General sheep thread

Birdnuts

ganmo wrote: »

Had a ewe in the garden of the house that looks like she ate holly and ended up croaking. Fecking sheep!!

Neighbour of mine lost several sheep a couple of years ago to Rhododedron/Laurel. Both are a seriously invasive species now in many parts of the West:(

Tileman

farawaygrass wrote: »

Very high losses here too. Man and weather problems, me being the man! It was tough work this spring

Was travelling up around Galway last week and here was allot of cold hungry sheep. Arches back on lambs. Fields in ****e. Think allot of lads would be better if waiting until end of March to lamb.

charolais0153

Tileman wrote: »

Was travelling up around Galway last week and here was allot of cold hungry sheep. Arches back on lambs. Fields in ****e. Think allot of lads would be better if waiting until end of March to lamb.

Itd save a lot of hassle, especially the way the pruce drops so quick, chasing your tail for nothing

Lambman

Does many people on here sponge ewes? Seriously thinking about it next year heard it's about €5 per ewe which is steep but you could offset alot against feed if u knew exact date of lambing.whats tough % holds 1st time? Would be crossbreds ewes. Have and can get enough good rams for a 1-8 ratio

Siamsa Sessions

Lambman wrote: »

Does many people on here sponge ewes? Seriously thinking about it next year heard it's about €5 per ewe which is steep but you could offset alot against feed if u knew exact date of lambing.whats tough % holds 1st time? Would be crossbreds ewes. Have and can get enough good rams for a 1-8 ratio

We sponged them for the first time last July/August. Only did 31 and I think it cost closer to €8/ewe. Might be a little cheaper if you had large numbers. The sponges are cheap enough (maybe €1-2 each) but it's the PMSG that's expensive. Comes in small 20ml bottles that each do 10 ewes (2ml each). They're €60 each in our local vets and they have to order it in. Having said that, I saw a guy on Twitter say he sponges them but gives them oats instead around the time and that works as well as the PMSG. I don't know if that's the case though.

We lambed from 4-25 January. Lambing was easy and the good weather in January meant we got them all out at that stage. It's been rough since then though in all the rain and muck. Feeding meal outside is not much craic, especially when you run out of grass.

Re % holding first time: 29 out of 31 were in lamb here. They lambed roughly in two batches - half after first service (4-Jan) and half after second service (20-Jan).

Overall, getting them in lamb early seems very manageable. The real work starts after they lamb and there's another 2 months of winter still to go. Maybe feeding beet outside post-lambing might help, alongside the meal. But it all depends on your set-up, how much time you have, etc.

And that's before you look at the factories now quoting €6.50 for Spring lamb (€123 for 19kg carcase or 40kg live weight). It'd want to be at least €7.50 to really make it worthwhile (€142).

wrangler

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

We sponged them for the first time last July/August. Only did 31 and I think it cost closer to €8/ewe. Might be a little cheaper if you had large numbers. The sponges are cheap enough (maybe €1-2 each) but it's the PMSG that's expensive. Comes in small 20ml bottles that each do 10 ewes (2ml each). They're €60 each in our local vets and they have to order it in. Having said that, I saw a guy on Twitter say he sponges them but gives them oats instead around the time and that works as well as the PMSG. I don't know if that's the case though.

We lambed from 4-25 January. Lambing was easy and the good weather in January meant we got them all out at that stage. It's been rough since then though in all the rain and muck. Feeding meal outside is not much craic, especially when you run out of grass.

Re % holding first time: 29 out of 31 were in lamb here. They lambed roughly in two batches - half after first service (4-Jan) and half after second service (20-Jan).

Overall, getting them in lamb early seems very manageable. The real work starts after they lamb and there's another 2 months of winter still to go. Maybe feeding beet outside post-lambing might help, alongside the meal. But it all depends on your set-up, how much time you have, etc.

And that's before you look at the factories now quoting €6.50 for Spring lamb (€123 for 19kg carcase or 40kg live weight). It'd want to be at least €7.50 to really make it worthwhile (€142).

Ewes lambing out of season have a smaller crop of lambs and are less fertile hence the PMSG to improve prolificacy and fertility ,You mightn't needit for march lambing

Siamsa Sessions

wrangler wrote: »

Ewes lambing out of season have a smaller crop of lambs and are less fertile hence the PMSG to improve prolificacy and fertility ,You mightn't needit for march lambing

We have a smaller crop of lambs this year compared to last year (even though I know 2019 was a good year for numbers anyway)

We weaned 1.8 lambs/ewe in 2019 after lambing in March, but we're only at 1.5 for 2020, lambing in January.

