Our Story

We started raising Painted Deserts back in 2017 with our first ram, R&J's Ranger, and two ewes. After a few more additions down the line and within 3 years, we had about ten ewes and Ranger was sill around. After deciding to move to Stillwater, OK in 2020, stray dogs attacked and killed most of our flock back in TX while we were in the process of moving, After everyone got settled onto the new property, we again only had Ranger and three girls. It was a heartbreaking event, but our friends in the sheep community helped us remain strong, and encouraged us to continue our breeding program.

 

With a new drive to succeed and 3 short years later, we now care for about 30 ewes and 10 rams on average. Every lambing season our numbers double, and then come back down again after all the lambs are weaned and sold. We are fortunate enough to usually have both ewes and rams of various ages, available to purchase year round. Even in the off chance we don't have any listed, please contact us and we will find some to offer you. Paints are our passion and we love the opportunity to share and educate others about this breed. Always feel free to ask us any questions!

Top 10 Reasons to Raise Painted Deserts

1. No wool shearing or tail docking required

2. Disease and parasite resistance

3. Great lambing abilities and good mothering instincts

4. Amazing pasture and underbrush control (they will eat just about anything they can reach)

5. Great tasting meat (unlike usual mutton)

6. Wonderful trophy horn genetics 

7. Gorgeous flashy colors (you never know what color your lambs will be)

8. Good milk producers who normally have twins

9. Ability to obtain quality registered stock

10. Eligible to become a part of the Painted Desert Sheep Society and have an amazing community at your side

Painted Desert Sheep Information

Coat:

The Painted Desert Sheep is not a "woolless" breed (a misnomer, really), but actually a double coated breed that casts its wool in spring. They are adaptable to extremes in weather. In the fall, they begin growing their undercoat of wool which gets even thicker as the weather get colder. The rams will grow a luxuriant mane (another feature that makes them a favorite of trophy hunters) often beginning at the shoulders with a thick bib at the front of the neck. In the spring, the wool is shed in clumps along with some of the longer, outer guard hairs. What remains is a short, slick coat of hair. Most rams will completely shed their mane by summer while others will have a sparser version of one. Because of their short hair during the summer, these sheep will rarely be bothered by the external parasites that plague wool breeds. The tails of these sheep are not docked as there is no real need to. There should be no wool remaining on the sheep for the summer months. If so, then the sheep has obviously close wool breeding. The only exception would be lambs that don't usually shed until the next year.

Temperament:

Due to the influence of Mouflon, the Painted Desert Sheep may be flightier when confined to small spaces for working. Otherwise, they are calm in the pasture and have a strong flocking influence. They can be gentled if worked with.

The Painted Desert Sheep has a strong flocking instinct when disturbed, but when at peace will scatter about the pasture. They can be very docile if handled from birth. A four foot mesh fence is adequate enough to keep them in your pasture (make sure it's dog and varmint proof), but they are quite capable of clearing this height if crowded. When working these sheep (for vaccinations, etc.), it is best to confine them in a stall where they will mill in a corner for easy catching.

Reproduction:

Ewes with close Mouflon breeding may only lamb once a year. Multiple births are common. Ewes may lamb as often as every six months. Abnormalities of the sex organs, unless due to accidents, are a disqualification. Depending on flock maintenance, ewes may lamb by their first birthday.

Due to the Barbados influence in some of these sheep, the Painted Desert Sheep will have two lambings a year with intervals ranging from 6 1/2 to 8 months (depending on how you manage your flock). Although the ewes will come in heat while lactating, and the ram will tend them, they often don't get pregnant until the lambs are taken off. Most breeders will wean lambs between 2 and 3 months of age to get another lambing that year. These sheep, again due to Barbados blood, have been known to deliver up to five lambs in one birth! They also breed out of season (anytime of the year).

Ewe lambs ideally should not be bred until one year of age, but they are commonly bred at seven months of age with no ill effects. Ram lambs reach sexual maturity early and have been known to breed as early as 4 months of age. For this reason, keeping juvenile rams in your flock will make determining paternity of your lambs impossible.

Mothering and Milking Ability:

Painted Desert Ewes have a strong mothering ability, are good milkers, and usually need no assistance in raising multiple lambs. Even with multiple births, she seems to count heads if one should wander off and is not happy until they are all by her side. They have excellent milking ability, even with triplets, but should be watched and given assistance if need be, especially if one lamb is stronger than its sibling and getting more than its share of milk. Some of these ewes have udders to rival dairy goat breeds.

Grazing:

These sheep seem to prefer lush tender growth of grasses but are also partial to some weeds and shrubs. There are some things they just will not eat. However, they are excellent for keeping lots mowed and fence lines clean and manicured-looking.

Carcass:

Lambs are in growing demand for their lean carcasses that do not have the strong flavor or fat of domestic mutton. The meat is used in a variety of ways.

 

Not too many people are even aware that there are such creatures as "hair sheep". Most people have only heard of, or seen, wool sheep. True, most sheep are wool sheep, but there are distinct advantages to having a sheep that has hair, much like a German Shepherd dog, rather than woolly locks. The Painted Desert Sheep is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. A 2001 survey showed that hair sheep comprise only 3 percent of the U.S.sheep population, but this is rapidly changing. Hair sheep are the fastest growing segment of the American sheep industry.

 

*Information credit to https://www.painteddesertsheepsociety.org