Any folks raising sheep on mostly browse?

There are number of sheep varieties that are known to do quite a bit of browsing but I'm wondering what that looks like in the real world for folks. I'm in the PNW and have lots of access to forests of different types and maturities as well as some clear cuts and some river plain access which means there is a real variety of browse but I'm wondering if ultimately even the sheep that are know to be good browsers won't really be all that happy unless they're on pasture. Icelandic, Jacob, and Shetland are a few of the breeds I've been considering for wool, hardiness, and browsing ability. ALso would like work towards being able to milk them!

If it's forests, maybe goats would be better? I think sheep need meadows...

I raise Icelandics, and they do browse, but they prefer whatever is greenest and most palatable, which is usually grass and leaves, and won’t eat much for stems (they just strip the leaves, and eventually the bark). My concern with trying to focus on browse for a long term feedstock would be regeneration. How quickly do the plants/trees/shrubs recover after a grazing event? Grass by nature recovers fast and is therefore an ideal feed; I suspect you would need a very extensive area to browse for it to be sustainable.

yes thank you for this consideration. i have about 1 acre of pure pasture to work with, another 1.5 acres of mixed use pasture that will ultimately have fruit trees and a small garden and a couple tiny homes but i plan on having mobile fencing to help maintain the area. then i have access to about 40-50 acres of mixed forest land, some of it with a LOT of brushy understory. also in the PNW things regenerate very quickly. i think that there is probably a specific number of sheep that i could have here without there being any problem with regeneration. i don't know what that number is but by starting small and paying attention i'm sure i could learn. i'm going to start with just 2-3 sheep:)

with that said i do wonder if the sheep would have trouble getting their optimal nutrition from mostly brushy forest understory.

Benedict Bosco wrote:I raise Icelandics, and they do browse, but they prefer whatever is greenest and most palatable, which is usually grass and leaves, and won’t eat much for stems (they just strip the leaves, and eventually the bark). My concern with trying to focus on browse for a long term feedstock would be regeneration. How quickly do the plants/trees/shrubs recover after a grazing event? Grass by nature recovers fast and is therefore an ideal feed; I suspect you would need a very extensive area to browse for it to be sustainable.

We have too many sheep and would like to right-size our flock.
We are selling: 7 ewe lambs and 2 intact ram lambs born this Spring/Summer as well as 4 yearlings & older ewes (ranging from 2-4 years old).

We have two families of Shetlands in our flock, with one being smaller/daintier and the other a bit larger, but all are on the small-end for sheep.

We have had great success lambing: the flock lives with their ram and this year gave birth mainly in April (but the stragglers ranged from mid-March until mid-July). With 15 ewes, we had 17 lambs. The ewes all cared for and eventually weaned their babies on their own.

Shetlands are great grazers - they obviously prefer grass, but will eat knapweed, milkweed, thistle and even our Christmas tree.

Our ewes are not registered, but our ram is. He has a great soft fleece, nice personality and is the father of all the lambs we are selling.

The sheep live with livestock guardian dogs and electric fencing.
My email is Manuelleith5@gmail.com for more inquiries

Manuel Leith wrote:We have too many sheep and would like to right-size our flock.

Hi Manuel,
Welcome to Permies!
Whereabouts in this great big world are you, and your sheep?
You can add your location (approximate if you like) to your profile.

We raise a flock of 70 dairy and meat sheep on 185 acres on yhe central coast of CA on what I call an oak Mediterranean forest. The Dorpers are out 24/7 and the dairy girls are spoiled closer to home on rotationally grazed pasture. We don't have loads of grass here so the flock definitely eats mostly browse. The breed that has hands down been wonderful for us is the Dorper. They can utilize low quality feed and turn it into succulent meat and the amount of fat they have is seriously impressive. We have lots of toyon, ceanothus, thistle, CA sage, sycamore, and oak. The acorns in the fall and winter might be responsible for all that fat. There are loads of various types of plants I'm forgetting but I'm sure you get the picture. Our 8-10 month old lambs hang between 70 to 100 lbs which is really amazing. We've been running sheep for about 12 years so we've had a pretty good run at this and it seems to be a perfect match for us. I would say though that supplementing with kelp is always a good idea, given that it is cheap insurance that fills in any nutritional gaps and also helps remineralize the soil via those tidy little sheep poos.

