1?
We do have 4 acres but the rest of our paddocks are not really secure and DP isn't really interested at this stage in having multiple sheep roaming through the paddocks (or the work involved in making changes to secure them).

The bottom paddock is secure, there is also a seperate part of the old shed that could be cleared out if the sheep wanted to sleep in there.

We do have a trailer down there, woudl it be safe or would a sheep eat the wires & things like a goat would?

It's just something we've been thinking about and we've seen an add on gumtree for some lambs that people want someone to take on as pets (not for eating) so it spiked our interest... we just want to know whats involved first.

Is there additional feed, vaccinations etc?

There is an old bathtub i've recently cleaned out that would provide fresh drinking water.

We used to keep poddy lambs.
They do need company.
You need to shear them at least once a year and in between they need crutching. They need worming but we never vaccinated ours. They might need a lice treatment if they come in contact with another lousy sheep.
They can actually be a bit headbutty and knock small people over.
If you have working dogs you need to make sure they don't harass them because the stress can make them lie down and die.
We had one lamb that made itself sick sucking on weird stuff like batteries and so on. We had to be very vigilant about making sure it couldn't get into sheds and garages.

If you get a baby you will need to get its tail cut off at some point so it doesn't get poo stuck under it in summer and get fly strike and at the same time you need to get it desexed if it's a boy. If there is a breeder near you ask him to do yours when he does his.

Home grown lamb chops are the best :p

I haven't had sheep before but my experience with them is that the fencing must be specifically for sheep or they will escape. Our neighbour's large herd would often visit as the fences just wouldn't hold them in (about 30 sheep lol). They had the typical wire/barb fencing set up.

If you're going for a lamb, I'd be inclined to clear out the shed and lock it in at night when you put the chooks away, keep it safe from foxes. Having more than one would give it a better chance. I know with other animals, one will be the lookout while the herd sleeps (you'll often see a lone horse standing up awake amongst sleeping horses, or same with cows, keeping watch). I don't know if it's the same with sheep though, but I would imagine one little lamb would be pretty defenceless.

I know they need annual drenching and shearing. The other thing to find out is check with your council - some have restrictions on how many animals per acre you're allowed to have (like some councils will fine you for having a pony if you're under 5 acres).

Fencing has to be really secure. Not just lines of wire, but the chicken wire type stuff. They are little escape artists. You would have to get at least two as the don't like being alone. A light in the paddock helps if you have foxes around ( we've lost two lambs to foxes)

Also, the do eat trees and plants etc so if you have anything in the paddock that you don't want them to eat, you'll have to move it out.

They'll be fine with chickens. They are lovely animals. If you want ones that will come up to and let you pat them, then don't go a mother and baby. Instead just get babies.


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We had them as kids. They headbutt!!!!! Both adults and kids!! You would want to watch them around the girls.

We had them as pets years ago and now my brother has some for his children. they are great for keeping the grass down but sometimes eat anyand everything in site

He has an electric fence around the paddock which helps. He has the type of sheep that you don't need to shear, their fleece comes off by its self. They look weird when it happens. You will need at least two so they have company.

If you have foxes or dogs that roam it would be better to have them locked up at night.

Lambs turn into big pushy sheep. Lambs are yummy though.
You need to shear them unless you get dorper sheep which self shed but look pretty messy a lot of the time.
They can be elastrated for their tails and for desexing for boys or your local vet can sort it for you if you want the pet to be sleeping or have a local for the job.
You need to keep them free of lice and worms so regular drenching is important. You would also need to know if they are doing OK in your small paddock as sheep can look in good nic but actually be poor if the grass isn't enough for them and they tend to like close cropping not long grass.
You can teach them NOT to butt (just as you can do so with goats) but you can't teach them not to chew stuff so the trailer may get chewed as might any trees.
Good luck with your plans.

A couple of goats might be a better option - though they will eat everything in sight if they get out of their yard.

Goats are great, I used to breed milking goats. They also need drenching regularly and they need their feet trimmed often. They need a lot of roughage in their diet to keep them healthy and to stop them eating stuff they shouldn't. If bored they will ringbark trees.
You can teach them to walk on a lead and we taught them to pull little carts too.
None of ours butted people but you need to actively discourage this when they are young and not engage with them if they try and butt.
They can also be tethered if you'd like them to graze in you other paddock, this obviously requires planning and supervision but can be very successful for goats.

I would say no to goats unless you have fantastic fencing. Very high, hard/tight to the ground etc. They do also need shelter. They are surprisingly a fair bit of work at times. Damn strong, especially a fully intact buck. They also a herd creature, so 2 is the bare minimum, preferably more. Gorgous animals most of the time, except when they eat your newly planted fruit trees.

The others have answered most of your questions pretty well, so I won't cover them again. But depending on the age of the lamb you will still need to feed it milk from a bottle. You will need to go to a stock/animal feed store and buy a bag of powdered milk. One 20kg bag should be enough for a single lamb until weaning (about 4-5 months old). You will also need to feed it a combination of feed - so green pasture, dry feed (hay) and grain. Otherwise if you have a sheep that only eats green pasture, they won't get a balanced diet and you will find that they will be constantly scouring (liquid poo). You will also need to give it some mineral supplements - a salt block/lick or a granulated mix.

the other thing is, you want one for a pet. What are you going to do with it as an adult? Like any pet they are for life and not just for "christmas'' LOL. An adult poddy is the biggest pain the ass you will ever see. They will ruin fences, they will eat everything they are not supposed to eat, like your garden and trees. They will knock the kids over and be a general nuisance. You will have to be prepared to have it shorn once a year, you will also need to have it crutched every few months - especially if it does get a bit ****ty around the rump. Crutching is just where they shear around the backside and down the back legs to help prevent fly strike. Mulesing is where they actually take off the skin around the rump.

Other things you will need to know
Fly strike not only occurs around the tail end - a sheep can get fly strike anywhere on it's body. You will need to be prepared to check it regularly all year round for flies. You will need to be able to treat it if it does get flies - either by having someone who can come out that day and treat it or treat it yourself with a combination of cutting back all the wool on the affected area and putting a treatment on the area to kill the maggots. A sheep can be dead within a week if flystrike is left untreated. the longer it goes on the harder it is for the animal to recover from it.

If you are planning on keeping it in the same small area, you increase the chance that they will be affected by worms and other parasites. You MUST be able to provide a rotation of paddocks. Not only for the parasite control, but also so they get fresh feed and to allow the feed to recover.

Long term, they are not great pets. To be perfectly honest, it kinda ****s me when people think that they are a good pet because they just aren't. it isn't just a low maintenance animal that you can stick out in a paddock and let it fend for itself. they are a lot higher maintenance than people think they are. ATM, we are feeding our sheep feed, hay and mineral supplements every second day. During summer DH drives around and checks them every single day for flystrike. Even though we use preventative measures such as drench or clik, they can still be prone to flies if the weather conditions are right.