Sheep Shed

AnFeirmeoir

Any recommendations a simple shed for sheep for lambing time.

I'm facing another year of lambing outside. It might be my last .

I would like a shed for lambing time and would probably use it for finishing some stores too if i had one. I'm not a believer in housing ewes for more than a few weeks.

Problem is , I have no idea of what size, shape, type of shed i should be looking at and i've less idea of the costs. Polytunnels are out. Too windy here ( and not just last night)

I am not interested in spending over 7-8 k on a shed and am only considering solid concrete flooring. - nothing fancy. (Don't know if this is realistic)

I suppose I really want to be able to house 50 or so ewes at a time currently for a week or two around lambing but if i'm building, i should probably allow myself to be able to hold 100 ewes and the lambs for short periods if weather turns bad.

I saw this on donedeal. Looks a great price but i'm not sure if its inferior quality, don't want it to blow away or anything !

http://www.donedeal.ie/buildingmaterials-for-sale/steel-buildings-in-kit-form/3610147 They come in all sizes.

Thanks

Conmaicne Mara

Think about the shape of the pends inside the shed, you will need enough feed space for each ewe/lamb. Think Rancher said on a thread I started before that he left 18 inches per ewe. So the how you intend on feeding the ewes once in the shed will determine the size and shape of your pens (long and narrow is good), this will also determine the shape of your shed overall. This is important because you can fit more sheep into a pen than you may be able to feed along the sides of that pen. Something to think about.

I would class ventilation as being crucial. It needs to be a healthy environment inside for the sheep. Disease of any kind is a nightmare indoors, we've had it in the past so take my word for it. Plan on excellent ventilation and plan to avoid health issues. Prevention being better than cure.

You could have a concrete floor and bolt the frame of the shed to it, then roof it. I would face one side of the shed into the prevailing wind and sheet it, use vented sheeting if you can afford it, with the vents on the top on the ridges not in the valleys. Yorkshire boarding is an option for the rest, it is flexible in warm weather as you can remove a few boards for more air flow. A long time ago Dads shed was done so other lads will probably have more updated info for you.

I wouldn't consider the shed in the link for housing stock, but that is just my opinion.

Lano Lynn

18 inch feed space per ewe pen ,10 to 12ft depth of pen on straw.
walk through trough 3ft wide to allow a wheel barrow up.
don,t go for square pens and 2ft falling through feed passage pedaled by supply companies and 'advisory agencies'
long narrow pens easy to catch sheep in.and clean out
5 bays long 25 wide.3ft passage up the centre will feed 120 ewes with a wheelbarrow in 10-15 minutes.
easy to devide into different feeding groups.30/40per pen
drive in big bale of straw 5 to 7 days
(higher stocking per mtr increases straw use)
leave plenty exits to ease turnout of ewes & lambs
easy to add another bay with working race-straw storage-meal bin and you will be well pleased.
sheep are way less severe on facilities than cattle.
timber frame perfectly adequate.good esb poles and 9x3timber portal frame spacesheeted roof for good ventilation

AnFeirmeoir

Lano Lynn wrote: »

18 inch feed space per ewe pen ,10 to 12ft depth of pen on straw.
walk through trough 3ft wide to allow a wheel barrow up.
don,t go for square pens and 2ft falling through feed passage pedaled by supply companies and 'advisory agencies'
long narrow pens easy to catch sheep in.and clean out
5 bays long 25 wide.3ft passage up the centre will feed 120 ewes with a wheelbarrow in 10-15 minutes.
easy to devide into different feeding groups.30/40per pen
drive in big bale of straw 5 to 7 days
(higher stocking per mtr increases straw use)
leave plenty exits to ease turnout of ewes & lambs
easy to add another bay with working race-straw storage-meal bin and you will be well pleased.
sheep are way less severe on facilities than cattle.
timber frame perfectly adequate.good esb poles and 9x3timber portal frame spacesheeted roof for good ventilation

Great post lano. Good info . At least I can picture it now .

grassroot1

But would lambing inside be better or worse, you might be better outside with a lower lambing %(1.6) than inside with a higher one(1.8+). 30% lower labour requirement outside and less disease.

eire23

grassroot1 wrote: »

But would lambing inside be better or worse, you might be better outside with a lower lambing %(1.6) than inside with a higher one(1.8+). 30% lower labour requirement outside and less disease.