The dairy girls get irrigated pasture most of the year and I focus on medicinal plants and herbs over grass but of course the seed bank is full of grass so we get that as a default as well. They love it all and clover is their absolute favorite but they eat chicory, dandelion, and I plant sorghum in the summer for them and they eat it, along with the malva, lambs quarters and mustard that pops up which they also love. Overall the sheep tell me grass is highly over-rated and they would rather eat the forbes.

Hope that helps!

Brieanne

Brieanne Rice wrote:We raise a flock of 70 dairy and meat sheep on 185 acres on yhe central coast of CA on what I call an oak Mediterranean forest. The Dorpers are out 24/7 and the dairy girls are spoiled closer to home on rotationally grazed pasture. We don't have loads of grass here so the flock definitely eats mostly browse. The breed that has hands down been wonderful for us is the Dorper. They can utilize low quality feed and turn it into succulent meat and the amount of fat they have is seriously impressive. We have lots of toyon, ceanothus, thistle, CA sage, sycamore, and oak. The acorns in the fall and winter might be responsible for all that fat. There are loads of various types of plants I'm forgetting but I'm sure you get the picture. Our 8-10 month old lambs hang between 70 to 100 lbs which is really amazing. We've been running sheep for about 12 years so we've had a pretty good run at this and it seems to be a perfect match for us. I would say though that supplementing with kelp is always a good idea, given that it is cheap insurance that fills in any nutritional gaps and also helps remineralize the soil via those tidy little sheep poos.

The dairy girls get irrigated pasture most of the year and I focus on medicinal plants and herbs over grass but of course the seed bank is full of grass so we get that as a default as well. They love it all and clover is their absolute favorite but they eat chicory, dandelion, and I plant sorghum in the summer for them and they eat it, along with the malva, lambs quarters and mustard that pops up which they also love. Overall the sheep tell me grass is highly over-rated and they would rather eat the forbes.

Hope that helps!

Brieanne

This is going to be very region-specific. Where Brieanne lives, parasite problems should be fairly low; it's a Mediterannean climate with dry(ish) summers (sounds like she's close enough to the ocean to have afternoon sea fog, which will provide some humidity). Dorpers are a good breed for a dry(ish) climate, as it's similar to South Africa, where they were developed. On the other hand, I live in Kentucky, which is humid (wet) most of the time, and parasites are a serious problem here. You can still raise Dorpers, if you are willing to use lots of chemical wormers (though your flock will still struggle). But here, you'd be better off with one of the parasite-resistant breeds. They don't grow as fast, or get nearly as big, but you can keep St. Croix hair sheep or Gulf Coast Native wool sheep here with minimal use of chemical wormers. Farther north, you could use one of the breeds that is somewhat parasite resistant, but not quite as resistant as those two, such as Katahdins. I would suggest locating several people in your area who have sheep and talking to them about parasites; it wouldn't hurt to talk to a local vet, and to your local Agricultural Extension agent (because the Extension does a lot of research on the state level). Then you can make a more informed decision about breeds based on local conditions.

Kathleen, if parasites are an issue where you are (they're a massive problem here, to the point where the commercial sheep farmers are talking about Drenchageddon) you might want to try feeding biochar. Lots of studies and anecdotal stories out there saying that biochar will reduce or eliminate intestinal nematodes and also help with general health. My sheep like small pieces, like the size of whole grains, and screened to remove dust (makes them sneeze). I mix some sea salt minerals with it for some extra enticement, and they butt one another away from the trough when I give it to them.

On the browse topic, I feed lots of tree branches whenever the pasture growth slows down. I grow a lot of coppice willow for this purpose (as well as to produce feedstock to make more biochar -- stacking functions), and make tree hay in the summer with that and fruit tree prunings.

Phil Stevens wrote:Kathleen, if parasites are an issue where you are (they're a massive problem here, to the point where the commercial sheep farmers are talking about Drenchageddon) you might want to try feeding biochar. Lots of studies and anecdotal stories out there saying that biochar will reduce or eliminate intestinal nematodes and also help with general health. My sheep like small pieces, like the size of whole grains, and screened to remove dust (makes them sneeze). I mix some sea salt minerals with it for some extra enticement, and they butt one another away from the trough when I give it to them.

On the browse topic, I feed lots of tree branches whenever the pasture growth slows down. I grow a lot of coppice willow for this purpose (as well as to produce feedstock to make more biochar -- stacking functions), and make tree hay in the summer with that and fruit tree prunings.

