Can't seem to find sheep to buy

I'm trying to help my mother break into raising sheep. We have just about everything we need... except the sheep!

I've been looking since Spring last year but it seems the folks that have the kind of sheep she wants to raise aren't really selling any ewe lambs and the breeders that are selling are selling the kind of sheep we aren't looking for, which are dairy sheep.

I've done the reading and even had classes and assisted with sheep before. I know dairy sheep can be raised just fine in my area. Unfortunately the main sheep breeds that are being sold are meat sheep.

We aren't looking to make money or start a business. This is more to have dairy sheep for our own personal use.

We've tried reaching out to local breeders, our feed stores, looking through craigslist, Google and the handful of dairy ranchers I can find don't seem to have contact info. At this point I'm kind of at a loss of how to go about finding what we're looking for. I'm at the point of considering going to auction houses but I've never had good experence with getting animals from an auction.

Would anyone have any suggestions or know of any breeders around Killeen, Austin, Houston or the San Antonio areas?

What specific breed of sheep are you looking for?  If they are rare, it is possible you will have to go out of state to buy them.

What breed are you looking at?

The whole "dairy cow, dairy sheep" thing is something i dont understand. We plan to milk our charolais cow and st croix sheep.

Tyler Ludens wrote:What specific breed of sheep are you looking for?  If they are rare, it is possible you will have to go out of state to buy them.

In all honesty any breed that has a fairly good milk supply. We started with looking for any East Friesians or Lacaune. Then we tried St. Croix and even Assaf and Awassi. Not really looking or any specific breed beyond the quality being they can be used as a dairy sheep.

St croix available just outside of killeen in Kempner. I can get the number.  We have some also but not sure my wife wants to sell any. They are currently milking if you are close and want to look.at their udders.

wayne fajkus wrote:St croix available just outside of killeen in Kempner. I can get the number.  We have some also but not sure my wife wants to sell any. They are currently milking if you are close and want to look.at their udders.

That sounds wonderful! I would totally appreciate that number. Thank you so much! Would you by any chance  mind if we were to come out this Friday or Sunday for us to take a peek? If that is too soon I completely understand.

I am sending a private message to you.  Friday is good, sunday not good.

wayne fajkus wrote:I am sending a private message to you.  Friday is good, sunday not good.

I just wanted to say thank you again for your help! We truly appreciated it!

Thanks for the cupcakes! That was sweet of yall