There shouldn't be any disease problems if ya keep things right when yer lambing inside. Ewes would be on slats and here moved to individual pens when they lamb, do clean out the individual pens here once a day and lime them every time and never have any problems

Conmaicne Mara

grassroot1 wrote: »

But would lambing inside be better or worse, you might be better outside with a lower lambing %(1.6) than inside with a higher one(1.8+). 30% lower labour requirement outside and less disease.

Disease shouldn't be much of a problem if the farmer does his homework before building the shed, and is properly hygienic when the shed is full of sheep. But it's always more of a risk indoors than out. I don't remember how many years we lambed indoors but we only had an issue one year and three different vets couldn't tell us what that issue was caused by, think it was a type of pneumonia TBH. Anyway we let them out and it stopped.

From my own POV, I'll scan and all going well I'll have some description of a shed to lamb down my couples. Singles can suck it and see outdoors.

The weather and grass situation are other factors to consider. Lambs indoors in bad weather stand a much better chance than the poor feckers buried inside in a clump of rushes sheltering from sleet.

Inside is expensive though. My justification is losing so many to foxes last Spring, it was an unacceptable amount.

Never really found it much work lambing indoors. Our land is very... cluttered with rocks, walls, obstacles, little hills and valleys etc. So a lot of time can be taken up walking the place when inevitably at lambing 37 ewes turn up at the trough when there should be 40. Where as indoors they're all where you left them the last time you were there.

If the shed was full, we used to stack small bales of hay & straw just outside the shed. Bagged ration was in another shed about 120 yards away. The walkways between pens would be brushed out with yard brushes, then fill ration into buckets and throw it down them. Straw would be put out then if needed that day. After the ration was eaten hay would be left in the walkways. Lambed ewes or problems would be attended to depending on how pressing they were. 160 ewes under a corrugated roof could make quite a bit of noise.

Feeding and watering individual mothering up pens was the most time consuming job.

grassroot1

eire23 wrote: »

There shouldn't be any disease problems if ya keep things right when yer lambing inside. Ewes would be on slats and here moved to individual pens when they lamb, do clean out the individual pens here once a day and lime them every time and never have any problems

We will have to agree to disagree on this one imho when you put sheep in disease of various types is always a factor, joint ill being one of the worst. It was quite a problem in Lyons estate up to recently and they surely have cleanliness a top priority.

eire23

grassroot1 wrote: »

We will have to agree to disagree on this one imho when you put sheep in disease of various types is always a factor, joint ill being one of the worst. It was quite a problem in Lyons estate up to recently and they surely have cleanliness a top priority.

Can only speak for what happens here at home Have been lambing sheep inside here for over 25 years and never had a problem, if ya keep on top of cleanliness there should not be a problem imo.

tabby aspreme

If you can keep lots of straw under them it helps to keep disease levels down, been lambing indoors for 14 years and never have much bother, before ewes are housed I cover the floor and walls of the sheds with white lime, do the walls up about 4 ft the same as scudding for plaster, I think it also helps if your lambing in one batch compared to lambing over a prolonged time, and definitely colostrum is the best disease prevention

jomoloney

eire23 wrote: »

Can only speak for what happens here at home Have been lambing sheep inside here for over 25 years and never had a problem, if ya keep on top of cleanliness there should not be a problem imo.

same here tried outdoor lambing for a time, but came to the conclusion either get out of sheep or house them

converted an old cubicle house and added on a bit ,


straw, and more straw, a shot of spectam scour halt along with ensuring each lamb gets at least 150 ml of colostrum within 2-3 hours of birth will cut out a lot disease issues

Lano Lynn

tabby aspreme wrote: »

If you can keep lots of straw under them it helps to keep disease levels down, been lambing indoors for 14 years and never have much bother, before ewes are housed I cover the floor and walls of the sheds with white lime, do the walls up about 4 ft the same as scudding for plaster, I think it also helps if your lambing in one batch compared to lambing over a prolonged time, and definitely colostrum is the best disease prevention

absolutely spot on colostrum is the key to a disease prevention,
which comes down to feeding,breeding & culling.

have been lambing inside for 25 years never had big problem with disease
ventilation is important and constant footbathing
didn't even get shed cleaned out last year
put ewes in in november with the rams cos it was so wet!
didn't have any problems
(appart from extra straw,silage&meal)

tight lambing period is good for the shepherd too

Dickie10

yep colostrum is the one thing to make lambs do. plenty of straw to, and if weather is any way right out the next day. I try to be on the ball when ewes lamb , I put them in a pen, grab a jug , milk the colostrum into jug, pour into a bottle , bout 100-150 ml each lamb, 95% of time they start sucking the bottle after a few mins born, if the ewes are well fed before lambing. I find the lifeline yellow buckets brilliant for giving new born lambs vitality.Once the lambs have colostrum in them you can walk away, as they have the power then to feed themselves, it may sound like work but I find it a lot easier than pushing a lamb under a ewe trying to get it to suck.

