General sheep thread

Username John

Ewe hoggets gone off this morning...

The lorry brought ewe lambs to replace them...

So, here we go again...

Oh, this time next year Rodney - we'll be millionaires

kk.man

Username John wrote: »

Ewe hoggets gone off this morning...

The lorry brought ewe lambs to replace them...

So, here we go again...

Oh, this time next year Rodney - we'll be millionaires

U know what...walking thru my hoggets on Sunday I recalled the exact same quote!

Bullocks

Username John wrote: »

Ewe hoggets gone off this morning...

The lorry brought ewe lambs to replace them...

So, here we go again...

Oh, this time next year Rodney - we'll be millionaires

Are you much worse off fattening rather than lambing ewes , or maybe better off even ?

roosky

Bullocks wrote: »

Are you much worse off fattening rather than lambing ewes , or maybe better off even ?

i'd say there is a huge variation depending on the flock performance but in my opinion if your weaning below 1.6 lambs per ewe to the ram and are not keeping replacement rate at 20% or less, you were as far on at hoggets !

No money out of ewes unless run very well

Bleating Lamb

Was chatting several farmers over last few months who are switching from lambing ewes to buying in ewe lambs and selling them next year as hoggetts,mostly because they are getting on in years and have no help for lambing.
Age profile of farmers in this part of Country is getting older every year (North West)....and is probably the same around the Country.

Up to now you always had farmers who specialised in hoggetts but if a lot of people get out of the drudgery of lambing it will leave the hoggett market flooded and you could see a price collapse for them.

roosky

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Was chatting several farmers over last few months who are switching from lambing ewes to buying in ewe lambs and selling them next year as hoggetts,mostly because they are getting on in years and have no help for lambing.
Age profile of farmers in this part of Country is getting older every year (North West)....and is probably the same around the Country.

Up to now you always had farmers who specialised in hoggetts but if a lot of people get out of the drudgery of lambing it will leave the hoggett market flooded and you could see a price collapse for them.

Same in a lot of parts of the country,

The reality is that the price of good hoggets (160-180) is completely over the top as you would keep your own replacement for a lot less closer to 130, but lads are still willing to give a premium to avoid the hassle of keeping their own.

charolais0153

roosky wrote: »

Same in a lot of parts of the country,

The reality is that the price of good hoggets (160-180) is completely over the top as you would keep your own replacement for a lot less closer to 130, but lads are still willing to give a premium to avoid the hassle of keeping their own.

Do u out a value on your own ewe lambs , we sell our for 130 so it'd be roughly 5Oe to keep them for the year and then you'd have to keep less ewes

tomwaterford

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Was chatting several farmers over last few months who are switching from lambing ewes to buying in ewe lambs and selling them next year as hoggetts,mostly because they are getting on in years and have no help for lambing.
Age profile of farmers in this part of Country is getting older every year (North West)....and is probably the same around the Country.

Up to now you always had farmers who specialised in hoggetts but if a lot of people get out of the drudgery of lambing it will leave the hoggett market flooded and you could see a price collapse for them.

What you'll have is a collaspe in prices for finished lambs as there will be no market for hoggets and I remain skeptical factories wouldn't buy them up to keep lid on lamb prices

roosky

charolais0153 wrote: »

Do u out a value on your own ewe lambs , we sell our for 130 so it'd be roughly 5Oe to keep them for the year and then you'd have to keep less ewes

Realistically a ewe lamb isnt worth 130, i know someone will say i seen mule ewe lambs go for 180 but that's madness too!

In my opinion they are only worth about 110 because your lambs will only average €100 unless you lamb very early at a low stocking rate.

"if someone pays 150 for ewe lambs then they are worth 150", yes technically but from a completely financial point of view with the hope of making money from ewes a price of above 110 for ewe lambs or 160 for hoggets is not justifiable

Username John

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Was chatting several farmers over last few months who are switching from lambing ewes to buying in ewe lambs and selling them next year as hoggetts,mostly because they are getting on in years and have no help for lambing.
Age profile of farmers in this part of Country is getting older every year (North West)....and is probably the same around the Country.

Up to now you always had farmers who specialised in hoggetts but if a lot of people get out of the drudgery of lambing it will leave the hoggett market flooded and you could see a price collapse for them.

Yep - this is what I'm at now, which means prices will probably collapse... I'm lucky like that

Between days lost at work and a small family that the days off work should be spent on - I couldn't justify taking holidays for lambing any more...

So we'll give this a go and see how we get on...