I don't have any sheep right now, just some meat goats and some Nigerian Dwarfs, but I've had a lot of trouble with parasites with them. For one thing, we have meningeal worms, also known as deer worms. I'll have to try the biochar and see if that helps, because commercial wormers just don't cut the mustard. (I'm planning to sell the goats and replace with St. Croix hair sheep, specifically because of the parasite problems. Though I haven't lost any goats to parasites for several months. Sigh. Maybe the ones that are left are the more resistant ones, and I should keep them....)

Hi, we don’t keep sheep ourselves but we live on North Ronaldsay, a very small island in Orkney, Scotland and many of our neighbours have rare breed North Ronaldsay sheep that have evolved to eat predominately seaweed. They are small pretty sheep and their meat is very sought after for its slightly salty, seaweedy taste.

I feel that parasites are a management problem (aka nutritional deficiency) and definitely breeding the ones that show high tolerance is a good idea. I use Pat Colby's mineral mix and it includes sulfur, and our flock use high tannin browse to combat parasites. Sheep are highly adaptable animals (obviously they are prey animals so they have to be) so I believe Dorpers would work well with being moved around on netting and paying attention to their mineral intake.

On our 100-acre property in south-east Australia, I manage a flock of 20 Dorper ewes—alongside goats and cattle—entirely on natural forage. Dorpers are polyestrous and frequent twinners, allowing each ewe to raise up to six lambs over a two-year period. My aim has been to develop a self-sufficient, low-input grazing system that works with the land’s natural patterns while building long-term resilience in a climate that fluctuates between semi-arid drought and high-humidity wet seasons.

The terrain ranges from rocky ridges to moist lowlands, supporting a wide diversity of forage. In the higher areas, acacia, eucalyptus, and tagasaste (tree lucerne) dominate; in the lower zones, blackberry and willow are abundant. Following rainfall, thistle, chicory, dandelion, plantain, fat hen, and wild brassicas proliferate. During dry periods, native lomandra, saltbush (atriplex nummularia) and African lovegrass become key feed species. Our sheep also browse fruit trees—including mulberry, wild plum, and apple—which I propagate from cuttings and plant widely across the property, alongside tagasaste and willow. I’m keen to trial thornless honey locust as a fodder tree, but it's currently unavailable in my region.

Although sheep naturally prefer grass, I’ve trained mine to browse by running young ewes with goats. Once browsing behaviour is established, it becomes embedded in the flock culture and is passed on to new animals. As a result, the sheep thrive on forage that is often undervalued or avoided in conventional systems.

I don’t buy feed. Instead, I provide nutritional support through locally available resources. Kelp, collected from nearby beaches, is hung on fences for free-choice mineral access. I also grow wormwood, oregano, garlic chives, and other medicinal herbs along fencelines, allowing the sheep to self-medicate without damaging the plants. These are offered most actively during the three days prior to the full moon, when parasite activity typically peaks.

Our climate is highly variable, with hot summers, frosty winters, and dry or wet cycles that can persist for a decade. Despite these extremes, the Dorper flock has remained productive and resilient without chemical drenches. In an area known for high parasite loads—particularly Haemonchus contortus and liver fluke—I manage parasite pressure through a combination of herbs, minerals, and strict culling of susceptible animals. Routine chemical drenching often leads to resistance in parasite populations; by contrast, selection within the flock has led to greater natural resilience over time.

Rotational grazing is my main management tool. The property is divided into four paddocks, and the sheep are moved every full moon following herbal treatment. This results in a 12-week rest period per paddock, which helps to break parasite cycles and allows forage species to recover.

While our primary focus is meat production, the Dorpers are multipurpose. My children milk the quieter ewes, who produce rich, sweet milk—though I personally prefer goats for ease of milking. We collect the wool during shedding; while not ideal for spinning, it’s excellent for felting, insulation, and crafts. We also tan our own sheepskins and have bred a range of fleece colours for added value and diversity.

Sheep can be managed regeneratively on browse, even in marginal or non-traditional grazing landscapes. By designing with local ecology in mind and closing resource loops, it is possible to create a resilient, low-input livestock system that challenges the assumptions of conventional grazing models.

I don't have first hand knowledge though where I live sheep are grazed on hundreds of acres of hot/dry/desert/poor pasture.

Folks here have Hampshire or Dorpers.

I had a flock of Katahdin and St Croix that would thrive on either grass-legume pasture, forb-rich meadows or thick brush. Upon letting them into a diverse creekside thicket, the first plants they would go for was always goldenrod, blackberry and multi-flora rose. I suppose the selection criteria of their breed makes them behave more like goats than the woolly breeds of sheep.