General sheep thread

orm0nd

DJ98 wrote: »

Was considering getting a lambing camera installed for the coming lambing season, the way the shed is setup is that there is 4 pens, that are divided with walk through troughs, now if the camera was positioned in the middle of the shed and a ewe in the top pen or bottom pen was lambing beside the walk through feeder would you pick this up on the camera or would this be seen as like a blind spot?

No, a good ptz cam would cover a lot more than 4 pens with no blind spots (except behind the internal pillars)

Packrat

390kid wrote: »

Pardon the ignorance but what’s a dingle sheep look like?

Tall horrible leggy narrow horned sheep with more white than black on their faces. Often speckled faced.
There used to be proper deep broad white faced wide horned sheep down here in the Beara area but they've largely disappeared and make silly money now any time they appear.

farming93

Anyone ever get what appears to be an infection above at the joint /hock area? It's very swollen on two of them. I never had it till I bought in some cheviot ewes and a couple have had this problem. I've separated them from the rest of the flock. Anyone any ideas as to what it could be? I will be ringing the vet today but just want to have an idea?

390kid

Dickie10 wrote: »

Zack Dingle breeds them in Yorkshire

Jaysus right 😂

Kevhog1988

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/sheep/check-your-ewe-ration-for-energy.php interesting read

White Clover

farming93 wrote: »

Anyone ever get what appears to be an infection above at the joint /hock area? It's very swollen on two of them. I never had it till I bought in some cheviot ewes and a couple have had this problem. I've separated them from the rest of the flock. Anyone any ideas as to what it could be? I will be ringing the vet today but just want to have an idea?

Is it an infection at the coronary band (where the hair meets the hoof) ?

farming93

No it's actually the joint above that.

wrangler

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/sheep/check-your-ewe-ration-for-energy.php interesting read

Very interesting article
I'm surprised to see oats so far down, there's lads swear by oats.

Kevhog1988

wrangler wrote: »

Very interesting article
I'm surprised to see oats so far down, there's lads swear by oats.

I've been mixing oats with an 18% ewe & lamb nut for the past few months. Might stop now

390kid

Packrat wrote: »

Tall horrible leggy narrow horned sheep with more white than black on their faces. Often speckled faced.
There used to be proper deep broad white faced wide horned sheep down here in the Beara area but they've largely disappeared and make silly money now any time they appear.

I’m not missing much so!

wrangler

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

I've been mixing oats with an 18% ewe & lamb nut for the past few months. Might stop now

There's enough oats in your 18% nut anyway, I wouldn't be adding any, there's something about oats helping digestion but it's no miracle worker

wrangler

wrangler wrote: »

There's enough oats in your 18% nut anyway, I wouldn't be adding any, there's something about oats helping digestion but it's no miracle worker

People used use it,to keep lambs smaller on singles....be filling and paltable,but down on protein


I give a bit to rams,to keep em ticking over during the winter

orm0nd

wrangler wrote: »

Very interesting article
I'm surprised to see oats so far down, there's lads swear by oats.

Maybe that's why it doesn't swell unborn calves or lambs

I think it's about getting the balance correct and using different ingredients to compliment each other, soya works a lot better when mixed with a high fibre content like oats than fed straight.

Will read the article later.

Got about an hour in bed last night and am probably typing rubbish anyhow

Bitter wind chill about 4am

Western Pomise

Got phonecall from local wool agent the other day that he was getting a load away and would be passing our place today.Have a front loader on tractor so its handy to weigh the wool and load it.

Knew price of wool was poor but Jaysus its brutal.....12c for lowland wool

only 5c for mountain wool....mine was all fairly good lowland x wool...was some wool there from when dry hoggetts were clipped twice after being bought and again last spring and the ewes wool from last year....roughly for the wool off 200 sheep it came to 60 euro!

If you had 200 horned ewes wool you would be as far on burning it!....tongue in cheek comment.

OneMan37

Western Pomise wrote: »

Got phonecall from local wool agent the other day that he was getting a load away and would be passing our place today.Have a front loader on tractor so its handy to weigh the wool and load it.

Knew price of wool was poor but Jaysus its brutal.....12c for lowland wool

only 5c for mountain wool....mine was all fairly good lowland x wool...was some wool there from when dry hoggetts were clipped twice after being bought and again last spring and the ewes wool from last year....roughly for the wool off 200 sheep it came to 60 euro!

If you had 200 horned ewes wool you would be as far on burning it!....tongue in cheek comment.

I know nobody would listen to a half educated farmer like me, but if they subsidised fleeces, say for argument sake €5 or more a fleece. It would encourage farmers to keep sheep. It would be easy enough to monitor as you can’t produce wool out of nothing.

DJ98

Is there anywhere online where you can buy a milk feeder for lambs? Like the ewe 2.

Kevhog1988

DJ98 wrote: »

Is there anywhere online where you can buy a milk feeder for lambs? Like the ewe 2.

Make one with a sealable bucket, an aquarium heater and the teats.

Dinzee Conlee

OneMan37 wrote: »

I know nobody would listen to a half educated farmer like me, but if they subsidised fleeces, say for argument sake €5 or more a fleece. It would encourage farmers to keep sheep. It would be easy enough to monitor as you can’t produce wool out of nothing.

How would you work that - I am not sure who would count them?
Plus, fleeces in Ireland just get thrown into a bag - they were rolled when I was small, but not any more...

Lastly, why do we need more people keeping sheep? There is already the sheep welfare scheme which is pretty much doing that job.

I agree with you that wool is an undervalued product - just not sure subsidising it is the answer... We need to find new uses for it I think...