Not sure I'll make my fortune at it
But it suits me much better than lambing... but that's probably the exact reason plenty lads are going at it, and the reason it might all go to ****...

rangler1

Username John wrote: »

Yep - this is what I'm at now, which means prices will probably collapse... I'm lucky like that

Between days lost at work and a small family that the days off work should be spent on - I couldn't justify taking holidays for lambing any more...

So we'll give this a go and see how we get on...

Not sure I'll make my fortune at it
But it suits me much better than lambing... but that's probably the exact reason plenty lads are going at it, and the reason it might all go to ****...

Yea two friends are buying ewe lambs at the moment, changing from lambing,
If you've sold and bought in ewelambs for this year, did you make money at it.

charolais0153

roosky wrote: »

Realistically a ewe lamb isnt worth 130, i know someone will say i seen mule ewe lambs go for 180 but that's madness too!

In my opinion they are only worth about 110 because your lambs will only average €100 unless you lamb very early at a low stocking rate.

"if someone pays 150 for ewe lambs then they are worth 150", yes technically but from a completely financial point of view with the hope of making money from ewes a price of above 110 for ewe lambs or 160 for hoggets is not justifiable

So you say your going to pay less for your breeding stock than the price of a fat lamb?lamb price this year has dropped almost 6 weeks later

We lamb mid to late Feb ,mixed farm so half stock is ewes other half cattle, cattle let out in April.

Green farmer

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Age profile of farmers in this part of Country is getting older every year (North West)....and is probably the same around the Country.

.

I won't want to stand around a cold lambing shed for a month when I hit my 60's. Personally as I progress in years (even though I'm still relatively young ) , I think lambing will become too hard on the body. changing my sheep to as maternal a breed as I can to make life easier on myself now. Makes you wonder is the way forward keeping romneys and the like, letting the sheep do the work outside themselves ? And the farmer looking out the window of their house.

ganmo

roosky wrote: »

Realistically a ewe lamb isnt worth 130, i know someone will say i seen mule ewe lambs go for 180 but that's madness too!

In my opinion they are only worth about 110 because your lambs will only average €100 unless you lamb very early at a low stocking rate.

"if someone pays 150 for ewe lambs then they are worth 150", yes technically but from a completely financial point of view with the hope of making money from ewes a price of above 110 for ewe lambs or 160 for hoggets is not justifiable

the next load of lambs that you've ready to go split them pull out the ewe lambs and send them to the mart and see how much of a difference there is.

We get 120 for 40kg ewe lambs regularly a month before their mates are ready for factory. So the market decides they're worth it as breeding stock or hoggets.

And there's another premium you're forgetting about, store lamb guys that don't want to be caught with ram lambs

arctictree

I bought a big batch of ewe lambs for €108 last Autumn and kept them outside on silage ground I had over winter. Am tempted to try and sell them now for €180 as they are fine sheep. They were very little work. On the other hand, I have the space, so may as well lamb them now.....decisions...

Username John

rangler1 wrote: »

Yea two friends are buying ewe lambs at the moment, changing from lambing,
If you've sold and bought in ewelambs for this year, did you make money at it.

Honest answer...

Did I make money at it - YES
Did I make much money at it - NOT REALLY
Did I have the money I made already spent - YES

Its a hobby, I don't see how anyone would make much money at it.

But - if fits my lifestyle now... The big win for me, is no lambing, so no holidays lost. That saving alone, makes the hoggets far more profitable (in avoiding an opportunity loss)

arctictree

Username John wrote: »

Honest answer...

Did I make money at it - YES
Did I make much money at it - NOT REALLY
Did I have the money I made already spent - YES

Its a hobby, I don't see how anyone would make much money at it.

But - if fits my lifestyle now... The big win for me, is no lambing, so no holidays lost. That saving alone, makes the hoggets far more profitable (in avoiding an opportunity loss)

Where do you buy your ewe lambs?

Was thinking of buying a few pure breeds at a show near me and holding them for a year. Could be an expensive buy though.

roosky

charolais0153 wrote: »

So you say your going to pay less for your breeding stock than the price of a fat lamb?lamb price this year has dropped almost 6 weeks later

We lamb mid to late Feb ,mixed farm so half stock is ewes other half cattle, cattle let out in April.

NO Im lambing in march on a sheep only grazing block stocked at 10 ewes to the ha so I average a lamb price of 98 to 100 euro per lamb

Username John

arctictree wrote: »

Where do you buy your ewe lambs?

Was thinking of buying a few pure breeds at a show near me and holding them for a year. Could be an expensive buy though.

I got mine through an agent I suppose you'd say... All done over a few phone calls...

