Dairy Sheep

We have a flock of 150+ Friesland Milk sheep. These are amongst the most extreme dairy types but in fact almost any breed can be milked to some extent.
The Friesland ewe is a happy soul who lives only to eat and produce milk! Like the dairy cow she is a big framed ewe with the ability to convert feed into milk and not fat on her back!  

Most commercial breeds of sheep have an udder with the teats placed on the side but the dairy ewe should have large conical teats well positioned at the base of the udder to allow efficient milking, more like a goat's in fact.

 

Lots of people ask us how you go about milking a sheep but it is just the same as for cattle only smaller scale!! We have a 16:8 commercial parlour and milk goes into a 64gallon bulk tank before being frozen into 8 litre buckets. Milk is sold for cheese making but we are soon hoping to sell ewes milk ice-cream too.

Milk yields vary and individual ewes may yield as much as 600 ltrs or as little as 150ltrs in a lactation. Obviousley ewe lambs are kept from the best milkers with the aim of improving average milk yield but also to improve general health and well-being of the flock.

Sheeps' milk is a rich creamy milk high in fat and protein and extremely nutritious having four times the solids content of cows milk.  The milk fats are high in omega 3 and 6 and are naturally homogenised making it easier to digest.  Like goats milk, Sheeps Milk is a great alternative to cows milk and far more nutritious, and sheeps milk products are great for those with allergies and dietary intolerance to cows milk.