General sheep thread

ganmo

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

doing a bit of a farm plan here,what would people reckon on running 200 ewes and 50 ewe lambs rearing lambs on 15 hectares..ground would be of very good quality with a reseeding program...sheep wise mature ewes would wean 1.7 lambs and 50 ewe lambs would wean usally 1.0 lambs per head also all stock are rotated on fields/paddocks every 5-7 day

You'll be under pressure.

weatherbyfoxer

wrangler wrote: »

Teagasc claim that 10 -12 ewes hectare is the optimum and we've 16/ha so yours is doable, we've 12 paddocks and I think that's important for high stocking rates. The longer you can rest paddocks the better

usally the sheep here are mixed grazed along with a calf to beef enterprise..grazing is over 8 fields that are split temporarily in 2 or even 4 when grass is really flying in may/june...fair play on running 16/ha..you must run a very tight ship

wrangler

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

usally the sheep here are mixed grazed along with a calf to beef enterprise..grazing is over 8 fields that are split temporarily in 2 or even 4 when grass is really flying in may/june...fair play on running 16/ha..you must run a very tight ship

Only farming 5ha now, the rest is leased at 300/acre but the basics are the same, Worms are a huge challenge, it's a different league to low stocked sheep and but for OH learning how to do FECs we'd be dosing all the time. any way it's an interest.
Anyone that I've advised away from beef to sheep is impressed with the difference.

Young95

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

doing a bit of a farm plan here,what would people reckon on running 200 ewes and 50 ewe lambs rearing lambs on 15 hectares..ground would be of very good quality with a reseeding program...sheep wise mature ewes would wean 1.7 lambs and 50 ewe lambs would wean usally 1.0 lambs per head also all stock are rotated on fields/paddocks every 5-7 day

Would you have enough room to house all those sheep for 3 months of the year to give ground a break ?

wrangler

Young95 wrote: »

Would you have enough room to house all those sheep for 3 months of the year to give ground a break ?

It wouldn't be achievable unless they are in or off the land for 100 -120 days

weatherbyfoxer

wrangler wrote: »

Only farming 5ha now, the rest is leased at 300/acre but the basics are the same, Worms are a huge challenge, it's a different league to low stocked sheep and but for OH learning how to do FECs we'd be dosing all the time. any way it's an interest.
Anyone that I've advised away from beef to sheep is impressed with the difference.

i find the mixed grazing a big benefit here with worm burdens..rotating with reseeding and rape seems to reduce it too...what do you reckon people are impressed with the most with moving away from beef to all sheep?..was considering it here myself but labour and additional investment in sheds and handling facilities would dash much hope of it being more profitable in my setup reckon

wrangler

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

i find the mixed grazing a big benefit here with worm burdens..rotating with reseeding and rape seems to reduce it too...what do you reckon people are impressed with the most with moving away from beef to all sheep?..was considering it here myself but labour and additional investment in sheds and handling facilities would dash much hope of it being more profitable in my setup reckon

Mainly that sheep pays better, land is good around here and the the disadvantage is the wet autumns nowadays is making extended grazing impossible for sucklers causing long winter costs, some are changing from stores to beef to sheep because of the price of stores for the last few years, It's the next choice to dairying as regards a sustinable enterprise, you're not competing with stupid beef farmers in the ring to keep the farm stocked, you can run a 200 ewe sheep farm and the only animal you have to buy is a couple rams so huge opportunity to keep costs down, If you can incorporate typhon into your system and make 70+dmd silage, your ration costs can be minimal

charolais0153

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

usally the sheep here are mixed grazed along with a calf to beef enterprise..grazing is over 8 fields that are split temporarily in 2 or even 4 when grass is really flying in may/june...fair play on running 16/ha..you must run a very tight ship

Be fine from Patrick's day til halloween, in between then is the difficulty, have you calfs on the 15ha too?
Have 20 paddocks here on similar acres. More paddocks, easier to manage them

weatherbyfoxer

charolais0153 wrote: »

Be fine from Patrick's day til halloween, in between then is the difficulty, have you calfs on the 15ha too?
Have 20 paddocks here on similar acres. More paddocks, easier to manage them

id be shedding the ewe from the middle of November and lambing from paddy day on..have 30ha in the grazing block in total with a 60 animal dairy calf to beef enterprises running it too...so allowing 15 ha to each enterprise..im currently not far off the stocking rates im asking about but feel it could support a few more mouths

charolais0153

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

id be shedding the ewe from the middle of November and lambing from paddy day on..have 30ha in the grazing block in total with a 60 animal dairy calf to beef enterprises running it too...so allowing 15 ha to each enterprise..im currently not far off the stocking rates im asking about but feel it could support a few more mouths

30 calves every year? Ya I think youd keep extra ewes, easy keep the calve going and the weanlings demands will complement with the ewes, with it rising when the ewes drops,

weatherbyfoxer

charolais0153 wrote: »

