RAISING sheep in the Philippines

sheep raising is not as popular here as goats,cattle and carabaos/buffalos. we have a yahoo.goups here about sheep but i thinks the members are only 6 in numbers. sheep here are bred for meat and not for wool. the only book i had about sheep is Storey's guide to raising sheep by Paula Simmons and Carol Ekarius. ive searced almost all big bookstore here for more sheep books but found none.So i just rely on the internet for more infos about sheep.my love for sheep started 2 years ago when my cousin bring a pair of sheep here in the farm,he needs money he said. i bought the sheep and let it mingle with my goats they stayed in my goathouse. their first lamb died and then the ram. so i am left with the ewe. luckily she gave birth to a lamb. then a friend from tarlac exchange an extra ram of his for a native pig, he just breed 2 ewes and a ram for his personal use. then a friend told me last june 2008 that he had a neigbor who raises sheep. the next day i went to the place, its a cattle fattening farm. i saw about 30 sheeps mixed ram,ewes and lambs. i went home with 2 ewes paying double the price of my first sheep. luckily after a week one of the ewes gave birth to a lamb and i think the other one is pregnant.

as of now i have a ram, 8ewes and 7 lambs. twice a day i go to them and look at them. thinking that i would be a shepherd one day. ill have a wooden stick and a dog and tend to my sheeps. beacuse ill be breeding sheep for their meat. ill be looking for characteristics like good mothering ability, easy lambing, twinning, good feed conversion, growthy lambs and hardy stocks. maybe in the near future when i attain the 11 ews that i want i'll learn to process their wool as my hobby.

6 years ago i raised goats and theres a difference between them and sheep. the book i read and internet infos i gather applies mostly to 4 season countries.but the basics really help me a lot. if anyone in the Philippines read this blog and into sheep raising please contact me.and lets have a chat.

for video see the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng96aaEhZBM