• Sheep 201 Index
  • About the author
  • Getting started
    • Why do you want to raise sheep?
    • Meat, milk, or wool?
    • Breed Selection
    • Hair sheep primer
    • Dairy sheep basics
  • Facilities
    • Housing
    • Feed and water
    • Fencing
    • Handling
    • Behavior
  • Breeding
    • Ewe reproduction
    • Ram reproduction
    • Breeding systems
    • Selecting breeding stock
  • Health
    • Biosecurity
    • Diseases A-Z
    • Vaccinations
    • Internal parasite control
    • Drug use
  • Lambing
    • Lambing systems
    • Getting ready
    • Lambing process
    • Newborn care
    • Docking and castrating
    • Weaning
  • Management
    • Hoof care
    • Shearing
    • Record keeping
    • Calculating adj. weaning weights
  • Feeding
    • Nutrient requirements
    • Feedstuffs
    • Balancing rations
    • Feeding ewes
    • Feeding lambs
    • Pasture
    • Grazing
  • Predators
    • Predator control
    • Guardians
  • Environment
    • Deadstock disposal
    • Nutrient management
  • Marketing
    • Lamb marketing
    • Wool marketing
    • Selling breeding stock
  • Economics
    • Tax implications
    • Business planning
    • Enterprise budgeting
  • Glossary
• Sheep 101
• Other web sites
  • Maryland Small Ruminant Page
  • Shepherd's Notebook Blog
  • Wild & Woolly Newsletter
  • Flickr sheep and goat images
  • SlideShare
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • The Baalands
• Send e-mail

About Sheep 201 and its author

Sheep 201 is a Beginner's Guide to Raising Sheep. The information is suitiable for different kinds of sheep and production systems. At the same time, all information needs to be adapted to local conditions and production practices.

Text and images from the web site may be reprinted (for educational purposes only) with permission of the author. A printed version of the web site is being developed.

Sheep 201 is written by Susan Schoenian (Shay-ne-un). Susan has been involved with sheep since she was 7 years old. When she was growing up, her family raised and showed Dorset and Southdown sheep and sold lambs to the ethnic markets. Currently, she raises purebred and crossbred Katahdin sheep on her small farm, called The Baalands, in Clear Spring, Maryland. She sells breeding stock and lambs for meat.

Susan is an Extension Sheep & Goat Specialist at the University of Maryland's Western Maryland Research & Education Center in Keedysville, Maryland. She has been with University of Maryland Extension since 1988. Susan began her extension career as a county extension agent in Wicomico County. She also served as a Farm Management Specialist for Maryland's nine Eastern Shore counties.

Susan's first job out of college was as Sheep Specialist for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture. In West Virginia, Susan was a USDA-certified livestock grader and market news reporter. During high school and college, Susan worked at veterinary hospitals.

Susan has achieved the rank of Principle Agent (full professor equivalent). She regularly attends professional meetings pertaining to small ruminants and related topics.

Susan judged sheep, goat, livestock, wool, and carcass shows for over 20 years, but is now "retired" from this activity. Susan enjoys working with junior livestock programs and is superintendent of the 4-H/FFA meat goat show at the Maryland State Fair. She conducts junior sheep and goat skillathons for youth at different venues.

Susan earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Animal Science from Virginia Tech and Montana State University, respectively. She also attended Ohio State University. While in college, Susan participated in both the livestock and meat judging teams and was a member of the Block and Bridle Club. The title of her Master's thesis was "Direct and Correlated Responses to Selection for Reproductive Rate in Rambouillet Sheep."

Susan has traveled extensively on behalf of University of Maryland Extension, the Maryland Department of Agriculture, USDA, CNFA, ACDI-VOCA, and Winrock. She has given invited presentations in several countries. Her travels have taken her to Poland, Hungary, Russia, Spain, France, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Egypt, Brazil, China, Canada, Mexico, Barbados, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and the British Virgin Islands.

Her first trip was to the Soviet Union, a year before it broke up. Her favorite place was Egypt, where she had the chance to interact with Bedouin shepherds. Her most recent trip was to Spain and France. She presented two scientific posters at the XI International Conference on Goats in the Canary Islands and toured the dairy sheep industry in south central France.

Most of the images in Sheep 201 link back to Susan's Flickr™ site. Photography is a life-long hobby. Images may be used with her permission. Photo credits are provided for third party images. Images not taken by Susan require permission from the photographer or web source. Many more images pertaining to sheep and goats may be viewed at Susan's Flickr™ site.

Susan has developed various other web sites pertaining to small ruminants. These other web sites may be accessed from the menu bar above.

About Sheep 201 and its author

<== SHEEP 201 INDEX