Suitable sheep breed for part time farming

Grassy Paddock

Hi all, I am looking to get into sheep farming on a part time basis, taking over a small plot of land that has been in the family for generations but has been lying fallow for years.

My initial plan would be to have a small flock and gradually increase it over time, but looking to sell off some lambs. Obviously I am not looking to make a killing out of this, and it would mainly be a hobby thing,at least at first but it would be nice to supplement my income with some from of sales.

So what breed of sheep do you recommend? I was considering an easy care breed of sheep for obvious reasons, but would there be anything to be said for taking on a rarer breed like zwartbles etc?

Does anyone have any experience with the easy care?

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tabby aspreme

Not sure if any sheep are "easy care" make things easier for yourself by having good fence and a way of handeling them, and feed them correctly when in lamb , texel and suffolk are quiet sheep most of the upland breeds can be wild as can charolais and blue de main some lleyn are a bit wild too , don't know anything about zwartables but they look great

Grassy Paddock

Thanks for that, all valid points. Have a lot of the fencing done, was put up professionally, and have a shed/haybarn with a front gated area to do the handling.

I guess re the easy care sheep, I was thinking along the lines of eliminating the need for shearing and dipping, which I am not really set up for at the moment. Thanks for the tips!

Conmaicne Mara

Some easy care sheep will still be shorn to look "tidy" (there are hair sheep also), as for dipping, there are lots of pour ons available, there's also the option to get them shower dipped or spray dip them yourself - won't be as good as plunge dipping but better than nothing.

I would suggest you should be looking at other characteristics like ease of lambing, mothering ability, good feet, worm resistance, sheep that have been raised on grass instead of pumped concentrates. It's the daily/weekly jobs that'll suck your time not the once or twice a year jobs, they're just hard work but they're over relatively quickly depending on numbers and set up.

jmrc

if you dont want to shear or dip then you need goats not sheep.... how's the pasture if it has been lying fallow for a few years? does it have a sod on it or is it knee deep stuff? good money in goats and if you say you have good fences,, these lads will test that....

no matter what sheep you get you will need to tend them... shearing is not a hassle can be done in stages and as for dipping most lads on here use a product called clip and that keeps the flies off... all you need for that is a knapsack sprayer... you can dip them with a knapsack sprayer too.... just a bit more expensive, but as you say its more of a hobby.

Are there sheep in your area? where are you based? speak to some local farmer lads or your local vet and he/she may be able to help direct you too. jacob sheep are "easy" too but you'll not get much from them at the mart...

best of luck in your venture.

Conmaicne Mara

Here's a list of breeds that'll probably throw more mud on the decision than anything else, interesting though:

http://www.smallholderseries.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119:sheep-breeds&catid=29&Itemid=141

arctictree

Have a similar setup to yourself but probably about six months ahead. I have a few fields about 1KM from my house which I got professionally fenced and got a starter flock of ewes with lambs in April. Am about to sell my first few lambs at the Mart and will also keep a couple for the freezer. I just made a plan and kept to it. Vaccinating, Dosing, Pour on, footcare etc. Will probably not shear until next year and will take the ewes to a field beside the house for outside lambing late next spring.

I have pure bred Llyen sheep and they seem to be thriving where I am as they have a lot of grass. I basically do one job a few hours a week. Hardest part is rounding them up without a dog! Have been semi-successful with the bucket method....

Grassy Paddock

Has anyone had any dealings with these guys http://www.easycaresheep.eu/Our-system.html ? That's the line I was thinking of taking, but I'll read up on the other suggestions posted.

@jmrc based in Kilkenny, a few sheep farmers around mixed in with mainly dairy farming, most sheep are Suffolk or galway.

Cran

I think your decision totaly depends on the numbers you intend carrying and your main objective from keeping sheep. For me so called easycare breeds such as Lleyns, easycare, Mules etc are easycare in terms of scaleability for running medium to large numbers. Easycare logic for small flocks doesn't really exist, except maybe for easy of lambing.

As an example I really like the Lleyn but see a large amount of small hobby flocks at sales and shows telling sheep farmers how good a sheep they can be for them, when their experience resembles in no way the commercial sheep farmers requirements (or in fairness the Lleyn societies aims from what I gather). Not having a go at the breeders but they need to understand the difference in their objectives and a farmer running 200+ ewes with good facilities and a good dog...