30 calves every year? Ya I think youd keep extra ewes, easy keep the calve going and the weanlings demands will complement with the ewes, with it rising when the ewes drops,

yea rearing around 30 calves and selling at 24 months...i find so far the 2 systems match up very well together

wrangler

charolais0153 wrote: »

30 calves every year? Ya I think youd keep extra ewes, easy keep the calve going and the weanlings demands will complement with the ewes, with it rising when the ewes drops,

Yea those stocking rates must nearly require a derogation,
I know that if we don't get rid of the cull ewes by august 1st we'd have to apply for derogation ......probably never be checked but you never know

weatherbyfoxer

wrangler wrote: »

Yea those stocking rates must nearly require a derogation,
I know that if we don't get rid of the cull ewes by august 1st we'd have to apply for derogation ......probably never be checked but you never know

could possibly be alright but its something ill be enquiring about with my advisor,..definitely all do able doe i reckon,have also started to change the breeding program here with the flock this year with a switch from big mule and suffolk x type ewes to llyen x ewes

Young95

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

could possibly be alright but its something ill be enquiring about with my advisor,..definitely all do able doe i reckon,have also started to change the breeding program here with the flock this year with a switch from big mule and suffolk x type ewes to llyen x ewes

is there any disadvantage with the mule ewes do you think? Personally I can’t stand them !

weatherbyfoxer

Young95 wrote: »

is there any disadvantage with the mule ewes do you think? Personally I can’t stand them !

if i was buying in hoggets or ewe lambs there the only sheep id buy..put a texel on them and you'll get great ewe lambs for breeding or factory...but im after a slighty smaller quiet ewe now and after buying 30 llyen x texels 2yr old back last July im very impressed how easy handled they are and seem to throw very smart lambs also

kk.man

I have paddocks here for the cattle but I am not intensive with the sheep. Years back I had suckers and sheep on an intensive system.

What I found was never let the sheep and cattle mix during the spring and summer months as it throws your grazing rotation off. If cattle and sheep share a paddock that paddock takes longer to recover as sheep graze it bare.

My hoggets are still on goodish cattle grass now as the cattle are not out on the land. When grazed they will return to their own section as I need grass for the cattle in the spring.

roosky

wrangler wrote: »

Teagasc claim that 10 -12 ewes hectare is the optimum and we've 16/ha so yours is doable, we've 12 paddocks and I think that's important for high stocking rates. The longer you can rest paddocks the better

The optimum is the max number of ewes you can carry, a ewe rearing 1.5 lambs requires 1 tonne dm/ha and at 1.8 lambs it’s 1.1 tonne so if you can grow 8 tonnes then 8 ewes/ha is your optimum, if you grow 10 tonnes, 10 ewes/ha is your optimum and so on....when you stock higher ewes/ha than tonnes of grass grown the concentrate input becomes too costly and it’s not profitable.

I’d don’t know if your growing the full 16 tonnes of grass wrangler but I do recall you saying you don’t make silage and feed ewes extra meal instead so that scenario would change things a bit and the above rule probably doesn’t line up with your system.

wrangler

roosky wrote: »

The optimum is the max number of ewes you can carry, a ewe rearing 1.5 lambs requires 1 tonne dm/ha and at 1.8 lambs it’s 1.1 tonne so if you can grow 8 tonnes then 8 ewes/ha is your optimum, if you grow 10 tonnes, 10 ewes/ha is your optimum and so on....when you stock higher ewes/ha than tonnes of grass grown the concentrate input becomes too costly and it’s not profitable.

I’d don’t know if your growing the full 16 tonnes of grass wrangler but I do recall you saying you don’t make silage and feed ewes extra meal instead so that scenario would change things a bit and the above rule probably doesn’t line up with your system.

We grew 15.2kg dm/ha this year, we usually sell extra silage, hate doing it, we're feeding silage at the moment for the first time in 15 + yrs. I know now why I don't want the job of forking silage and ewes are only in two days.
It's really only a hobby and we're fully prepared to go with the creep feeder or snacker at any time. I see people at every stocking rate not feeding ewes properly and then selling stores in October at weights that we'd be weaning at.
Plenty are advising on facebook not to feed ewes properly, either they're running ewes across a ranch in the winter or they're stacking up a heap of trouble for themselves, youu wouldn't believe how little they know about the protein requirement of prolific ewes

Sami23

What do people find the best spray for Ewe's with sore feet/scald, footrot ?
Have Terramycin here myself but just wondering is there something better out there. I see Feet First spray in Gibsons wonder if it's any good

White Clover

Sami23 wrote: »

What do people find the best spray for Ewe's with sore feet/scald, footrot ?
Have Terramycin here myself but just wondering is there something better out there. I see Feet First spray in Gibsons wonder if it's any good

Could you run them through a footbath? I find it the best of all. I have used repiderma green spray too and found it good. Got it in local frs. They'd be dealing with foot problems all the time.

roosky

wrangler wrote: »

We grew 15.2kg dm/ha this year, we usually sell extra silage, hate doing it, we're feeding silage at the moment for the first time in 15 + yrs. I know now why I don't want the job of forking silage and ewes are only in two days.
It's really only a hobby and we're fully prepared to go with the creep feeder or snacker at any time. I see people at every stocking rate not feeding ewes properly and then selling stores in October at weights that we'd be weaning at.
Plenty are advising on facebook not to feed ewes properly, either they're running ewes across a ranch in the winter or they're stacking up a heap of trouble for themselves, youu wouldn't believe how little they know about the protein requirement of prolific ewes

I wasn't doubting you for a second Wrangler....15 tonnes is serious going!!