If we go back to lambing in March again, I was half-thinking of sponging them to tighten up the spread, but the ram effect worked well for us before so would probably just go with that.

foxirl

Lambman wrote: »

Does many people on here sponge ewes? Seriously thinking about it next year heard it's about €5 per ewe which is steep but you could offset alot against feed if u knew exact date of lambing.whats tough % holds 1st time? Would be crossbreds ewes. Have and can get enough good rams for a 1-8 ratio

Sponged 40 last october for lambing around 15th March. No PMSG. Cost was €73 for 40 sponges. Only had two rams so pulled sponges out on two separate days 2 days apart so each ram had 10 ewes each for 2 days and then a new set of 10 each after that. Left the rams with ewes then for next month. All in lamb. 50% lambed in first week they were due then nothing for the next week. So should start again now. Probably could have done with another ram to bring average down a bit.

wrangler

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

We sponged them for the first time last July/August. Only did 31 and I think it cost closer to €8/ewe. Might be a little cheaper if you had large numbers. The sponges are cheap enough (maybe €1-2 each) but it's the PMSG that's expensive. Comes in small 20ml bottles that each do 10 ewes (2ml each). They're €60 each in our local vets and they have to order it in. Having said that, I saw a guy on Twitter say he sponges them but gives them oats instead around the time and that works as well as the PMSG. I don't know if that's the case though.

We lambed from 4-25 January. Lambing was easy and the good weather in January meant we got them all out at that stage. It's been rough since then though in all the rain and muck. Feeding meal outside is not much craic, especially when you run out of grass.

Re % holding first time: 29 out of 31 were in lamb here. They lambed roughly in two batches - half after first service (4-Jan) and half after second service (20-Jan).

Overall, getting them in lamb early seems very manageable. The real work starts after they lamb and there's another 2 months of winter still to go. Maybe feeding beet outside post-lambing might help, alongside the meal. But it all depends on your set-up, how much time you have, etc.

And that's before you look at the factories now quoting €6.50 for Spring lamb (€123 for 19kg carcase or 40kg live weight). It'd want to be at least €7.50 to really make it worthwhile (€142).

Did the first ewes have a better crop than the repeats. Pmsg doesn't help the repeats,only effective for a few days.

Siamsa Sessions

wrangler wrote: »

Did the first ewes have a better crop than the repeats. Pmsg doesn't help the repeats,only effective for a few days.

I didn't track them that closely. First year not taking all birth weights, mothering ability, etc. as I was just too busy (poor excuse!). I did the first 10 maybe and then forgot about the notebook.

There wasn't anything noticeable between the first lot and the repeats, but we were only dealing with small numbers (30).

PMSG being effective for only a few days would be another reason for me not to use it again.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

I didn't track them that closely. First year not taking all birth weights, mothering ability, etc. as I was just too busy (poor excuse!). I did the first 10 maybe and then forgot about the notebook.

There wasn't anything noticeable between the first lot and the repeats, but we were only dealing with small numbers (30).

PMSG being effective for only a few days would be another reason for me not to use it again.

You could bypass the whole sponging thingy by letting the ram out for early lamb and then taking him away fro a few weeks before midseason return for him.

A small percentage of ewes will breed out of season regardless and if you use a maternal ram on those and keep their ewe lambs, you'll have an out of season flock built up in a few years and no more sponging.

Hard Knocks

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

You could bypass the whole sponging thingy by letting the ram out for early lamb and then taking him away fro a few weeks before midseason return for him.

A small percentage of ewes will breed out of season regardless and if you use a maternal ram on those and keep their ewe lambs, you'll have an out of season flock built up in a few years and no more sponging.

Would sponging tighten the lambing season?

Buford T. Justice XIX

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Would sponging tighten the lambing season?

Yeah, it would. The down side would be needing a lot more single pens for an intense burst of lambing.

I haven't sponged for over 20 years now but I'm thinking of sponging the ewe lambs this year. I'm disappointed with their lambing rate since I lost my supplier of Belclare rams a number of years ago. I've tried a few different suppliers since then but that mans rams suited my management brilliantly.

I've used Ile de France the last few years but I need to cross away from those for a few years again and am scratching my head over what direction to go now.

Green farmer

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Yeah, it would. The down side would be needing a lot more single pens for an intense burst of lambing.

. I'm disappointed with their lambing rate since I lost my supplier of Belclare rams a number of years ago. I've tried a few different suppliers since then but that mans rams suited my management brilliantly.

I've used Ile de France the last few years but I need to cross away from those for a few years again and am scratching my head over what direction to go now.

The Joy's of finding suitable rams. Find it hard here to find a ram that suits my setup as well. Some breeds are too soft, others don't suit unassisted lambing and when you do find a breed to tick those boxes, it turns out the rams are abit too wild. Well that's my experience anyway.

