Does anyone on here keep dairy sheep or eat/drink a lot of sheep dairy?

Iโ€™m particularly interested in knowing what itโ€™s like to cook with sheep butter or cream. Does it taste โ€œsheepyโ€ when heated like goat milk tastes โ€œgoatyโ€ when heated?

Butter is my main cooking fat and I also cook with cream close to daily. When we homestead, Iโ€™d rather not have to go to the store for something thatโ€™s so essential every day, especially when ruminants are so good for land health. But dairy cows, even miniature ones, produce SO much milk that Iโ€™m afraid it would be a lot of extra work just to avoid wasting it. After hearing a talk at the Homesteaders Of America conference, it sounds like dairy sheep make a more manageable amount, and their milk is also higher in the fats I want dairy for anyway.

I might get a chance to try sheep cream for myself this spring (it seems Amos Miller carries it then), but thought Iโ€™d #asknostr beforehand.

#homestead

#homesteading

#sheep

#cooking

#grownostr

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Excess milk is great for bolstering the diets of cats, dogs, pigs, etc. It is wonderful added to feedstock when fermented anaerobically. Bring on the A2 A2 miniature Jersey cows. โ˜บ๏ธ

Right, I kinda wanted to take it really slow with large animals though ๐Ÿ˜‚ pigs are super useful for reducing waste but are definitely a stretch goal.

A mini Jersey was something Iโ€™d been considering at one point; Iโ€™d done some math and figured that between making butter, cream, and skyr, I could figure out how to use the milk per day from ONE โ€ฆ but just barely, and they also probably would need a friendโ€ฆ

You know, we have one dexter cow, sheโ€™s alone with pig and goat friends and does fine. Pigs augment their diet by eating cow feces, itโ€™s yet another large ruminants advantage. The only time she gets restless is when sheโ€™s in heat, a little more grain and time gets her through it.