Did you know that you can milk sheep? Dairy sheep produce a wonderful rich creamy milk that is naturally homogenized, easy to digest and packed full of protein and nutrients. They are triple purpose animals that can provide your family with milk, meat and fiber.
When we purchased our original Katahdin Sheep the breeder mentioned in passing that they could also be milked. We didn’t think much about it until we found in 2023 that my husband wasn’t lactose intolerant, but that he actually had a casein allergy to the A1 casein proteins found in most cow’s milk.
This revelation started us thinking. A cow with A2/A2 milk is too impractical. That’s just way too much milk for the two of us to use. Vegan cheese substitutes are expensive and leave a lot to be desired. My husband could eat goat milk products, but I very much dislike the ‘goaty’ flavor of goat milk. So we discussed the prospect of getting a goat for his dairy purposes. However, goats are awful menaces that we just did not want on our farm. So what were we to do?
There just seemed to be no good options
Then we remembered that the Katahdin breeder mentioned milking sheep. So down the sheep milk rabbit hole we slid. As it turns out, sheep have been milked for thousands of years. They were used as dairy animals long before cows were milked. While milking sheep is virtually unheard of in this country, actually, there is a significant sheep milk dairy industry in Europe.
The majority of dairy sheep are located in Europe, the middle east, and the Mediterranean. There are even famous cheeses that are traditionally made from sheep milk. These include Roquefort and Pecorino Romano.
As it would turn out, sheep milk is pretty amazing stuff.
It makes the most amazing low fat ice cream and cheeses. If you have any interest in making home made cheese, sheep milk is the way to go. Sheep milk is very high in solids. Because of this, you will get up to 50% more cheese from each gallon of milk than you will with cow’s milk. It is richer in fats and proteins, giving you delightfully creamy, deluxe cheeses.
Sheep milk also makes low fat ‘ice cream’ that still has a rich, creamy texture. Because the proteins and fat molecules are much smaller, more concentrated, and naturally homogenized in sheep milk, even home made low fat ice cream will freeze to a creamy texture. You won’t get the unpleasant icy texture you get from cow’s milk.
More importantly, sheep milk is highly nutritious.
It has higher nutrient values than either cow or goat milk. It is better tolerated by many people with milk sensitivities, and it has a wonderful rich, sweet taste.
Sheep milk has a much higher solids content than either goat or cow milk. That means that it has more nutrients and less water in it. It has both a high protein and mineral content. It contains up to 2x the protein in goat or cow milk and 36% more calcium than cows milk. Sheep milk is a better source of all 10 essential amino acids. It contains more healthy short and medium chain fatty acids, and is much richer in healthy mono and poly unsaturated acids than cows milk. Additionally, many biopeptides found in sheep milk have antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties.
It is A2/A2 for people with casein allergies
Like goat milk, sheep milk is A2/A2 milk, so if you have an allergy to A1 casein you may be able to consume sheep dairy products. On top of that, sheep milk is often better tolerated by people with milk sensitivities.
Research done in Australia has shown that sheep milk proteins are more easily digested than those found in cows milk. They also found that because sheep milk contains more good fats, those fats are readily converted to energy. Sheep milk does not spike blood triglyceride levels. It has also been shown that sheep milk may be better tolerated by those with lactose intolerance as well.
Best of all, sheep milk doesn’t contain any capric acid.
Sheep milk is mild and sweet. It is very similar to cow’s milk in flavor though it has a creamier texture. Like cow’s milk, sheep milk does not contain capric acid. It does not have and will not produce that tangy ‘goaty’ flavor that turns many people off to goat milk. Capric acid is what gives goat milk its distinct off-putting flavor.
Dairy sheep breeds you should look for
If you are interested in adding dairy sheep to your farm, you will have to put in a bit of effort to find good ones as they are not nearly as widely available as dairy goats and cows.
While people across the ocean have access to quite a large selection of breeds of dairy sheep, in this country we only have a couple breeds available. The most prevalent dairy sheep in the USA is the East Friesian. The East Friesian is the ‘Holstein cow’ of sheep. They are high production animals, but they also tend to be high maintenance and somewhat fragile. For this reason, virtually every single East Friesian in this country is crossed with another sheep breed.
In addition to the East Friesian, you can also sometimes acquire Lacaune sheep though they are harder to come by. Luckily for those interested in dairy sheep the USA has recently lessened import restrictions. This has allowed some sheep dairies to start importing Lacaune and East Friesian semen from improved animals. This will be very helpful in improving our dairy sheep production performance. Sheep with these improved genetics are worth obtaining and will likely become more widely available as time goes on.
One other breed commonly used for dairy in this country despite not technically being a dairy breed is the Finnsheep. While Finns are not dairy sheep per se, they have been selected to produce enough milk to feed their litters of 3-4+ lambs. Finns are tough, prolific little sheep who are popular choice for with East Friesians to help make them less fragile and difficult to care for. Our dairy sheep are East Friesian x Finn crosses.
One downside to all dairy sheep breeds is their wool
All the breeds of dairy sheep are wool sheep. There are no shedding dairy sheep at this time. You should not let this put you off the idea of raising dairy sheep. To feed your family you will likely only need a few sheep, so hand shearing them yourself once a year is not impractical. This is particularly true since they will need to be friendly and used to being handled for milking. The wool can be used for craft projects, or it can be composted and used as mulch in your garden. It has been shown that wool can be a valuable soil amendment.
If you cannot abide the idea of dealing with a wool sheep, Katahdins can be milked
If you remember, when we purchased our first Katahdins, the breeder mentioned that they could be milked. We tried it, and yes, they definitely can be milked. However, they were bred as meat sheep not dairy animals. They do not have nearly the milk production volume or lactation length a specialized dairy animal will have.
If you wish to try milking Katahdins, it is important to select your animals very, very carefully. Katahdins can vary drastically in their milk production. Within our flock we have ewes that produce only a couple cups of milk, and who also have tiny nearly impossible to milk teats. We also have 2 ewes that will produce over ½ gallon a day in an udder with large easy to milk teats. You need to seek out ewes that produce a lot of milk in udders with a confirmation suitable for milking.
Now that we have you intrigued by the idea of milking sheep
You might be questioning if you would even be able to accomplish a task like milking. You might have no idea of where to begin. We were certainly apprehensive the first time we tried. Fortunately, while milking sheep takes some practice (for both you and the ewe) to be proficient at, it is actually quite easy to do. Even if you have never milked anything before, you can learn to milk a sheep. We hope that you will join us next time for our how to milk article where we will discuss the process from start to finish.
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