They organise the purchase and delivery of ewe lambs, and the sale and collection of the ewe hoggets...

It works for me, as I dont have time for marts or the likes...

The one down side is, I have no idea on prices, as am not in marts. So hard for me to gauge good or bad prices...

stantheman1979

It could be the best way of the lot. Buy a load of ewe lambs in the west for small money then bring them over and flog them for €20 a head extra the next week. They're outta you're hair and money made back in a few days.

Bleating Lamb

Username John wrote: »

I got mine through an agent I suppose you'd say... All done over a few phone calls...

They organise the purchase and delivery of ewe lambs, and the sale and collection of the ewe hoggets...

It works for me, as I dont have time for marts or the likes...

The one down side is, I have no idea on prices, as am not in marts. So hard for me to gauge good or bad prices...

Appreciate it's hard for you to get time to go to a mart but you would need to trust your agent very well to be sure they would not be 'welding on' too much to the price of the ewe lambs you are buying in.

Whatever they will be like price wise this time next year as hoggetts,a good ewe Lamb will be dear enough this year.Was in Manorhamilton mart today,saw Milford type ewe lambs make 104 euro,would only have been about 35 kg and imo would make hard fed sheep.

Username John

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Appreciate it's hard for you to get time to go to a mart but you would need to trust your agent very well to be sure they would not be 'welding on' too much to the price of the ewe lambs you are buying in.

Whatever they will be like price wise this time next year as hoggetts,a good ewe Lamb will be dear enough this year.Was in Manorhamilton mart today,saw Milford type ewe lambs make 104 euro,would only have been about 35 kg and imo would make hard fed sheep.

Yeah, you're right...

And I suppose I do trust them to be fair. Sure I have to

When buying, I am told a price per kg, plus the agents fee. So you know what you'll be paying... Then it's a matter of finding ewe lambs in the weight I want... they were a bit heavier than I'd like this year, so a small bit more money... but that's ok...

And I didn't pay 104euro for lambs, I don't think I'd make much money buying lambs at that price...

Tell me, what's a Milford ewe? The lambs I got are Suffolk cross, nice enough lambs to be fair...

IH784man

Username John wrote: »

Yeah, you're right...

And I suppose I do trust them to be fair. Sure I have to

When buying, I am told a price per kg, plus the agents fee. So you know what you'll be paying... Then it's a matter of finding ewe lambs in the weight I want... they were a bit heavier than I'd like this year, so a small bit more money... but that's ok...

And I didn't pay 104euro for lambs, I don't think I'd make much money buying lambs at that price...

Tell me, what's a Milford ewe? The lambs I got are Suffolk cross, nice enough lambs to be fair...

Be worse if they were too small.
Milford ewe is similar to a mule but a bigger build I'm nearly sure.Cheviot ewe x Suffolk ram would come close to a Milford ewe.

Bleating Lamb

Username John wrote: »

Yeah, you're right...

And I suppose I do trust them to be fair. Sure I have to

When buying, I am told a price per kg, plus the agents fee. So you know what you'll be paying... Then it's a matter of finding ewe lambs in the weight I want... they were a bit heavier than I'd like this year, so a small bit more money... but that's ok...

And I didn't pay 104euro for lambs, I don't think I'd make much money buying lambs at that price...

Tell me, what's a Milford ewe? The lambs I got are Suffolk cross, nice enough lambs to be fair...

Pm sent.

IH784man

https://www.donedeal.ie/sheep-for-sale/suffolk-x-cheviot-hoggets/16233177
Some quality hoggets from James Alexander

Farmer_3650

IH784man wrote: »

https://www.donedeal.ie/sheep-for-sale/suffolk-x-cheviot-hoggets/16233177
Some quality hoggets from James Alexander

Quality Heifers too. Bit expensive though

Bullocks

What does the "tight skin " mean ?

Jonny303

Anyone using the cheviot mule or the suffolk x cheviot mule?

sako 85

Jonny303 wrote: »

Anyone using the cheviot mule or the suffolk x cheviot mule?

We run Suffolk rams with Cheviot ewes, I find the ewe lambs from this cross make good Mother, more prolific than the pure cheviot and have good factory lambs when ran with Texel, Char or even Suffolk again. very popular in this part of the country (Wicklow)

charolais0153

sako 85 wrote: »

We run Suffolk rams with Cheviot ewes, I find the ewe lambs from this cross make good Mother, more prolific than the pure cheviot and have good factory lambs when ran with Texel, Char or even Suffolk again. very popular in this part of the country (Wicklow)

How are the purebred Suffolk ewes doung