I fully agree with your views on the Facebook advice, all advice aimed at feeding less to ewes during pregnancy but i would far sooner put it into the ewe at that stage and have strong healty lambs under a ewe with lots of milk than be feeding it to store lambs in the back end of the year.....having ewes in good condition seems to rule out a hell of a lot of issues around lambing and beyond.

wrangler

roosky wrote: »

I wasn't doubting you for a second Wrangler....15 tonnes is serious going!!

I fully agree with your views on the Facebook advice, all advice aimed at feeding less to ewes during pregnancy but i would far sooner put it into the ewe at that stage and have strong healty lambs under a ewe with lots of milk than be feeding it to store lambs in the back end of the year.....having ewes in good condition seems to rule out a hell of a lot of issues around lambing and beyond.

If you're planning to avoid feeding meal after lambing, it's nearly impossible for a ewe to eat enough grass to milk for two lambs so she milks off her back, but what happens if she's a condition score 2 or 2.5 when she's lambing, as you say feed them during pregnancy and she'll have the reserve enabling her to milk off her back to supplement grass.
We used to always have about 200ewes plus lambs in a group and even with the snacker it was chaos feeding after lambing, lambs getting dirtied and rejected so we changed to having the ewes fit to milk off their back to supplement the grass

Siamsa Sessions

“Garbage in garbage out” is a phrase from my off-farm job, when people are taking about analysing data. Poor data sets lead to poor analysis.

The talk of feeding the ewe during pregnancy reminded of that phrase - you can’t feed her nothing and expect her to rear 2 well-fed lambs. They’re not magicians able to produce milk out of thin air!

Siamsa Sessions

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

“Garbage in garbage out” is a phrase from my off-farm job, when people are taking about analysing data. Poor data sets lead to poor analysis.

The talk of feeding the ewe during pregnancy reminded of that phrase - you can’t feed her nothing and expect her to rear 2 well-fed lambs. They’re not magicians able to produce milk out of thin air!

Its pure maddness under-feeding ewes in pregancy

You dunno what the spring will bring in terms of grass or droughts in early summer etc,fed your ewe to provide condition to fall on if needed




Lads complaining about cost of feeding an animal are in same idiocy as a contractor complaining about diesel/maintenace costs

Feed and fertilizer are cheapest money,you'll ever spend,your near always gauranteed it back

ganmo

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Its pure maddness under-feeding ewes in pregancy

You dunno what the spring will bring in terms of grass or droughts in early summer etc,fed your ewe to provide condition to fall on if needed




Lads complaining about cost of feeding an animal are in same idiocy as a contractor complaining about diesel/maintenace costs

Feed and fertilizer are cheapest money,you'll ever spend,your near always gauranteed it back

Ya ever hear the phrase An ounce of breeding is worth a pound of feeding

Hard Knocks

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

if i was buying in hoggets or ewe lambs there the only sheep id buy..put a texel on them and you'll get great ewe lambs for breeding or factory...but im after a slighty smaller quiet ewe now and after buying 30 llyen x texels 2yr old back last July im very impressed how easy handled they are and seem to throw very smart lambs also

Suffolk x mule is a good cross too

weatherbyfoxer

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Suffolk x mule is a good cross too[/quote

way to big n hungry i found,the texel mule is a nicer ewe in my experience anyway

wrangler

Brian mathews has just come up on my facebook selling tickets for a blacknose valais Wether, ...... a wether ffs .....have people lost the run of themselves.
Based on the lotto so 47 numbers at €20/ ticket, €940 for a wether

roosky

wrangler wrote: »

Brian mathews has just come up on my facebook selling tickets for a blacknose valais Wether, ...... a wether ffs .....have people lost the run of themselves.
Based on the lotto so 47 numbers at €20/ ticket, €940 for a wether

Ya I took a notion early in summer to but a valais black nose ewe for the craic as kids here would enjoy it...:.logged in online to the sale held up north.....wether lambs were making 5/6/7 hundred euro .......I logged out and forgot about buying a ewe 😅

Siamsa Sessions

roosky wrote: »

Ya I took a notion early in summer to but a valais black nose ewe for the craic as kids here would enjoy it...:.logged in online to the sale held up north.....wether lambs were making 5/6/7 hundred euro .......I logged out and forgot about buying a ewe 😅

Would I be right in saying people buy them for pets like cats and dogs more than meat-producing farm animals?