I have a few friends that keep sheep as a hobby and succesfully mind, Jacobs, Dorset horns, pedigree Charollais and Cheviots x with Suffolks. All of them have different aims and breed choice is driven by their individual interests.

Richk2012

Sorry to hijack the thread here for a second lads but the cattlemen out number the sheepmen by about 10to1 in this place and i knew if i posted it in farmingchitchat might not get an answer .


Iv a couple of Suffolk ram lambs that im going to keep as rams but its only an afterthought tbh .
They have done very well since weaning on grass only and weighed them last week and happy with them .
They are out of good Suffolk NR ewes
The issue is i used the rubber rings to dock their tails as lambs but i didnt imagine they were going for rams and now the tails are not short enough for a suffolk ram .
I know its not a major issue but when it comes to the sale next year they would look a lot better with the standard short tail .

What would be the outcome if i put an elastic ring on the tail at this stage ??
Would i paralise them or would it have the desired effect ???

Cran

Richk2012 wrote: »

What would be the outcome if i put an elastic ring on the tail at this stage ??
Would i paralise them or would it have the desired effect ???

Not sure how it can be to short if ringed already, but anyway nearly sure not suppose to put a ring on after 7 days of age and I wouldn't at that age if if you could....

jmrc

wait until the colder evenings.... mid to end of Sept and cut them with a knife, tie them off and spray them with iodine... would be my advice. short sharp solution.

isaos

Hello everyone, I have a question similar to Grassy Paddock and I am thinking of taking 2 Suffolk ewes as they are said to be quiet and easy.
We also have a very good field that they would be sharing with a horse. Could anybody tell me if pure Suffolk are a good investment? I was told they could fetch between €1500 and €3000 at the Mart... should I believe that?

Thank you!

supersean1999

isaos wrote: »

Hello everyone, I have a question similar to Grassy Paddock and I am thinking of taking 2 Suffolk ewes as they are said to be quiet and easy.
We also have a very good field that they would be sharing with a horse. Could anybody tell me if pure Suffolk are a good investment? I was told they could fetch between €1500 and €3000 at the Mart... should I believe that?

Thank you!

Conmaicne Mara

isaos wrote: »

I was told they could fetch between €1500 and €3000 at the Mart... should I believe that?

You definitely shouldn't.

Grassy Paddock

Cran wrote: »

I think your decision totaly depends on the numbers you intend carrying and your main objective from keeping sheep. For me so called easycare breeds such as Lleyns, easycare, Mules etc are easycare in terms of scaleability for running medium to large numbers. Easycare logic for small flocks doesn't really exist, except maybe for easy of lambing.

As an example I really like the Lleyn but see a large amount of small hobby flocks at sales and shows telling sheep farmers how good a sheep they can be for them, when their experience resembles in no way the commercial sheep farmers requirements (or in fairness the Lleyn societies aims from what I gather). Not having a go at the breeders but they need to understand the difference in their objectives and a farmer running 200+ ewes with good facilities and a good dog...

I have a few friends that keep sheep as a hobby and succesfully mind, Jacobs, Dorset horns, pedigree Charollais and Cheviots x with Suffolks. All of them have different aims and breed choice is driven by their individual interests.

Very good points raised, thanks for that...still leaning towards the easy cares or maybe wiltshires. While initially I would be starting small scale to see how it goes, there is more land potentially available if we decided to upscale so the numbers could work.

Out of interest has anyone reared any dorpers (or wiltshires)?

brownswiss

I am in the market for a suffolk ram that will breed nice replacements from Belclare and Texel X.

I think the subject of the big heads and legs has been discussed before. It seems to be something the pedigree breeders want as distinct from the commercial requirements.

Can anyone enlighten me please ?

isaos

To brownswiss : I am in touch with a breeder of these Suffolk and he adores his sheep.. I could pm his details to you, just want to tell him first so I'll get back to you shortly. He is based in Kerry and absolutely genuine.

isaos

brownswiss wrote: »

I am in the market for a suffolk ram that will breed nice replacements from Belclare and Texel X.

I think the subject of the big heads and legs has been discussed before. It seems to be something the pedigree breeders want as distinct from the commercial requirements.

Can anyone enlighten me please ?

pm sent