General sheep thread

Siamsa Sessions

If all goes perfectly, you could expect to make €10-15 per head on a store, but that could easily slip into the negative. I did some back-of-a-fag-box sums:

COSTS
* Purchase 35kg lamb at €75
* Transport - €3
* Dose/vaccinate (1 worm dose, 1 Tribovax, 2 cobalt drenches) - €3
* Concentrate (300g for 50 days = 15kg) - €5
* Silage, hay, grass - €5

SALE = 45kg for €100, leaving €10 or €15 if prices rise and/or you can cut back on some of the above costs.

That's before you consider mortality or your own labour.

Tis not for the faint-hearted, that's for sure!

LambMaster

How did everyone get on with Ophelia? Any major damage?

tomwaterford

LambMaster wrote: »

How did everyone get on with Ophelia? Any major damage?

Around 20 big trees or so knocked. ....was wondering with few years,how I'd go about knocking them!



Couple hundred metres of sheep wire damaged by corner posts loosened by falling trees

DJ98

Anybody any idea what youd pay for light cheviot ewe lambs around the 35kg mark?

ganmo

DJ98 wrote: »

Anybody any idea what youd pay for light cheviot ewe lambs around the 35kg mark?

Cheviot Store Lambs €61 to €81 or €30 to €39 over €/kg

DJ98

Running a bit low on grass for ewe lambs, just wondering would it be ok for them to be supplemented with rolled barley?

kk.man

DJ98 wrote: »

Running a bit low on grass for ewe lambs, just wondering would it be ok for them to be supplemented with rolled barley?

When are they due to lamb?

DJ98

kk.man wrote: »

When are they due to lamb?

Not in lamb just keeping them for hoggets but are not performing aswell as id like

gazahayes

DJ98 wrote: »

Not in lamb just keeping them for hoggets but are not performing aswell as id like

Feeding ewe lambs about 200 grams of whole barley here keeps them pushing on and slows the grass running through them

DJ98

gazahayes wrote: »

Feeding ewe lambs about 200 grams of whole barley here keeps them pushing on and slows the grass running through them

Why whole barley vs rolled barley?

charolais0153

DJ98 wrote: »

Why whole barley vs rolled barley?

Dont need to roll it for sheep

kk.man

If not in lamb..300 grams per head of a cheap course ration from your merchant with minerals ...saves messing around with straights. Build up slowly to the 300.

DJ98

kk.man wrote: »

If not in lamb..300 grams per head of a cheap course ration from your merchant with minerals ...saves messing around with straights. Build up slowly to the 300.

Would barley not be a cheaper option, they have access to mineral buckets?

kk.man

DJ98 wrote: »

Would barley not be a cheaper option, they have access to mineral buckets?

Buying buckets is expensive...balancing one with the other is there a saving?

Plus hassle of another job

Hard Knocks

Have some Ewe lambs (Tex, Suff & Char) who have grown to be as big as ewes as were sheared in the summer.
Friend has a Texal, would you try a him on them, or get a Charolais?

DJ98

Let out a charollais ram 3 weeks ago with ewes and he seems to be after falling apart, he's lost condition and become lame,keeping to himself, plenty of grass for him to eat, treated him with alymicin spray to cure the lameness but what about the condition, he was only with 30 ewes?

Also do people house there rams over the winter, usually just leave them in a paddock and feed them beet and hay, any opinions?

razor8

when did you purchase him?

DJ98

razor8 wrote: »

when did you purchase him?

About 6 weeks before letting out

tomwaterford

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Have some Ewe lambs (Tex, Suff & Char) who have grown to be as big as ewes as were sheared in the summer.
Friend has a Texal, would you try a him on them, or get a Charolais?

I'd put the charolais with them....but also factory the charolais type ewe lambs tbh



@DJ98 we just let them Into rough paddocks and feed small amoubt of oats to the aged rams,they've the year to come right

sea12

Id put the Charolais ram on them. Texal Rams and ewe lambs don't mix well

razor8

DJ98 wrote: »

About 6 weeks before letting out

Did you feed him hard feed after buying? I assume you bought at a sale?

DJ98

razor8 wrote: »

Did you feed him hard feed after buying? I assume you bought at a sale?

He was give a small amount of meal and in lush green grass

razor8

God knows what is was on when you bought him but could be something totally unrelated

joe35

Have u him raddled. They auld fella baught a shearling ram for 50 euro one time, it was an end of year sale. The man he baught him off said he paid 3000 for him as a lamb and when he went to the sheep he melted. Turned out to be a great tip. Best tip we ever had

kk.man

DJ98 wrote: »

Let out a charollais ram 3 weeks ago with ewes and he seems to be after falling apart, he's lost condition and become lame,keeping to himself, plenty of grass for him to eat, treated him with alymicin spray to cure the lameness but what about the condition, he was only with 30 ewes?

Also do people house there rams over the winter, usually just leave them in a paddock and feed them beet and hay, any opinions?

I bought a Suffolk last year and he went to nothing too. He only had 20 odd ewes but like your he was eager. All ewes went in lamb. He is a fine ram this year but I can see him going back a bit. Don't think you have anthything to worry bout. It's probably a good sign than a fella with little interest.

J.O. Farmer

joe35 wrote: »

Have u him raddled. They auld fella baught a shearling ram for 50 euro one time, it was an end of year sale. The man he baught him off said he paid 3000 for him as a lamb and when he went to the sheep he melted. Turned out to be a great tip. Best tip we ever had

Is there an extra zero or one missing in there somewhere. Nobody would buy a ram lamb for 3 thousand and sell him the following year for 50 euro.

Lambman

Is there a phone app for sheep farmers.? I noticed cattle men have an app called herd watch looks fierce handy...

ganmo

Lambman wrote: »

Is there a phone app for sheep farmers.? I noticed cattle men have an app called herd watch looks fierce handy...

No app but there's tgm sofware and the handheld

orm0nd

Lambman wrote: »

Is there a phone app for sheep farmers.? I noticed cattle men have an app called herd watch looks fierce handy...

I keep the sheep remedies records etc on Herdwatch to gether will all cattle and spray records

maybe not top notch but passes for bord bia and dept cross compliance which is all i need

think you can try it free for a month if you want

RobinBanks

I bought a few lambs today. First time having sheep and all of them have tails. They are 36kg average. What's the best way of docking them at this stage. They are all ewes and I would rather have them docked when selling in spring. Pics attached.