Green farmer

OneMan37 wrote: »

I know nobody would listen to a half educated farmer like me, but if they subsidised fleeces, say for argument sake €5 or more a fleece. It would encourage farmers to keep sheep. It would be easy enough to monitor as you can’t produce wool out of nothing.

the longer the price stays on the floor, the better the shedding sheep option looks.

Kevhog1988

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

How would you work that - I am not sure who would count them?
Plus, fleeces in Ireland just get thrown into a bag - they were rolled when I was small, but not any more...

Lastly, why do we need more people keeping sheep? There is already the sheep welfare scheme which is pretty much doing that job.

I agree with you that wool is an undervalued product - just not sure subsidising it is the answer... We need to find new uses for it I think...

Government led initiative to use it for insulation?. Maybe utilising the bnm staff and buildings bnm have that are no longer in use.

Green farmer

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

I've been mixing oats with an 18% ewe & lamb nut for the past few months. Might stop now

I fed oats last winter and it kept the ewes well. for the final 4 weeks pre lambing i swapped over to the specialised ewe nuts for the minerals. found the oats very good overall as their slow releasing energy and kept the sheep in good stead. not feeding at the moment, purely because they've gone scarce and the price has risen significantly.

kk.man

I used to feed rolled oats a few weeks before calving to suckler cows 30 odd years ago. It was the start of the bigger continental calves. They loved the oats and the calves came really alert after calving.

weatherbyfoxer

wrangler wrote: »

Very interesting article
I'm surprised to see oats so far down, there's lads swear by oats.

often hear lads raving about giving oats to sheep but could never see the big deal with it..cant see how beneficial it is compared to a decent balanced ration or nut fed at the required amounts..its also like mixing extra soya in the meal or nuts 2 weeks out from lambing..is it not just easier use a feed with the correct amount of soya bean meal in it already?

wrangler

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

often hear lads raving about giving oats to sheep but could never see the big deal with it..cant see how beneficial it is compared to a decent balanced ration or nut fed at the required amounts..its also like mixing extra soya in the meal or nuts 2 weeks out from lambing..is it not just easier use a feed with the correct amount of soya bean meal in it already?

Some farmers think they have a better ration even though they're buying the straights form the same place as the miller or even from the millers, they're only making work for themselves. I see guys just feeding oats and then soya for two weeks, probably not enough soya for two weeks, they are reducing the production of their ewes massively but if they're not weighing the lambs they'll never know...... If you don't measure it you can't manage it.
That article posted here earlier in the week recommended 230gms/day protein for doubles at lambing, I always went by 200gms/day. the nutritionalist at the merchants would 'lose and find us' as regards information on nutrition so it's as well to use it.
It's mixed better as well,

Kevhog1988

I got the letter accepting me into the sheep welfare scheme today as a new entrant. Will they only base it on this years census or also the ewe lambs i listed on the census that ill be putting to the ram as hoggets?.

Birdnuts

kk.man wrote: »

I used to feed rolled oats a few weeks before calving to suckler cows 30 odd years ago. It was the start of the bigger continental calves. They loved the oats and the calves came really alert after calving.

Thats the feedback I get from chatting to folk at the mart with alot more years and experience under their belt at this game than me. Its hard to fathom Teagascs apparent hostility to promoting native grains when it comes to finishing stock in this country. I know from talking to tillage lads back home in Kildare that its a growing source of irritation for them, especially given all the guff about "grass fed" beef,dairy etc. thats then finished on the likes of soya meal from Brazil:rolleyes:

White Clover

farming93 wrote: »

No it's actually the joint above that.

Any diagnosis on this yet?

wrangler

Birdnuts wrote: »

Thats the feedback I get from chatting to folk at the mart with alot more years and experience under their belt at this game than me. Its hard to fathom Teagascs apparent hostility to promoting native grains when it comes to finishing stock in this country. I know from talking to tillage lads back home in Kildare that its a growing source of irritation for them, especially given all the guff about "grass fed" beef,dairy etc. thats then finished on the likes of soya meal from Brazil:rolleyes:

Did you not look at Edward Egans chart with the relative feeding values of the feedstuffs, you don't need teagasc to tell you which products will deliver the performance...... is giving the facts now hostile to native grain,
Feedlots that can grow soya and maize nearby is what we have to compete with now, that's the reality.

Birdnuts

wrangler wrote: »

Did you not look at Edward Egans chart with the relative feeding values of the feedstuffs, you don't need teagasc to tell you which products will deliver the performance...... is giving the facts now hostile to native grain,
Feedlots that can grow soya and maize nearby is what we have to compete with now, that's the reality.

Irish beef/lamb is looking for premium outlets and is being marketed as being sustaineable, non-GMO, local and grassfed by the likes of Bord Bia, - WTF does feedlots have to do with that??. If you have a problem with the native grain concept and supporting fellow farmers then I suggest one of the many social media tillage forums to share you views on the subject, I'm sure your attitude to the concept will be much appreciated:rolleyes:

wrangler

Birdnuts wrote: »

Irish beef/lamb is looking for premium outlets and is being marketed as being sustaineable, non-GMO, local and grassfed by the likes of Bord Bia, - WTF does feedlots have to do with that??. If you have a problem with the native grain concept and supporting fellow farmers then I suggest one of the many social media tillage forums to share you views on the subject, I'm sure your attitude to the concept will be much appreciated:rolleyes:

Majority of families buy on price, it might surprise you how many shop in Lidl/ aldi around you and even on this forum. How many drive through the local village to shop in the big towns.
When I was shearing, farmers would get in the foreigners for 20c/sheep reduction. Covid has pretty much highlighted how much social responsibility the Irish have so why bother taking the high moral ground