Starting sheep Farming

mrbrendank

Hi, I am about to take over a farm and i wish turn it into a sheep farm, in the future i plan to have a very big sheep farm but at present i have too much land for the amount of sheep i have but i want to keep the grass down in all areas as much as i can, how does one avoid mastitis in sheep in this case as there will be so much grazing for them.

Thanks in advance,

ganmo

mrbrendank wrote: »

Hi, I am about to take over a farm and i wish turn it into a sheep farm, in the future i plan to have a very big sheep farm but at present i have too much land for the amount of sheep i have but i want to keep the grass down in all areas as much as i can, how does one avoid mastitis in sheep in this case as there will be so much grazing for them.

Thanks in advance,

The intensive sheep farmers are 4 or 5 to the acre.
Mastitis in sheep isn't correlated to grass except for the week or 2 after weaning when you can put them in a small or bare field

davidk1394

Mastitis only happens after the lamb is weaned from the ewe. What some farmers do is put them on a bare filed. At our place we rather put them in and feed them straw for a few days so it is easy keep an eye on them. To keep grass down you could move sheep onto fresh paddocks of grass every 3-4 days this keeps the grass fresh and doesn't hinder the growth of the lambs. However thats easier said than done especially with sheep.
Is it possible to rent out some fields for grazing or for silage for neighbouring ??

iron man

Correction.. we had a pen if ewes just inside the door of the lambing shed. They got one bucket of nuts a day 18% in the morning. Turns out four of them have mastitis after lambing. Why? The auld lad would go in during the day and give them another 1/2 bucket. Didnt know at all.. raging.. dont over feed before lambing. Watch the auld lads.. you couldnt be up to them..

J.O. Farmer

iron man wrote: »

Correction.. we had a pen if ewes just inside the door of the lambing shed. They got one bucket of nuts a day 18% in the morning. Turns out four of them have mastitis after lambing. Why? The auld lad would go in during the day and give them another 1/2 bucket. Didnt know at all.. raging.. dont over feed before lambing. Watch the auld lads.. you couldnt be up to them..

Over feeding before lambing won't cause mastitis. Mastitis is infection of the quarter and before lambing that should be sealed naturally with a keratin plug. The only way mastitis should occur is if the plug gets removed in some way.
Mastitis after weaning is from the quarter getting infected before the plug has a chance to form.

iron man

Must change my vet so..