Siamsa Sessions

Green farmer wrote: »

The Joy's of finding suitable rams. Find it hard here to find a ram that suits my setup as well. Some breeds are too soft, others don't suit unassisted lambing and when you do find a breed to tick those boxes, it turns out the rams are abit too wild. Well that's my experience anyway.

I think it was John B. Keane himself said, you could spend your whole life looking for the right greyhound.

I guess we're the same looking for the right ram and type of ewe that suits our system

orm0nd

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

I think it was John B. Keane himself said, you could spend your whole life looking for the right greyhound.

I guess we're the same looking for the right ram and type of ewe that suits our system

and them when we find them think we could do better, and go a different direction and f^*k the whole thing up.

Green farmer

orm0nd wrote: »

and them when we find them think we could do better, and go a different direction and f^*k the whole thing up.

You still using Hampshires ormond ?

orm0nd

Green farmer wrote: »

You still using Hampshires ormond ?

No

Both of the breeders I used to source rams off have retired.

We're cutting back numbers every year as well with the dairy herd expanding since quotas went.

Kevhog1988

With all this working from home I'm getting loads of small jobs done around the place in mornings and evenings. Commuting is some waste of my time

Siamsa Sessions

theemigrant wrote: »

With all this working from home I'm getting loads of small jobs done around the place in mornings and evenings. Commuting is some waste of my time

Working from home could become much more regular now with office-based jobs. Based on a half-hour commute, you’d gain 5 hours per week. And that’s before the extra cars are taken off the road and money/carbon saved too

Kevhog1988

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Working from home could become much more regular now with office-based jobs. Based on a half-hour commute, you’d gain 5 hours per week. And that’s before the extra cars are taken off the road and money/carbon saved too

It was an hour and a half each way. Had everything fed and a few lame ones caught up and sorted before my usual home time

Box09

theemigrant wrote: »

It was an hour and a half each way. Had everything fed and a few lame ones caught up and sorted before my usual home time

Likewise, I'm an hour and half to city centre and back and getting so much extra done. No getting up at 5.30am to do sheep before work. I think a lot of employers will move more to working from home and demand for office space will reduce.

Tileman

Box09 wrote: »

Likewise, I'm an hour and half to city centre and back and getting so much extra done. No getting up at 5.30am to do sheep before work. I think a lot of employers will move more to working from home and demand for office space will reduce.

I’m the same. Don’t think I’ll be able to go back to commuting again. The quality of life is fantastic. Breakfast with the kids , work away during the day . Finished at 5. Run in evening and then do the jobs before I’m normally home.

Ewes lambing next week and I’m actually looking forward to it . If I knows I was going to be home I wouldn’t have sold all the other ewes

Kevhog1988

Tileman wrote: »

I’m the same. Don’t think I’ll be able to go back to commuting again. The quality of life is fantastic. Breakfast with the kids , work away during the day . Finished at 5. Run in evening and then do the jobs before I’m normally home.

Ewes lambing next week and I’m actually looking forward to it . If I knows I was going to be home I wouldn’t have sold all the other ewes

Were lambing at the moment and it's fierce handy

390kid

When you apply for a flock number do you need the shed and the pen?

Siamsa Sessions

390kid wrote: »

When you apply for a flock number do you need the shed and the pen?

You need someplace when they can be inspected, such as the pen or a collecting yard. But having a shed is not mandatory. Check with local Dept though to be sure

joe35

See a few saying about working from home and love spending time farming.

We're lambing away here and never had it so handy, pleasure walking around the stock on nice sunny mornings. If weather was sh1t and I was up to my eyes in muck I'd be thinking, can't wait to get back to the office ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜

Kevhog1988

Had a ewe with triplets this week. Took 1 off and put on the bottle and now she has lost the other two over the past two days. if i brought her in would she take back her own lamb?.

She seems to be a terrible mother as i fear both lambs were attacked by a crows when shed left them alone so will be getting culled but would she get mastitis if i leave her without a lamb?.

Sami23

theemigrant wrote: »

Had a ewe with triplets this week. Took 1 off and put on the bottle and now she has lost the other two over the past two days. If i brought her in would she take back her own lamb?.

Only one way to find out in this case

wrangler

theemigrant wrote: »

Had a ewe with triplets this week. Took 1 off and put on the bottle and now she has lost the other two over the past two days. if i brought her in would she take back her own lamb?.

She seems to be a terrible mother as i fear both lambs were attacked by a crows when shed left them alone so will be getting culled but would she get mastitis if i leave her without a lamb?.

She must have very poor milk supply. crows wouldn't get two healthy lambs.