Having Hobby Sheep

In order to have any livestock on your property including sheep, you must have a Property Identification Code (PIC). These are issued by PIRSA (Prime Industries and Research of South Australia) and can be applied for by following this link.

If you intend on having livestock moving on and off the property regularly or to a butcher, aboutar or market, you must register for with the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) through Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) to complete a National Vendor Declaration (NVD) form to move livestock on and off the property. You can register by following this link.

All livestock on your property must have an NVD accredited ear tag in their ear. As of 2025 you will not be able to purchase no electric NVD tags. As of 2027 all livestock must have an electronic NVD ear tag. You can purchase ear tags through Hills Farm Supplies Mt Barker.

For more information on required documentation for your property and livestock, visit PIRSA.

 Make sure your fences are up to the challenge of having sheep. Some breeds and flocks of sheep are rougher on fences than others. Routine inspection of your fences with maintenance will ensure they last longer and that your sheep can’t escape.

Make sure that you are not overstocking your paddocks. You can have up to 10 sheep per acre, but for smaller properties that cannot rotate their paddocks as frequently, you are better with fewer, even as low as 1 sheep per acre. Each property is different and should be assist over a 12-18 month period to set the best stocking rates for your property.

Make sure that your sheep have shelter, shrubs, trees, shelter sheds and wind breaks are sufficient shelter for sheep during the colder months.

Know your water sources and where it goes. There’s nothing worse than a broken water trough and not knowing where it comes from or where it goes. Also making sure your water is clean and fresh. Some sheep can be picky when it comes to water. Check your water daily and make sure it is clean of algae, rubbish, dirty water and dust.

 Everyone will vary on what they will give their sheep in the way of treatment, and this will depend on many factors including the type of sheep they are breeding or rising. But it is best to, at least, follow the most basic treatment to ensure the sheep health.

Drenching – You should worm your sheep at least once a year to prevent any build-up of worms that you may not have noticed. Worming your sheep will also keep them healthier. Jono’s Sheep Shearing Services provides onsite worm testing to determine if your sheep need drenching or not and can provide drench on the day.

For more information on drenching your sheep, follow this link.

 Lice – Lice are a reportable parasite in Australia. Make sure you are regularly checking for lice in your sheep and learn about what you are looking for. Treating lice is easy if it is at an early stage, large numbers of lice will require more intense treatment for lice.

Shearing – Making sure your sheep are shorn every year is vital to there health! Some breeds of sheep don’t need shearing as they are self-shedders, however, don’t ever assume that because you have a self-shedding breed of sheep that they don’t need shearing. Check over summer to see if they lose all their fleece, if they only lose part of their fleece then they will need to be shorn. Make sure you are crutching your sheep in winter and leading into summer if needed to prevent flystrike.

 A record keeping book is essential to the smooth running of your farm.  A farm record book should keep a record about the farm itself, livestock moving on and off the farm, people moving on and off the farm, livestock treatment, feeding and fodder records and a biosecurity plan.

You can purchase a Hobby and Small Commercial Property Record Keeping Book through Jono’s Sheep Shearing Services.

Having a vet on hand is useful, if quiet expense. Not all vets will come out to your property. Have your local vets phone number who can attend your property on hand for when things go wrong because they will at times.

 Selecting the right sheep for your property is important for the outcome you are wanting for your sheep. Selecting the wrong sheep will lead to potential damages, injuries and a lot of frustration.

Small commercial sheep breeds for meat include Cross Breeds, Suffolk’s, Dorper’s, Poll Dorset’s, Whiltipol and more. These breeds can be used for breeding and selling lambs for market or your own freezer.

Wool breeding sheep include Merino, Boarder Leicesters and more. These are best for their good quality wool production and not for their meat quality. If you are wanting to go into will production these would be the best breed to go for.

All new sheep should be isolated for a week or more. This will lower the risk of any contamination from the previous property to your property brought in by the sheep.

An isolation paddock should be separated from established paddocks, water run off not to run directly into established paddocks and should not be too far into the farm from the road or yards to minimise contamination when first arriving on the property.

During the winter months, sheep should receive supplementary feeds such as good quality hay or roughage. This will lessen the chances of the sheep dirtying themselves up. Lick blocks are also useful of assisting in keeping up your sheep health and wellbeing.

During the summer months, make sure your sheep have sufficient access to clean water. Most times just the pasture should be sufficient to feed them though summer, but if needed hay can be used to supplement them if needed.

Grain feeding is useful for finishing sheep off for butchering or keeping weight on sheep that aren’t doing so well. Grain mixes should be discussed with a grain expert to determine the right grain mix for your sheep. Hills Farm Supplies has a variety of grains for your sheep.

All deceased livestock should be removed or buried to prevent foxes or other pest animals from eating the carcase. Jono’s Sheep Shearing Services can destroy (kill) sheep, goats, alpacas and calves and remove them from the property for disposal.

For more information on having sheep or livestock on your property, get in contact with Jono’s Sheep Shearing Services.