Conmaicne Mara

Dickie10 wrote: »

yep colostrum is the one thing to make lambs do. plenty of straw to, and if weather is any way right out the next day. I try to be on the ball when ewes lamb , I put them in a pen, grab a jug , milk the colostrum into jug, pour into a bottle , bout 100-150 ml each lamb, 95% of time they start sucking the bottle after a few mins born, if the ewes are well fed before lambing. I find the lifeline yellow buckets brilliant for giving new born lambs vitality.Once the lambs have colostrum in them you can walk away, as they have the power then to feed themselves, it may sound like work but I find it a lot easier than pushing a lamb under a ewe trying to get it to suck.

Did you ever try stomach tubing them,find it much better than bottles.

Lano Lynn

Dickie10 wrote: »

yep colostrum is the one thing to make lambs do. plenty of straw to, and if weather is any way right out the next day. I try to be on the ball when ewes lamb , I put them in a pen, grab a jug , milk the colostrum into jug, pour into a bottle , bout 100-150 ml each lamb, 95% of time they start sucking the bottle after a few mins born, if the ewes are well fed before lambing. I find the lifeline yellow buckets brilliant for giving new born lambs vitality.Once the lambs have colostrum in them you can walk away, as they have the power then to feed themselves, it may sound like work but I find it a lot easier than pushing a lamb under a ewe trying to get it to suck.

this is the road to breeding softer stupid sheep.the industry needs to breed lambs that get up and suck for themselves.
that level of molly coddling led to dopy suffolk lambs and texels are heading the same way.
there are occaisions when it is nessesary to assist lambs but it should NOT be routine.
If a lamb must to be fed colostrum, better to tube feed it with stored or colostrum mix so when the dumb s**t does go to suck the ewe there is plenty there

sea12

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Did you ever try stomach tubing them,find it much better than bottles.

Why don't u just knock the ewe. Quick feed and Ure done. U know the ewe is milking ok and the lamb sucks the ewe. I would only stomach feed a lamb if it was very weak.

AnFeirmeoir

I treat lambs like a 100 euro note!

All the hard work is done. It's a shame to leave anything to chance at the critical first day stage.
Tube them if I think they anyway weak or stupid .

Lano Lynn

AnFeirmeoir wrote: »

I treat lambs like a 100 euro note!

All the hard work is done. It's a shame to leave anything to chance at the critical first day stage.
Tube them if I think they anyway weak or stupid .

thats fair enough but do you keep sheep or do the sheep keep you?:)

Conmaicne Mara

sea12 wrote: »

Why don't u just knock the ewe. Quick feed and Ure done. U know the ewe is milking ok and the lamb sucks the ewe. I would only stomach feed a lamb if it was very weak.

Easier tube a lamb is the ewe is a kicker.

razor8

Dickie10 wrote: »

yep colostrum is the one thing to make lambs do. plenty of straw to, and if weather is any way right out the next day. I try to be on the ball when ewes lamb , I put them in a pen, grab a jug , milk the colostrum into jug, pour into a bottle , bout 100-150 ml each lamb, 95% of time they start sucking the bottle after a few mins born, if the ewes are well fed before lambing. I find the lifeline yellow buckets brilliant for giving new born lambs vitality.Once the lambs have colostrum in them you can walk away, as they have the power then to feed themselves, it may sound like work but I find it a lot easier than pushing a lamb under a ewe trying to get it to suck.

That's sounds like some hardship, do you keep many? Would make a point of not doing it, only if small lambs from a ewe lamb or triplet or that
Long term that will only lead to major labour inputs down the road

eire23

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Easier tube a lamb is the ewe is a kicker.

Definitely, tube him an be done with it. Nothing more annoying than a ewe kicking or that wont stay still

sea12

eire23 wrote: »

Definitely, tube him an be done with it. Nothing more annoying than a ewe kicking or that wont stay still

Rather u than me. Generally I'd only get an odd kicker. Anyway each to their own method.

eire23

sea12 wrote: »

Rather u than me. Generally I'd only get an odd kicker. Anyway each to their own method.

Like ya say its only the odd one and nearly always will be a flighty hogget. Some of the cheviots here used to be mad as hell. Most of the time they will be grand and if i have any doubt about the lamb ill just guide him on to the teat and get him started.